"ECO-(friendly)" THE HALLS!

TOKYO (Reuters) - Not even a blackout could put a damper on festivities at one Japanese aquarium where an electric eel is being used to light up its Christmas tree.
Two aluminum panels inside the eel's tank work as electrodes to catch its power. Cables attached to the panels supply the lights on the nearby tree with electricity.
Inventor Kazuhiko Minawa said it took him more than a month to devise a system that would effectively harness eel power.
"If we could gather all electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree," Minawa told Reuters Television.
(WHOOPEEEEEEE!!!!)
The tree, which will stay illuminated until Christmas, is proving a popular attraction, drawing tourists from all over the country.
"I would love to have an eel like this at home. This is very nature-friendly," said visitor Harumi Yayoi.
MY COMMENT: Why yes, yes it is very nature-friendly! This would be such a perfect way for the GORE family to light their Christmas tree!! Whaddya say, AL? Now, you just might want to check with the libs at PETA to make sure they don't think the eels are being exploited...

SHOUT OUT TO MARIA SHRIVER

I don't have much time these days to post, so this will be short & sweet. I just read that Maria Shriver will not be returning to NBC News. She said that the way the media handled the reporting of the accidental drug-overdose death of Anna Nicole Smith finalized her decision, and that "the TV news business has changed and so have I". Why the shout out? I admire her for not setting aside her personal ethics/morals/beliefs to return to a business that exploits the pain and suffering of individuals and their friends & families just to get ratings. Yes, I acknowledge the "freedom of speech" issue; but does that mean the media has the right to expose the foibles and secrets of people to others that really have no need to know the information? What good does it do the general American public to know this stuff? In this case the media is just bottle-feeding the public's voyeuristic nature! Where does it stop? The American public, over the past several decades, has become so desensitized to seeing violence and hearing about "shocking" details that the media, in an attempt to maintain ratings, has become more risque in its subject material--they need to jump over the shock value threshold that we are accustomed to. Thus the publishing of such things as the infamous Brittney Spears beaver shots--what the hell! And yes, I realize that public figures, especially Hollywood stars, put themselves in the spotlight by the very nature of their craft; but does that give the media the right to hound celebrities and other public figures? The circumstances surrounding the death of Princess Diana should answer this question, by God! I could go on on on about this subject because it really pisses me off, but I'm out of time and I have to go! Thank you, Maria, for being true to yourself.

PRESIDENT "BUSH"

I am a Rebublican and a "W" supporter, but I just have to post this because, after all, IT'S FRICKIN' FUNNY!!!! Artist Jonathen Yeo has created a collage portrait of U.S. President George W. Bush by cutting up porn magazines. The portrait is currently on display in London. You can't see the "offensive" images in the pic that I posted, but I was able to look at it more closely and there definitely are images of male & female genitalia used as part of the collage. My favorite part is Bush's right ear which is a profile of a woman performing fellatio. The tribute has not gone over well with Bush's supporters. A spokesman for Republicans Abroad International described the portrait as a "cheap stunt" in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Republican Party in Bush's home state of Texas didn't find much humor in the portrait either. "This picture is very distasteful," he told the paper, adding angrily, "Why would anyone want to make a picture of our president from pornographic material?" Yeah, why would anyone want to use Pres. Bush as the subject of this type of portrait? I personally think Pres. Clinton would've been ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!! ALRIGHT GOP, get a grip and see the humor in this.

LIBERAL FREAK-OUT OVER BUSH SPEECH

AS a poignant move in solidifying his stance on staying the course in Iraq and addressing the Iraq/Vietnam war comparison, President Bush in his speech last Thursday quoted the following from Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas (quote from 1972 re: Vietnam war), who asked, "What earthly difference does it make to nomadic tribes or uneducated subsistence farmers in Vietnam or Cambodia or Laos whether they have a military dictator or a socialist commissar?" The anti-war Senator put into words the liberals' difficulty to imagine how their lives (S. Vietnamese) could be anything but better with the Americans gone from Vietnam. Responding to this mentality, Rush Limbaugh stated, "These are the people that tell us they care more than anybody else about the people... especially the oppressed and the downtrodden, the peasants. Subsistence farmers, these are the people Democrats have been saying all of my life that they care about and nobody else does, and here's this guy ready to consign them to a lifetime of bondage." Rush later adds, "So you got all these Democrats and all these media people who have been making the Iraq-Vietnam comparison to dredge up all of this negative and doom and gloom in people's minds. So Bush comes out and says, "Okay, you want a comparison? Here, try this," and just threw it right back (by quoting the Arkansas senator), and has outmaneuvered them again, and they just can't stand it."

Liberal Democrats are vested in FAILURE! They don't want the U.S. to make progress in Iraq because they have been using the supposed failure in Iraq as the primary reason for the indignant demand for the pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. They want to be the party responsible for stopping "Bush's and his supporters'" desire to stay the course in Iraq--to have a U.S. military presence there to ensure a stabilization of the newly ELECTED government. They also want to be the party to say "I told you so" to the Bush administration. The stabilization of the new Iraqi goverment will take time, and we as U.S. citizens have a vested interest in a democratic government taking hold in that country and being able to keep the ideals of Al-Qaeda out of its political philosophy. This war on terror will not be won overnight, and Bush GETS IT! We are not losing the war in Iraq. Even the liberal media is reporting that there seems to be a U.S. turnaround in Iraq, and the liberal Dems hate that! I could go on, but my time for this has run out for today.

"The only way your powers can become great is by exerting them outside the circle of your own narrow, special, selfish interests. And that is the reason of Christianity. Christ came into the world to save others, not to save himself; and no man is a true Christian who does not think constantly of how he can lift his brother, how he can assist his friend, how he can enlighten mankind, how he can make virtue the rule of conduct in the circle in which he lives."

— President Woodrow Wilson, Oct. 24, 1914

CHEW TOY VENGEANCE

Okay, dogs of America!! Now is your chance to take vengeance! Ask your master to purchase you the new Michael Vick Dog Chew Toy when it hits the shelves at your local PetSmart!
All kidding aside, I did read that Florida-based Red Room Company is selling a Michael Vick Dog Chew Toy on its website. Oh, how sublime! Vengeance is MINE, sez' Rex! This gives a different meaning to taking a bite out of crime!

PROGRESS IN IRAQ

THIS IS JUST SO GOOD THAT INSTEAD OF COMMENTING ON IT, I JUST POSTED THE ARTICLE!

Shocking New York Times Op-ed: Iraq Is ‘A War We Just Might Win’
By Noel Sheppard | July 30, 2007 - 10:07 ET
On Sunday, NewsBusters reported a shocking discussion that ensued on "The Chris Matthews Show" wherein five liberal media members actually debated why America shouldn't withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Maybe more shocking, the following day, an op-ed was published in the New York Times claiming that "We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, "morale is high," and, as a result, this is "a war we just might win."

Adding to the shock is that this piece was written by two members of the Brookings Institution, which even Wikipedia acknowledges is "widely regarded as being politically liberal." The authors - Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack - described themselves as "two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration's miserable handling of Iraq."

Not anymore. Better prepare yourself for an alternate reality (emphasis added throughout):

The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration's critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration's miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily "victory" but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

Shocking. But it got even better:

After the furnace-like heat, the first thing you notice when you land in Baghdad is the morale of our troops...Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.

And, the numbers speak for themselves:

[C]ivilian fatality rates are down roughly a third since the surge began - though they remain very high, underscoring how much more still needs to be done.

[...]

[T]hings look much better than before. American advisers told us that many of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders who once infested the force have been removed. The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners (at least for as long as American forces remain in Iraq).

Amazing, wouldn't you agree. Yet, the best was still to come:

In war, sometimes it's important to pick the right adversary, and in Iraq we seem to have done so. A major factor in the sudden change in American fortunes has been the outpouring of popular animus against Al Qaeda and other Salafist groups, as well as (to a lesser extent) against Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

These groups have tried to impose Shariah law, brutalized average Iraqis to keep them in line, killed important local leaders and seized young women to marry off to their loyalists. The result has been that in the last six months Iraqis have begun to turn on the extremists and turn to the Americans for security and help. The most important and best-known example of this is in Anbar Province, which in less than six months has gone from the worst part of Iraq to the best (outside the Kurdish areas). Today the Sunni sheiks there are close to crippling Al Qaeda and its Salafist allies. Just a few months ago, American marines were fighting for every yard of Ramadi; last week we strolled down its streets without body armor.

Maybe most shocking, the authors, almost speaking directly to dovish Democrats in Congress as well as those running for president, concluded:

How much longer should American troops keep fighting and dying to build a new Iraq while Iraqi leaders fail to do their part? And how much longer can we wear down our forces in this mission? These haunting questions underscore the reality that the surge cannot go on forever. But there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.

How extraordinary to read this in the New York Times.

—Noel Sheppard is an economist, business owner, and a contributing editor to NewsBusters

"BALLSY" INCIDENT

I just want to send a shout out to Faith Hill for ripping a fan a new A-hole for grabbing Tim McGraw's nads during their recent concert in Louisiana. If you want to see the video of the incident, go to TMZ.com. I would insert the link but I'm not that good at doing such things...
Faith is quoted as saying, ""Somebody needs to teach you some class, my friend. You don't go grabbing somebody else's, somebody's husband's balls, you understand me?
"That's very disrespectful". I love it! It seems as though some people think that celebrities are public property and fair game to be touched, fondled, harassed, etc., and I'm glad Faith had the hutzpah to confront the ball-fondling fan!

YOU TUBE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE

I am a Republican and my boyfriend is a Democrat (Carville and Matalin ring a bell???), so I was subjected to the above-mentioned auditory assault on CNN the other night. To be fair and honest, I watched it willingly because I wanted to hear what Clinton, Obama and the others had to say. I'm not going to get into political rhetoric because that is not the purpose of this post. My intention here is to say how utterly ridiculous and politically ignorant & unsavvy much of the American public is. I was appalled at the selfishness of some of the questions. Granted, I only watched, I think, the last hour of the "debate"; but I heard enough. Someone asked for his taxes to be lowered so he could afford college; two women asked if they could get married if any one of the candidates became the next president; someone asked about reparations for slavery; someone asked on behalf of others if undocumented workers could get health care coverage under his/her potential administration; BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! One jackass asked the candidates to look at the person on their left and say what they liked/disliked the most about that person. GIVE ME A FUCKIN' BREAK!I think I laughed out loud! If this was a ploy for the Dems to show how much they value the opinions of the common man, I think it backfired. I don't think even they expected the lack of substance in the questions and that the questions would originate from such narrow self-interest. I was secretly hoping that some tree-hugging PETA member would ask for universal health care coverage for animals!!!!
I heard on the Quinn & Rose show this morning that the Republican candidates do not want to do the You Tube debate, and I can't blame them. I understand that our president needs to care about the interests of the American people, but I believe he/she needs to be most concerned about macro, not micro, issues that benefit the majority of Americans. I think the Republicans understand this, and don't want to waste their time answering ridiculous questions. The Dems really didn't have a chance to debate each other over the questions, which, I thought, was the point of having the whole thing.

Application Matters

I heard recently of a minister in the Midwest who was going for a walk with a soap salesman in the community who was a real skeptic toward Christianity. They were having quite an active debate while walking through the park. The businessman was getting in some good jabs at the inconsistency of Christians.

As they were walking through the park the soap salesman questioned the minister, "How can you say that Christianity works when even within the inner-city park you see derelicts of every kind, drugs, and prostitutes? Then you have the problems of the family, war, and disease, not to mention the negative problems of the world. How can you say that Christianity works? Just look around-it's not working." They walked in silence for a few moments, and then the minister turned to him and said, "You're a soap salesman, right?" "Yes, of course," was the reply. "Is it good soap?" "It's the best soap on the market!" was the comment of the salesman. The minister turned and pointed to a small child playing in the park who was covered with dirt and grime, and said, "This boy is dirty and filthy from the mud in the park; doesn't your soap help him?" The salesman said, "Well, you've got to apply the soap." The minister's response was, "So it is with the Christian faith. You must apply the Christian faith in order for it to work."

IN HONOR OF FATHER'S DAY

11 Smartest Things Ever Said About Fatherhood

Compiled By Tia Albright, Men's Health

1. "It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping." -John Sinor

2. "They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you f—ked up!" -Chris Rock

3. "Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later... that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could... adopted a role called 'Being a Father' so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life." -Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities

4. "Whatever you are, be a good one." -Abraham Lincoln

5. "My mother protected me from the world, and my father threatened me with it." -Quentin Crisp

6. "There must be many fathers around the country who have experienced the cruelest, most crushing rejection of all: Their children have ended up supporting the wrong team." -Nick Hornby

7. "My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass.' 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.' " -Harmon Killebrew

8. "You don't put kids under surveillance: It might frighten you. Parents should sit tall in the saddle and look upon their troops with a noble and benevolent and extremely nearsighted gaze." -Garrison Keillor

9. "A man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man." -Marlon Brando as Don Corleone in The Godfather

10. "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in only 7 years." -Mark Twain

11. "Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express." -Joseph Addison

ATTITUDE CHECK

A confederate soldier in the midst of some very trying circumstances wrote the words below. I don't know who he was or where he learned this incredible principle of life, but I offer it to you today as one of the secrets of a fulfilled life.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I had hoped for....

Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed.

- Unknown Confederate Soldier

"Memorial Day was established to commemorate those who died in the defense of our national ideals. Our ideals of freedom, justice and equal rights for all have been challenged many times since then, and thousands of Americans have given their lives in many parts of the world
to secure those same ideals and insure for their children a lasting peace. Their sacrifice demands that we, the living, continue to promote the cause of peace and the ideals
for which they so valiantly gave of themselves."

-- President Ronald Reagan, May 25, 1981

The Crazy Album

What Happens When Rock Stars Lose Their Minds
By John Moe, Special to MSN Music
Rock music is all about iconic albums: the Catchy Debut, the Uneven Sophomore Effort, the Live Album, the Greatest Hits and the Embarrassing Late-Career-Let's-Try-It-One-More-Time Release. But none of these is quite as intriguing as the Crazy Album. This one usually occurs after a group has had some success, shaken off some measure of big-label control and wants to take on a really big project that will stretch them as artists. The Crazy Album is also a litmus test. It can reveal the limitations of the artist's talent and the limitlessness of the artist's ego. Or, it can be amazingly awesome-tacular and catapult the artist to a new level of recognition and success. The possibility of the latter is all the incentive many acts need to attempt the Crazy Album.

Sure, some artists release exclusively Crazy Albums (Flaming Lips, Beck) and some never will (it's hard, though ultimately worthwhile, to envision a Backstreet Boys concept project), but there are a surprising number of acts that try it just once.

Let's take a look at some of the big hits and huge misses of Crazy Album efforts.

Bob Dylan: "Slow Train Coming" (1979)
Really, you could make a case for almost any Bob Dylan album being the Crazy Album, but this 1979 collection of Christian tunes stands out. Recorded after Dylan says he was visited by Jesus in a Tucson, Ariz., hotel room (!), it was filled with enough theology and preaching to delight believers while making Dylan fans wonder what the hell happened to Bob. Still, being an album by arguably the greatest singer-songwriter of all time and a guy who always fared pretty well at surprising people, it was still pretty damn -- excuse me -- darn good. At the time, Dylan swore he'd never play secular music again, but in a couple years, the Crazy subsided and secular Bob was back.
Craziness Factor: 6

Kiss: "Music From 'The Elder'" (1981)
The sound stemming from the combination of glam/monster megaband Kiss with the form of prog rock is roughly akin to the Alan Parsons Project being systematically fed into a wood chipper. The band had already produced two live albums and four simultaneously released solo albums by 1981. And, while "Gene Simmons as balladeer" is pretty Crazy, "Music From 'The Elder'" featured a young boy being recruited by a secret society of elderly crime fighters, thus earning it Crazy Album status. The reaction was so stinging that within two years the band would be removing their makeup, singing "Lick It Up" and making society even worse.
Craziness Factor: 8

Styx: "Kilroy Was Here" (1983)
Here we see an example of the Desperation Crazy Album, often trotted out when a band's popularity has begun to wane and it feels a need to reinvent itself and possibly pursue an idea that has been kicked around for a number of years. When the Beatles did it, it became "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." But Styx is not the Beatles, and so you get this. Most famous for the melodramatic single "Mr. Roboto," it's a concept album of a futuristic world where an oppressive, ultra-conservative regime wants to stamp out heavy metal. Or something. You'd think that eliminating metal would delight Styx, but whatever. While "Mr. Roboto" is roundly and justly mocked, several other songs have never received the mocking they deserve.
Craziness Factor: 4

Radiohead: "OK Computer" (1997)
To many casual fans, Radiohead was best known for putting out the morose-yet-catchy song "Creep." But that was before the triumphant and highly Crazy "OK Computer." The band abandoned the more personal songwriting of their first two albums and fashioned a futuristic sci-fi dystopia. "OK Computer" was a huge critical and commercial success, skillfully combining innovation, intelligence and quality music. Radiohead has released other Crazy Albums since, but none would ever touch the hem of this Crazy garment. "OK Computer" was their turning point.
Craziness Factor: 8

Guns N' Roses: "Chinese Democracy" (Never?)
After 13 years and with more than $13 million in production costs; a lead guitarist who, for a while, wore a KFC bucket on his head; and, more speculation, confusion and mockery than anything ever made by any humans anywhere ever, Axl Rose, along with whatever temps he managed to round up, is once again very close to releasing this album. Supposedly. It was scheduled for this month, then quietly withdrawn. Again. It could not possibly be worth the wait, and it might not be as bad as everyone expects, but, regardless, there is no way in the world it is not the Crazy Album.
Craziness Factor: We'll go out on a limb and say, on a scale of one to 10, this will be a 45.

WATCH OUT FOR THE POP TARTS!

Click on the image to enlarge
Since I have a young daughter, I frequently keep up on street drug news such as what kids are nicknaming drugs and what the new trends in drug use are, for example. In my recent research, I came across an article that explained the newest trends in drug marketing, which are flavored drugs and attractive packaging. Dealers are adding flavors such as strawberry, raspberry and chocolate to drugs such as meth and pot and puting them in attractive, fun-looking packages that are appealing to younger kids. One of the articles I read said that the main reason dealers are doing this is because they need to appeal to an even younger target market because the anti-drug campaigns at the junior high levels are seemingly successful, as drug use among the Junior High age group is down significantly. Also, dealers know that if a child does not use any type of drug before he/she becomes an older teen, he/she will most likely never use street drugs. Therefore, they are using attractive packaging and drug flavoring to appeal to that market in hopes of gaining new customers. What a scary thought! When you see the pictures I have posted, you will know how potentially dangerous this new trend is. The packaging may be funny to us adults (I have to admit I was greatly amused), but I can see how it can be especially attractive to kids, and also deceptive because a lot of the packaging looks like food/drink items that are popular with kids. See what you think...

THINGS KIDS SAY

I'm a single mom who will probably be entering the dating scene someday, so when I read this I just had to post it on my blog because I thought it was absolutely hysterical!

“On one of our first dates, my boyfriend Chris took me to a luau-themed party. When he came to pick me up, my son Adam answered the door, after which Chris presented me with an orchid flower lei. Adam, who was about seven years old then, said, “Wow, Mommy, that was nice of that man to give you such a good lei!’ It took a lot of control to not burst out laughing!”
– Cherie, 35, St. Simon’s Island, SC

AMEN!

Don Cheadle says there is not much quality work in Hollywood right now. “There is a dearth of good work in this town,” the “Reign Over Me” star tells the London Observer. “There is such a corporate mentality in Hollywood. Artists aren’t running the show. Haven’t been since the Seventies; the studios are in a way more resonant of the Fifties, but now there’s even more of that going for the greatest common denominator.” . . .

OZZY SNORTED ANTS...so what's wrong with ashes?

Associated Press--LONDON -- Keith Richards was joking when he claimed to have snorted his father's ashes along with cocaine, a spokesman said Wednesday.
"It was an off-the-cuff remark, a joke, and it is not true. File under April Fool's joke," said Bernard Doherty of LD Communications, which represents the Rolling Stones.
Doherty declined to say any more about why Richards made the statement in an interview with NME, a pop music magazine.
"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," the 63-year-old guitarist was quoted as saying.
"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared ... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

QUOTEWORTHY

The media … have been universally untrustworthy because they have their
own notions of what I should think and what I should do.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Business Week, March 12, 2007

FORMER STEELER DEPLOYED TO IRAQ

HONOLULU (AP) - A former NFL player who joined the Marines and was motivated by college roommate Pat Tillman, who died in Afghanistan, was heading for the war in Iraq Tuesday night.

Former Pittsburgh Steeler Jeremy Staat, is following in Pat Tillman's footsteps.
Lance Cpl. Jeremy Staat, a former defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams who had been playing Arena Football, was one of 300 Marines in the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment being deployed from Kaneohe Bay. The unit is expected to be in Iraq for seven months.

"The way I look at it, we're spreading freedom, and you have to support the troops and you have to support the war," Staat, 29, told KITV in Honolulu on Tuesday as he prepared to leave from Hawaii. "You can't just tell some Marine who just lost his buddy that we supported you but not the war, because in that case you're basically saying that Marine, his buddy, just died for nothing. We're one team."

Tillman, who played defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals, was killed by friendly fire near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in April 2004. The Defense Department is investigating allegations of a coverup, including the Army's failure to tell Tillman's family for several weeks that he had been killed by gunfire from his fellow Army Rangers, not by enemy fire, as they initially were told.

Tillman gave up a $1.2 million NFL contract to join the Army Rangers.

Staat said he felt compelled to join the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but Tillman, who was his roommate at Arizona State, advised him to stay with professional football until he qualified for retirement benefits.

"I felt there is more to life than just a game," Staat said, adding that Tillman's death helped motivate him to enlist.

Staat played for the Steelers from 1998-2000, and played two games with the Rams in 2003. He was playing for the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League before being put on the league's suspended list.

He graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot in March 2006.

To enlist, the 6-foot-5 Staat said last year he dropped from 310 to 260 pounds. He said three months of boot camp training gave him a deeper appreciation for team camaraderie.

HONEY, PICK UP SOME MILK & A HOME MORTGAGE...

Taken from The Wall Street Journal
Wal-Mart Stores, underscoring its continuing push into financial services, has quietly renegotiated the terms of leases with a number of banks operating in its stores, giving Wal-Mart itself the explicit right to offer mortgages, home-equity lines of credit and consumer loans.

A portion of one lease, obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, also gives Wal-Mart (WMT, news, msgs) the ability to offer debit cards and investment and insurance products directly or through a third-party vendor.

In the wording of the new lease, Wal-Mart said it could "offer these products and services in the checkout lanes, at the customer-service desk, through automated-delivery channels, kiosks" or at any other place in the store.

The new lease language comes at a time when Wal-Mart has generated controversy over its repeated efforts to enter the banking business, a push that has drawn fierce opposition from the banking industry, some members of Congress and activist groups.

The Bentonville, Ark., retailer has a pending application to establish an industrial-loan company in Utah but has promised publicly that it won't open retail bank branches.

The company minimized the importance of the changes, as spokesman Kevin Gardner said the lease language didn't "signal anything new."

"We've been offering services like check cashing, money transfers, branded credit cards and bill payments for some time," he said. "Our strategy is to continue to grow our existing financial services to continue to save our customers money so they can live better."

Gardner wouldn't say why the leases also protected Wal-Mart's right to eventually offer items it didn't currently sell, such as mortgages, home-equity loans and investment and insurance products. He also didn't say when the company might roll out any of these products. "We have not made any announcements," he said.

JUSTICE FOR THE SPOLIED RICH

Reuters-NEW YORK - British supermodel Naomi Campbell was sentenced to community service as punishment for throwing her mobile phone at her housekeeper. The New York Post reported Tuesday that Campbell had been assigned to mop floors with other community-service workers at a Sanitation Department warehouse in Manhattan starting March 19. A court official confirmed the story but declined further comment.
Now, I would just love to see Paris Hilton get busted for something and be sentenced to wearing Goodwill clothes for a month and have to scub out McDonald's dumpsters or something!

WALKEN FOR PRESIDENT 2008

REDNECK TIME OUT

SMACK MY BITCH UP

Someone my brother works with had WAY too much time on their hands and decided to create this image of my brother, G-Unit...

Yo, beyotch! Grab me a 4o and back that ass up, fo shizzle!!!!

EXACTLY WHY I WANTED COLTS TO WIN SUPER BOWL

TONY DUNGY. He is the main reason why I rooted for the Colts in the Super Bowl. Yes, I wanted to see Peyton Manning finally make it to the Bowl and win, thus officially earning the best QB in the NFL status. And yes, it was a great moment in NFL history for Dungy to be the first black coach to win the NFL Championship. I wanted the Colts to win because Coach Dungy is a Christian man, a man with a great deal of integrity and respectibility. I was most impressed with Coach Dungy's answer when he was asked about the "social significance' of his victory during the post-game show on CBS. He responded, "I'm proud to be representing African-American coaches, to be the first African-American to win this. It means an awful lot to this country. More than anything Lovie Smith and I (are proud) not only (to be) the first two African-Americans (in the Super Bowl) but CHRISTIAN coaches showing that you can win doing it the LORD'S way. And we're more proud of that." I admire him for not being afraid to speak of his strong faith in public and to put his faith in action as he coaches his team. According to Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute in Indianapolis (IFI), Dungy works with IFI projects defending the family and is "a comitted man of faith" who is "a wonderful role model for those in public life." Smith also said, "America is a culture that loves sports, and to have someone at the pinnacle of the top sport give a clear testimony and Christian witness, I think is just remarkable." And so do I. Congratulations, Coach Dungy!

DEMS TRYING TO SQUELCH FREE SPEECH?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her radical allies in the U.S. House want to impose burdensome regulations on grassroots activists and the lawmakers they hope to influence.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate rejected the grassroots provision in its lobbying-reform bill. Senate bill 1 initially included language that would have mandated oppressive reporting standards for grassroots-lobbying groups. That language was removed after hundreds of thousands of people complained to their Senators.
Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, said the Senate victory doesn't mean the issue is moot. He anticipates Pelosi, a California Democrat, will introduce a similar provision in the House.
"But the Pelosi bill is probably going to be even more onerous," McClusky said. "It's going to have a lot of reporting."
It would make grassroots organizations so busy with reporting every move they make, he said, that it would discourage them from doing anything to inform people about the issues.
"If I ran into a Hill staffer in the supermarket, I would have to report that to the federal government," he noted.
In the meantime, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has introduced ethics-reform legislation that takes aim at the executive branch.
Waxman claims his bill "promotes openness and accountability in government by banning secret meetings between lobbyists representing special interests and senior government officials." But experts say any citizen communication to a government official on a policy matter would require documentation in a public database.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, said the bill would hamstring government officials when they feel the need to seek advice from outside sources.
"The individual contacted by the public official would be aware that their conversation would now become a matter of public record," he said. "The citizen might be unwilling to offer candid advice to the official, fearing negative ramifications for his business, his tenure prospects or his family relationships -- to cite just a few ways in which a 'chilling effect' would occur."
An e-mail sent by a concerned citizen, contact with a sign-holding protester, a casual encounter in a church pew -- all would be logged into a government database. Even advice from a spouse would be covered under Waxman's bill, Johnson said.
As the House prepares to look at the issue, Amanda Banks, federal analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said members need to attend to the real issue.
“Instead of focusing on the executive branch as the Waxman bill does, or on grassroots activism, as the Pelosi bill is expected to," she said, "the House should focus on the location of the real need for lobbying reform: the U.S. Congress.”

HOLY CALAMARI!

This huge squid was caught in early February in the Ross Sea off Antarctica by a New Zealand Fishing crew. It was weighed at 990 pounds, which if confirmed on shore would break the earlier record by 330 pounds. New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said that the squid is likely the first intact adult male colossal squid to be caught successfully. The frozen squid will be transported to New Zealand's national museum to be preserved for scientific study. Colossal squid are estimated to grow up to 46 feet long, can descend to 6,500 feet and are extremely agressive hunters. Steve O'Shea, a squid expert at the Aukland University of technology quipped "if calamari rings were made from this squid they would be the size of tractor trailers."

MURTHA USING BUDGET TO FORCE TROOPS HOME

According to an article in today's Tribune-Review, Rep. John Mutha ( I mean Murtha) is planning to limit President Bush's spending in an attempt to force him to bring our troops in Iraq home. Murtha has emerged as the leader of the Democratic opposition because of his control of the Pentagon's spending bills and his clout with Democrats regarding defense issues. Murtha will detail legislation by mid-March that will set stringent rules on combat deployments, such as how long troops can stay, the equipment they use and whether any money could be used to expand military operations into Iran. Murtha says that so few units could meet the high standards he wants in place that Bush will have no choice but to start bringing troops home and would not be able to keep some 160,000 troops in Iraq for months as he had planned. Murtha was quoted as saying that " this vote will be the most important vote in changing the direction of the war...the President could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money." Does Mr. Murtha have any plans in place to deal with the fallout that will most certainly happen if the Bush administration is forced to withdraw our troops? Does he and his liberal cronies plan to use some type of diplomatic strategy in dealing with the Iraqi al-Qaida? What he and the other anti-war Dems are proposing is exactly what al-Qaida and other Islamist movements want! This is a critical time in history for the United States...we either emerge from this epoch in history as a strong, no-bullshit leader that does not cave in to terrrosism and pacifist rhetoric or we digress into fat, lazy, overindulgent losers who will, no doubt, be forever engaging these types of people.

PICTURE WORTH MORE THAN WORDS

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

UGLIEST OUTFIT I'VE EVER SEEN

I enjoy looking at the pictures of the best & worst dressed celebrities of the Oscars and Grammys, and this year was no exception. I thought Carrie Underwood, Mary J. Blige and Ludacris were some of the best, but what I am about to share with you is the absolute WORST ensemble I have ever seen in my entire life! This "Swamp Geisha" getup worn by Imogen Heap even whoops the shit out of the f*ing swan disaster that Bjork wore many Grammys ago in my opinion, but you be the judge (notice the rubber frog in her hand--WTF!!!!)

QUOTEWORTHY

"What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
-- Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

OH NOOO! NOT KEANU!

I can't help it and I don't apologize that I like to keep tabs on some of the Hollywood stars, especially my favorite "hotties". The latest I've read is, according to Life & Style, Jennifer Aniston had a "secret date" with neighbor Keanu Reeves at her Hollywood Hills home in late December, not long after she announced her split from Vince Vaughn. I do like Jennifer and I thought that Vince was a complete disaster of a choice for a boyfriend, but I don't want her going out with Keanu! I don't want anybody to go out with him!
Keanu, she's not your type! She's too perfect, personable and bubbly! You need someone dark, moody and bizzare who can't act (like you). And Jen, go have a fistfight with Angelina and leave Keanu alone, OKAY?! Maybe Brad will kiss your boo-boos...

BANKRATE'S 9 WIERDEST TAX DEDUCTIONS

I just thought I'd add this one to my blog to alleviate some of your your tax time blues!

1. A man and his wife were meeting with their tax consultant who inquired about the mortgage deduction for the condo in Utah--of which the wife knew nothing about--the condo was set upfor the husband's mistress! Ooops!

2. One person tried to deduct day care expense for his/her dog. This person felt that the dog should not be alone and deserved day care.

3. A guy had rental property and tried to deduct a limousine charge in the year he got married by claiming that he had taken his renters out for a night on the town.

4. A young mother tried to list a $300 breast pump as a medical expense, but it was strictly for her convenience to operate since most pumps are around $50.

5. A landscaper who was under audit with the IRS had deducted the expense of their dog because he would pull the wagon on landscaping jobs. They felt he was out there helping. He may have been listed as an independent contractor.

6. A Hollywood set electrician tried to write off the cost of buying and renting movie videos and DVDs, and a professor of Italian culture and European art tried to deduct his theater and concert tickets.

7. An individual who bred dogs was looking for a tax deduction, so he thought that he would give one of his dogs to the Humane Society and take a deduction for it. They were valuable dogs but he bred it, so he could not take a tax deduction for it.

8. A male model wanted to write off his entire wardrobe because he needed to look good all the time.

9. This one is my fave--An Amish guy tried to take a deduction for his tricked-out buggy, which came equipped with dash lights, kick plates, tinted windshield, speedometer, hydraulic brakes and dimmer switches. The standard buggy costs $2,675; this pimped-out version ran $3,545.

LATEST FEMINIST LIBERAL BULLSHIT

Liberals Push Women's Treaty by Pete Winn, associate editor. Document gives U.N. committee authority to dictate family policy.
Senate Democrats may be on the verge of resurrecting a treaty that could be used to require U.S. compliance with liberal policies, such as a right to abortion and legalization of prostitution. The treaty -- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) -- was signed by President Carter in 1980, but was never ratified by the U.S. Senate and has been in limbo ever since. More than 180 countries have ratified the treaty, which established a United Nations committee to monitor participation in CEDAW . "What happens is that each of these countries has to appear before a panel of 'experts' at the United Nations… to explain how they are implementing the treaty," said Austin Ruse, who heads the Washington, D.C., office of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. The committee monitors everything from relationships between husbands and wives, to educational content in the schools, to employment and hiring practices --- even how many women are elected to local state and national offices. Abortion is a key issue for the committee. "They have directed 37 countries to change their laws on abortion," Ruse said. "What we could easily see, if we ratify CEDAW, is pressure to strike down parental-notification laws, to strike down laws against partial-birth abortion, to strike down any regulation on abortion drugs like RU-486." Abortion isn't the only issue the committee has spoken on. It also directed China to legalize prostitution -- even though the treaty condemns it. "They directed Kyrgyzstan to legalize lesbianism," Ruse said. "They criticized Belarus for establishing Mother's Day because they said Mother's Day promotes 'a negative cultural stereotype.' They directed Libya to reinterpret the Koran to fall within committee guidelines. They criticized Ireland for allowing the Catholic Church to have too great a say in public policy." Thomas Jacobson, Focus on the Family Action's liaison to the United Nations, describes CEDAW as "The Equal Rights Amendment on steroids." "It would subject every family, school and business -- as well as every county, state and local office -- to oversight by United Nations 'experts.' " Jacobson said the original intent was to eliminate real discrimination against women, but it has become a politically correct nightmare. "The first article of it says that making any kind of distinction (between men and women) is to be construed as 'discrimination,' " he said. "That's crazy." Ruse said left-leaning groups are pushing the Senate for quick consideration and a ratification vote -- perhaps as early as March. "We believe CEDAW will be low-hanging fruit for the new Democratic majority in the Senate," he told CitizenLink. "They are under a lot of pressure from radical feminists in the United States to put it to a vote. At this point, I think that they probably have the votes to pass it." Ruse said he has no doubt that if the U.S. signs on, the U.N. committee would, at some point, say that social conservatives -- the so-called 'Christian Right' -- have too much say in American public policy. "This is an out-of-control U.N. committee, the members of which hardly anybody can name," he concluded. Jacobson, meanwhile, called CEDAW, "un-American and unconstitutional." "We fought the War of Independence to be exactly that -- independent, to be free to govern ourselves and to not have a foreign power dictating our personal and internal affairs" he said. David Wagner, associate professor of law at Regent University Law School, said if the Senate ratifies it, the treaty would take effect. But President Bush could refuse to send it back to the U.N. -- or could even remove President Carter's signature "There is some precedence for that," Wagner told CitizenLink. "We 'un-signed' the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. In 1978, President Carter himself repudiated the Taiwan Relations Act, which was a treaty with Taiwan that had been ratified by the Senate. The courts refused to hear a legal case about his power to do so, saying they couldn't answer the question." Ruse and Jacobson warn that the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., is being pressed for a vote on March 8 -- International Women's Day. TAKE ACTION Please contact your senators and insist that they oppose CEDAW. In addition, please ask President Bush to consider removing the President Carter's signature from the treaty

FEDERAL SUIT CHALLENGES STATE FUNDING OF BAPTIST AGENCY

ACLU Targets Kentucky Children's Home
from staff reports (CitizenLink e-magazine, Focus on the Family)

A Kentucky foster care program is facing a threat of closure thanks to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenge.

Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (KBHC) receives state money to help fund residential homes, foster placements and pregnancy counseling centers for young people. The ACLU filed suit in federal court, charging the state funding runs counter to the First Amendment.

Bill Smithwick, president of KBHC, told Family News in Focus he stands by the agency and its Christian foundation.

"Our goal and our mission in ministry is to take care of these kids," he said. "We do so from an unapologetically faith-based perspective."

The ACLU, which did not return calls about the case, is asking the court to order KBHC to pay back millions it has received from Kentucky over the years.

"The very worst case scenario, which I don't think would happen," Smithwick said, "would be if, indeed, the ACLU won on every count, and we had to repay the money. I mean -- we'd be gone."

John Sheller, a KBHC lawyer, said he is confident about the agency's position.

"The Establishment Clause is obviously a very complex area of the law," he said. "But the most recent cases of the Supreme Court would tend our direction."

QUOTEWORTHY

“I find myself arguing with a whole bunch of people on the left who ‘know’things that aren’t true. I’m both amused and surprised not only at theignorance out there, but the confidence with which it is bandied about.” -- Dinesh D’Souza

ALL SET FOR DISNEY WORLD!

THE FEMALE FAN

As I was watching some internet news clips on FOX, I saw an interview with a woman named Betsy Burns who has a blog on Ivillage.com called The Female Fan. Berns is the author of The Female Fan Guide to Pro Football, Win, Place and Show: A Female Fan's Guide to Thoroughbred Racing and The Female Fan Guide to Motorsports. She has served as a consultant to the National Football League, for which she developed, designed and implemented its Football 101 instructional series for women, now offered by the league in every NFL market. She's also a frequent contributor to and guest on national and regional radio and television. Being a female fan myself, I was extremely excited to have uncovered this gem, so I just had to check it out! My favorite part of the blog was her Football 101 posts because it explained key aspects of the game as written by a female to females. Sorry guys, but when you explain football stuff to us women, you don't give us enough detail and our eyes glaze over and we act like we get what you just said! *That's why we keep asking the same questions over & over* In all fairness to you guys, though, we women tend to ask football questions at precicely the wrong moments during the game! Right?! Anyway, I was happily reading the Girls Guide to the Super Powl post and happened to come across a poll to see which player was the sexiest! Now Come ON!!! It was called Sunday Night's Sexiest and it had a dozen or so players you could vote for. I guess that was there for the women who only wanted to know the bare minimum about FB to slightly impress their man but got bored and wanted to cure their craving for "People Magazine" type fodder! The only way this would be interesting to me would be if I could see a few of the NFL's "sexiest men" engage in an informal game of FB with a few of People's "sexiest men alive" to see who comes out the real winners! Slightly off topic, I know, but very, very funny to imagine! BTW, I just had to check to see who was winning so far, and it was @#$%& Tom Brady! Ah ha-too bad that's the only thing he's winning this year!

AIDS GROUP SUES PFIZER OVER VIAGRA ADS

This Monday, Los Angeles based AIDS Healthcare Organization sued Pfizer, Inc. over ads the group says encourage the use of Viagra as a party drug. The ads in question feature younger-looking men which implies that Viagra is meant to enhance the sexual experience ( no shit!) and not to treat impotence. Am I just stupid or is the main goal of treating impotence to restore a man's ability to get/maintain an erection so he may have sex, thus ENHANCING HIS SEXUAL EXPERIENCE? He would have no sexual experience otherwise, am I right? The group said that certain studies have shown that Viagra is mixed with crystal methamphetamine to make a party drug "cocktail". Viagra is used in this concoction -ha ha- since methamphetamine can impair the ability to get an erection. The group further alleged that the marketing of Viagra has fostered an increase in the spread of AIDS and other STDs. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Can anyone, anywhere in this country-and abroad, for that matter--take any personal responsibility for ANYTHING?? The president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation said in so many words that to satisfy the heightened sexual desire that crystal meth can bring about, you have to use Viagra. WHAT? How about this--just don't use crystal meth if you want to have sex! Actually, if you have a propensity for using C/M, how about abstaining from sex so you don't knock up some other drug user and produce an unhealthy baby? Furthermore, if you do not want to contract AIDS or any other STD, exercise self-restraint and practice abstinance or monogamy. God forbid this would happen in our current culture of instant gratification! Even if it is true that Pfizer's Viagra ads make it clear that the drug is for sexual enhancement and not just a potential treatment for impotence, how is the company responsible for people's irresponsible behaviour? Seriously?

MY "OLD " TEEN ROCK STAR CRUSHES

Funny stuff! When I was about 15, my band was Van Halen and I was infatuated with both Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth. Their posters graced my bedroom walls and I would often write short stories about being "hooked up" with DLR or Eddie (depending on what mood I was in..light or dark!) and hanging around with the other band members. And man, I was pissed off when Eddie married Valerie Bertinelli! So, for those of you who have movie star or rock star crushes, these pics will show you some cold, hard truth...beauty is only skin deep and & "hotness" fades, especially when there are massive amounts of alcohol & drugs involved! Eh, I still love 'em, though; and VH deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame IMO.

My 3 Fave People in the World