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.