No Takebacks!!

Of all the things that have arisen about the mysterious Obamacare bill, this one seems, to me, to be the one that should get trumpeted from the rooftops. How is this Constitutional??

Buried in the amendment is a bombshell; there will be no way to amend parts of Obamacare. Apparently, Reid wants to make this bill something like a royal decree where no one can change what has already been wrought.
....
Get that? No repeal, no amendments, no nothing. That part of Obamacare is as set in stone as the idea that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It is unalterable - which, of course, means the entire bill is off limits

Now, if I understand the issue (and it's entirely possible that I don't), the problem is that since an amendment in the bill changes Senate rules (which normally require a 2/3 vote), the entire bill should also require a 2/3 vote, rather than the 3/5 (60 votes) which it normally would require (and which it got). Anybody know for sure?

Caption This!

"Uh, baby? Why is Kanye reachin' for Taylor Swift's microphone?"

Pic by damncoolpics

Today's Photo Quiz

Is this an Olsen Twin, or did Ozzy Osbourne get some work done?

Pic from damncoolpics

It's Like The Picture of Dorian Gray, But In Reverse

Bethenny Frankel ("The Real Housewives of New Jersey") stands next to a large poster of her naked PETA ad, in which the "real" housewife isn't looking so real.

I can only imagine that she forgot the proper punctuation in her written response to PETA's inquiry as to whether or not she wanted the photo altered and "Photoshop? My ass!" became "Photoshop my ass!"

Three-Card Barry

So the Obama administration is going to close Guantanamo Bay...and move detainees inside the U.S., to a maximum-security converted prison in Illinois? And the justification appears to be that it will

"[help] our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al-Qaeda..."

First of all, that's like saying you switched from a red Hummer to a blue one to cut down on carbon emissions. The animosity of al-Qaeda isn't tied to the place, Numbnuts. It's not like the jihadists are sitting around, saying "Damn that balmy weather in Gitmo! If only we could force the Americans to move our brothers to a place where the winter winds will chill them to the bone!" Their hatred goes much deeper, and playing a glorified shell game with the detainees is not going to change that. All Obama, et. al have done is surround them with civilians. It's a good thing terrorists don't ever try to maximize collateral damage by attacking civil...oh, wait. That's right...THAT'S ALL THEY DO!!! All the talk about "maximum security" is bullshit. No one is afraid of them escaping. What we should be afraid of is that a giant bullseye has just been painted on an entire community.

And let's not pretend that this is anything other than political posturing, anyway. This just allows President Obama to claim he fulfilled at least one of his promises: that of closing Gitmo. When, in fact, he's done nothing but make the situation many times worse.

UPDATE: Ugh! Just saw a reporter, when talking about the detainees, use the phrase "looking for a new home." What the fuck are they? Orphans? Puppies?

Welcome Virginia!

I just noticed a new follower. Welcome, Virginia! Considering the season, I thought about making a "Yes, Virginia" joke as a welcome, but then I also thought I'd like Virginia to hang around for a while. There's been a dearth of posts lately, but I'm going to try to do better.

Pot. Kettle. You Know The Deal

I am so tired of reading comments at...well, any number of various websites. It discourages me. It makes me fear for the future. I especially hate the ones that are incredibly hypocritical (and they exist on both sides of the political aisle). You know, the ones that read something like this:

U teabaagers R so stoopid don't U no that BushHitler is evil. Y do U hat poor people. Dum REDnecks!!!!

It's like I need a secret "idiot decoder ring" just to figure out what is being said. I believe wholeheartedly in free speech, but I also feel not every brain fart deserves a platform. I don't post every single thought that enters my head here, and when I do post here or elsewhere, I do my best to make the posts both thoughtful and literate.

Best. Headline. Ever.

And possibly my newest pick-up line:

Small Hairy Balls Hide Foul-Tasting Healthful Enzymes

Well, That Answers THAT Question

1. Mull it over for a few months.
2. Start sending troops in 2010, which will take half to three-quarters of a year to get to promised levels.
3. Pull troops by 2011

And here I had been wondering what the presidential equivalent of voting "present" was.

Anyone see Cool Hand Luke? The scene where Luke digs and fills in holes? "Fillin' it in, Boss." This reminds me of that.

I Believe I've Said That Already

The news is out: Will Ferrell is Hollywood's most overpaid star, according to Forbes magazine. Of course, if you read this blog, you knew that way back in September. How's that video lookin' now?

But What About His Balls?

Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife are the latest to pose nude for PETA's "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign.

"The couple have jumped on the campaign bandwagon to showcase the mistreatment of animals and bring greater awareness to what they see as the grave error many people are making when they purchase and don clothing made of animal skins."

So...wearing animal skins=bad, but making millions catching balls covered with animal skins=good.

Yet Another List That Frustrates Me

So, PasteMagazine.com has a post up with their choices for the "50 Best Movies of the Decade." If you know me, you know that I generally hate these types of lists. I knew I was going to hate this one when I saw The Departed and Kill Bill 1&2 on there. I didn't think The Departed was the best picture of the year when it won, and I sure don't think it's in the top 50 of the decade. There were a few nice choices in there (Whale Rider, Memento, Amelie), and a few "really?" choices (Juno, which--only two years later--already seems tired, and High Fidelity), but overall, the choices struck me as a bit pretentious. There were a couple fairly obvious "mainstream" films listed, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Dark Knight, but many of the films picked seemed designed to show off the authors' "hipness." I'm reminded of the "game show" episode from "Friends":

Ross: Rachel claims this is her favorite movie.
Chandler: Dangerous Liasons.
Ross: Correct. Her actual favorite movie?
Joey: Weekend at Bernies.
Ross: Correct.


I'm not saying that they're necessarily bad films*, but I thought there were some better choices out there. I'm thinking about making my own list of the best 50 of the decade, so feel free to send me your suggestions in the comments section.

*except for The Departed and Kill Bill. And fair disclosure--I haven't seen every film on the list.

If It's A Health CARE Bill, Then Why Do I Feel So Sick About It?

So the health care bill has passed in the house. It was a "historic" vote insomuch as it may be remembered as the beginning of the end, and it was "bipartisan" insomuch as they got one Republican vote, from Louisiana's Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao, which isn't all that surprising given his past history, and the fact that he gave President Obama a grade of "A" for his first 100 days in office. I blame Wheaton for this.

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Cuba

Sean Penn goes to Cuba to talk to Castro for vanity. Someone said it was for Vanity Fair, but knowing Penn, I'm pretty sure that must be a misprint.

A Must-Read Interview

Krauthammer on Obama for Der Speigel online.

Hat tip to Patriot Room

"President Obama's going to talk to all the networks...."

except, you know...when he won't.

I love it when this administration gets all bitter and whiny about getting challenged by...well, I guess by Fox News in this case. And when I say "love," I mean "find it sad and a little pathetic." I mean, it's not as if other presidents were given a hard time by the media, right? Of course they were! Just take a look at the last 16 years, for starters.

I've gotta think that people--especially the independents--are getting sick of this attitude. If you're criticized for your lack of accomplishment, blame your predecessor. If you're questioned on your policies, blame the news organization that asks the questions. If people peaceably assemble to make their dissatisfaction known, pretend you haven't heard about them. It makes the president and his staff look petty and small and petulant. And they're not even very good at disguising it. Perhaps that's the "transparency" we were promised--transparent emotion.

This is the most frightening part of the piece, however:

Though Fox News has won the cable news ratings race consistently for years and is closing in on network news numbers, Axelrod and Emanuel both encouraged other news outlets to not treat Fox News as a news organization. 
"The bigger thing is that other news organizations, like yours, ought not to treat them that way, and we're not going to treat them that way." Axelrod told ABC.

Granted, this story is from Fox news, but I just can't keep the phrase "TASS is authorized to announce" from popping into my head when I read about this kind of interaction between this administration and (the rest of) the mainstream media. "We don't just want to dismiss dissent; we want you all to dismiss it as well." the sad thing is, I'm sure CNN, et. al will be more than happy to do so.

Paranormal Activity

For a small-budget movie, it was decent, but overall I was a little disappointed. I didn't find it all that frightening. My biggest complaints were some believability issues, but I think you run into that any time you have a film done in that "shot from a character's videocam" mode. It wasn't bad, necessarily, but if you're thinking about going to see it, go in with realistic expectations. Leave the hype at home.

Fact Checking SNL

For the record, Barack Obama does not turn into "The Rock Obama" when he gets angry. Thought I'd save Wolf Blitzer some time.

What's more awesome than a monkey riding a dog?

The Ig-Nobel Peace Prize

"Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said their choice could be seen as an early vote of confidence in Obama intended to build global support for his policies."

This just in: The Lombardi Trophy, normally given to the NFL Super Bowl winner, was just awarded to the Seattle Seahawks, for their outstanding pre-season record, which shows outstanding potential.

Let's face it, no matter what side of the aisle you're on, this is ridiculous. The nomination deadline was February 1, which means that Obama was president for less than two weeks before being nominated. His time as a senator was fairly unspectacular. So, what did he do in those two weeks that made him a worthy nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize?

I would argue that Angelina Jolie is more deserving than Barack Obama. That's not saying that Angelina should win, mind you, but you get my point.

UPDATE: And by the way, for those of you who are arguing that the prize is NOT for acheivements, I would offer up this quote from Alfred Nobel's will:

"The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." (emphasis mine)