Holiday Road! Her Majesty Lives It Up on European Vacation Last Weekend. Hope Michelle Amused Herself, Because NoOne Else Is.

Just more proof positive that this administration and everyone connected to it could not be more out of touch with the problems and concerns of the American people during these very dire social and economic times. Now, if you've read this space from time to time, you'll know that I'm not much on criticizing the First Lady or ever even mentioning the first family (except, of course, for the head honcho himself). So instead of going on one of my typical rants, I thought I'd link you (at bottom) to a particularly well-written and rather scathing indictment of Michelle Obama's European Vacation from Britain's Telegraph. Here's a little taste to wet your beak:

"The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions.

While the liberal-dominated US mainstream media have largely ignored the story, it is all over the blogosphere and talk radio, and will undoubtedly add to the President’s free falling poll ratings. As much as the media establishment turn a blind eye to stories like this, which are major news in the international media, the American public is increasingly turning to alternative news sources, including the British press, which has a far less deferential approach towards the White House.

The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Marbella and the complete disregard for public opinion and concerns over excessive government spending is symbolic of a far wider problem with the Obama presidency – the overarching disdain for the principles of limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise that have built the United States over the course of nearly two and a half centuries into the most powerful and free nation on earth."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100050002/the-obama-presidency-increasingly-resembles-a-modern-day-ancien-regime-extravagant-and-out-of-touch-with-ordinary-people/

Sad Days for Independents & America: As Dems Push Even More Far Left, GOP Trends Even More Far Right, Talking Up a 14th Am. Citizenship Clause Repeal.

The latest republican noise on this front came today on Sunday morning TV from House minority leader John Boehner -- fresh out the tanning salon (he's the George Hamilton clone in the center of the above pic) -- who said that a repeal of the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause is "worth considering." That Clause provides that anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen, regardless of whether the person's parents are also citizens. Boehner isn't the first, as plenty of GOP talking heads (including John McCain) have been making similar suggestions in recent weeks.

I call it both ways, folks. Over the past 19 months, I have frequently pointed out just how radical far leftist the DC dem powerbrokers are. And I view the apparent "repeal the Citizenship Clause" movement from the GOP to be similarly radical far right. I look at the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause as being every bit as "Ma and Apple Pie," and at the core of what makes us a great nation, as even my beloved First Amendment, and most certainly the Second Amendment, as well as the other fundamental substantive rights extended to us throughout the Bill of Rights.

The Fourteenth Amendment and its Citizenship Clause date back to 1868 and the Reconstruction Era. The Clause effectively overruled the notorious Dred Scott decision of 1857, which had found that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. And now the GOP is talking of repealing such an importantly historical piece of law? Whom do the republicans think they are? When the radical leftists of the democrat party spew their constant drumbeat rhetoric of GOP standing for such things as Grumpy Old white Persons, methinks even they do at times have a very valid point.

Now, all the GOP talk about repealing the Citizenship Clause appears grounded in the argument that it could help discourage illegal immigration from Mexico. Which is Right-Wing BS! The way we stem the flow of illegal immigration over the porous southern border (which I have little doubt has allowed dozens if not more Al Qaeda operatives into our country over the last several years) is very simple: Secure the damn border! But the GOP has little interest in doing that since it is bankrolled by powerful interest groups supportive of the cheap labor force that an open border brings.

So what do we get from the GOP? A bunch of lip service about securing the border (just like we get from the democrat party), couple with a real and bona fide focus on the largely anti-American measure of repealing the Citizenship Clause. Yes, I just accused the GOP of acting anti-American, but you'll find that's just sort of the way I roll.

As usual, the real losers in this whole equation are my fellow Independents -- that 40% of the country which is not very comfortable with either of these two extremist parties but yet incessantly much try, come election time, to choose between the lesser of two absolute evils. I started this post with a two-word phrase, and I shall end it the same way: Sad Days.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/08/john_boehner_repeal_of_14th_am.html

Five Finger Death Punch's "Bad Company": That'll Work!

(Link to song and video at bottom of post). This song was released as a single in late May, but I just heard it for the first time in the past week. The song, "Bad Company," is probably my favorite song from the classic rock band Bad Company -- one of Bad Company's earlier songs from the mid-1970's.

Five Finger Death Punch (a very cool band name inspired by the old martial arts film genre) actually HIT the Billboard Top 20 with this song (an impressive feat for a metal band). I like their version of the song and its sound, and I look forward soon to listening to more of their material. Truth be told, I don't much care for the title of their current album, "War Is The Answer" -- a rather simple-minded juxtaposition of a lyric from the Great Marvin Gaye's absolutely gorgeous & brilliant song, "What's Going On".

But at the same time, MUCH RESPECT to Five Finger Death Punch for their trip to Iraq this past March to play 10 shows for our troops -- footage from which is very prominently included in the linked "Bad Company" video. Bottom line: War is only extremely rarely the answer (and we had no business ever invading Iraq), but supporting our wonderful troops is always the only way to be. And for their outstanding effort in that regard (not to mention a nice rendition of "Bad Company"), a big Rager Salute goes out to Five Finger Death Punch tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_VsvZmIWxY

"Castro Warns of Impending Nuclear Holocaust": More Drudge Drudgery.

That's the headline this Saturday night on the DrudgeReport.com (link to "story" at bottom). Before I get to my point, a bit of background:

I find DrudgeReport.com to be an invaluable resource as a news aggregator that groups in one place a whole host of stories to which the so-called "mainstream" (i.e. left-slanted) media is not likely to pay any attention. But make no mistake: Matt Drudge (who runs the website; the one pictured above without the beard) is your garden variety version of what I refer to as the "deranged right-winger" (never to be confused with the "loony left-winger").

Therefore, he himself largely ignores most stories that are damaging to republicans and to fellow right-wingers. Moreover, he links to stories with right-slanted little headlines which I often find (after reading the linked story) to be highly misleading. And as a take-off on one of my favorite lines -- Kids: Never use tobacco or drink whiskey, AND never fail to take the Drudge Report without a grain of salt. It's a good resource to informing your mind, but if it's your only resource on the Net, then Lord help ya! OK then -- I digress.

To my point: Why in the hell would Drudge lead tonight with Castro proclaiming an "impending nuclear holocaust"? Castro is infirm. He's 84 years old. He no longer runs Cuba (rather his brother does). Cuba doesn't even have a single nuclear warhead (thanks in no small part to the last great American president, JFK). Put another way, Castro is irrelevant. No one pays any attention to him anymore. But yet his over-the-top rhetoric lands high atop the Drudge Report tonight.

Why? Well, I think that's pretty obvious. I have to credit a certain genius to Drudge. Just look what the dude's accomplished, building one of the most visited and lucrative websites out there. He's often described by media experts as "knowing his audience," and he sure as hell does. Sure, plenty of non-partisan Independents like me regularly view his site. But we're not his base audience. Rather, his audience is predominantly the folks who make Rush Slimebaugh the most listened to radio host in the country: Yes, the deranged right-wingers, as I call them.

Drudge knows that amongst that particular audience, stories aimed at drumming up foreign policy fear and also pointing to potential "socialist" threats close to home SELL! Which is fine. I respect very much what Drudge has built in terms of his incredibly high traffic page view website. My bottom line, I guess, would be just to point out to all of my fellow non-partisan Independents out there: Drudge Report is a nice resource, but always realize the slant from which it comes, and never allow it to dominate the news and political sites that you visit in your drive to always be informed as you can.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1766036/fidel-castro-at-cuban-parliament.html

Episode 1 Recap of Real Housewives of DC!Check Out This Opus!

Episode 1 Synopsis: In the debut episode this week of this hot new Bravo series, the very unique and contrasting personalities and background of the 5 Ladies are revealed, along with plenty of friction and conflict! (What else, right!!!).

Segment 1: The show starts by introducing its 5 lady stars one by one:

Mary Amons: Mary is driving her son Ryan in an SUV. They live in McLean VA, and are surrounded by the CIA. Dick Cheney and Colin Powell are neighbors. She’s lived in this area her whole life. Her family is going to its yearly photo shoot to have a holiday card taken. “DC is a political city and it never hurts to stay connected,” says Mary (insinuating that such is the main motivation for shooting the holiday card).

Mary has been married to husband Rich for 24 years and they have 5 kids (3 daughters and 2 sons ranging in age from 11 to 23). They’ve brought wine for the older ones to drink so that they don’t get too stressed out during the shoot (apparently based on past experience, they say). Mary's family goes way back in DC, she says. Her grandfather was legendary radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey, who was very good friends with LBJ (as Mary notes). Mary's old man was a DC lobbyist and became friends with Ethel Kennedy, and as a girl they’d get invited for pool parties over at the Kennedy’s, which is a very fond memory for Mary.

Stacie Turner: She says there’s a big difference between living in the city of DC itself (as she does) and living outside the city and/or in the suburbs (as the other 4 starring ladies on the show do). You’re only a real Washingtonian if you live in the city, she says. She’s the only African-American amongst the 5 ladies on the show. She went to Harvard business school and says she met Barack Obama (herein referenced as "Obama") years ago. She's a real estate agent working for a realtor who specializes in high-end homes, at least $1 million, but also handles homes up to $150 million. “You’ve got the have the money to live in DC – It’s not cheap,” she says. Stacie says that on average, she does about $25-30 million in sales per year. “I’m very good at what I do.” She’s married to Jason and has been for 12 years. Jason seems like a happy-go-lucky, rather jovial type. They have an energetic young son and daughter.

Lynda Erkiletian: She claims to run the top modeling agency in DC (and that it’s been that way for 25 years) – T.H.E. Artist Agency. She's divorced twice and has four kids (two of whom are 16 and 24). Lynda says she’s not interested in getting married again. She has a much younger (half her age) 6’5” muscle-bound boyfriend named Ebong. BTW, the media and plenty of viewers have already noticed Lynda’s seemingly uncanny resemblance to Danielle Staub of Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Michaele Salahi (pronounced “Mi-CAL-uh” by Cat and “Mi-CAY-luh” by Mary and Lynda): Of course, Michaele became (in)famous when she and her husband Tareq crashed a state dinner at the White House in November 2009 and had their picture taken with Obama. Right off the bat, she’s shown having a professional do her makeup for her and says that clothing and fashion are extremely important in DC: “I spend a lot of time just trying to look good. I love just to make an entrance!” [But don't we all?!?]

Next Michaele's getting her hair done and brags about meeting Obama at a “Rock the Vote” event. “He really loves people,” she tells those around her. “When people first meet me, they think I have no substance . . . but then they see that there’s a whole lot of substance here,” she says. She’s then heard referring to the Oval Office in the White House as the “oval room.” She then talks about husband Tareq (which she pronounces, “Tark”). She brags about how he’ll sometimes fly her over off to Paris just for dinner. She says he makes her feel like Cinderella, and that he’s her “fantasy prince.” It’s clear that Michaele just loves to receive expensive jewelry from him! OOOOW!

At first blush, frankly, Michaele reminds me of Sharon Stone’s “Ginger” character from the movie Casino, except likely not nearly as intelligent. She explains that she and Tareq live in Virginia wine country, own a vineyard and winery called Oasis, and (for good measure) Tareq is captain of the United States horse polo team. She says they travel into DC every day and spend a lot of time in hotels in the city. “We spend a fortune in hotels.”

Catherine (“Cat”): She grew up in Great Britain in the London area and moved to the States in the past few years. She has 2 young daughters, and they are rather hilarious in that one seems to speak with a distinctly British accent while the other with more of an American accent. She moved to DC to join up with and marry her childhood sweetheart Charles (also British), who’s been a White House photographer for 12 years (including working closely with both the Bush and Obama families). Cat has a book coming out later this year called “Inbox Full,” which details her life experiences and travels. OFF THE RECORD (not discussed on the show): Cat once allegedly (despite being like 25 years older than him) MADE OUT with Prince Harry of Britain! It Was Quite the Scandal for the Ole Brits!

Segment 2: There’s an event going on near the DC monuments called America’s Polo Cup – an event founded by Michaele and husband Tareq. The event draws a lot of DC political and diplomatic types. Polo players on their horses are then shown (including Tareq) galloping around one of the large fields around the Washington monument (Doesn't that really tear up the grass on that public park field?). Michaele explains that her role at the event is to work the crowd, and she goes around hugging people and telling them she loves them. She says that if more of us would just go around hugging people, it would “save the world.”

Off camera, Lynda explains that she’s worked with this event in the past, but that no one would ever get paid, which was bad for her business. So she no longer sponsors the event, and Michaele explains that Lynda therefore has not been invited (the two do claim to be friends, however). Lynda: “I have no desire to go back or ever be associated again with that little goat rodeo.” But Cat does show up at the event, along with her friend Andrea. Predictably, it takes Michaele about 2 seconds before she’s up huggin’ on Cat. [You know, I should have crashed this event like Michaele crashed the White House, because I guarantee you that Michaele would have given me a big hug!] Cat and Michaele resolve to go horse riding together sometime.

Then in the polo match, Tareq scores a goal, prompting Michaele to start braggin’ that fact up to everyone around her! Cat: “Michaele is 5000 miles an hour, the attention span of a gnat, she’s pretty crazy.” Edwina Rogers, described as a prominent republican lobbyist, then shows up. And Michaele is over hugging her just as fast as she can, but then quickly running off and leaving Edwina alone. So Edwina introduces herself to Cat. They seem to hit it off decently. Off camera, Cat says she was expecting something bigger of this event and says she “wasn’t very impressed.”

Meantime, Mary is looking fine in a red dress and is strutting into The Madison, where she meets up for drinks with Lynda and her boyfriend Ebong. It’s revealed that Mary is about to have a birthday and has a party planned the next night. Lynda and Ebong apparently helped plan the event. Cat is invited, and Mary and Lynda say they are excited at the prospect of Cat possibly joining their “little circle” if things work out well. Stacie is also coming, but Michaele is not coming. Mary explains that she and Michaele go way back, but Mary thinks it would just be too strange to have her at the party (although no explanation is given).

However, Mary says that Tareq (Michaele’s husband) wants Mary and Lynda to come to the winery to help stomp grapes. Lynda: “Only the white grapes, I’m not about the dark grapes.” This line catches Ebong’s attention (he’s African-American), but it’s pretty clear to me (and to him) that whatever Lynda meant, it had nothing to with racial issues. Ebong quips, “I’m not a grape, I’m a prune.”

Segment 3: It’s revealed that Mary has a biometric lock on her wardrobe at home that can only be opened with her fingerprint. Apparently this is to keep her daughters out of her clothes. Mainly, she seems to fear oldest daughter Lolly (23), who is the same dress size as Mary and who recently moved back home after “going broke.” Mary reveals to Lolly that Mary is thinking maybe she should invite Michaele to the birthday party. Mary then calls Michaele, tells her the whole party is very last minute, and invites her. Michaele says she’ll be there.

The party then goes down at Todd Gray’s Equinox. When Michaele shows up, Lynda divulges that she believes the Salahis are on the “second tier level” as compared with the other stars of the show, which she explains seems so “unnatural” in terms of having the Salahis attend a party with the rest of them. Of course, Michaele has hugs aplenty for all of the attendees!

Off camera, Lynda says that she met Michaele 15 years ago before Michaele met Tareq. Lynda says Michaele has changed a lot over the years. Lynda notes that Michaele just seems to keep getting thinner and thinner (truth be told, Michaele is skin and bones, although is Lynda just covering up since Lynda is rail-thin as well?).

Meantime, birthday girl Mary is SAUCED! She starts spewing some drivel to Stacie and a prominent local celebrity hair stylist named Ted Gibson (who happens to be African-American) about how “salons need to integrate” and she says, “we have different hair and different needs, but why do we need to be in a different salon?” She continues: “The wave has arrived here with our new administration, and the beautiful couple that we have leading our country.” Stacie and Ted seem somewhat (to say the least) taken aback by Mary’s rant. Off camera, Stacie sums up Mary’s little speech as “Ridiculous!”, but Stacie also realizes that Mary’s fairly drunk at this point.

Next day at Stacie’s house: Erika (a friend of Mary and Stacie) arrives. They’re planning a little cooking get together at Stacie’s house, and Mary, Cat and Michaele are all to be invited. Stacie calls Cat and says that Cheo, Janet Jackson’s chef, is going to head up this get together, giving a cooking class to the ladies. Cat says she’ll come, noting that her husband will be shooting photos of VP Joe Biden all that day (leaving Cat free to attend).

At Cat’s house: Charles and the two daughters are there with Cat. Charles tells the girls how he just had to drive back from North Carolina and that he swears he could constantly saw someone “playing a banjo” every time he looked in the rear-view mirror. The ladies then break into the banjo theme from the movie Deliverance. Charles remarks, “It was just like Deliverance.”

Personal Point: Geez Brits!: Got a few hangups over there!? Maybe I could drive through the British countryside and claim to have flashbacks to the Revolutionary War!? Jeezal Peezal! But I digress.

So then Cat starts talking about the other ladies to her husband, and generally gives them good reviews, but says that the “jury’s still out on Michaele.”

At Mary’s house: Husband Rich has received an e-mail from Washingtonian Magazine saying that he’s one of their Style Setters for the year. So Rich starts modeling some of his clothes for wifey Mary. [Not unnoticed by me: It’s the middle of the day, and Mary is boozin’ again. The booze seem to flow like the Missouri River in 1993 around Mary’s Abode!] It’s strongly insinuated that this award has come Rich’s way only because Mary knows the publisher of the magazine very well. And Rich is clearly suspicious. BTW, Rich is fairly entertaining. He has this whole “OOOOH-Kayyyyyy” sort of delivery to everything he says, kind of like the Boss Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole) character in Office Space, only that Rich isn’t a jerkwad like Lumbergh was.

At The Liaison: It’s the Washingtonian Magazine Style Setter Party. Rich is announced for his award, but they mispronounce his last name, as Mary notes! Lynda is there to receive a Style Setter award of her own. She hobnobs with Paul Wharton, celebrity stylist. Lynda starts running down Michaele to Paul, including more blasts about Michaele being too skinny. “I can count her bones – She’s losing weight to a degree that she needs to be spoken to – She’s a zero, she’s in a danger zone,” says Lynda.

Segment 4: It just so happens, Michaele is meeting up with Paul Wharton in the next segment! Darn the luck! Paul shows Michaele several gowns and dresses that she might consider wearing. They then take a break, and Paul tells Michaele that Lynda is very concerned about Michaele’s weight. Michaele is very taken aback that Lynda is talking about her behind her back.

At Stacie’s House for the big cooking get together with Cheo! Mary arrives. Then Cat. Cat shows off some of Charles’ pics from that day of Joe Biden (on Cat’s cell phone). Stacie is impressed. The ladies ask Cat about her back story with her husband Charles. She says they met at age 18, and then saw each other again in the past few years (talk about a “Yadda, Yadda, Yadda” Seinfeld-type blow off!).

Then Cat and Stacie have a SLIGHT disagreement over Tyra Banks. Cat doesn’t like her (“she’s hideous”), but Stacie does (“she’s beautiful”). Then Cat tries to do a Tyra impersonation, and Stacie is obviously offended (and likely for good reason) by a Brit trying to pull off an impersonation of an angered African-American lady. The coolest person in this whole equation is Cheo, who has consistently laughed off all the sheer bull$hit being blasted by all these ladies around him! I like that dude!

Then all Hell breaks loose! Cat indicates that she didn’t receive an RSVP from Obama with respect to her wedding to White House photographer Charles, but DID apparently receive an RSVP from George W Bush! Stacie is ALL THE WAY OFFENDED by the insinuation that W is somehow superior to Obama!

Two points here: First, it’s clear that Cat is not any type of partisan – she’s just a socialite. This wasn’t anything partisan with her, but just what she perceived (for right or wrong) as a social slight. Second, and this is direct to Stacie: Obama and W are complete equals, and neither is above or below the other: Equal in the sense of being the two worst presidents of my almost 40-year lifetime, but I digress yet again.

Segment 5: The ladies continue to bicker about George W Bush. And I will give one of Stacie’s observations some credit: She noted how the 2 people that Cat went off on the most were Obama and Tyra Banks. I thought the Obama blast was mostly based on socialite silliness, but I’m onboard with seeing the offense in the Banks impersonation. I do suspect Cat has some racial issues, but I’m also hopeful that Stacie can remain above the fray and try to help Cat work through those. I really do. But AGAIN I digress (which I what I do when cover these long-ass hour-long reality series!).

Upcoming Episodes: Bravo ran like 2-3 minutes of highlights from upcoming episodes. Suffice it to say, this is going to be a wild-ass series with plenty of fireworks!

Final Comments: I love the political angle and connection of this series. I've previously covered What Chilli Wants and You're Cut Off, but this series has a bit more intriguing to me, because it revolves around ladies with connections in the powerful and slimey world of DC politics. So be sure to check back each and every Thursday night/Friday morning for my weekly Episode Recaps of this fascinating new series!

Target Apologizes for Contributing to Group That Supports Anti Gay Marriage Candidate: Now Will Companies Like Target Also Stop Contibuting to Obama?

Answer: Of course they won't! Because while Obama is very clearly on record as being an opponent of gay marriage, he gets a complete free pass on that issue from the American left, which will rant and rave and protest until the cows come home over this issue except as it pertains to their darling little Obama and just so long as it's a republican candidate who's involved (as was the case in the Target story -- link to full story at bottom).

As always, my suggestion to the far left and far right in this country is very, very simple: You cannot have it both ways on an issue and hope to maintain any credibility whatsoever with me or most Independents. Either go ape-$hit, as you like to do, over everyone who opposes gay marriage or shut the hell up on the issue. Until you start acting consistently and stop acting like hypocrites, I and many Independents will give your viewpoint absolutely no respect and will just laugh in your face.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/05/target-sorry-after-donating-to-group-that-backs-anti-same-sex-marriage-candidate/

Missouri to Obama & The Dems: Take Your Health Care Mandate and Shove It!

As a lifelong Missourian (now forced to live in the damn jayhawker state), I'm quite proud today of my Missouri brethren for overwelmingly approving Missouri Proposition C yesterday. The measure prohibits the federal government from mandating that citizens have health care insurance and punishing them if they don't have it. And it passed with a whopping 71% of the vote.

Even before their inevitable legal challenges to Proposition C, we already, of course, have the left in high spin mode today. First, they say this wasn't a rejection of Obama & The Dems' entire health care reform law, rather only the insurance mandate component. Purely laughable. Are they really claiming with a straight face that this result would have been any different if the entire law had been in front of voters? Puh-lease. Not to mention, the insurance mandate is a huge component of the law in and of itself!

Second, the left-wing spin points out that there was a higher republican than democrat party turnout in Missouri yesterday for what was mostly primary voting. This spin is particularly disingenuous since Missouri Senate dems threatened to filibuster this measure as a November general election constitutional amendment, and repubs avoided the filibuster by putting it on the August primary ballot as simply a law.

Put another way, dems knew that November passage of the measure would have more political clout and wanted this measure on the August ballot so that they could engage in the very spin in which they are now engaging. And is there really any doubt that this measure would have passed just as easily in November!?

Plain and simple: Regardless of whether Proposition C is ultimately able to stand up in court, what we're left with at the end of the day is Missouri sending a resounding message of disapproval from middle America to Obama & The Dems concerning the health care monstrosity that they ram-rodded down the throats of the American people on Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Now, do Obama & The Dems really care? I seriously doubt it. I don't think they give one rat's ass what any of us in this part of the country think about much of anything. Which is why Independents are going to kick plenty of their leftist hides to the curb come November.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100804/D9HCF3I80.html

Your Money Hard at Work! Check Out Some of These Dogs From Obama & The Dems' Earmark-Laiden Stimulus Bill.

Very much in the news this week has been the compilation put together by republican Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn detailing 100 awful examples of wasteful expenditures under Obama & The Dems' huge stimulus bill from last year (link to the full compilation at bottom). Figuring the media and most folks will naturally focus more on the items appearing closer to the top of the McCain/Coburn list, I went straight to the bottom, focusing on Item Nos. 79-100.

And sure enough, it didn't take me too long to come up with this list of 10 apparently needless, mindless and completely wasteful expenditures of your money during a time period when the federal government is threatening to spend the country right into bankruptcy (these items appear in no particular order):

1. Let's Go Tailgating! (#97): $400,000 to help a private bus company in Pennsylvania buy a $500,000 luxury bus, with all the amenities, to add the company's fleet of buses, which is used for luxury tours and fan trips to college football games, such as Penn State games.

2. I Smell a Rat? (#95): Actually, I think that stench may be republican Sen. Kit "Porky" Bond, who never met a wasteful earmark he didn't like. $180,935 goes to my alma mater (the University of Missouri-Columbia) to fulfill what the school calls an "urgent need," i.e. to find improved ways of freezing rat sperm for "optimal sperm handling" in the ol' science lab!

3. They Should Fire the P.R. Manager (#93): $363,760 in stimulus spending in Maryland for the express purpose of promoting and providing public relations for other stimulus spending. Pssst: Whatever P.R. gimmicks this money was spent on, it hasn't worked!

4. Feed the Starving Artists! (#98): $184,650 spent in Connecticut for the National Park Service to turn an old garage into an art studio for the "personal and professional work" of "artists" involved in an "Artist-in-Residence program." Hey, I'm a Starving Blogger. Does that mean I can have $200K to build my own little place where I can blog, hang out, sleep, furnish with a new computer and other conveniences, and maybe even hire a couple of paid staffers? I'm an Artist! I deserve it, Damn It!

5. These Traffic Lights Are Killing Me! (#89): It seems they have a little problem in Sebring, Florida. Their traffic light system has this pesky tendency to catch residents in too damn many red lights! So it's the federal government to the rescue! $1.1 million to install a new system to "better coordinate" the city traffic signals.

6. To Retire or Not Retire, That Is the Question (#87): This'll get the old economy hummin'! $174,661 to study whether retiring earlier leads to happier married couples in retirement. Talk about your cutting edge research!

7. Polka Party!!! (#85): While I was sure an item like this would have come out of a Nebraska wedding reception or barnyard dance, it's actually out of San Antonio: $25,000 to fund a big polka dance and accordion festival.

8. My Mutt's Ancestors Ran with the Roman Legions! (#84): If you've ever wanted to piece together your dog's family tree, the stimulus bill is helping out! $296,385 to research the genetic missing links in the evolution of wild wolves into domesticated dogs!

9. The Convention Hall for No One (#80): North Dakota's Audubon National Wildlife Refuge is 15,000 acres and receives fewer than 80 visitors a day. Therefore, a $6.1 million brand-spanking new administration and visitor center was a must! It includes a 1,038 square foot multipurpose room, and an 884 square foot exhibit hall. What are those for, you ask? I have no earthly idea. Maybe to serve as a garage for the RV's of the park's scant number of visitors.

10. When Demand's Low, Increase the Supply! (#79): Buffalo, New York's downtown hotel industry is really struggling these days. The obvious solution? Build another hotel down there on the federal government's dime ($6 million), of course. And make sure it's a high-end boutique hotel while you're at it!

Man. And I didn't even read the first 78 items on the McCain/Coburn compilation! And thanks again, Obama & The Dems, for my daily reminder of why I'm so excited about November. Just three months and counting now!

http://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=e1e0624e-d02a-42d4-9dbb-f5b9f21b3572

Dr. "Frankenstein"? I Just Hope Heidi Montag Isn't Visiting This "Butcher"!

You know things are only going to turn out ugly when the first three words of the story read, "His mutilated patients...." And so it is today in The New York Post, which has an account as to one Dr. Joshua Rubinstein (pictured at left), a "boob-job and tummy-tuck specialist" whose "mutilated patients" have taken to calling him "The 'Butcher' of The Bronx" (link to full story at bottom).

According to The Post, Rubinstein's been sued at least 9 times in 14 years for botched procedures that have allegedly left his patients "looking like Frankenstein." Said one former patient of Dr. Frankenstein: "He's a butcher! I don't want to see him ever again!" (What, no second chance?)

In one of the lawsuits, Dr. Frankenstein is even accused of killing a woman through his botched handiwork. While The Post reports that Dr. Frankenstein has denied those wrongful death allegations in court papers, he sure as heck ain't talkin' to the media. When a Post reporter visited his office to try to get a comment, Dr. Frankenstein reportedly scurried out the back door to get away (apparently he's able to move a little faster than the actual Frankenstein monster).

Final comment: I just hope that Dr. Frankenstein isn't one of the many plastic surgeons that Heidi Montag has utilized over the past few years. And for that matter, if this dude has so many lawsuits flying around in public, while in the hell do people keep going back to him for surgery? Was Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre all booked up?

http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/news/local/bronx/patients_sue_bx_butcher_aNpeNCxlJIFFMeJHUiuH0N

No "Cojones"?

Over the weekend, Sarah Palin suggested on Fox News that Obama lacks the "cojones" to take on illegal immigration (first link below). First of all, she's wrong on the substance: It's not a lack of "cojones" on Obama's part but rather a lack of any political will -- much like George W. Bush -- the do anything about our porous border with Mexico, while meantime it's doubtless that dozens or perhaps even hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives have already poured over that very border in recent years.

Let's talk turkey without any bull$hit or sugercoating (since I've grown rather sick of playing nice with these two awful parties and the idiot ideologues who support and apologize for them): Obama wants the border wide-open because the democrat party loves the idea of even more potential democrat party voters flooding into the US. Meanwhile, jerkwad republicans like Bush don't give a rat's behind about the border (instead only lip service) because of powerful business interests who want the cheap illegal immigrant labor. So the border remains dangerously unsecure, and few in these two parties really care.

But I digress, since that's not even my main point today. The use of a term like "cojones" by a top political figure, and in particular accusing another political figure of "lacking cojones," has absolutely no place in any manner of civil political discourse amongst mature human beings. But alas, we have very view civil or mature human beings in either of these two parties. Recall, by way of just one of probably hundreds of examples, the report of Obama's use of the vile term "teabaggers" last May (second link below). I might typically be inclined to laugh off some of this kind of foolishness from these politicians, but I'm not in much of a joking mood these days -- not while I continue to watch these two parties flush this wonderful country down the toilet on a daily basis.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/08/palin-obama-lacks-the-cojones.html

http://independentrage.blogspot.com/2010/05/tea-baggers-you-say-class-act-mr.html

The Difference Between a Great American President and Awful Ones: It’s All in the Leadership and Non-Extremism.

This weekend, I re-watched the motion picture Thirteen Days, which depicts the leadership of John F. Kennedy – in my opinion, the last great American president – through the grave Cuban Missile Crisis of the early 1960’s. The film, and the facts, concerning that dire crisis got me thinking about Kennedy in comparison to the two individuals whom I believe are the worst presidents of my lifetime (worse even than the hapless presidency of Jimmy Carter and the very dangerous one of Richard Nixon) – Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

I believe it probable that Obama would have mishandled the Cuban Missile Crisis by pushing the diplomacy route to death and ultimately backing down and permitting the Soviet nuclear missiles to simply stay in Cuba (at huge national security risk to the United States). I could be wrong about that, but I think that’s probably how it would have turned out.

The path Bush would have pursued is even more certain: He would have taken the reckless advice that the military brass was giving Kennedy and would have invaded Cuba. Can there be any question about that? Kennedy knew where that would ultimately likely lead and wanted to avoid that option at all costs. And he was damn right, because the chances are likely higher than 90% (and I’ll spare you all of the little facts and details as to why) that such a course of action would have ultimately resulted in World War III – a full-scale nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the effective end of the world, at least for the American and Russian nations.

Kennedy’s leadership was grounded in conviction and beliefs, not narrow and extreme world views and ideologies like those so dangerously and destructively pursued by Obama and Bush. Through the utterly terrible “leadership” of those two individuals (which is about the nicest word I can manage to refer to the two of them), the United States currently teeters on the brink of an economic and social collapse into chaos. These are Very Scary Days, and great men and leaders such as Jack Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln must be not only rolling over, but also weeping, in their graves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis

2012 Yawner!!! GOP Could REALLY Use an Injection of New Blood.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is likely to run for president in 2012, and this week he gave CNN his thoughts on whom the other GOP candidates will be that run. Gingrich ticked off the following laundry list: Sarah Palin; Mitt Romney; Mike Huckabee; Mitch Daniels; Haley Barbour; and Tim Pawlenty. Talk about a boring list of has-beens, also-rans and never-was white (and nearly exclusively male) conservatives.

I've said often, and as recently as a few days ago, that I intend to break my normal practice (of voting for third-party candidates) this fall and to vote for the republican candidate in my U.S. Senate and U.S. House races -- regardless of even how deranged the repub candidate is. I view this to be necessary given the reckless way that Obama & The Dems have run amok since seizing complete control of DC at the start of 2009.

However, my pledge for November most certainly does not translate to the 2012 presidential election. I will not be voting for Obama in 2012, but I have serious doubts that I could bring myself to vote for any of the motley crew listed above. Sorry, but I refuse to choose between the lesser of two evils, and I therefore haven't voted for a dem or a repub since around the mid-1990s.

If you're going to get my vote as a member of one of these two awful parties, either (1) you had better excite me (and very few politicians do) or (2) convince me it's necessary to vote for you in order to effect a needed change in the system (i.e. precisely why I'll be voting repub this fall in the federal congressional races). And I don't know about you, but I'm feeling no excitement whatsoever from that recycled collection of white male retreads that includes Gingrich and his list of other candidates.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/30/gingrich-expect-sarah-palin-for-president-in-2012/?fbid=8h4Jhzp0wET

Obama Caught in Apparent Lie About, Of All Things, Snooki?! If He'd Lie About That, What Else Would He Lie About?

As hyped by such websites as Gawker.com over the past day (link at bottom), Obama's appearance on The View yesterday included his claim of ignorance as to Jersey Shore star Snooki. "I don't know who that is," crowed his majesty. The only problem:

Two months ago at the White House Hollywood (errrr, "Press Correspondents") Dinner, Obama showed off that wonderfully wry wit of his, quipping: "It [the provision] reads, 'The following individuals shall be excluded from indoor tanning tax within this bill: Snooki, JWOWW, The Situation and House minority leader John Boehner." Obama's words, not mine.

Now, I'm sure many of you would say, "politicians tell fibs and lies all the time -- that's just what they do." And that would be correct. But excuse me for holding the President of the United States to just a little higher standard than your typical politician. That's the reason that during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, I could have gotten past the fact that Clinton cheated on his wife while in the White House if only he had told us the truth about the affair instead of looking us in the eye and lying about it. It was the lie, not the affair, that always bugged me.

And another thing: If Obama would apparently lie about something so trivial as whether he's ever heard of a D-list (if she's even that high), barely-a-celebrity-if-that, reality star -- then what else would he lie to us about? Memo to Obama: If you truly believe in all the far leftist crap you push, then knock yourself out with it -- you were elected in 2008, and we'll simply vote you out in 2012. But don't lie to us, man. Because to many of us, that's not forgivable of an American president.

http://gawker.com/5599717/obama-flip+flops-does-he-know-who-snooki-is-or-not?skyline=true&s=i

Major League Monstrosity: Ma'am, How About Some Nice Cockroach Bits and Rat Droppings With Your Hot Dog and Frozen Margarita?

ESPN has gathered together public health code violation reports for professional sports stadiums and arenas across the country, and the results are frightening. Taking a look at a few of the worst violators, I think it safe to say that you don't want to be attending too many games in Washington DC, Miami or Tampa Bay anytime soon.

One of the worst venues was Sun-Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins. In addition to 93% of that stadium's vendors having "critical" health code violations, there was also an anonymous employee report that they were blending insects into the frozen alcoholic beverages. What, were they thinking fans would get so buzzed off the alcohol that the insect content would be overlooked?

As it turns out, when inspectors went to check out the implicated drink machine, they didn't find any insects inside per se, but instead found some unspecified form of "slime." You know, I think I'd prefer the insects because at least they're a known commodity.

Even worse offending venues came in the form of Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays) and Verizon Center (Washington Wizards & Capitals). At those joints, a whopping 100% of the food vendors had "critical" health code violations. And just for good measure, DC's Verizon Center had appetizing mouse droppings found at at least ten vendors.

Gosh. Nothing like dropping 20 bucks on a tiny hot dog and a little drink, only to have the screw-job ratcheted up even higher through insect additives, rat $hit and grossly unsanitary food preparation conditions. Those franchises (and/or whomever the hell owns those stadiums and arenas) should absolutely be ashamed of themselves. And I think I'm going to be stickin' with bottled water and bottled soda -- and no food -- at just about any sporting event that I attend in the foreseeable future. Nasty, nasty stuff right there.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10004319.html?tag=page

Must Suck to Be a Dem or Repub Politician. Always Having to Go Around Trying to Prove You're a "True" Progressive or Conservative.

There's a lot of this sort of thing going on right now in my Missouri/Kansas neck of the woods, such as the story in today's Politico.com that Missouri tea partiers are all up in arms about republican Roy Blunt and his U.S. Senate campaign for the seat being vacated by fellow repub Kit "Porky" Bond (link to full story at bottom).

Now, are the tea partiers opposed to Blunt for all the right reasons, such as the fact that he's a career politician, political fatcat and basically just a younger version of Bond whom the voters should send back to Springfield, Missouri for a not so well-earned retirement? Of course not! Instead, they're all over Blunt's a$$ with cries that he's not a "true conservative" and that it's an "abomination" (don't they mean to say Obamanation?) for non-Missouri tea partiers like Michele Bachmann to endorse Blunt.

And in the jayhawker state where I currently live, we have the GOP primary race for the U.S. Senate between Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt -- two obviously staunch, bona fide conservatives (which is not a positive) who are largely indistinguishable. Moran and Tiahrt have been going around for weeks now bombarding the airwaves with mean-spirited, mindless ads claiming that each is "more conservative" than the other. And I have to vote for one of these idiots! (Since Independents are forced this fall to return a balance of power to DC amongst these two awful parties).

Of course, the democrat party is no different, with its far leftist powerbrokers and money constantly working to undermine and defeat any dem politician not viewed as being sufficiently liberal or progressive. I actually at times almost feel sorry for some of these politicians in these two parties whom I know are not liberal or conservative ideologues, and I frankly don't know how they do it -- how they can go around during primary races (perhaps necessarily but certainly disingenuously) trying to appeal to the ol' party "base." It's one of the most scuzball sights and components of what is already a broken, sleazewad American political system.

But at the end of the day, I don't feel sorry for these non-ideologue politicians. If they had the conviction to ever just stand up for themselves and what they truly believe, regardless of the consequences, the same political system would be much better off for it. But we never get that. We just get deranged right-wingers and loony left-wingers, plus mealy mouthed "moderates" who are too afraid to ever fight or stand up for their beliefs.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40345.html

SCANDAL: Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Cox Allegedly Received a Lap Dance From an Exotic Dancer at Wild-A$$ Mansion Party!

It's called the Manoogian Mansion (pictured above). It's the official residence of the mayor of Detroit, including during the tenure of notorious former Detroit mayor and democrat Kwame Kilpatrick (who's current serving time in the joint). The longstanding rumor in Michigan political circles is that Kilpatrick threw one or more wild parties at the mansion in 2002, and that at least one of those was attended by republican Mike Cox (pictured immediately above left) -- the Michigan attorney general and a candidate for governor this year. Now just one week before the GOP gubernatorial primary (a very tight race), a new (and sworn) allegation that Cox carried on with an exotic dancer at the party has only added fuel to the old rumors (links at bottom).

This crazy saga begins with one Tamara "Strawberry" Greene of Detroit, who is reportedly "rumored" to have been one of multiple exotic dancers at the party. Greene was murdered in a drive-by shooting in 2003 at the age of 27, and her family has filed a lawsuit alleging that the cops intentionally botched the investigation of the crime. In connection with the lawsuit, Detroit resident Wilson Kay, Jr., 35, has signed a sworn affidavit that includes the allegation that, "I saw Mike Cox getting a lap dance from one of the female exotic dancers while he was present at the party." Kay alleges that he worked security at the party.

First of all: Why in the world is Kay talking about Cox's behavior at the 2002 party when that would appear to have absolutely nothing to do with the 2003 crime or the current lawsuit? There's no connection made evident from the online accounts I've read, which makes this whole thing very politically fishy. The only common thing between the party and the crime is apparently Tamara Greene's presence, and it's not even being alleged that Greene is the exotic dancer who gave Cox the alleged lap dance. In short, something's rotten in Denmark.

Leaving that aside, Cox has come out today with guns a blazin'. He calls Kay's allegation "absolutely ridiculous" and says that his attendance at the rumored party is just an "urban legend." For good measure, he's even released Kay's criminal rap sheet today, which includes convictions for breaking and entering, carrying a concealed weapon, arson and pot possession. Now while those things do make Kay one bad dude, I'm not noticing anything on his rap sheet relating to fraud or to making false statements. The newspaper accounts describe Kay as a "motorcycle club member" who owned six motorcycles. I was personally wondering whether he might be a "one percenter" -- meaning a member of a bona fide "outlaw" biker club -- but there's no discussion of that topic in the linked articles.

Finally, the kicker (at least for me): Who the hell cares if Cox got a lap dance from an exotic dancer at some private party?! I don't. Good for him if he did. Only in the deranged world of the republican party would such a thing be considered as potentially derailing an entire candidacy. You can just imagine the mindless TV attack ads from his GOP opponents this week: "Not only has Cox sided with illegal aliens and had his picture taken with Barack Obama -- he also once got a lap dance from an exotic dancer! Chose traditional, conservative values on August 3! Choose John Q. Candidate!" Yep, just my daily affirmation of why I'm an Independent.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100727/NEWS01/100727029/1319/Mike-Cox-issues-statement-on-man-who-claims-the-rumored-Manoogian-party
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/07/mike-cox-denies-partying-in-ma.html
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0710/Sentences_that_are_never_helpful_for_candidates.html?showall
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/07/mike_cox_denies_attending_rumo.html

Episode 8 Tonight of "You're Cut Off" on VH1:In the Season Finale, It's Graduation Day!

Nutshell Synopsis: It’s the final episode of the first season of You’re Cut Off, meaning Graduation Day, as the spoiled rotten little brats find out whether each has done enough to “graduate” from the show. Graduating is necessary for each lady’s benefactors to even consider taking her back and reinstituting her access to cash.

Segment 1: It's morning during Week 8 at the ladies' house. The girls are very excited that this is the last week of the series and that they soon (hopefully) will be able to go back home. They still have to do this week’s household chores, and Jackie (who previously mopped a refrigerator) is seen running the vacuum on top of the living room furniture and using a broom to sweep the top of the backyard furniture. Gia is reverting to bad girl mode and refusing to clean the toilets and bickering with fellow bad girl Erica over the situation. Jessica would normally be in the middle of this too, but she says she’s trying to stay out of the drama this week because she wants to graduate.

Then a note arrives from program moderator Laura Baron: The ladies have received a bunch of party decorations and they learn that today (as part of graduation) they will be throwing a party for their family members. Courtnee (last week's very deserving "Very Improved Princess," or VIP) is told to use the enclosed $500 and to pick 3 girls to take shopping for the party. Amber, Jessica and Jackie are chosen to go with Courtnee to the grocery store, while the others are tasked with starting to work on decorating for the party.

While at first I thought it was a huge mistake by Courtnee to not split up arch-enemies Erica and Gia between the decorating and grocery shoppping, Erica and Gia (along with Leanne) are actually getting along and having fun working on decorating together! Talk about SHOCK! Meantime Pam has gone to bed and is not helping with the decorating at all. After a couple of hours of this, Leanne marches in to get Pam out of bed. But she stays in bed, and the decorating moves outside. Gia gives her opinion on how the outside decorations are looking: “This looks like a prostitute’s wedding. This looks like it could possibly be Pam’s wedding one day.”

At the Fields Market grocery store: Jackie says the ladies want to put some time and effort into the food for the party rather than just buying a platter of food and throwing it on the table. Back at the house, Erica and Gia are miraculously still getting along. The grocery crew arrives back home and finds a lot of the decorating already done, and they are very impressed. Most of the ladies start in on getting all of the food ready for the party. Even Gia, who hates cooking (and yet owns a restaurant!), pitches in. On the menu: Cupcakes, Chicken Parmesan, Sausage and Peppers and Guacamole Dip. Gia’s lack of cooking aptitude is on display as she apparently doesn’t realize that the oven must first be turned on before anything will bake inside of it!

Jackie observes that it’s incredible how well all the ladies are working together to get this meal done in the time crunch of two hours. All of the ladies, except for Pam, that is. She’s off doing her hair. Jessica goes off to confront Pam. Something’s really gotten into Pam this week, as she’s never acted like this before. Pam tells Jess: “I don’t work for anybody. When I’m finished, I’ll come. I’m not 10 years old” (I like to use that line myself!). “Why today, Pam?!”, blasts Jessica. Pam explains her motive: She feels that she’s been cleaning up and working hard for 2 months, and that today it’s most important for her to look good for her benefactors. Thus, the extra beauty sleep and extra time on her hair. Jess, who has the worst temper in the house, suddenly loses it, calling Pam a "bitch" and then trashing Pam’s made bed.

Segment 2: Following the bed incident, Pam comments off camera about Jess: “I can’t believe 8 weeks later, Jessica is still pissed off. Just put a sausage in your mouth. That girl went from a mad Chihuahua to, like, a nasty troll.” Pam goes and messes up Jess’ bed a little bit too.

Laura Baron is then shown coming to the house to meet with the ladies and to discuss their fate in this program (this meeting is clearly presented out-of-sequence on tonight's show, as it actually occurred the day before the graduation). Laura tells the ladies that ultimately it’s not up to her to decide if they get to return home with restored cash flows, but rather it will be up to their family members (AKA benefactors). This is apparently news to the ladies, as they thought Laura would make the ultimate decision whether they would remain “cut off.” The thought of the family members deciding things really scares the ladies, especially Gia and Jessica.

Laura also says the ladies have one last project: To write a letter to their benefactors pleading their case as to why they should get to return home and not continue to be “cut off." The letters will be read at graduation. The ladies are then shown working on their letters the day before graduation, while Laura is simultaneously meeting with the ladies’ benefactors to discuss how each did on the show and whether they should remain “cut off.” First up to meet with Laura are the parents of Leanne, whose old man admits that a part of Leanne’s problem has been that he’s never been able to say “no” to her.

Next up are Courtnee’s parents. Laura encourages them to keep Courtnee cut off and to NOT take her back in (rather make her get out on her own), appearing to observe (as best as I can try to interpret Laura's comments) that Courtnee has a lot of motivation to pursue accomplishments, but that restoring her ATM machine (her old man) threatens to sap that motivation. The parents seem very hesitant to accept this recommendation.

Amber is next. About her letter, she says, “I hate writing!” (to a dude like me, that’s like saying that you hate breathing, but I digress). Laura tells Amber's parents that Amber could use to focus on a specific passion -- she needs an outside passion beyond shopping. Laura wants them to encourage Amber to live on her own, but the parents seem reluctant.

In contrast, concerning the letter writing, Jackie is writing a mile a minute, and she says she’s excited to tell her parents about all the things she’s learned on the series. Jackie’s mom is next to meet with Laura Baron. Laura appears to give the same recommendation again: That Jackie remain cut off.

Jessica is shown writing her letter, and the words “since Daddy passed” can be seen on her letter (it was revealed earlier in the series that the passing of Jess' dad was a very traumatic event for her). She says that she’s trying to express that she will never again take her mom for granted and that she’s sorry for how she’s acted in the past. Then it’s Laura Baron's time with Jessica’s mom. OMG! So far all the parents have looked nothing like their kids, but Jessica’s mom looks almost identical to Jessica! Laura tells the mom that Jessica has somewhat of a mindset of entitlement (ya think!).

Next on tap, Gia is writing her letter to her husband: She says there’s a lot of remorse she wants to express, and she wants to be nice, but this is not easy for her, because it’s obvious she still has anger about her husband shipping her off to this show (meaning 8 weeks without seeing him or her baby daughter. Jolena). “There’s a lot of things he owes me,” she says. Then Gia’s husband meets with Laura Baron. He says that part of her problem is that from Day 1, he’s always very much spoiled her rotten. It’s revealed that he will be setting very specific terms upon her returning home. These will involve not pushing him around, doing more work around the house, and doing more things with their daughter.

Pam is writing a letter to her parents and her brother. Those same folks then meet with Laura. They discuss how Pam is hard-headed and won’t do what she doesn’t want to do. They agree it’s all about “setting restrictions” with her.

Erica Rose excuses herself to her room so that she can write her letter in private, saying that she wants it to be perfect so that her mom will take her back. Erica’s mama is next up to meet with Laura. Erica is one gal on the show who comes from “old money,” making it likely that she has 2 parents that act a lot like her! And sure enough, the old lady and Laura clash almost from the start. Laura: “Do you find that Erica often concentrates more on the superficial?” Mom: “Oh no, she’s not superficial at all -- So you think that she should not care about, like, her hygenics on the outside, like, being clean and orderly and having cleaning hair, or what?”

Truth be told, Erica’s mom on first blush is almost as arrogant and superficial as Erica herself! They act almost alike! There was earlier indication on the series that it was actually Erica’s old man (a plastic surgeon) who relegated her to this show, and it seems obvious that the old lady was likely not onboard with that decision. So my question: Why the hell is he not here instead of the old lady?!

Anyway, Erica's old lady and Laura Baron do agree on one thing -- that Erica places a bit too much emphasis on her appearance all the time (NOOOO!). “Otherwise, you can’t radiate like you’re supposed to, to the universe,” comments Erica’s mom. My further question: What universe was it, precisely, that this loony bird was born in? Erica's mama is truly "out there." So at any rate, Laura Baron says she’s hesitant to graduate Erica from this series, and the old lady in response spouts your typical Erica-style, condescending, “OK”.

Segment 3: Time for the Graduation Party! We flash forward to the day of the graduation party. Apparently with the party eats having been cooked, the ladies are getting ready to meet their benefactors after 8 weeks away from them. The benefactors arrive and have a word with Laura before the ladies are brought out. As the ladies strut out, Erica observes: “OK, I see my mom, and she looks beautiful -- I definitely have the hottest mom here.” Here’s the thing: She’s probably right, but that’s not saying very much. I didn’t see a truly HOT mama amongst the whole bunch, including Erica’s old lady. Fairly surprising.

Quickly it becomes time for the benefactors to confront the ladies, face-to-face, and one by one. This process involves the ladies reading their letters to the benefactor(s), followed by the benefactor(s)' reaction, coupled with any conditions that the benefactor(s) might want to place upon the lady returning and/or being restored to cash access.

First up is Jessica and her look-alike mom: Mama is a bit choked up by Jessica’s heartfelt letter, but she’s also carrying a clipboard, which can’t be good news for Jess. Sure enough, mama has some conditions for Jess’ return home. Mama says: You have 2 months to find a job, you’ll do your own laundry, and I’ll pay only for your essentials, which means no paying for tanning and other things like psychics. Jess’ bad temper starts to flare up: “I think you’re going a little overboard with the tanning. I think tanning will help me get a job.” Laura Baron interjects herself: "Will you accept those terms?", she asks. Very hesitantly, Jess accepts the terms and shakes hands with mama (telling her, “don’t shake my arm fast”). Laura informs Jess that she’s graduated, and finally she and mama exchange a hug.

Courtnee comes next: Her letter is quite sweet, but her old man has some conditions for her: Within one month, she must determine where she wants to live -- NY, LA or (at home in) Atlanta, and she must be willing to relocate within that time (to the extent that NY or LA are chosen). Her Mama: "You can make this journey on your own. It’s time to start paying your phone bills and your other bills -- we want you to start this whole new chapter in your life, and we love you." Courtnee has this huge, gorgeous smile on her face as she hears all of this stuff. Courtnee accepts these conditions and graduates the program. “Oh, I love you guys!” she then cries and embraces her parents. If you've read my accounts of this series, you'll know that I have always viewed Courtnee as the true sweetie of this show, and she's acting the same way tonight as she’s always acted! Best of luck in the future to my favorite Cut Off gal, Courtnee!

Segment 4: Leanne is next: Her parents tell her they want her to go back to school and finish her nursing degree. And she also has to get rid of her 16 credit cards and only have 1, and she'll also have a $500 spending limit per month. “Oh My God,” comments Erica from the sidelines on that particular restriction! But Leanne quite gladly accepts these terms and graduates the program.

Then it's Amber's turn. Her parents' conditions: She has one year to move out and get her own place. Amber accepts the terms and graduates. (Similar to Courtnee, Amber has always been a true sweetie during this show. I believe Amber and Courtnee are both from the ATL, and I hope going forward they will remain friends and be there for each other as support in their lives going forward).

Girl-next-door-in-appearance-only, and suspected prostitute (although I think that allegation is all-the-way false), Pam, is next up: Her family's conditions -- The old man says she’s still cut off financially but can return home. Pam accepts and graduates. She seems happy to be reunited with her family.

Then bad girl Erica Rose steps up to the plate: First, and to her credit, her letter admits that she still needs to work on obsessing less over her appearance. But in response, Erica’s "old money" mama then launches into an incredibly weird-ass diatribe, which garners only wholesale eye-rolling from both Erica's fellow ladies as well as many of the ladies' parents! Says Erica's old lady: “Erica, you’re a beautiful Rose [their last name]. You’re so fragrant and so precious just the way you are, that you don’t need external things to make you happy. And I want you to always remember that a Rose has deep roots -- roots that go to law school, roots that go into the earth and that walk on the ground. Think about the beauty in the world, your fragrance, and what you can offer it, and I know that you really have that beautiful heart.” OK, VERY WEIRD STUFF right there! Methinks mama's been watching too many Kung Fu episodes while standing on her head or something.

And then: Erica's mama's conditions on Erica's return seem very soft as compared with all of the other parents and benefactors: She tells Erica that she needs to put the dishes away if Erica's cooking, and that she needs to put her shoes away after wearing them, and finally that she needs to hang up her clothes after wearing them. Good Grief! Talk about drivin' a hard bargain over there! Erica obviously readily accepts those conditions and graduates.

Segment 5: Jackie is next up: Her mom's conditions: She needs to move out and be on her own and pay her own bills. She accepts and graduates. “I think it’s time,” she says. Off camera, she comments: “I’ve never paid a bill in my life, so I don’t know how it’s going to work out. But with everything I’ve learned here, I honestly believe enough in myself, that I think I can do it.” Good for her, and I hope all things work out for her for the best.

Last but not least, the Notorious Bad Girl Gia Must Face Her Benefactor: Her letter to her hubbie is funny in that she makes fun of him for only having sex with her twice a month, and she suggests they start doin' it twice a day. Right there, I think I may know the source of some of Gia’s ongoing issues: What man in his right mind would only have sex with someone who looks like her twice a month? Talk about a sick man. So anyway, hubbie lays down his conditions for the Bad Girl's return: She needs to start putting more effort into taking care of their baby daughter; she needs to start cooking some meals in their house; she needs to start making their bed in the morning; she needs to start doing the family's laundry; and, finally, there will be no more housekeeper at their home (to that last condition, Gia spouts: “Are you serious?!?”).

Laura asks Gia whether she can accept these conditions, and OMG! -- Gia says that she does not accept these terms, even if it means she's the only gal who will not graduate!

Segment 6: Gia's hubbie reinforces that he’s serious on these terms. At first, Gia tries to haggle with him on the terms, but he’s having none of that. When it’s clear she has no other choice, she accepts the terms. She then seems to be genuinely very happy to be reunited with her husband. I think her initial hesitance in accepting the terms was largely just a play to see if he would back down a bit, and when it was clear he wouldn’t, she really had no problem accepting the terms. Bad girl Gia, for all her attitude and hangups (a lot of which likely still remain), really has grown a lot during the course of this series and is a lot more open-minded to change and to be being a better person -- I’m convinced of that. And I wish her well too!

End of episode on-screen notes about what the ladies have done since the end of the series (this stuff reminds me of the close credits of the motion picture American Graffiti -- the only thing missing was the song, "All Summer Long" by the Beach Boys):

Courtnee: Hasn’t yet moved out of her parents' house, but has cut back on spending by shopping for designer labels at discount stores. My position's been clear: Courtnee is the ONE gal from this show that an average dude in middle America could see himself actually getting to know and liking in real life! She's a natural born sweetie, and I hope that she only finds true happiness in her future endeavors.

Jackie: She has curbed her spending and is saving money so that she can live on her own. She has cut her weekly mall trips from 4 to 1. Progress, Jackie!

Erica: She (rather sadly, frankly) has had 3 plastic surgery procedures since leaving the house. She now prefers to drink boxed wine (as they learned how to do on Episode 1). I always said, Erica was the hottest gal on this show, with Courtnee being #2. And I've always thought, a lot of Erica's act is just that -- an act. I wish her well in her whole law school endeavor and life in the future.

Gia: She's spending more time with her daughter and has even started changing her diapers (but always while wearing latex gloves!). Hubbie has apparently relaxed on his terms and conditions for her (big surprise!), although they are having more sex!

Pam: Has moved into a cheaper apartment than her former Manhattan high-ender, and now she takes cabs instead of limos. It’s a rather mundane lifestyle (in her words, “main-doon”), but she’s adapting well!

Jessica: Has had trouble landing a job, but she’s volunteering to work at a cancer unit. She’s given up tanning beds and has switched to spray tans (another inside reference to one of the shows earlier episodes).

Amber: Has dedicated herself to getting the education to become a teacher. Me: I think she certainly has the sweet disposition to be a great teacher, but she needs to overcome her “hatred” of writing! ;) And for the time being, Amber has a new job doing -- what else -- selling diamonds!

Leanne: Is working on finishing her nursing degree, but reportedly used up her first month’s $500 stipend in less than 24 hours! (OK, so she’s Working On It!).

A final observation: From the way these gals carried on during the Graduation Party, it’s very clear that all of the bickering and feuding has been largely placed behind them. These are 8 gals who came into this show in a pretty pathetic state of affairs, but I think they all grew a fair amount through this show’s process, and I think they have mostly become 8 gals closely tied together by what they went through on this series. Look no further than how well bad girls Erica and Gia got along most of this last episode. All of these formerly spoiled rotten brats are better off for going through this show, which is only a good thing for all of them. I personally wish them all the best in all of their future endeavors!