Why You, I Oughta Pound You --With a Riding Crop?

I've been known to tease young relatives with the promise that if they don't shape up, I'm going to have to beat them with a riding crop. And today I find that some people apparently actually do that! As the Kansas City Star reports today, a Johnson County, Kansas, day care facility in the town of Bucyrus has been shut down by the State of Kansas over allegations that the female owner (and another adult living at the facility) would beat the children with a riding crop! (Link to full story at bottom).

And at least as to the female owner of the Shirley Joyce McClellan Day Care Home, it's apparently not just an allegation. The owner reportedly admitted to investigators that she beat the kids with said riding crop. Not only that, she reportedly told them that if the kids starting acting up in the same way in the future, she'd do it all over again!

But get this: The owner also admitted to pounding the kids with the proverbial "back of her hand," as well as with a stick. I would say that this woman leaves no stone or potential bludgeoning device unturned, but alas there are many ways in which she could always try to up her arsenal if she desired to do so. But apparently she doesn't have any buggy whips, fly whisks, railroad spikes, rifle butts, two-by-fours, yardsticks, beanpoles, tire irons, walking canes or tree switches at her disposal right at the moment.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/14/2083654/johnson-county-daycare-closed.html

Tweeting Hugo: Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

Since April, Venezuelan socialist dictator Hugo Chavez has developed quite the Twitter presence, amassing more than 650,000 "followers" -- me among them (although he always tweets in Spanish, and I'm not fluent). But apparently Chavez is not so open-minded when it comes to his own subjects (errrr, citizens) tweeting. Reports Forbes.com this week (first link at bottom for the full story):

"Last week two Venezuelans, a 35-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man, were charged with marking statements on Twitter critical of Venezuela's banking system and face up to 11 years in prison . . . Fifteen more Internet users may face similar charges in the coming days."

The story also reports that this isn't first instance of Chavez "extending his tight control of the media to the digital realm":

"Last March, [Chavez] asked his country's parliament for a bill regulating the Internet, allowing the blocking of Websites and restricting access to a single Internet service provider, a move that would allow earlier surveillance."

Now, while such restrictions on free speech may seem appalling to us, Chavez is not without his admirers here in the United States, such as Obama's "diversity czar" at the Federal Communications Commission, Mark Lloyd (pictured above), who has previously called our First Amendment freedoms a "distraction" and has previously expressed his admiration for Chavez's restrictions upon the Venezuelan media (see my blog post on that topic from last year, second link below).

But are people like Chavez or Lloyd really all that much of a surprise (apart from the outrage of a person with Lloyd's views being permitted to have such a position at the FCC)? After all, no country in the history of the world has ever had a piece of law quite like our First Amendment or a law which extends all of the freedoms and rights that our First Amendment does. So of course there are always going to be plenty of folks, foreign and domestic, who will be very antagonistic towards the First Amendment's principles. And that's why we always have to keep an eye on those folks and battle to ensure that our First Amendment is never undermined, compromised or ignored. Lest you want to live in a place like Venezuela, that is.

http://blogs.forbes.com/firewall/2010/07/12/two-venezuelans-face-up-to-11-years-in-prison-for-twittering/

http://independentrage.blogspot.com/2009/08/ive-seen-tonight-perhaps-most.html

Episode 6 Tonight of "You're Cut Off" on VH1!The Spoiled Rotten Hotties Are Forced to Rough It in the Wild on a Camping Trip!

Nutshell Synopsis: The ladies are shuttled off to the sticks on a forced overnight camping trip, with disastrous results, drunken escapades, near fisticuffs, and all-around fireworks aplenty!

Segment 1: It's morning at the house. Jackie says things are a lot calmer now that Chrissy was given the boot off the show last week (but how long with THAT last?). Gia is this week's VIP (Very Improved Princess), meaning she's in charge of the other ladies for the week. She's happy about this as well as the fact that her birthday is tomorrow. The ladies get a note from Show Moderator, Laura Baron, telling them to get their household chores done and then to pack up for an overnight trip (not revealing the nature of such excursion).

Gia then doles out the household chore assignments. She personally hates Jackie and Pam, and so she assigns the awful toilet cleaning duty to Jackie and assigns two jobs to Pam (since there's a leftover job now that Chrissy's gone, not that Chrissy ever did ANY work) -- kitchen cleaning and mop duty. Gia tells Pam: “You’re a big bitch so I gave you two things.” Interestingly, despite promising last week to use her VIP power to make Erica (whom Gia also hates) do the toilet cleaning, Gia assigns yard work to Erica, which Erica has done before and actually does not mind (obviously Gia did not realize that).

Jessica, Gia's primary friend and ally, then spills coffee all over the kitchen and won’t clean it up because Pam has kitchen and mopping duty. It's strongly implied that Jessica made the mess on purpose (NOOO!!). Pam is most irritated, but mops up the coffee nevertheless, saying she doesn’t want any more drama. Then everyone packs up and heads out to the mini-vans for their overnight trip.

The vans take the ladies out to a narrow gravel road winding through the hills outside LA. And the ladies are not liking how this is shaping up, as they are in the middle of nowhere. The vans stop and the ladies have to start walking down this very isolated road. Soon they stumble across a bunch of camping equipment that’s been placed there for them. Next Laura Baron shows up and tells them that this week's lesson is about discovering the beauty of nature and learning that they don't have to spend a lot of money to have a fun time, and that they will be camping (but really it's a test to see if the ladies will come together and bond in a rough environment). This immedately concerns the ladies a great deal. Courtnee literally tries to signal and call a timeout (“Laura, you tell I’m gonna do what?”). Erica: “Actually I have been camping before -- I have houses in Aspen and Palm Springs.” Laura Baron gives the ladies a list of things that must be done by dark.

Gia and Jessica take off walking further down the road, carrying a relatively light amount of gear compared to what Gia has assigned the other ladies to lug up the road. Courtnee: “These yard rats had the nerve to leave me, Erica, Jackie and Pam to carry all of this stuff.” Up the road, Jessica almost has a panic attack after she sees a prairie dog sprint across the road. The other girls are having problems with their heavier loads. Complains Jackie about Gia and about having to hoof all this stuff around: “She’s such a bitch -- I feel like a homeless bum.” Meantime, Gia and Jessica are even having problems with their lighter loads, with Gia lamenting that she feels like "the Hunchback of Notre Dame" carrying this crap. After a shovel falls out of Jackie’s gear, she says: “F*** the shovel -- I’m not picking that up.” Erica adds: "Everyone’s sweating except me because I got botox injections under my arms so I don’t sweat."

Jessica is the first to arrive at the ladies' camp site, proclaiming “OH MY GOD!” Apparently the ladies were expecting a house to stay in, and instead they get only a campfire space with tree stumps circled around it for sitting. Jessica: “This is like a horror film!” As the girls with heavier loads arrive, Gia (having already arrived just after Jessica) is lying down on a log trying to catch a tan. Note: Most or all of the ladies still have their heels on and wore them while lugging all this equipment up the road! With everyone at the campsite, Gia makes it clear to all that since she’s VIP, if anyone bitches at her about anything, she’s going to be even harder on them. Erica: “I can tell Gia is about to go on a major power trip.”

Segment 2: Gia assigns the girls to pitch the tents, including her VIP tent. The ladies try to follow the instructions that come with the tents, but Erica has trouble figuring out where the stakes are among the various components of the tent kit. Courtnee: “It’s probably the little things that look like nails.” Erica: “Ohhhhhhhhh!”

Meanwhile, Gia gets her own air mattress for her tent because she’s VIP (while everyone else has to sleep on the hard ground inside their tents). Gia uses the air mattress blower on her boobs to dry off the perspiration. Then Gia lies down on her air mattress and asks Jessica, “do I still look pretty?” Jessica: “You’re in the f***in wilderness, stop trying to look hot!” Then an insect flies down Jessica's boobs and she scurries around trying to get rid of it. Gia is just lounging on her mattress watching all of the other ladies work.

Gia then assigns Jackie and Pam (two of her hated enemies) to go dig "poop holes" for the ladies to use to go to the bathroom. Then get this: Three young dudes stroll up towards the campsite! (During this series, the ladies have had VERY LITTLE exposure to or contact with any men). Brian is one of the three dudes, and he tells the ladies that Laura Baron has sent the dudes up here to help out the ladies.

Another of the dudes, named August, is immediately whisked away by the hand by Erica, who tells him: "I’m single, Pam is single and Courtnee’s single, and I’m the cutest -- are you guys going to stay the night with us?” She also tells him: "I’m actually one of the more lower maintenance of the girls here.” Courtnee: “Where there’s a guy, there’s Erica.” [Point of clarification: I believe that all of these ladies are single except for Gia. I could have that wrong, but I don't think so.]

Jessica and Leanne are ordered by Gia to go help the third dude (who doesn't give his name, but wears a hat) catch some fish. Both are mortified down at a fish pond when they have to actually touch bait worms. Leanne asks Hat Dude, "are there fishes in here?" Hat Dude responds (and I loved this line): "Fish constitutes both the singular and the plural for fish, and yes there should be fish in here." But the two ladies have trouble catching anything, and as they later arrive back at camp, it appears that they caught nothing.

Pam, Jackie and Erica must dig holes for the ladies to go to the bathroom in, and August goes with them to help. Erica says off camera that she wants to do a good job so that August will be impressed with her. After the holes are finished, August tells the three ladies to start gathering firewood to take down to the campsite. But a few of the logs they pick up have ants, which scares the hell out of Jackie and Erica. Says Erica: "It wasn’t exactly the type of wood that I was really looking for" (NO, you can't, and I don't, make this stuff up on this show!).

Courtnee has been assigned build-a-fire duty and is helping Brian assemble wood in what will be the evening campfire. He tells her the sticks and logs needs to be assorted in a log cabin shape in order to get a fire going. Courtnee says: “Are you serious, I thought you just threw all of them in there, lit it, like lit the thingee, so that it go WUSH!” Soon they have a campfire started in the campfire pit. Everyone gathers back at the camp site near dusk, and the three dudes announce that they’re heading out and leaving the ladies alone for the night (much to the chagrin of Erica, who several times had asked August whether the dudes would be staying with them for the night, to which he really never responded with a straight answer).

Now it’s dinner time, and the ladies hit the coolers that they previously hauled up the road. They have hot dogs, some lower-grade steak meat, canned baked beans, and fresh vegetables to roast over the fire (sounds like some awesome campfire eats to me -- just give me the ultra-low-fat hot dogs!). The ladies are not at all enthused about this cuisine, but the wine and champagne with which they have also been provided helps to temper some of their disgust. Erica nestles down by the fire to start roasting up some of the cheap steak meat, saying that she's trying to whip up a wilderness version of one of her favorite dishes, Steak TarTare. Off camera, Jessica comments about Erica: “How the freak is she not melting [so close to the fire]! She’s like 90% plastic!”

The ladies are now running low on firewood, and so Gia orders Pam and Jackie to go grab more wood, which angers them both. Jackie is about to lose it, saying she’s on the edge of a nervous breakdown due to Gia's bossing. As Jackie puts her hands on more wood and the segment heads to commercial, a wolf is oddly heard howling in the distance (and I'm frankly not sure whether this was intended as a sound effect or whether it was supposed to be real -- likely the former).

Segment 3: Nightfall! Jackie off camera reveals that her plan for the night is to drink a lot so that forgets “about everything,” namely Gia. Erica, Pam and Jackie are all getting drunk, while Jess (not drinking) is only becoming annoyed at them. Erica, now very much drunk, says, “who can make the best frog noise,” and she starts in with her annoying noise, over and over and over again. Jess reaches her limit and warns Erica not to make the noise again, although Erica keeps making it (quiet Amber deplores her to stop).

Then Erica changes the discussion topic abruptly: “Who else besides me here has made out with another girl?” It doesn’t look like anyone else raised her hand, except perhaps Pam or Jackie, since it looked like someone almost completely offscreen did raise her hand. Gia and Jessica are becoming increasingly perturbed at Erica’s drunken behavior. Jessica finally can’t take it anymore and walks off to her tent (apparently she's staying in the VIP tent with Gia). Then Jessica discovers that someone has slashed and flattened Gia's air mattress! She breaks the awful news to Gia. It's then revealed that Jackie and Pam plotted and carried out this dastardly act of vandalism against the hated Gia's matress. Says Pam: "Gia can sleep on the ground just like all us other bitches!"

Following the matress slash, Jessica and Jackie start bickering. They debate which one of them hates the other the most. Then they start shouting in each other’s faces. Gia and Jessica (not drinking) next indicate they’re leaving rather than trying to deal with drunk people. But before they can leave, the drunk Jackie calls Gia a “big ass bitch,” prompting Gia to get all in Jackie’s face. Gia and Jessica finally do walk away. Says Jessica: “I can’t take this, this is like an instigation.” And it is. And it’s clear this has been planned by Jackie and Pam (with Erica as an ally) to start standing up to Gia and Jess, who normally tell people what to do and then those people fall in line. Gia and Jess don’t seem to know how to handle this new rebellion!

Gia and Jess retire to their flattened bed. Erica tells Gia through the tent, “Goodnight birthday loser.” Gia responds: “Goodnight you fake whore.” Back at the fire, Erica and Jackie are getting even more drunk. Erica keeps yelling out trash talk at Gia, who is at the entrance of her tent fuming and warning Erica that she (Gia) is on the verge of coming out there and punching Erica right in the face. Heading to commercial, Erica tells Gia, “Goodnight birthday penis,” which is very non-sensical, although Erica is now falling down drunk, after all!

Segment 4: It’s the morning, and it's Gia's birthday! Courtnee (who is the hot leggy supermodel-type from Charlotte, North Carolina -- the hometown of The Nature Boy Ric Flair -- and who is everyone's friend and supporter, and easily the most redeeming personality on this rotten show) gives Gia a hug and wishes her happy birthday. That was very sweet, Courtnee. Really though! But the bickering starts in immediately between Erica/Jackie vs. Gia/Jessica. Moderator Laura Baron strolls in to the campsite to the alarming sound of Jackie and Jessica lobbing F-bombs at each other. “What’s going on!?” asks Laura. She's very disappointed to arrive to all of this fighting and orders the girls to get packed up now, and she tells them that she'll see them back at the house promptly. Off camera, Laura comments: “Only one night away from civilzation and they completely unraveled.”

Back at the house, Gia, Leanne and Jessica gather everyone’s grocery lists and go grocery shopping for the week. They head out to Fields Market/Fine Foods in LA. Leanne (whom, although she's nice, has very much faded into the background as a lackey for everyone, and should never be compared in the same breath with Courtnee & Amber) comments: “Today’s Gia’s birthday so we're going to get anything Gia wants.” The threesome basically fills the whole shopping cart with items that Gia wants, with Jessica and Leanne only too happy to partake in the endeavor (Jessica and Leanne: Ever heard of thinking Independently for once in your lives!?). Gia makes it clear that this is revenge for last night, as Jackie, Erica and Pam will not be getting any of their requested groceries.

Prior to the grocery shopping threesome's arrival back at the house, Erica and Pam resolve to try to stay away from Jessica and Gia, whom Pam describes as “both insane” and having “a lot of issues” (although who doesn't on this show, truth be told?). Erica: “I’m really tired of fighting Jess and Gia -- they’re not really worthy opponents to me anyway.”

The grocery shopping crew arrives home and Gia gloats that she didn't get the groceries that Jackie, Erica and Pam wanted, even though those 3 ladies completed their household chores this week. Erica complains and then storms off in a huff, to which Gia responds: “I don’t care, Erica, go f*** yourself!” [Personal Note: Hold it right there Gia: That's MY catchphrase!] Gia then reveals that she spent most of the ladies' grocery budget for the entire week buying ingredients to make Gia a birthday cake!!!

On the outside patio, an angry Jackie says it’s her mission to make this the worst birthday that Gia has ever had, with Pam and Erica ready to help. The three of them take to calling Gia (out of her hearing), “Queen B, meaning Queen Basset Hound!” Erica then pokes her head inside the house and says “Hi Basset Hound” to Gia. Pam joins in from outside with some dog howling noises. Gia storms outside and gets in Erica’s face -- “Who are you calling a dog!” Erica responds: “Don’t touch me.” Courtnee (everybody’s friend, who stays out of all this drama and BS) is on the sideline grinning at the behavior of Erica & Gia. Erica tries to walk away, but Gia follows her around the yard saying, “Don’t call me a dog!” over and over again. Erica is remaining cool, but Gia’s about to lose it. Erica: “Fight with your words Gia -- you don’t have enough words to fight with.” Pam and Jackie are at the deck table laughing it up at this sight.

Segment 5: Time for the ladies' weekly sit down with Laura Baron at the house. Laura is very disappointed that the ladies didn’t bond on the camping trip but rather returned to their bad behavior. Pam complains about Gia taking advantage of her VIP title. Gia admits she abused her power, but that she did so “with all the pride in the world!” Jessica complains about how Erica and Jackie were carrying on drunk with trash talk the previous night after Jessica and Gia went to bed. Gia then accuses Erica of having implants (which is probably true, but who knows for sure and who really cares? -- Awesome Rack = Awsome Rack). Erica responds: “You know my boobs aren’t implants, they just look really good tonight.” Erica always has this silly little grin on her face, and Jessica erupts at the sight of it: “Stop smiling like that, you Malibu whore” [a funny line, principally because Erica Rose is a Texas gal from Houston].

Segment 6: Laura Baron tells the lades that she believes in all of them and wants them to just "let their walls down," stop all the fighting, and "not be affected by all the noise." Jessica really likes the line about "not being affected by all the noise" and tells Laura that she (Jessica) might adopt that as her new motto. Now it's time for this week's grades from Laura Baron!

Jessica was way too angry this week and fails. Pam somehow passes (not sure why), apparently because Erica and Jackie were more the direct instigators against Gia and Jessica. Jackie is credited for standing up for herself, but Laura thinks she took that too far and fails Jackie. Courtnee, Amber and Leanne all pass for being their generally positive selves, although Laura tells them they are not taking enough risks and that she wants them to start asserting more leadership. OK, Sorry, but that's very choice! I'm OK with telling them to assert more leadership, but WTF is with that comment telling them to take more risks! Those 3, to their credit, stay the hell out of all this mindless, 1st-grade style drama and bickering engaged in incessantly by Erica, Pam, Jackie, Gia and Jessica. How precisely are they supposed to start taking some risks? By starting to get in the middle of that moronic verbal sparring? Sorry, but that comment and criticism was way out of line and way misplaced by Ms. Laura Baron. But I digress.

Next up: Gia. Laura Baron obviously fails Gia for abusing her VIP powers by doing absolutely nothing while she doled out the worst jobs to the people she hates the most. Erica also fails (and deservedly so, despite her extremely hot look and very funny lines) for instigating a lot of the crap this week and simultaneously always trying to play the victim.

And here's a bit of a bombshell. Since in Laura Baron's eyes, no one improved to any great degree this week (even though 4 girls did pass), no one is awarded VIP this week. This again goes towards my running criticism of this show and the VIP award: Since the award is all about rewarding people who acted terribly the week before and then acted better the following week, nice girls who never f*** up like Courtnee and Amber (my two personal favorites on this show, even if I do also find Erica and Gia to be incredibly hot) can NEVER possibly win VIP! But oh well, them's just the rules of the game, I guess. UPPPP! THEMZ THE RULZ!

To end this segment and this episode, Laura Baron warns the ladies that just a few weeks are left in the series (Thank God, truth be told! -- I will NEVER again cover another hour-long reality series -- half-hour ones for me from here on out!). With only two weeks left, Laura tells the ladies that time is running out to get where they need to be in order to graduate from the show and to have their benefactors take them back with open arms (and open pocketbooks). Erica caps off the episode by commenting, “I still the think the world would be a lot better of a place if Gia had never been born.”

Preview of the Two Remaining Episodes of Season 1: Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child meets the ladies and introduces them to a charitable program close to her heart known as PATH (People Assisting The Homeless). That's right, the ladies' next assignment is to serve homeless food at a homeless shelter! The prospect of this endeavor makes the ladies none too happy, BTW. And in a special added attraction, the ladies rejoice as they find out they are about to get the wardrobes back that they they were forced to discard at the start of the series -- only to find out, such wardrobes are going to be auctioned off to raise money for PATH! I love it when Snobbish Disappointments Meet Good Causes! Great Stuff Upcoming! Check Back Next Monday Night!

"Lord Gaga"? Lady in Love?And Dude's From NEBRASKA!?

This is encouraging. Apparently you can be a smartass, 30-something bum from flyover territory and still make it with a rock star in the Big City!!! So is the story of Luc Carl (pictured on the left side of the lefthand picture, wearing an A's hat at a Mets game!?), as detailed in today's New York Post (link at bottom). Luc is a Nebraska-native bartender (and aspiring musician) in the Big Apple who reportedly has Pop Music Empress Lady Gaga quite smitten. From that pic, he looks to me like actor Diedrich Bader with a long-hair wig, but apparently Luc does actually exist as a bona fide person of his own.

Where to start? First of all, in addition to being a Cornholer (errrr, Nebraskan), Luc (32 years old and 8 years Gaga's senior) reportedly likes to adorn himself with attire more fitting of a mid-1980's relic than a suitor of the likes of Lady Gaga. He's described as a "sarcastic, Spandex-wearing bartender and aspiring lifestyle guru from Nebraska who looks like he raided [Poison's] Bret Michaels' closet in 1987," "perpetually clad in snakeskin Spandex and headbands." Actually, rather than Bret Michaels in 1987, that description seems to me even more buried in the '80s and more fitting of Motley Crue's Vince Neil circa 1983!

And other reports make Luc sound very much like the equivalent of a contemporary Kramer-like character from the classic TV sitcom Seinfeld. He hangs out at "hipster" joints, tending bar on Manhattan's Lower East Side at such "dives" as St. Jerome's (where he originally met Lady Gaga in 2007) and Welcome to the Johnson's. Also like Kramer, and despite his many quirks, he's described as "totally a ladykiller -- he's very charming."

And dude maintains a certain Net presence as well, blasting away from his blog, Drunkdiet.com. Thereon, he reports that he's working on a "cheeky memoir 'of his trials and tribulations to get into shape while partying every night.'" (Personal note: Yes, that very much can be a real chore!). Part of his regimen reportedly involves lifting dumbbells while smoking cigarettes! (Kids: Never use tobacco.) But whatever he's doing, it's been effective, because dude's reported to be very much in shape these days (the linked article implies, without coming out and saying it, that Luc was previously something less than "in shape").

OK, so enough already about this dude. What's the story on his relationship with Lady Gaga? Well, as stated above, they met in 2007, with Gaga reportedly developing a longstanding "puppy dog-like devotion" towards Luc. She's been described as being "obsessed" with Luc after it initially "took her awhile to get the courage up to talk to him." It's reported that several of the songs from her album The Fame were inspired by Luc, including "Boys, Boys, Boys."

Ultimately, Lady Gaga broke up with Luc 3 years ago (after less than a year of dating), reportedly due to his unfaithful tendency to make out with other chicks in front of her (quite ballsy for a loser dude with a rock star girlfriend!) and his apparent jealousy and competitiveness when it came to his waivering music career versus her meteoric rise.

The two became an item again only very recently, announcing the same to the Civilized World when they showed up together at a recent New York Mets game at CitiField -- an appearance that drew headlines across the country, but only due to Lady Gaga making a general spectacle of herself as she flipped off Mets fans for no apparent good reason.

Since then, Gaga and Luc have made waves in the past few weeks when Gaga -- apparently embracing her beau's '80s relic fetish and doing her best impersonation of just-such-a-relic Corey Hart -- showed up at St. Jerome's (one of Luc's barkeep joints) "wearing sunglasses at night." As one friend says, "He's the one guy she's never gotten over." And since it appears that Corey Hart and Bret Michaels are taken, with Vince Neil likely being "taken" off to the can soon for his recent DUI, I guess Lady Gaga has to date someone, right? She should look further into The Independent Rage, although I would wager that I move and shake just a bit too fast for anything like that!

http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/the_lady_gaga_for_old_flame_fwILvOt4c0zLlUNEVEGNRM

Don't Be a Smartass, Joe.

Two weeks ago I referred to vice president Joe Biden as Jerkwad of the Month for calling an ice cream parlor manager a "smartass" after the manager joked about "lowering our taxes." Well, look who's being the smartass this weekend: Biden himself. This weekend Biden hammed it up on Jay Leno's show concerning this week's spy swap with Russia and even inserted a blast at a famous conservative radio talk show host, just for good measure. The exchange went as follows:

Biden told Leno that he (Biden) had one suggestion for the spy swap which wasn't accepted by the Russians. "I thought they'd take Rush Limbaugh," Biden quipped. Leno also raised the issue of Russian spy hottie Anna Chapman (check out my recent item on her in the Ladies Panel in the right sidebar column), who was one of the ten spies returned to Russia in the swap. Leno asked Biden, "Do we have any spies that hot?" Biden responded, in a serious tone: "Let me be clear. It was not my idea to send her back."

My verdict? Those are actually some pretty decent and funny lines from Biden, and I felt compelled to say so after being fairly hard on him in late June after the ice cream incident. But as well, it's not so hard to present well when you know the microphones are on. I'd just ask that he exhibit the same humor and poise when he's dealing with ice cream parlor managers and doesn't realize that the mics are on.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100710/ap_on_en_tv/us_leno_biden_9

Political Potpourri: This Week I've Done My Best Mainstream Media Impersonation...

...ignoring very legitimate news stories of wide general interest and all, when those stories tend to portray Obama & The Dems in a rather unfavorable light. But at least I ignore these stories for legitimate reasons (as explained below), unlike the mainstream media ("MSM"). Here are three biggies I've ignored this week, just like the MSM:

1. Mr. "Redistribution of Wealth," Mark One -- Dr. Donald Berwick. Obama waited until a Senate recess this week to appoint this far left-winger as administrator of Medicare and Medicaid since the recess appointment allows Obama & Berwick to bypass the Senate confirmation process. Among this extremist's more choice quotes from as recently as 2008: "Excellent health care is by definition redistributional" and "any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized, and humane must — must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate."

I can just hear the Far Left retort to this one right now (even though I haven't bothered to read any of it on the Net this week): "Bush and other repub presidents have also made recess appointments!" (The Far Left is SO predictable, after all (much like the Far Right)). And the Far Left is so correct! Two Wrongs Always Make a Right! Not to mention, I'd challenge them to Show Me a recess appointment by the repubs who was as obviously this extreme as this Berwick. And a final note: I love how these loony left-wingers continue to maintain vehemently that Obama and his minions aren't truly "socialist" since they technically don't want to take over EVERY SINGLE mode of production (rather, just as many as possible) in our industries and economy -- sort of the Hugo Chavez model! "Some private industry will endure!"

2. Mr. "Redistribution of Wealth," Mark Two -- Dr. John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, whose statements from 2008 came to light this week of espousing the need for a new carbon tax so that wealth from northern hemisphere countries like the U.S. can be redistributed to the nations in the southern hemisphere. Boy, THAT'S REALLY within the mainstream of American opinion! But if you follow the MSM, Holdren never made any such far-leftist statements. Like the tree that falls in the forest without anyone around to hear it.

3. The allegations by a former attorney in Obama's Department of Justice, J. Christian Adams, who testified before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission that the DOJ, under leftist Eric Holder's direction, walked away from the Philadelphia "New Black Panthers Party" caught-on-tape voter intimidation case (against NBPP leader Malik Zulu Shabazz and others) because of race considerations. "I was told by [the DOJ's] Voting Section management that cases are not going to be brought against black defendants for the benefit of white victims," testified Adams. I realize these are one man's (and he is a repub) allegations, but no coverage by the MSM? Please.

I felt compelled to at least mention these rather outrageous items on my blog, but I certainly didn't talk about them or feature them in stand-alone posts as they broke in the non-MSM earlier this week. Why did I ignore them? Well, they just struck me as about Example Nos. 1678, 1679 and 1680 of how radical-left Obama & his White House is. Big Yawn, frankly.

And was any of this surprising even from Example Nos. 1, 2 and 3 (whatever those were) back in January 2009? Good Grief, people, this man had the most left-wing voting record in the Senate during his tenure there, which is very much saying something. If you feel like you were hoodwinked into voting for him, you largely only have yourself to blame (although I am sympathetic to the argument of how Obama very disingenuously ran a generic, generalities-based campaign pretending to be some kind of mainstream moderate). Plus McCain was an awful candidate, at least in 2008 (and I sure as hell didn't vote for him either).

So forgive me for growing a tad bit bored with all of the extremist outrages that come from Obama and his White House on a virtual daily basis. BUT, never fear, Far Left, because I'm always watching your slimy asses! Always watching, even if not Ragin' in particular instances. I See Everything (although without my glasses at about 3:30 in the morning, I don't tend to see things so well). And as always, to all you conservatives and repub politicians: You out-of-touch, extremist-controlled ass-munches, lacking any coherent plan for the future, can go **** yourselves too!

Quick Postscript as I get ready to post this: OMG! I just saw deranged right-winger Tucker Carlson on Fox News refer to Obama as "His Majesty". I invented that! I used that for all of my references to Obama in 2009 from about April through the end of the summer or so (go back in my archives and check it out). I finally stopped using it because it just smacked so much of Rush Slimebaugh-esque demented right-winger namecalling stuff. But dude (His Majesty) does very much carry himself around with a very arrogant, thin-skinned, condescending manner that's most reminiscent of a monarch (or Richard Nixon, at the very least). That's why I used to call him "His Majesty," and apparently some of the Far Right talking heads have been consulting my archives! Funny stuff.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69081
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/editorials/2010-07-10/ugly-any-color
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,596322,00.html

Dude Wants a Big Piece 'a Palin!

No, I'm not talking about half the guys in the country, but rather the dude on the left. He's republican Bob Inglis, a departing congressman from South Carolina who last month lost the GOP primary there to the more-conservative Trey Gowdy by a whopping 42 points. Well, now dude is angry and he's lettin' the 'ol bombshells fly! The target? None other than Bustah (errrr, Sarah) Palin!

Inglis' specific Palin target (about a year after it was actually a story) is her previous claim that Obama & The Dems' health care reform plans included "death panels" from which bureaucrats would make health care rationing decisions for the elderly. Blasts Inglis this week:

"To encourage that kind of fear is just the lowest form of political leadership. It's not leadership. It's demagoguery . . . preying on [voters'] fears . . . I think we have a lot of leaders that are following these [TV and talk radio] personalities and not leading."

All of this, BTW, from a guy who reportedly told then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2007 that Mormons aren't real Christians. Talk about wading into demagoguery and fear-mongering! But I digress.

Anyway, it sounds like someone needs to book a grudge match between Inglis and Palin real soon. Perhaps it could be a handicap match pitting Inglis against the tag team of Bustah & Bristol. I would stick this action in a cage -- a cage full of mud, that is -- and let them have at it, hard core rules. Palin can use one of her big hunting rivals as a weapon, so long as it's not loaded and she only tries to use it as a bludgeoning device. And Inglis' signature finishing maneuver, the Mormon Killer (a vicious variation on the classic DDT and illegal in 45 jurisdictions), will be fully legal. I see the match ending badly for the Palins, as Levi Johnston -- supposedly on hand cageside to support the Palins -- instead turns on them again and illegally interferes on Inglis' behalf, ending "Dance of the Demagogues" with an Inglis victory! And liberals everywhere rejoice!

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/09/inglis-goes-after-palin-lowest-form-of-political-leadership/?fbid=FWp419rIeIk

Oh My Omerta! Apparently He Didn't Have Things "Organized": 93-Year-Old Wiseguy, Dubbed "The Nodfather," Gets Sent to the Can Today in Brooklyn.

Fascinating story today out of the Big Apple, where John "Sonny" Franzese, 93 -- a reputed former second-in-command Underboss of NYC's Colombo crime family (he's in the first picture above, on left) -- gets pinched & hussled off to the hoosegow for up to 20 years after being convicted today for racketeering involving shakedowns at some of the local strip joints and pizzerias (links to story at bottom).

Sonny (I thought your name had to be Santino in order to be nicknamed "Sonny" in the mob?) garnered his new nickname, "The Nodfather," during his trial as he struggled to remain awake (once actually nodding off) while his turncoat son John Jr., 50, broke Omerta (the mafia code of silence) and testified against his old man.

And Junior (and since he's the Junior to a Sonny, does make him "Little Sonny"?) also testified as to some of the wonderful fatherly influence and advice that Big Sonny (whom I will henceforth refer to as "the old man") provided over the years. First, Junior testified that the old man had Junior, from a very young age, out on the street running messages for Daddy to other high-ranking mobsters, much akin to the role that a teenaged Henry Hill performed in the motion picture Goodfellas (based on a true story). And besides enlisting the boy to be his lackey and messenger boy, the old man was also full of wonderful life advice for his son, such as lessons in how to properly handle an extortion victim. The old man told Junior, "If he don't give it to you, leave him in the floor." With parental counseling like that, who needs bad influences, right?

But alas, the old man's shyster (errrr, attorney), Richard Lind, did during the trial try to argue that the old man's nefarious activities tend to pertain to the distant past, telling the jury that the old man hasn't been a threat since "the age of Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson and maybe the age of George Washington" (funny line, frankly). And indeed, the old man's heyday was in a bygone era: He was reportedly (along with Lola) a regular at the Copacabana nightclub, "where he mixed with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr." and other members of The Rat Pack. It's even alleged that Sinatra once kissed a ring on the old man's finger. But that was 30 years ago, when they used to have a show.

However, the old man's reach into the High Life of celebrities and American pop culture didn't stop there. It's reported that he also put his financial weight behind several American recording labels and also had a little taste (just enought to wet his beak) into such motion pictures as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the '70s porn classic, Deep Throat. I mean, talk about a total Pulp Fiction piece of work over there, this old man!

And finally, the old man has taken a rather matter-of-fact attitude towards this whole trial thing and the fact that Little Sonny took the testimonial stand to rat out his old man. The old man's earlier reaction to the possibility of being sent to the can and his son testifying against him: "Who cares? I gotta die someplace."

No word yet, BTW, on whether the old man will get to pull another Goodfellas (see second picture above) and live in a posh prison dormitory with other imprisoned wiseguys, separated from the rest of the prison population (I believe they call that "Gen Pop"), complete with all of the amenities, plenty of contraband food and drink, and an exclusive kitchen used for nightly dinners always featuring a pasta course and a meat course (along with a steady stream of white and red wine). My best advice to the old man: First thing, tell that damn Vinnie not to use too many onions in the pasta sauce!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/7879702/Mafia-boss-93-faces-prison-after-son-breaks-code-of-silence.html

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/gangster-93-convicted-of-racketeering-conspiracy-dpgapx-20100707-mh_8530254

Independents Ready to Give Democrat Party the Boot Out Of Washington Come November.

Following my earlier post today on the new Gallup poll reporting that Obama's job approval rating has for the first time fallen below 40% (38% to be precise) among Independents, I noticed tonight a new Fox News poll which verifies Gallup (link at bottom). The Fox News poll reports that 61% of Independents are either "disappointed" or "angry" with the White House. An additional 33% of Independents "are not extremely happy" with Obama, meaning that 94% of Independents have some real issues with Obama and his White House.

Even more significantly as it pertains to 2010, the Fox News poll finds that 55% of Independents (the folks who control election outcomes) are likely to vote for a republican congressional candidate this year with the "specific intention of providing a check on [democrat] control of Congress and the president." Good to see that I am, indeed, very much in touch with my fellow Independents, since that's precisely the sentiment I've been expressing on this blog for months and, specifically, as recently as last weekend:

That is, I will be voting for whichever person the GOP sticks on the ballot in November in my federal Senate and House races, no matter how much I might dislike the GOP candidate and even despite my long tradition (about 15 years now) of never voting for any dems or repubs in any race (since I absolutely distrust and dislike both of these two out-of-touch, corrupt parties that much). But as I stated this past weekend, I have no choice come November. The complete Iron Grip on federal power by the far leftist-controlled dem party must come to an end as soon as possible. We must provide a measure of balance of power in DC. As I've said many, many times in this space, I never in my lifetime want to see again either of these two B.S. parties having the total control of our federal government that Obama & The Dems have used to run roughshod over the past 18 months. Because it's been some very scary stuff.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/07/fox-news-poll-independent-voters-disappointed-angry-obama-administration/?test=latestnews

Bad News Today For Obama & His Congressional Dems: The President's Approval Rating Among Independents Reaches anAll Time Low.

Today's Gallup poll has just 38% of Independents approving of Obama's job performance -- the first time during his presidency that his job approval rating among Independents has fallen below 40% (link at bottom). And how do you think that bodes for the dems in the November midterm elections? Not so positively, methinks. Gosh, it must really chap the hides of partisan dems and repubs everywhere to know that we Independents control the results of elections. And I (and so many fellow Independents) still continue to look very forward to November.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/141131/Obama-Job-Approval-Rating-Down-Among-Independents.aspx

Steele Out, Palin In, For GOP Chair?!

That's the speculation and buzz around the Net today as repub National Committee Chairman Michael Steele continues to come under fire this week for recent statements criticizing the war in Afghanistan (see, e.g., the two links at bottom). The speculation appears to be largely driven by conservative pundits and commentators, and may just be more wishful thinking on their part than anything.

But regardless, let's consider the possibility. Let's see: Replacing one gaffe-prone clown with another? What, is Rand Paul not available? It doesn't sound like a very bright move on first blush. However, if the repubs can keep Palin somewhat muzzled in terms of her public statements and Twitter blasts (a task that may ultimately prove to be impossible), I think there's little doubt that she would far exceed Steele in terms of fundraising, which it would seem is ultimately the most important role of party chairperson.

Also (and the first link at bottom gets into this as well), it seems to me that Palin really doesn't talk to the media much anymore, rather mostly limiting her statements to Fox News and social networking sites. If she becomes GOP chair, she would have to be more accessible to the media in general for at least occasional interviews. I'm not sure that the repubs really want that, are you? Stay tuned...

http://theweek.com/article/index/204659/should-the-gop-dump-michael-steele-for-sarah-palin
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWYzM2ViNDQwNzVmOGY2NzM5YzY4OTQzMGViZjMzOGQ=

Episode 5 Tonight of "You're Cut Off" On VH1!The Ladies Are Forced to Shed Their Makeup, & Someone Gets Her Walking Papers!

Nutshell Synopsis of Episode 5: With this week's lesson being "inner beauty," the ladies are forced to participate in photo shoots with and without makeup, leading to some major league meltdowns. Plus, for the first time, one of the bad girls of the house gets her pink slip and gets sent packing for home!

Segment 1: The episode picks up where the last one left off, with Gia out on the street crying, having ran out of the house in disgust at fellow bad girl Erica being named last week's VIP (Very Improved Princess). Noticeably, no one goes out to console her. She resolves not to quit and heads back inside the house.

The next morning, Erica (as VIP) is enjoying being able to dole out the household chores. She assigns Pam yardwork and gives her some friendly advice: "Have you ever used a lawnmower before? It's pretty complicated. Anyway, let me know if you need me to show you how to mow because it took me awhile to figure it out too." Meantime, ultimate bad girl Chrissy (who really hasn't done any work or anything positive to speak of since this series' inception) is sleeping in as usual, while Jackie works on mopping the kitchen. Jackie asks Erica, "do you think I should mop the refrigerator?" "Yeah," responds Erica and Jackies starts in wiping the mop all over the sides of the appliance. "That was a good idea; you're really going above and beyond your chores," comments Erica. Pam's out in the yard, raking leaves and debris into the neighbor's yard and trying to clean the fish pool with a mop (what's with these ladies and their mops this week?). Chrissy finally gets out of bed but refuses to do any work, telling Erica: "You're on my stage right now and I ain't entertaining you because you're just a prop."

Moderator Laura Baron then informs the ladies that his week's lesson has to do with "beauty" (not yet revealing to them that it's actually about "inner beauty"). They head off to have a photo shoot at Siren Studios in LA with a celebrity photographer. Says Erica, "I definitely consider myself an expert in the beauty industry, having growed up with a father who's a plastic surgeon." [No typo in that prior quote. And Erica's in law school!] Chrissy is excited about the shoot: "That's why I take my time doing my makeup -- We're about to do a photo shoot and these other girls look half-assin'. Oh I'm ready!" The ladies then head off to work with professional hair and makeup teams. Erica comments that it takes a few hundred thousand dollars a year for her to look as good as she looks, and Gia notes: "If this is a modeling competition, ladies be aware, I photograph very well."

The shoot begins with Jackie going first. Jackie says she thinks she looks very good, but off stage Jessica comments that "Jackie should be on the cover of Mad Magazine." Says Jessica, "looking at Jackie is like watching two dogs hump -- you don't wanna look but you have to." "Watch out bitches, here I come," proclaims bad girl Gia, as she's next up. Says Gia, "The only thing going through my mind right now is that this guy [the photographer] is definitely going to give me a call and is going to want to be putting me somewhere in his magazines because he's just loving my look."

Erica goes next, but Chrissy criticizes her for not having anything more than "one frozen look" on camera (as it does appear difficult for Erica to flash a large smile). Leanne says she "feels amazing" in front of the camera "because I was Little Miss America when I was 1, 2 and 3." Pam's also pompous, saying that "of course the other girls are jealous of me; I mean, I'm hotter than them." Amber, Jessica and Courtnee get their turns, followed by Chrissy, who doesn't care for the fan blowing in the studio: "Whew! You think we have to have it that strong, because my weave is gonna be off!" During her shoot, Chrissy comments: "I love having my picture taken because it captures my beautiful features, and it's something I can keep looking at over and over again, and I won't ever get tired of looking at it." She also tells the other ladies, "The Star is taking a picture. Please relax."

After the shoot, Laura Baron informs the ladies that the full description of this week's lesson is actually "inner beauty" -- "The real lesson starts now." Chrissy is not happy, spouting: "What the hell we gonna do now? I've learned my lesson [for the week]. I know I'm beautiful. Oh, it's time to go home, NOW!"

Segment 2: The girls are taken to the Chua Viet Nam Buddhist Temple, which has very much a temple look to it, complete with myriad Buddha statues. Pam notes: "I see little Buddhas everywhere when I get my nails done, and so I'm thinking, is this like a really big spa?" Chrissy says she has a "bad vibe" about this joint from the beginning. The ladies are then sent to an upstairs room in the temple to put on robes and sandals, which they hate. "I'm as hot as a Tijuana slut," barks Jessica, while Gia crows: "I'm not wearing no $1 sandals; I'm going to go out in my heals!"

Laura Baron then informs the girls that they are there to learn something from the Buddhist monks about valuing their inner beauty. Chrissy is just not feeling it: "Maybe some of these other girls are ugly on the inside, but not me, I'm beautiful on the inside. I don't need no lesson on damn inner beauty." The lovely, mild-mannered and leggy supermodel-type Courtnee is also skeptical: "Who cares if I have an attachment to materialistic things. Because my shoes and clothes look good. Who cares, as long as they make me look good." One of the monks talks to the ladies about Buddha and his life (with glazed-over eyes aplenty among the ladies). But Erica has trouble focusing on the substance of his message: "All I can think about is the monk's robe is cuter than my robe, and I wish I could be wearing his right now."

The ladies are then led to a room for some meditation with the monks. Jessica and Chrissy are not comfortable with the meditation room, with Chrissy stating: "I don't care if I piss off these monks. Going in that room -- I don't think that has nothing to do with inner beauty, and so I'm not gonna do it." As the monks start chanting, Chrissy is fed up. "This just don't feel right," she says as she stomps out of the room. Jessica does the same. The other 7 ladies participate in the meditation session. Afterward, bad girl Gia expresses her disappointment that Jessica and Chrissy refused to participate, but they really couldn't care less. In the car and on the way back to Siren Studios, Pam divulges that she is very close to totally blowing her stack with the "negative" ladies such as Jessica and Chrissy.

Arriving back at Siren Studios, Laura Baron breaks the shocking news to the ladies that the next part of this week's lesson will involve posing for another photo shoot, but this time without any makeup, any jewelry and any designer clothing. Chrissy immediately reacts negatively, saying: "No makeup! I'm supposed to be a Barbi and glamorous at all times, and polished. Oh, this is not gonna work for me!"

Segment 3: Laura Baron talks more about the purpose of this week's "inner beauty" lesson, saying that it's intended to get the ladies to more like whom they are on the inside so that they don't feel the need to spend so much time and money on pursuing material things. The ladies head to the makeup room and start working on removing their makeup. Gia and Chrissy start bickering. Chrissy wants Gia to take off her fake eyelashes as Chrissy did. Gia responds: "Then take off your fake ass hair!" Says Chrissy: "Bitch, that's my hair, not my face. I can take off my hair and still be as hot!" Pam is becoming irritated with this bickering, and buxom nice girl and southern belle Amber is visibly getting stressed out by the bickering. Finally, Pam can't take it any longer: "I have had enough! All you ever girls ever do is complain!" Chrissy stands up for her "right to complain," and Jessica joins in and starts shouting back at Pam as well. Jessica: "I know why you're all hot and bothered, because you like a 5o-year-old woman without your makeup!" Pam: "Really? I look better than you!"

Amber has also reached her limit with the bickering and is starting to have a panic attack. She walks out of the makeup room and explains to Laura Baron that she has a panic disorder, and that a panic attack was triggered by all the fighting by the other ladies. Laura encourages Amber to relax and breathe for awhile, which helps. Laura then stands in front of a full-length mirror with Amber -- something each of the ladies will have to do as a part of their second photo shoot. Laura wants each lady to look in the mirror and say what it is that each girl likes about herself as a person. Amber's first response to that question is, "my boobs." But then she offers a more thoughtful response, saying she prides herself in being strong and confident (and typically as a result being able to avoid panic attacks like the one today).

Back in the makeup room, the bickering continues, primarily between Pam and Jessica, with Jessica having an absolutely enraged, evil look on her face such that I thought she might actually go clinically insane right then and there. Erica is next up to look in the mirror with Laura. Erica confides that she feels very vulnerable without her makeup. Laura encourages her to try to just let go of her preoccupation with makeup, botox and jewelry, and to let others love her for her. Pam, Leanne, Jessica, Courtnee and Jackie all have their turns in front of the mirror, with each saying something positive about their inner-selves.

Gia is up next, and has big difficulties bringing herself to even look in the mirror without her makeup. But alas, the problem only seems to be partially due to the lack of makeup, as Gia says that "there's a lot of things I'm not proud about." She laments that she tends to pay her way through life and pay her way out of having to do things. She says she wants to change and says that he's proud of herself for accepting that she needs to change. Laura tells Gia that she thinks Gia's made some amazing progress this week (Hear Hear!).

And then it's Chrissy time in front of the mirror! But first a personal aside: I have never been that overly attracted to Chrissy's wild-ass, exotic look in makeup, but I was amazed to actually find her much more attractive without makeup! But I digress. In front of the mirror: "What's beautiful about you," asks Laura. "Everything," proclaims Chrissy. Things only go downhill from there. Chrissy says she's not "getting" this whole "inner beauty" concept, and she repeatedly expresses that she has a huge hangup with the fact that Laura (the moderator of the show and NOT a participant) has not also taken off her makeup! Laura sees right through this tactic and starts to become very annoyed with Chrissy, telling her that she's trying to use Laura as an excuse to avoid seriously embracing the lesson and reflecting upon what she thinks is the most beautiful thing about her as a person. (Personally, I'm a bit suspicious that Chrissy's real problem might have been that she couldn't think of a single thing that's redeemable about her personality -- I mean, the lady's just rotten). Off camera, Laura says that she can't help Chrissy if she doesn't first want to help herself.

Segment 4: The next morning at the house, Chrissy is still mad at Laura for making Chrissy take off her makeup without taking off her own. Laura shows up and tells Chrissy (through the bathroom door), "I'd like to see you in my office in 15 minutes, OK?" Says Chrissy: "I'll be ready in about 40 minutes, OK?" Laura storms off. And Chrissy is being serious: "I don't rush this beauty regimen for anyone, including Laura. She needs to wait for me. I need all the time I can get to get beautified." Gia warns Chrissy that she had better get a move on, but Chrissy starts yelling at Gia about not giving her advice.

Chrissy shows up very late to the meeting with Laura. Asks Laura: "How do you feel about your participation in this program?" Responds Chrissy: "Uh, I'm participating." And things just get worse from there, with Chrissy flashing her bad attitude, complete arrogance, and lack of respect for anyone around her as Laura confronts her about not participating in lessons and giving constant pushback to everything and everyone on this program. When Laura tells Chrissy that she needs to want to help herself, Chrissy responds: "I believe this program is low key bullshit for me." Laura has finally had it: "I will not allow one woman to take down a program that I am seeing improve all of the other girls. It's not fair to the girls or the program, and quite frankly I am disappointed." Chrissy's only response: "OK, you have have anything else to say?" Then Laura lowers the ol' boom: "Yes, pack up and be gone within an hour." Chrissy says thank you and leaves.

While I had thought that Chrissy's awful behavior throughout the series might have been intended to garner getting sent home, that apparently was not the case, as she is upset and crying back at the house concerning the fact that she must leave. Put another way, she really was so arrogant so as to think that she could get away with anything and still progress to the end of the show. As Chrissy packs her bags, the very well-endowed Erica, wearing only her bra, seems to almost gloat over Chrissy's departure, telling Chrissy: "At least your luggage is cute." The other ladies do not really seem angered or outraged by Chrissy's departure, although they do seem very shocked that this has occurred (since the goal of this reality show is for all the ladies to survive until the end).

Segment 5: Chrissy is shown taking her luggage to a care for her departure. The other ladies come out to wave goodbye. And then there were eight. Jessica confides that this event is a real eye-opener for her, since she definitely does not want to get booted from the show like Chrissy was. Then the ladies begin their regular end-of-the-week meeting with Laura Baron. They first talk about Chrissy getting the hook. Laura says that she asked Chrissy to leave because she unwilling to work on helping herself. Amber asks why Laura gave up on Chrissy. Laura says it was because Chrissy simply wasn't open to being helped: "If you are committed to yourself, then I promise you that I'll be committed to you."

Final Segment: Now it's time for Laura to reveal which ladies passed and failed this week's lesson. Not surprisingly, all 8 remaining ladies pass this week since all were willing to look in the mirror and reveal what they think about their inner-selves. The Very Improved Princess (VIP) title for this week goes to Gia, who certainly came a long way in this episode after almost leaving the show at the end of last week.

But all is not well in Spoiled Brat-Ville! Pam and Jackie are irrate that Gia won VIP. Says Pam: "Gia gets away with murder!" And then it's revealed that Pam and Jackie apparently have some sort of nefarious plan up their sleeves for radically changing the dynamics in the house: "We're about to take over this house. They'll never know what hit them!" End of episode.

Preview of Next Episode: Next week the ladies must go camping! Let the bickering begin around the ol' campfire!!!

Final Comments: While it was hilarious to see Chrissy get the boot, I'm actually very sorry to see her go. Simply put, her whole rotten personality, which incessantly put herself first before the needs and interests of everyone around her, was extremely entertaining each week! Of the show's "bad girls," she was the Ultimate Bad Girl, and I'm afraid the show won't be quite the same without her. BUT, we still have bad girls Erica, Gia and Jessica to screw stuff up (plus the mysterious above-referenced plan of Pam and Jackie), and so I think the remaining three episodes should continue to be high entertainment!

On This Independence Day, I Invite Everyone to Declare His/Her Own Independence...

Yes, declare independence: That is, independence from ties and allegiances to the two out-of-touch, extreme-controlled, corrupt and non-responsive entities known as the democrat party and the repub party -- two parties controlled by minorities of the population known as conservatives and liberals/progressives. They do not have your best interests at heart, so why have any allegiance to them? Show allegiance to yourself and to country, and think for yourself. Just declare independence, as the colonial Americans did, showing incredible courage, 234 years ago today.

And on this day, endeavor also to read the Declaration of Independence, which is a remarkably succinct document, so much unlike the legislative monstrosities that we have seen foisted upon us time and time again over the past 18 months. A link to the full text is at bottom (like I said, it's a very short document), and here are just a few excerpts, as written by the great American political philosopher, Thomas Jefferson:

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The history of the present King of Great Britain [MEMO TO GENERATION Y: We declared our independence from Great Britain!] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world . . .

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people . . .

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures . . .

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance . . .

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people . . .

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved . . . And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

Look At These Two Clown Repubs Running for U.S. Senate in Kansas -- One of Whom I Will Have to Vote For! Talk About Kissin' Your Sister.

They are Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt, both staunch conservatives, who have lately been engaging in a mindless, mean-spirited and ugly TV ad battle over whom the "real conservative" is, as they battle for the GOP nomination in the Kansas U.S Senate race this year. For what it's worth (and it's worth absolutely nothing to me), the Tea Party apparently backs Tiahrt from amongst these two highly indistinguishable candidates (big surprise there -- do you really think the Tea Party would support a "Moran" after the above-pictured St. Louis tea party mullet-headed idiot went viral on the Net with his misspelled "morans" sign?).

And I'm going to have to vote for one of these two deranged right-wing freaks! But alas, I'm left with no choice. No choice whatsoever. A balance of power must be restored to DC. Never in my life do I ever want to see either of these two out-of-touch, bull$hit parties have the complete iron grip on power in DC that we've seen from Obama & The Dems over the last year and a half. The results have been, as fully expected, frightening.

And so as I said on such dark days as Black Christmas and Sunday Bloody Sunday -- and even though I haven't voted for a repub or dem since at least the mid-1990's -- I will be voting for whomever the repubs stick in front of me this fall in my local U.S. House and Senate races. Sometimes in life, you have to swallow your general principles in pursuit of a greater good. I just wish that this time, pursuing that greater good didn't make me feel like an Independence Avenue streetwalker at 4 in the morning.

http://www.gctelegram.com/news/ap-SenateRace-06-01-10

Tea Party Buzz: GOP Candidates Ducking the Birther Question, And a Prediction of the Tea Party Movement's Demise?

Politico.com today has a couple of interesting odds and ends directly and indirectly related to the tea party movement. The first item, at least it seems to me, pertains to the previous polls we've seen reporting that large percentrages of tea partiers and conservatives in general actually believe that Obama is not legitimately the president because he was born in another country (the "birthers"). I think 2010 republican candidates know full well about such polls, and therefore they won't give you a straight answer if you ask them whether they believe Obama is legitimately the president.

The latest example of this rather cowardly refusal to answer that question comes from Sharron Angle, the republican senatorial candidate in Nevada running against dem and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for Reid's seat this fall (first link at bottom). And realize that I'm giving Angle and other repubs the benefit of the doubt when I merely call them cowardly, since the alternative is that they actually believe that Obama is not legitimately the president and want to avoid the question for that reason (as opposed to merely desiring to avoid alienating the birthers).

The second item today centers on the republican that conservatives and tea partiers everywhere love to hate -- Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Graham tells the New York Times this week (second link at bottom): "The problem with the tea party, I think, is it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out." Graham also tells the Times that the tea party movement has driven the repub party too far to the right, such that even "Ronald Reagan would have a hard time getting elected as a Republican today." Ouch. (I think I'd avoid checking that e-mail and voice mail any time soon if I was the Senator).

As to Graham's claim that the tea party movement will "die out," I think that may just be wishful thinking on his part, at least on the short term. I think that as long as we have total far left control of the presidency and the entire Congress -- as we've had since the start of 2009 -- you're going to see Obama & The Dems running amok and doing their loony left-wing thing, with an energized tea party movement still out there in response. Funny how extremists only fan the flames of other extremists on the other side.

And that, frankly, is a damn shame. I'm on record previously in this space about the tea party. This is basically and fundamentally a conservative movement and is predominantly composed of and fueled by staunch conservatives. Graham is absolutely right about the tea party driving the republican party to the right. I think any movement that serves to drive these two BS parties any farther to the left or to the right is not a positive movement since it means that Independents (40% of the country and the deciders of elections) are represented by no one to an even greater extent than is already the case. So Senator, you say the tea party is going to die out? Fine with me, but I just don't see that occurring any time soon. And you know, Senator, you really should consider turning Independent.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39315.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39286.html

An Inconvenient EVERYTHING: Cops Reopen Investigation Into Alleged Al Gore Sexual Assault, As His Accuser Goes Public.

Bad, bad and more bad when it comes to the news this week for that esteemed inventor of the Internet, Al Gore. As ABC News reports today: "Portland, Oregon police have decided to reopen the investigation into a 54-year-old masseuse's allegations that former Vice President Al Gore sexually assaulted her in his hotel room in 2006" (I guess the MSM's "He Wasn't Charged" defense is out the window for the time being). And all of this comes after the National Enquirer hit newsstands this week with an interview they purchased from Gore's accuser, who has now gone public with her identity -- Molly Hagerty.

Now, if you thought some of those "crazed sex poodle" allegations she told the cops were bad, the lady is really ratcheting up the ol' rhethoric in her Enquirer interview: "Al Gore is a pervert and a sexual predator. He's not what people think he is - he's a sick man. I want justice served." Ouch-a-rama.

Hagerty also continues to claim that she kept pants from the alleged incident that have stains of Gore's "DNA," for lack of a more radio-friendly term. She's also claiming there is another witness, plus a hotel video surveillance tape, that will help to corroborate her story.

Also new today: Gore somewhat breaks the silence he's maintained since this story broke a week or so ago. Through a spokesperson, Gore says that he "unequivocally and emphatically denies this accusation." And in true politician spin mode, the spokesperson also claims that "further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore." Right! The reopening of the police investigation is just want Big Al wanted all along! Please.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/al-gore-sex-abuse-case-reopened-portland/story?id=11059203
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/new_evidence_gore_sex_scandal_exclusive_interview_masseuse_/celebrity/68913