Friday, December 11, 2009

Norman's Contesseration for December 11, 2009

Now that I'm feeling human again, I have to say that my output needs to improve. I'm not writing as much as I should. I'm certainly not funny enough. I get that.

How do we deal with radical Islam and not offend non-radical Islam?

Last night, I decided to refute someone's bullshit. It's what I do for fun. This bullshit was about why President Obama will fail in Afghanistan. On the contrary, Generals Petraeus and McChrystal are going to play defense and no one will talk about the war much.

I wrote a little something about Bernie Madoff. I don't know why, but I suspect he's doing quite well in prison. Franklin Graham has a pretty good grasp on how Islam treats women in the Middle East, and I don't think we can just dismiss his opinions out of hand, whether they're politically incorrect or not. The ACLU and the Sierra Club have lost their sugar daddy.  John McCain needs to go back to the wilderness and stay there--he's not the leader of anything. I don't think there's that much difference between President Obama and former President Bush.

Over at Celebrity Disaster, I wrote about Chihuahuas and Tiger Woods. One of those is a national joke, and it isn't the one about the dogs.

Talking Smack About Sports: "Bitch, I'ma drown you with this bleach."

I just did random Safe For Work Hotties. I was tired, but I'm feeling better now.

Posted via web from An American Lion is on Posterous

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Those Poor Little Doggies

  A scene from "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"

I've never minded small dogs. You have people who don't care for small dogs, but I'm a lover of all animals. I like cats and dogs, I prefer ferrets, and I do help out with my son's humane mink farm. I sort of like birds. I can tolerate hogs and horses and cows, and chickens? I love me some yardbird. It was my idea to get back at the neighbors where we used to live in Manchester, New Hampshire by getting thirty hens and letting them wander around in the front yard for a few months--oh, the homeowner's association just had a field day with my yardbirds.

Anyway, dingbats in Hollywood, chihuahuas, no money, oh, damn!

California has more Chihuahuas than it can handle, and it has Hollywood to blame.

There are so many Chihuahuas at shelters in Oakland, they have started shipping the dogs out of state, said Megan Webb, director of Oakland Animal Services. They have sent about 100 to Washington, Oregon and Arizona, she said, "and as soon as they get them, they are ready for new ones."

Chihuahuas make up 30 percent or more of the dog populations at many California shelters. And experts say pop culture is to blame, with fans immitating Chihuahua-toting celebrities like Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus, then abandoning the dogs.

The problem appears to be specific to California - shelters elsewhere would love to share the wealth, said Gail Buchwald, senior vice president overseeing the ASPCA adoption center in New York City.

"We never have enough supply for the huge consumer demand for small dogs," she said.

It's too bad that Gelbaum fellow in California is broke--he could have used a couple of million dollars to fly Chihuahas to places like Sioux City and Lexington and Shit Holler, West Virginny and wherever else. Oh well. I'm sure someone will start a charity to move them to places where they can be adopted. The trouble is, who has any money anymore? Chihuahuas are not cheap to care for.

Posted via web from Celebrity Disaster

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The Shrinking Gap Between Obama and Bush

I have to admit that I am skipping these speeches by President Obama. Great speeches they may very well be, but very little action, in my opinion, is what they amount to and add up to. I'm a substance kind of person. Show me substance, and tell me what's being done. I'm more interested in the things that are being accomplished as opposed to the lofty rhetoric. I guess it stems from not wanting to be fooled by smooth-talking leaders anymore.

The acceptance speech that President Obama gave when he received the Nobel Peace Prize has been scrutinized, and I see that the gap between himself and the previous occupant of the White House has shrunk some more:

And yet while Mr. Obama offered a nuanced speech laying out what some have already started to call an Obama Doctrine, he also made an unmistakable argument for the legitimacy of war – sometimes using the sort of phrases that called to mind the very words of the man he replaced.

"Evil does exist in the world," Mr. Obama said as part of a long argument in favor of the concept of a "just war."

That line brought to mind Mr. Bush's repeated invocation of evil – including his argument in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks that "our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil."

President Obama said there are times when "the use of force [is] not only necessary but morally justified"; he argued that he "cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people."

Cue Mr. Bush on the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 2003: "Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups or seeks to possess weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the civilized world and will be confronted."

Mr. Obama also made the case for American exceptionalism, an attitude associated more with his predecessor.

America, he said, "has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms."

"We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will," said Mr. Obama. "We have done so out of enlightened self-interest -- because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if others' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity."

To be sure, the speech also included the sort of nuance that we've come to expect from Mr. Obama: He called himself a "living testimony to the moral force of non-violence" and said war is "never glorious" and "at some level is an expression of human folly."

He said he was seeking "alternatives to violence that are tough enough to actually change behavior." He spoke of the "spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls."

"He is a subtle guy," New York Times columnist Tom Friedman said after the speech. "It wasn't George W. Bush, you know, 'we're out there promoting freedom in every corner of the world, this is where we are.'"

If you're like me, then perhaps you agree on the idea that President Obama holds the job right now because he was so unlike President Bush. If you're like me, perhaps you realize that there's no way President Obama could have gotten elected if there hadn't been such a visceral rejection of President Bush and his policies.

Please note that this analysis comes from Tom Friedman at the New York Times and CBS news. I think that if you were going to make the case that the media were complicit in making Obama look like Bush, when he really wasn't like him at all, you couldn't fall flatter on your face than by saying that CBS news and the New York Times are biased against him. In point of fact, I think the charge carries more weight because of who is making the charge. If this was the Washington Times and the Weekly Standard, well, that would certainly change the context, wouldn't it?

And yet, President Obama seems to have embraced Bush and run away screaming from Bill Clinton. Go figure.

Posted via web from An American Lion is on Posterous

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Uber-MILF Janine Lindenmulder Loses Custody Battle

  Janine Lindenmulder

Lifestyle has a way of impacting how you get custody:

Porn star Janine Lindemulder, who has been fighting a custody battle with her ex-husband, reality television star Jesse James, and his current wife, Sandra Bullock, lost another round Monday when a California court denied her request for "expanded visitation rights," according to the Los Angeles Times.

James has had sole guardianship of the 5-year-old girl since the adult actress and director was jailed for tax evasion. Federal prosecutors on August 22, 2008 said Lindemulder, 39, of Huntington Beach, Calif., failed to pay more than $200,000 in taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

As part of her plea agreement, Lindemulder admitted making a down payment on a $647,000 house in Eugene, Calif. and purchasing a new Jeep and recreational vehicle while knowing she owed the taxes.

She served six months behind bars and was released in July.

I don't think she should be judged on the basis of her porn career. I think it is fine to judge her on her legal issues, and her alleged use of drugs. The media are all over this story because it pits Lindenmulder against Bulluck as a "porn star" up against a "good girl." Well, I'm sorry, but both have used sex or sex appeal to sell their products or movies, to a degree, and that does not make one woman better than the other. Bullock herself has not done anything approaching the kind of porn that Lindenmulder has done, but she has done nude scenes. albeit, very tame and mainstream ones. How they have conducted their lives, that's a different story.

Posted via web from Celebrity Disaster

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Norman's Contesseration for December 10, 2009

What is a contesseration? It's an assembly of elegances. That's what you have right here. This is a lengthy version, since I'm only just now starting to feel human again. I phoned it in on Wednesday. I had to. I had to.

Here's what I've been up to.

Why is the Obama Administration rushing in to help Bush Administration torture architect John Yoo?

Meaningful dissent: what does it mean to you? Does it mean saying whatever you want? Or is it a reflection of true patriotism?

Our debt, The Baby Boom, and the Health Care System are all in desperate need of action. Will it ever happen?

The LAPD is out chasing thieves who scam people with "shell" games and three card monte games. I say, let the people who want to play those games lose all of their money--Johnny Law has better things to do. 

Are the Norwegians really incensed at President Obama? Or is that just a piece of bad journalism?

Have you noticed that Barry Bonds has all but dropped off of the face of the Earth?

It's probably not a good idea to bomb Iran, especially when they are close to removing their own hard line regime.

Ethics. Where did they go? I have no idea.

The Safe for Work Hotties were Luisa Rosselini, Veronica Ricci, Heather Carolin, and Vanessa Upton.

Over at Celebrity Disaster, I talked briefly about Janine Lindenmulder, and how she should be held accountable for using drugs, but not necessarily because she's a rather successful porn star. IMDB says the new Arrested Development film is coming in 2011.

I did a little smack talking on sports. I can't stand bad sports writing and I can't stand scams that prey on the fans and I don't think Lane Kiffin is too long lived for Tennessee football...

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Amber Evans is Safe For Work

Amber Evans

Amber Evans is a versatile model, with a flair for looking straight into the camera and melting your heart.

Amber Evans

Amber Evans

Amber Evans

Amber Evans

Amber Evans

Amber Evans

Amber Evans has a gallery here...

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Tuesday, December 8

Here's what I've been up to:

When it comes to finding Osama Bin Laden, I don't think anyone knows what they're talking about. If they do, fine and dandy.

How can anyone be afraid of Fox News? Fox News is high in the ratings only because of the fact that so many people with limited or non-existent purchasing power watch Fox News. Haven't you heard Keith Olbermann explain this? That the Fox News demographics really aren't desireable for advertisers?

Tiger Woods and painkillers. Not that far-fetched?

When I'm dead, I want people to talk about me like they talk about Patricia Highsmith...

Should flipping houses be illegal? How is this a good idea, given that we're just now waking up from a nightmare?

Police brutality in Brazil is nothing new...

And, the Safe For Work Hotties are Diana Doll, Catalina Cruz, and Kayden Kross.

I didn't really do much anywhere else. It's been a rough couple of days..

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Monday, December 7, 2009

Tiger Woods May Have Been Using Prescription Painkillers

  12th Hole, Augusta National

Do you buy any of this? I certainly don't know what to make of it. When the incident happened, the first thing I went to was the possibility that Tiger Woods may have been impaired in some way by pain killers. Why? Because of his injuries. Because of the relentless way in which he continues to play, despite the wrenching effect that it has on his knees. Because that's far more plausible than anything else, and I was hoping I was wrong. Sadly, here it is over a week and a half later, and someone finally starts to ask questions about this particular angle:

On "The Early Show" Monday, Gerald Posner, the site's chief investigative correspondent, told co-anchor Harry Smith, "Somebody familiar with Tiger's medical treatment, back at the end of 2007, right after he tore his ligament in his left knee, around the time of the British Open, to the end of the year, said that he was dosing with prescription pain killers, opiates, at a time that one doctor was concerned enough about potential addictive possibility that he had a person personal talk with Tiger to ramp down the dosing.

"And then at the time of the car accident, I spoke withdraw made trauma doctors who said when EMT (emergency medical technicians) arrived, what they should have found, you've hit a hydrant, you've smashed into a tree, the rear of your car's been broken with a golf club by your wife, you have lacerations on your face, what happens? Your adrenal glands pump out adrenalin. It shoves blood into your brain and your muscles, and you're hyper-vigilant. That happens whether you're 75 or 15 years old. For a 33-year-old world-class athlete like Tiger Woods, he should have been up and around, walking and very alert, with the adrenalin rush. ... (But) he (was found) laying on the grass, snoring. He fell asleep, which raises the questions for some doctors -- was he on sleep agents or possibly on pain medications that may have dulled him? And we can't find out, because the Florida Highway Patrol didn't do a breathalyzer, a blood test or a urine test that night."

I had no idea he was, literally, banging a stable full of women. I had no idea what went through his mind when his wife likely clocked him with a golf club. I do know this--Tiger is a young man in a lot of pain, physical and emotional, and he has some holes in his psyche that aren't being filled with family, a beautiful wife, adulation, money, golf victories, or hardbody hotties who come running when he punches digits into his phone.

Posted via web from TalkingSmackAboutSports

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Kayden Kross is Elegantly Safe For Work and Fashionably Attired

Kayden Kross

Kayden Kross

Kayden Kross knows how to model clothes, and, while I realize that the ultimate goal is to see Kayden Kross completely buck naked, she still does a fantastic job long before that point.

Kayden Kross

Kayden Kross

Kayden Kross

Kayden Kross has a gallery here...

Posted via web from Safe For Work Hotties

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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Marilyn Manson Abandoned By Interscope Records

Ronnie James Dio in lieu of Marilyn Manson

Miranda told me to put this on my blog:

Marilyn Manson has been dropped by his record label Interscope after his last album sold poorly in the US.

The shock rocker was released from his contract after 'The High End of Low', which was released in May earlier this year, sold just 121,000 copies in America.

The singer told Metal Hammer: "We've just been released from our record contract with Interscope so I think a lot of the creative control on which my hands were tied on a lot of choices - the music videos - things like that (has been regained).

"I was so restrained from the music that I wanted to make - what they would allow, they would put out, what ideas they would allow to be conveyed in these videos. At least half of my creative output has been squashed, so now I think people can expect a whole lot more."

Miranda basically says that Marilyn Manson is a joke now, and is headed for Fred Durst status.

What's a Fred Durst?

Anyway, is this a sign that "shocking" people is getting old? This is the culture of cute, and there's nothing cute about Marilyn Manson's act anymore. People are already down and miserable. They prefer their misery to be one of comiseration--hence, the popularity, at this stage, of Morrissey.

Is this about economics? Hey, if you don't sell widgets, you're gone. How hard is that to figure out?

Posted via web from Celebrity Disaster

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Iran Slows the Internet

I always chuckle when I see hits from Iran on my blog. Rarely is it because of anything I've said. No, the hits I get from Iran or from the Middle East are usually for Rachel Ray's Magnificent Ass or for Louise Glover or for Silvia Saint.

And that's fine--it's why I put up pictures of hotties. It's to broaden our horizons here and do something other than complain all day. Even I get tired of me, from time to time. Peej won't blog, and Miranda's not speaking to me since I put up pictures of her tormenting a dog in a cage. Babs is going to start blogging, but I don't hold out much hope for her to do any heavy lifting around here on political matters. I asked Babs to write something about President Obama, and she came back with "who???"

Iran is a country poised to come apart at the seams. The young people there don't want fundamentalist Islamic rule. I think they embrace their religion, just not the part of it that makes every day life a pain in the ass. I think that we tend to forget that the people who live in what we call the Islamic world, stretching all across the world, is a billion or more people, all of them, pretty much like us. They want some money in their pocket, they want to have occasional sex with someone who wants to have occasional sex with them, and they want to be left alone to do cool shit with their friends, like play soccer and jump scooters, and listen to hip hop. They want social media, they want Twitter, and they want to be able to know what everyone else knows at roughly the same time by being connected to the things that matter in their culture.

In a nutshell, that's what America still lets you do, only no one has a job that pays enough right now, and, brother, that Verizon bill is a killer. Europe and especially Great Britain, not so much. They're being surveilled to death throughout what used to be the bastion of democratic ideals. Everyone wants a phone that will dazzle. People in Iran just want to have a modicum of cultural freedom, and they'd love to do it while maintaining a cultural link to Islam--don't believe the hype when people say that religion doesn't matter in that part of the world. It does. It just wraps itself in a veil of fundamentalism, and even we get tired of that here.

So, tonight, as Iran continues the slow walk to revolution, consider this:

For weeks after the disputed June presidential election, demonstrations triggered by claims of massive fraud in the vote brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, but the relentless crackdown that followed has taken a heavy toll.

Seeking to deny the protesters a chance to reassert their voice, authorities slowed Internet connections to a crawl in the capital, Tehran. For some periods on Sunday, Web access was completely shut down -- a tactic that was also used before last month's demonstration.

The government has not publicly acknowledged it is behind the outages, but Iran's Internet service providers say the problem is not on their end and is not a technical glitch.

Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has been a powerful voice of dissent from within the ranks of the clerical leadership, accused Iran's hard-line rulers of silencing any constructive criticism.

"The situation in the country is such that constructive criticism is not tolerated," Rafsanjani was quoted by several news agencies as saying in reports on Sunday.

I don't admire this Rafsanjani character at all. I don't think much of the Iranian opposition. These are virulently anti-American factions within Iran that are just out of power and out of favor, and we cannot rally to them so much as we can rally to the idea of a revolution in Iran that sweeps out fundamentalist rule.

Slowing down the Internet, though? If that isn't a sign that their grasp on things is slipping, I don't know what is.

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Saturday, December 5, 2009

Saturday, 5 December 2009

Here's what I did today...

I was upset that General Montgomery Meigs decided to try to take credit for helping to reduce the impact of IEDs. Well, the deployment of better vehicles certainly helped, not so much his mismanagement of the IED program, as outlined by the GAO.

I took a look at the design of the Banq Restaurant and had some muted reaction to the cow udder on the ceiling.

Is it a stretch to say that people are avoiding doing things about climate change because of the academic scandal called Climate Gate or is it because we're broke?

Max Baucus helps politicize the Justice Department--hey, didn't Democrats complain when Bush did just that?

Today's Safe For Work Hotties were Tamara Witmer and Cherry Jul...

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Senator Max Baucus Politicizes the Justice Department

Here's a classic case of damage control, which comes about because someone has decided to drop to one knee and punch poor Max Baucus where he lives:

A spokesman for Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, said early Saturday that the senator nominated his girlfriend, a lawyer who worked for him at the time, for a United States attorney position last March.

The girlfriend, Melodee Hanes, worked for Mr. Baucus as his state office director and as a field director between 2003 and 2009. Mr. Baucus and Ms. Hanes were separated from their spouses at the time they became romantically involved in the summer of 2008, said the spokesman, Tyler Matsdorf. Ms. Hanes eventually resigned from her position, Mr. Matsdorf said, and both she and the senator subsequently divorced their spouses.

“Senator Baucus is currently in a mature and happy relationship with Melodee Hanes,” Mr. Matsdorf said in a statement. “They are both divorced, and in no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces.”

In March, Mr. Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, selected three candidates, including Ms. Hanes, for a United States attorney position in Montana and passed their names to the White House. Mr. Baucus and Ms. Hanes then decided that she should withdraw her name from consideration because the couple wanted to live together in Washington, Mr. Matsdorf said.

Basically, this is a Saturday morning disclosure, designed to minimize coverage and tamp down the outrage. Whatever aspirations Max Baucus has of taking Harry Reid's job or being an elder statesman are intact. The culture of nepotism, corruption, greed, and incompetence continues unabated, and you can have your good government when they say you can have your good government.

In years past, the poor Senator would be seen shuffling away from his office, fully resigned from his seat and shamed into silence. Now, he sends out a spokesman, dumps it on a gullible press on a weekend, and flips off his home state constituents while his squeeze rubs his crotch and shoves someone else's money into his pants. Literally, or figuratively, who cares anymore?

You can be rest assured, however, that the previous outrage among Democrats over the Bush-era Justice Department being "politicized" is very much an exercise in hypocrisy at this point if Senator Baucus is not thrown out of the Senate. Really, why would a U.S. Senator put a U.S. Attorney in power back home if not to ward off attacks, dole out favors, and maintain a firewall between him, his ethics, and whoever might notice an ethical problem?

No wonder poor Ex-governor Don Siegelman is still being railroaded. Democrats like their Justice that way.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

John McCain Pounds Sand, Tweets About it, Accomplishes Nothing

  The Bear Went Over the Mountain and Tweeted About It

Is it any wonder that the Republican Party is foundering?

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday rebuked the AARP for opposing his amendment to rollback many of the Medicare changes Democrats included in their healthcare bill.

Tweeted McCain shortly after his proposal was defeated on a 58-42 vote:

"I call on seniors to cut up their AARP cards and send them back to them!"

In effect, McCain's measure, first proposed on Tuesday, would have killed the Senate's healthcare bill. The amendment would have sent the proposal back to the Senate Finance Committee with instructions that lawmakers remove its Medicare provisions.

That measure, however, quickly earned the AARP's scorn. Its CEO announced in a statement on Wednesday that the lobby opposed McCain's amendment out of fear it could derail healthcare reform writ large.

"The legislation before the Senate properly focuses on provider reimbursement reforms to achieve these important policy objectives," CEO A. Barry Rand said Wednesday. "Most importantly, the legislation does not reduce any guaranteed Medicare benefits."

Essentially, then, McCain's attempt at introducing a poison pill failed. His hamfisted lack of finesse at legislating blew up in his face (how long had he been planning this attack? Five minutes?) and before one of his aides could slap the BlackBerry out of his hands and sit on him in the cloak room, he flew into a rage and used Twitter. That's always a recipe for a blog post.

What I don't understand about our current political situation is this: few, if any, seniors are going to do what John McCain tells them to do. Sure, you have the feeble and the confused, but if I went on television and told them that wearing a crown made out of beef jerky and corn bread would cure arthritis, fifty thousand seniors would give up their credit card numbers to me in five minutes.

The man has no influence whatsoever. The fact that he got a few Democrats to vote for his amendment, but couldn't get it passed, should indicate that he maybe got some sympathy votes but had no shot at accomplishing what he wanted to accomplish, which was to make himself a relevant player on an issue that he has *zero* presence, experience, or credibility talking or legislating about. I mean, John McCain is going to tackle health care reform in the Senate? Really? And he's been doing the heavy lifting on this subject since when?

My problem is this: Democrats are afraid of John McCain? They're afraid of what he might say? Really? That doesn't necessarily make McCain the joke. It makes a joke out of anyone who might curry his favor.

Posted via web from An American Lion is on Posterous

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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Ronnie Wood, Girlfriend Abuser

Crazy Hot Mess Ekaterina Ivanova

Must be a generational thing:

Ronnie Wood has been arrested after an alleged assault on his 21-year-old girlfriend Ekaterina Ivanova.

The Rolling Stones guitarist, 62, who has only just divorced his wife Jo, was released on bail following the incident.

The couple, who are renting a £4,000-a-week lavish ‘castle’ called Ruxley Towers, in Claygate in Esher, Surrey, are believed to have had an altercation near their new home on Wednesday night.

They moved into the property in September and Wood – known for his past drink battles – rented the four-bedroom white folly from a member of the Lacoste family, who own the French sportswear label.

Wood was questioned by police over claims he had assaulted his young Russian lover after being arrested in the high street of Claygate by officers called to reports of an assault.

It is understood that his on-off girlfriend Ekaterina claimed he attacked her during a row.

A Surrey Police spokesman said Wood was released on bail until a date next month pending further inquiries.

Wood's personal life is in an apparent tailspin, having just ended his marriage of over twenty years. I can't fault the man for wanting a 21 year-old girlfriend. When she acts 21 years of age, beating her isn't going to work in the long run. And, in point of fact, a 21 year-old woman can easily turn a 62 year-old man into pudding fairly quickly. Wood deserves what we call a major ass kicking, and it would be fitting if it came from the young woman.

Posted via web from Celebrity Disaster

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Crissy Moran Stands out in the Open

Crissy Moran

Crissy Moran

A fantastic set from Crissy Moran, superbly done.

Crissy Moran

Crissy Moran

Crissy Moran

Crissy Moran has a gallery here…

Posted via web from Safe For Work Hotties

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The Right Car for the Right Time?

The Fisker Karma

This one is blue, but it’s actually green, and it’s a Fisker.

Never heard of it? Neither had I, until I was stumbling through another confusing day on the Internet. Sounds like someone remembered how to build, market, and sell to the American people:

Fisker Automotive plans to fire up its production line in May and have the first Karma plug-in hybrids in showrooms by September.

Founder Henrik Fiskerrevealed the production version of his superluxe car here at the Los Angeles Auto Show and said the first customers will be driving them by this time next year. Some 1,500 people have placed orders for the $87,900 Karma plug-in hybrid, which will be built in Finlandby Valmet Automotive. Fisker said he wants to have as many in driveways as possible by the end of 2010, but some who have already placed deposits may have to wait until 2011.

“The line at Valmet starts in May,” he said. “We’ll see how fast we can ramp up production. What I can say is if you haven’t placed an order by now, you won’t see a car until 2011.”

Fisker Karma Interior (experience tells me this would be an excellent car to use while Ghost Riding the Whip)

Fisker says the company is currently crash testing cars on its own. Federal crash testing will begin once the production line starts. And though he’s still got a lot of work to do if the company is to hit its goal for the Karma, Fisker is already looking ahead to several new models.

Fisker says project engineering for Project Nina, his mid-sized plug-in hybrid sedan, will begin in January now that the Department of Energy has approved a $528.7 million loan to help get the car built.

“The DOE loan means we’re stepping in the accelerator yet again,” Fisker said.

Nina will be built entirely in the United States at a former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, that Fisker Automotive bought in October. The company will spend $175 million refurbishing the plant to build the car. Nina is slated to cost $39,900 after the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs and plug-in hybrids. Fisker says Nina will see production in mid-2012 but we won’t see what it looks like for another year or so.

I’m all for giving them a loan, provided there’s a viable business model there in order to get the money back, with a slight bit of interest added on, of course. Just the fact that there are plans to build them here in this country, fine and dandy with that as well. Now, given that no one has any money, we’re in debt up to our eyeballs, and treading water with an overabundance of cars flooding the American market, you have to admire the chutzpah in starting a car company. The only people who will be able to afford these cars are whoever just won American Idol and government contractors and neither are a reliable economic indicator.

Would I buy one? Sure. This thing looks amazing. I’d want to drive one, but yes. I think I would buy one.

Posted via web from An American Lion is on Posterous

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Tiger Takes a Hit from Jesper Parnevik

Put this in the category of, "tell us how you really feel:"

In the most critical comment from a player, Jesper Parnevik said he owed Elin Nordegren an apology for introducing her to Tiger Woods. She once worked as a nanny for the Parnevik family. “We probably thought he was a better guy than he is,” Parnevik told The Golf Channel from West Palm Beach, Fla., where he is in the final stage of PGA Tour qualifying. Police said Woods’ wife told them she smashed out the back window of his Cadillac Escalade SUV with a golf club to help get him out after he struck a fire hydrant and tree early last Friday. “I would probably need to apologize to her and hope she uses a driver next time instead of a 3-iron,” Parnevik said, adding that he has not spoken to Woods since the accident. “It’s a private thing, of course,” the Swede said. “But when you are the guy he is — the world’s best athlete — you should think more before you do stuff ... and maybe not ‘Just do it,’ like Nike says.”
Notice how Parnevik goes directly at Tiger's money with that "Just do it" remark? That's some serious smack talking. Do you think that went too far? I don't. I think Parnevik has gotten some heat from his own people for putting the former Mrs. Nordegren in a world where she can now walk away with quite a bit of Tiger's money--what a terrible thing to do to a woman. As for the mental aspect, and the intimidation aspect, as it relates to golf, do you think Tiger is now finished as far as being able to break other players down? Do you think Tiger isn't going to go out there next year and run like a scared titty baby from Parnevik? What backs up your skills as a golfer is certitude, and I don't know how much of that Tiger has left. I really don't. I have to believe that Parnevik lives in Tiger's head now.

Posted via web from TalkingSmackAboutSports

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Senate Republicans Deserve the Scorn They Are Receiving Right Now

  Legislative tactician extraordinaire Stuart Smalley

Face it, Senate Republicans--you're pathetic. You don't represent the ideals of the Republican Party. With a handful of exceptions, you barely represent your constituents. But you're not the Republicans I grew up with. You're a disgrace. And a third-rate TV comedian has eaten your lunch:

The Republicans are steamed at Franken because partisans on the left are using a measure he sponsored to paint them as rapist sympathizers — and because Franken isn’t doing much to stop them.

“Trying to tap into the natural sympathy that we have for this victim of this rape —and use that as a justification to frankly misrepresent and embarrass his colleagues, I don’t think it’s a very constructive thing,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said in an interview.

“I think it’s going to make a lot of senators leery and start looking at things he’s doing earlier on, because I don’t think it got appropriate attention ahead of time.”

In a chamber where relationship-building is seen as critical, some GOP senators question whether Franken’s handling of the amendment could damage his ability to work across the aisle. Soon after Tennessee GOP Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander co-wrote an op-ed in a local newspaper defending their votes against the Franken measure, the Minnesota Democrat confronted each senator separately to dispute their column — and grew particularly angry in a tense exchange with Corker.

Their votes were disgraceful. They shouldn't have voted against it. They should have strengthened it with their own amendments and co-opted the sentiment behind it. With ten Senators voting with the Democrats, that's what you do. Line up behind Hatch, Grassley and Bennet, rather than McCain, Sessions, Vitter, Graham, Inhofe and Coburn, you morons. Unless you're from a state made up of rapists, child molesters and the Taliban, you vote for laws that protect women, not against them. That's what you do when you're challenged by a backbencher with the third least amount of seniority in the United States Senate. You take what he puts up and co-opt it. 

People familiar with the Corker exchange say it was heated and ended abruptly — a sharp departure from the norm on the usually clubby Senate floor.

At issue is an amendment to the Pentagon spending bill that would bar “future and existing” federal contracts to defense contractors and subcontractors “at any tier” who mandate employees go through a company’s arbitration process for workplace discrimination claims — including claims of sexual assault. The measure passed 68-30, with 10 Republicans voting yes and 30 voting no.

Franken, who declined to be interviewed, has said previously that the measure was inspired by the story of former KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones, who alleges that she was drugged, beaten and gang-raped at age 19 when stationed in Baghdad. She fought the arbitration clause in her contract, and in September the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Jones’s sexual assault allegations were not “related to” her employment, allowing her to proceed in court. KBR is fighting the ruling.

Good God, how could anyone vote against that? It's a no brainer. When handed an amendment like that, you run alongside the bandwagon. Why hand your next opponent something to bash you with? You mean to tell me Al Franken knows more about legislative strategy than the leadership of the Republican Party in the United States Senate?

Amateurs, one and all.

Posted via web from An American Lion is on Posterous

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That's Mighty Christian of You

  Never go for a boat ride with a shifty, disloyal hack

I hate to make fun of a Republican who is down, but this is just too rich to pass up:

As I mentioned this morning, I resigned my position as Arkansas coordinator for HuckPAC today where I served in a volunteer capacity. My departure was with a heavy heart but was done after serious prayer and consideration. Some have asked about the timing. As most could imagine, the recent news of the last two days along with the response did play a role in this decision but was not the sole factor.

I may say more in the coming days but for now I will leave it at this. I still firmly believe in the ideals and principles championed by Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The resignation of Mr. Tolbert means what, exactly? That he cannot be counted upon to stand with someone who had taken a hit?

The God that I pray to often tells me to stick with friends who are being buffeted by the storm, sir. The God that I pray to often tells me to stick with my principles and never turn a friend away. They call them principles for a reason. They help us stick with what’s right. Where’d yours go? Do you think Mike Huckabee needs some people to stand with him right now? Don’t you think Mike Huckabee is worth a plug nickel? Given all that has been said and done, don’t you think old Huck is feeling pretty low right now?

Do you think that the idea of Christian compassion is now dead? You seem to be answering that question with your feet.

I guess you have to run screaming away from Mike Huckabee with your hands on both butt cheeks, terrified of the fallout of being associated with a man who pardoned a man who went out and killed four police officers. Did Mike Huckabee kill anyone? No. He used his Christian compassion to let a man go free and to give him a second chance. That turned out to be a nightmarishly bad decision. If everyone who ever received a pardon acted the way that disgusting man in Washington State acted, there would be no pardons. And yet, the act of pardon has help untold citizens feel like a part of this democracy again, and it has helped inspire them to lead exemplary lives. Granted, many are pardoned because their father made a timely campaign contribution. This doesn’t seem to be the case here.

I’m glad you prayed about it. It makes taking the opportunity to go personal and mock your curious grasp on religion that much easier for me. I was sweating bullets there for a minute. You’re running from trouble, thinking that will save you. The God that I pray to keeps tabs on this sort of thing, I believe.

Who is Jason Tolbert?

Jason Tolbert – Editor, Publisher, Blogger – Tolbert has been involved with social conservative issues for the past decade.  He also is heavily involved with the Republican Party serving as an alternate delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul.  He began working with the new media first through the grassroots website called Huck’s Armyand now through the Tolbert Report.  He is a Certified Public Accountant practicing in Central Arkansas.

A CPA who won’t stand by someone who takes a fall? Well, that will drive up your business and make your professional reputation really valuable, won’t it? Good move, sport. Hey, who’s that running away behind that slamming door? Oh, that’s Jason Tolbert. When a man who he supported, organized for, raised money for, and expressed devotion and love for had a hiccup in his political career, Jason Tolbert tore off his clothes and went streaking out of the room as fast as humanly possible in order to preserve his political viability. He’s a natural born leader and a loyal friend. Just don’t go through a bad patch, and he’ll stick with you, good Christian that he is.

Pardon me for being opinionated, but, as a Northeastern Rockefeller Republican, I’m a little tired of convenient Christianity being mixed in with my party. Pick something to believe in and stick with it. You born agains don’t mix with us Episcopalians, I gather. Sorry—I got it right the first time and stuck with my religion. I don’t claim to be a holy roller or a saint, but many of you certainly do. Just don’t rub my face in it when you can’t reconcile God and Mammon, okay? Sticking with Huckabee meant the possibility the Mammon in your coin sack would take a hit, right? Did I get that right? Is my theology squared away, there?

You know, a bunch of people had this same thing happen to them when John Edwards went tits up. Liberals, you don’t get a pass here. You’re opportunistic hacks as well.

From the comments, though, there is this chestnut. This is a priceless example of delusional thinking:

I would recommend thinking about this a little more strategically. From a rational perspective, there really isn’t much to blame Huckabee for. He granted clemency within the bounds of the law and within the bounds of a system designed to help correct perceived errors in the justice system (or at least account for changed conditions). Not knowing what was in Clemmons’ clemency file, one can presume — for the sake of argument — that there was nothing indicating any sort of propensity to commit such a heinous crime. So, yes, you can’t really rationally blame Huckabee, at least not on the facts we have.

But … Dukakis was effectively trashed up one side and down the other for the Willie Horton fiasco, which had strikingly similar facts. He was billed as “soft on crime,” and we all know how his candidacy fared. Because the GOP used this tactic on Dukakis, it’s fair game for Huckabee. That means a Huckabee candidacy would be plagued with allegations of being soft on crime, replete with pictures of the deceased officers, the children left behind, and so on.

And I can’t understand why you would possibly think the brazen slaughter of four on-duty police officers is only worth a “30-second soundbite.” I think this is a hard news story about a horrific crime, and I bet uniformed police officers across the country think it’s worth a lot more than a “30-second soundbite.”

Good God, do you think with that brain, sir? In public?

“Isn’t much to blame Huckabee for?”Other than the fact that the killer was behind bars, and Huckabee let him go, sure. There isn’t much to blame old Huck for, that’s for sure. And, in case you forgot, the ads run against Huckabee would trash his judgement, and they would be damning and effective in that regard. Few elected officials ever make this kind of mistake and survive. This is what you call a career-killer. Professionals know it, and professionals act accordingly. Amateurs make blog comments.

Godspeed, Jason Tolbert. Your word means nothing and your loyalty is conditional, temporary, and fleeting, and subject to the blowing of the wind. Whoever you support is going to keep one eye on your twitchy hands and watch for any sign of faltering from now on, sir. You might as well go be a liberal. They’ll give you that touchy-feely stuff you need.

Posted via web from An American Lion is on Posterous

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