We Broke

Attention - you cannot pay your mortgage with a credit card.

Obama is on the prompter like a preacher looking to build a new church - "The good news is that we have the money to build the church! The bad news is that it's out there in your pocket."

There's been plenty of yelling and screaming - and a lot of anger toward the Tea Party. This doesn't make sense to me - since they're the ones who hit the fire alarm. Oh, it's because they're birther racists? No, the party is called "tea" because it means Taxed Enough Already. When they called their freshman Congressman that they got elected to the House - they reminded them why the Boehner Bill sucked. They may have mentioned that compromising with the President was a bad idea -- especially since it involved more taxes. More taxes doesn't address the problem - and it's like giving an alcoholic more booze to get them to stop drinking so much. That's the problem. It is Norm Peterson, on a bender, with a tab he has no intention of ever settling. One more Normy? How about we top you off? Perhaps we need to ask a bigger question - maybe the Federal Government is doing a whole lot more than it probably ought to be doing. One of those things? Writing checks.

And here's the best part - they're buying your votes with what used to be your money.

Both teams are acting like those screaming kids in the cereal isle.

What amazes me, is that normal people are getting upset.

"I can't believe they're politicizing this issue..."

THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. That's all this is! It's a political battle - highlighting the useless partisan blinders to obscure the actual truth. We Broke!

And it's broke, it's time to roll up the sleeves and fix it. It's not going to be easy, and given our current attitude of entitlements and leaders who are more interested in their own interests -- we're exactly what I said 2 years ago. We're Greece.

And one last parting shot -- the Congress reflects exactly who put them there. The people who are walking away from underwater mortgages, who floated home equity loans based on inflated price assumptions to purchase stuff on credit to fill into those houses. Sounds similar, like the US debt situation, doesn't it?

Fast and Furious Scandal Reaches Higher

"Fast & Furious" Hearings Raise More Questions Than Answers

The more information that comes out about the reckless "Fast and Furious" gun running operation conducted by the Phoenix BATFE office, the more clear it seems that knowledge of the operation, and approval for it, went a lot higher than the Phoenix field office, or even the BATFE.

There is now clear evidence, uncovered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee headed by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) that senior Obama Administration officials were aware of this disastrous operation.

Last Tuesday, Rep. Issa conducted another round of hearings. Among those who testified were William Newell and William McMahon, BATFE Special Agents who oversaw the program in Phoenix . Those hearings revealed that senior Dept. of Justice officials, including former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, knew about the program.

~source, the NRA

Just ask one small question - if Bush had done this... what would the reaction be?

The cover up is as important as who approved it.

Rule With An Iron Fist, Please, Mr. Obama

From Kirby Said: Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas urged the President to act like a dictator and unilaterally raise the debt ceiling using the "14th Amendment."

The partisan Democrat rattled off a laundry list of claims to what would happen if Speaker Boehner's bill passes:

• Medicare would be gone
• Pell Grants would not be available
• Seniors would be put out of nursing homes
• Social Security would be trampled on
• American savings would be lost
• The American dream of buying a home would be lost
• Public transportation like airplanes and trains would be somehow jeopardized

Holding a two-inch think book, Jackson Lee said, "And if we cannot pay our bills Mr. President, use the Constitution and use the 14th amendment."

In a rambling, almost incoherent statement, she said:

"We will not suffer the idea of a one-sided government that takes away entitlements, that caps spending that is for those in need and balances an amendment on the backs of those who are suffering from devastating disasters like states like Missouri, states like Alabama, with all of the flooding..."

"Pray for America," she added.

Oh, please, let's add more stupidity by evoking religion!

1) The 14th Amendment has the word "credit" in it, and it's been well established that the president can't use that poor wording to raise funds or debt ceilings. That's Congresses

2) If he were to do something so stupid, and Mr. Obama is professor in Constitutional Law, he'd most certainly get impeached for doing it. Tim Scott (R-SC) even said so.

3) And on top of this crap sandwich, let's review what Mrs. Sheila Jackson Lee is actually asking the Executive Branch to take her job. Well, since she's obviously shown she's not qualified for it, maybe she's on to something?

The Video of this can be seen here - I don't know how to copy'n'paste it.

Fixed It!

Lions as a Variable

Louis C.K. performs some new jokes on last night’s Letterman

1 Trillion to Care For Wounded Vets

Roughly 2.3 million men and women have served in the armed forces in the decade-old wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday that the nation faces a bill of between $600 billion and $1 trillion to care for them as they revert to veteran status.

The legacy of these wars, Rieckhoff said, reflects the "cumulative impacts of the multiple deployments, year after year -- a burden of many carried by few," illustrated by stark unemployment and homelessness statistics.

Read more

Meanwhile, Colors lowered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center -- Washington Post

Plug Pulled on Man in Space

Russia's space agency announced that the International Space Station -- a space base the world's scientists and billions of U.S. tax dollars helped build and maintain some 200 miles above the surface of the Earth -- will be de-orbited and allowed to sink into the Pacific Ocean in 2020, just like its Russian predecessor, Mir.

"We will be forced to sink the ISS. We cannot leave it in orbit as it is a very complicated and a heavy object," Roscosmos' deputy head Vitaly Davydov said in an interview posted on the agency's website.

"We have agreed with our partners that the ISS would function roughly until 2020," he noted.

Read more

How. Damn. Sad.

Do You See What I See?

I see creeping vines. You? Well, some guy named Don Taylor sees something else across from a church that he thought was kinda' interesting.

Lost beret, rasberry

Priests Do It... Even Buddhists Do It too!

Don't worry, Catholics, you're not the only one! Seems that even though their beliefs are completely different, abusing children is universal -- and same with the incredibly dense support staff to enable it and hide the wrong doers from any light of justice!

(Read More)

A Tribune review of sexual abuse cases involving several Theravada Buddhist temples found minimal accountability and lax oversight of monks accused of preying on vulnerable targets.

Because they answer to no outside ecclesiastical authority, the temples respond to allegations as they see fit. And because the monks are viewed as free agents, temples claim to have no way of controlling what they do next. Those found guilty of wrongdoing can pack a bag and move to another temple -- much to the dismay of victims, law enforcement and other monks.

"You'd think they'd want to make sure these guys are not out there trying to get into other temples," said Rishi Agrawal, the attorney for a victim of a west suburban monk convicted of battery for sexual contact last fall. "What is the institutional approach here? It seems to be ignorance and inaction."

Paul Numrich, an expert on Theravada temples in the United States, said that like clergy abuse in other religious organizations, sex offenses areespecially egregious because monks are supposed to live up to a higher spiritual calling. The monks take a vow of celibacy."

One serial offender, Boa-Ubol, has been definitively caught with a DNA test — he fathered a child on a 14-year-old girl. His temple chastised him, and claimed that he had left the US to go to Thailand. Where is he now? California. In a temple. Working with children.

Ron Paul Has A Plan!

Ron Paul has a plan! And - it's so "wacky" that it might actually work! It's also very easy, and simple: The Fed simply takes a match to the $1.6 trillion in Treasury obligations it currently holds on its balance sheet as a result of its various QE programs!

Ta-da! The government suddenly has $1.6 trillion in room under the debt cap, enough to last us maybe a couple of years. And the Tea Party will be placated since they hate the Fed, and love Ron Paul! Yea!

Surprisingly, Dean Baker, of the left-leaning Center for Economic Policy Research, thinks this idea is so crazy it just might work:

Unlike the debt held by Social Security, the debt held by the Fed is not tied to any specific obligations. The bonds held by the Fed are assets of the Fed. It has no obligations that it must use these assets to meet. There is no one who loses their retirement income if the Fed doesn’t have its bonds. In fact, there is no direct loss of income to anyone associated with the Fed’s destruction of its bonds.

This means that if Congress told the Fed to burn the bonds, it would in effect just be destroying a liability that the government had to itself, but it would still reduce the debt subject to the debt ceiling by $1.6 trillion.

This would buy the country considerable breathing room before the debt ceiling had to be raised again. President Obama and the Republican congressional leadership could have close to two years to talk about potential spending cuts or tax increases. Maybe they could even talk a little about jobs.

In addition, there’s a second reason why Representative Paul’s plan is such a good idea. As it stands now, the Fed plans to sell off its bond holdings over the next few years. This means that the interest paid on these bonds would go to banks, corporations, pension funds, and individual investors who purchase them from the Fed. In this case, the interest payments would be a burden to the Treasury since the Fed would no longer be collecting (and refunding) the interest.

There are a lot of potential problems with this idea. Maybe most importantly, the Fed would lose a huge tool for eventually tightening monetary policy in the future — namely, the ability to swap its Treasury debt for some of the cash sloshing around the banking system. Eh, but they don't even know where the gold is, or that gold is even money.

Mr. Baker thinks there are ways around this problem and that Mr. Paul’s idea at least deserves a fair hearing:

In short, Representative Paul has produced a very creative plan that has two enormously helpful outcomes. The first one is that the destruction of the Fed’s $1.6 trillion in bond holdings immediately gives us plenty of borrowing capacity under the current debt ceiling. The second benefit is that it will substantially reduce the government’s interest burden over the coming decades. This is a proposal that deserves serious consideration, even from people who may not like its source.

RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL

Blame Game at the N'th Hour

House Speaker John Boehner announces debt plan, rejected by some conservative lawmakers; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid releases own plan, quickly endorsed by White House; Obama, Boehner tells their sides in separate speeches to nation; transcript of Obama’s speech; transcript of Boehner’s speech.

Waaaah! I haven't seen this much finger pointing and flat out crying at a microphone since Dave Wan-stash was coaching the Bears.

Meanwhile, the following chart should be included in any discussion of the trouble we're in:


Yes, see, it's all the Bush Tax cuts - that Obama extended. He also extended the wiretaps and the wars, and then started another two... Libya and Yemen. Here's another chart to chew on...

Oh, ironically, Football is back on! The players and the owners came to an agreement.

Read More

Banned Commercial: Debt and China

The following race-baiting commercial reminds me of the classic "You better learn Japanese, they own us now..." And the "Russians Are Coming!" and the Germans and the Japanese, and the Mexicans... and well, I guess this is about what we should expect out of American culture?

Americans are very bi-polar. They celebrate diversity and the globalization of the planet, but are racists and protectionists on the same face. Which one wins? Whomever it's talking to.

Sunday Comics - The Week in Review

The debt ceiling fight keeps on truckin'. Mr. Obama and congressional lawmakers still haven't reached a deal to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit, even as they careen toward an Aug. 2 deadline, when the U.S. will run out of money to pay bills. (even if it's the 10th, eh, who cares about details?) A deal to allow the feds to keep adding to America's massive debt could take many forms — but in the meantime, all this partisan bickering is drawing jeers that the 112th is the "worst Congress ever." Really? Worse than Pelosi? What about when Preston Brooks beat the living tar out of Senator Sumner half to death on the floor of the Senate, and then was praised by the South? Yeah, they suck, but they all need to take equal blame. Oh, reminder - closing loopholes and adding "fees" are still tax increases. Trust me, I've lived in Chicago for a very long time.

Rupert Murdoch feels the pressure, had a worse week than you did... or "My Empire is Crumbling!" The News Corp. chief's U.K. deputy, Rebekah Brooks, was arrested over a devastating phone-hacking scandal, and Murdoch himself publicly apologized for his tabloid's bad behavior. The Fox boss still faces pressure to resign, and, while testifying before the British Parliament, was the victim of a shaving-cream pie attack. Didn't the Simpsons already write this episode?

Michele Bachmann Gets Headaches! She should be under the microscope for her insane opposition to same-sex marriage (which, if the GOP wanted to grab the Libertarians, would support the end of the social issue nonsense) but instead is being called out for a report that she suffers from debilitating migraines. Did someone sneak into her medicine cabinet? Did Tim Pawlenty let that one leak ala-Hillary and the Birther movement? Ah... I'll never tell. It should be what comes out of her mouth that she be judged, and the content of her character. Let's keep it fair.

There was a heat wave - it's summer

Borders closed it's orders - they went out of business, officially.

Harry Potter still rules the B.O. and I'm expecting to see Harry Potter as an adult working at a government job, or the wacky adventures of his children. I also wonder if the whole thing was just the dream of an abused foster child that was forced to live under the stairs while the evil parents were taking the support checks?

Oh, and manned spaceflight is down to a small outpost. I hope that this is just a temporary situation.

Don't Blame Me, It's The Other Guy!

Taking the last tick buzzer drama to sudden death.... This is new even for the stupidity that is the sport of politic.

House Speaker John Boehner abruptly broke off talks with President Barack Obama Friday night on a deal to make major cuts in federal spending and avert a threatened government default, sending already uncertain compromise efforts into instant crisis.

Not knowing the details, other than Obama was more pissed at his late night news conference than I've ever seen him, I'll speculate that the Democrats were still pushing to raise 'revenue' (taxes) and Boehner decided to leave the dance? Who knows? They're both morons.

This will be decided by some goofy parliamentary procedure which will neither instill any sense of confidence in the markets, or in the voting public. Time to vote them ALL out. It's not like they like the jobs they were hired to do, since they obviously aren't either qualified to do them, or want the position.

Gunfire At A Children's Camp Being Reported Outside of Oslo

BREAKING NEWS: Terror Attack In Oslo, Norway. Prime Minister's Offices Targeted

Police evacuate downtown Oslo in the wake of a huge bomb blast, reports are coming in that a man disguised as a police officer has begun shooting randomly at a youth labour-party summer camp in on the island of Utøya just outside Oslo.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is reportedly in attendance at the conference, along with an estimated 560 other people.

Read more

Keep Off The Bloody Grass

Here's the story

Voice of the Past

Here's the quote of the day.

"As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible: avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of Peace to discharge the Debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear."

~George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796.

Climate Change and Confirmation Bias

A new study suggests that your values, not science, determine your views about climate change.(Link)

The more scientifically literate you are, the more certain you are that climate change is either a catastrophe or a hoax, according to a new study [PDF] from the Yale Cultural Cognition Project.

Many science writers and policy wonks nurse the fond hope that fierce disagreement about issues like climate change is simply the result of a scientifically illiterate American public. If this “public irrationality thesis” were correct, the authors of the Yale study write, “then skepticism about climate change could be traced to poor public comprehension about science” and the solution would be more science education. In fact, their findings suggest more education is unlikely to help build consensus; it may even intensify the debate.

Led by Yale University law professor Dan Kahan, the Cultural Cognition Project has been researching how cultural and ideological commitments shape science policy discourse in the United States. To probe the public’s views on climate change, the Yale researchers conducted a survey of 1,500 Americans in which they asked questions designed to uncover their cultural values, their level of scientific literacy, and what they thought about the risks of climate change.

I'm glad they didn't ask me... I would have screwed up all their numbers. I'm a conservationist who composts and recycles everything. Everything. But I also am fairly convinced that ClimateFaith(tm) is the greatest swindle since organized religion.

The World Keeps on Turning

And now it's time to look at all those things that you're not looking at because you're all caught up with the theater of debt ceilings -- again, thanks big to War News Update, for the low-down cut'n'paste.

MIDDLE EAST

Loyalist troops besiege Damascus suburb after protests. Syrian activists report intense gunfire in Homs.

Jordan police probe blames protesters for violence.

Iraq Shi'ite militia splinters into hit squads, gangs.

As U.S. steps back, Europe takes bigger role in Mideast peace push.

ASIA

China says Xinjiang attack killed 18; Uighurs dispute account.

South China Sea dispute continues to dominate ASEAN forum.

Documents outline alleged funneling of Pakistani funds to U.S. candidates.

Japan plans additional $165 billion for reconstruction.

AFRICA

Deadly clashes continue in Libyan city of Brega. The headless corpse, the mass grave and worrying questions about Libya's rebel army.

UN declares famine in parts of Somalia. Kenya wants aid airdropped inside Somalia to halt flow of thousands of famine refugees.

Egypt rulers outline plan for elections.

Malawi president calls for clam amid continued riots.

Morocco's democratic changes fail to appease all.

Kenya's latest crisis: The refugee camp around the refugee camp.

EUROPE

Greek rescue plan may allow for default on some debt. Euro zone proposes fund overhaul. Merkel and Sarkozy thrash out last-minute compromise over Greece. Eurozone set for Greek deal, temporary default.

Serbia's arrest of last war-crimes fugitive brings Europe into view.

Police detain dozens of protesters in Belarus.

Italian government refuses to account for missing arms cache.

AMERICAS

U.S. consumers relying on credit for basic necessities.

Atlantis has landed, ending NASA's shuttle era.

House moves to restrict U.S. foreign aid.

U.S.-Cuba ties in balance over jailed American's appeal.

TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR

France's counter-terrorism ace finds himself under scrutiny.

Latest issue of Inspire highlights al Qaeda succession.

Two Al-Qaeda leaders killed in Yemen.

New terror report warns of insider threat to utilities.

ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS

Real estate site Zillow soars in IPO debut.

Entire Apple stores being faked in China.

Global slowdown signs strengthen, debt crisis weighs.

Have a nice day.

At The Buzzer...

Obama and Boehner Close to Major Budget Deal, Officials Say

The Obama administration has informed Democratic Congressional leaders that President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner were starting to close in on a major budget deal that would enact substantial spending cuts and seek future revenues through a tax overhaul, Congressional officials said, moments ago.

With the government staring at a potential default in less than two weeks, the officials said the administration on Wednesday night notified top members of Congress that a bargain with Mr. Boehner could be imminent. The Congressional leaders, whose help Mr. Obama would need to bring a compromise forward, were told that the new revenue tied to the looming agreement to increase the debt limit by Aug. 2 would be produced in 2012 through a tax code rewrite that would lower individual and corporate rates, close loopholes, end tax breaks and make other adjustments to produce revenue gains.

Yea. They did their phony baloney jobs.

And we almost had a flat tax too. Maybe next month when we have to do this again?

Iran Downs US Drone

A member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament), Ali Aqazadeh Dafsari, said on Tuesday that the unmanned spy plane was flying near the Fordo nuclear enrichment plant in Qom province when the IRGC's Air Defense units brought it down, Javanoline.ir reported.

The official stated that the US drone was on a mission to identify the location of the Fordo nuclear enrichment plant and gather information about the nuclear facility for the CIA, Dafsari stated.

Earlier in the day, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast had said that the country is installing a new generation of uranium enrichment centrifuges in the country's nuclear facilities to enhance the Islamic Republic's peaceful nuclear program.

As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes. Riiiiggghhhttttt.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production. Which means they're really good at hiding things.

But if you've got nothing to hide, why shoot down the drone?

And does the US need to give it's grieving mother a flag and a purple heart at the funeral? Even if the mother is an old IBM 486 Clone?

Big Brother Loves You

Okay, okay. Correlation does not equal causation. I'm going to have to agree that it has more to do with the corn subsidy, HFCS's, increasing portion sizes, more Americans eating out, Mom working, and, my favorite, the war against tobacco. But it is a thought provoking graph.

Apparently, the documentary Fathead (available Netflix) shows the maddening footage of the Congressional hearings that Gary Taubes' Good Calories Bad Calories and Why We Are Fat (and what to do about it) wrote about. Approximate quote: "We senators don't have time to find out of the science is right, we must act now."

I plan on checking that out pretty soon.

The Heat Wave

Expectations

Separate but Unequal

Citizen Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch hangs his head as he and his son, James, testify before a British Parliament committee. "This is the most humbling day of my life," he said as the hearing began.

Under his breath, I imagine he said, "I can't believe we got caught!"

The Plan

We could try, you know, governing?

What? And ruin our chances in the next election? Are you mad?

Traditional Hypocrite

Republican Rep. Pete Sessions, of Texas, says he and his wife of 27 years are separating.

What's interesting about that, is that Pete is a staunch defender of 'traditional marriage.'

Hey, let's face it, isn't divorce one of the most traditional parts about modern marriage?

Yeah, it's Monday -- but we've got one hell of a contender for the Hypocrite of the Week already.

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Quick Hit

A snippet of a thought... maybe I can do something with this some day?

ROMAN GOV WORKER (John Ratzenburger voice) Eh, ma'am, you've got "The Holy Ghost" scribbled down here as the father - ah, that may fly in your crazy Hebrew culture... but we Romans don't put up with th-

MARY: Please, just play along or my husband will crucify me.

ROMAN GOV WORKER: Eh, whatevs - just don't come back 30 years later telling me this bastard kid of yours is the King of the Jews, alright? Next!

ROMAN GOV WORKER #2: Hey, wasn't that "Virgin Mary."

ROMAN GOV WORKER #1: What'a know, Normmy! I think it was! Hey, guys!?

Jesus Saves, at Wal Mart

Jesus saves, always.

From Anderson County in South Carolina claim they can see the face of Jesus on a Walmart receipt they found on the floor of their apartment.

Jacob Simmons and Gentry Lee Sutherland say they had just returned from church service when Simmons spotted the receipt, which he claims had changed since it was printed June 12th when the pair purchased pictures at a Walmart.

“I was leaving the kitchen and I just looked on the floor, and it was like it was looking at me,” Simmons told WYFF News 4. “Then the more you look at it, the more it looked like Jesus, and it was just shocking, breathtaking.”

The store told Simmons that applying heat to the receipt would cause discoloration, but the couple says they were not responsible for its alteration.

“We just feel like it’s a blessing that God showed it to us and opened our eyes,” Sutherland said. “And we just feel like we should share the blessing God gave to us to everybody else.”

They do say the lord works in mysterious ways — and it don’t get much more mysterious than appearing on a Walmart receipt. Well, that and why god looks like a cross-eyed bridge troll.

The Week in Review: The Sunday Comics

D.C.'s "professional politicians" fail to solve the debt problem. They scared granny and the military by saying the checks won't be written. Moody's said they're changing the rating. And the doom and gloom of the U.S. debt default cloud loomed larger. Nothing but posturing in D.C. What these "professionals" don't understand is that you can't pay the mortgage with your credit card. Oh, you didn't hear the press conference when Mr. Obama said,"...the professional politicians know better," and they understand the Debt Crisis more than "the Public."

He also lectured us to "eat our peas" and the Bernankie proclaimed that gold is NOT money. So, a Federal Reserve Note IS? Well, when the unclean masses are sleeping in their cars, in tent cities, or on the streets thanks to you "professional politicians," maybe that's when they'll figure it out? I wonder if they'll still have their guns? My guess is that that's the one thing they'll take with them.

Rupert Murdoch had a pretty bad week. More targets — including, allegedly, 9/11 victims — of phone hacking by Rupert Murdoch's newspapers surfaced this week. Murdoch's top lieutenants stepped down Friday, the media mogul has shut down the 168-year-old News of the World, and he's even scrapped his bid to take over British broadcaster BSkyB. Naturally, the media is all over the raging scandal — with the notable exception of Murdoch's Fox News. Funny. Citizen Fox.

Mumbai grapples with terrorism again. Three bombs exploded in Mumbai, killing at least 20 people, injuring many more, and increasing tension between India and Pakistan. Days before the blasts, the U.S. announced it was pulling hundreds of millions in military aid for Pakistan, hoping to get better cooperation in the fight against Islamist extremists. Are the two unrelated? Uh, I'll let you chew on that for a moment or two.

Michele Bachmann hogs the spotlight. As Mr. Obama's poll numbers fall, the GOP think they've got a chance, for some reason. Although, if you look at the stage, there's no cream, only crazy rising to the top of the Starbucks cup. Bachmann may be Republicans' new presidential frontrunner, but fellow Minnesota conservative Tim Pawlenty says her lack of congressional accomplishments makes her unfit for the White House. I can think of a couple other things, Tim - mainly the nonsense that keeps falling out of her mouth? Also of note, Mrs. Bachmann is avoiding an ABC News report about the Christian counseling center her family owns, which reportedly tries to "cure" homosexuality.

Woman's soccer is heating up - mostly because the US Women are about to go into the final game. Funny, I always thought soccer was a girly game. Nah, I'm just ribbing you, a little, rest of the world.

Netflix decided to go out of business. The very popular movie rental and streaming service delivered an unexpected blow to itself and investors when they announced that they were going to hike their price 60 percent.

Google+ launched. They have 10 million people suckered in - er, joining already. Apparently folks haven't given up enough of their personal information to advertisers, yet, and need a new outlet to do it. And who better to hold your personal information than the world's largest advertising company - Google?

Harry Potter says goodbye to the people who grew up with himJ.K. Rowling has sold more than 450 million books, and brought in $6 billion at the box office. It's the Millennial Generation's Luke Skywalker. And if they're lucky, in 20 years you'll see Harry's kid instead of Luke's dad as a kid when J.K. runs out of cash? They can hope, anyway.

Harry Potter Smashes Sarah Palin

Three people show up to premiere of the Sarah Palin documentary — a reporter and two people who didn’t know what they were seeing and walked out after 20 minutes.

"Why aren't you seeing Harry Potter?" an usher said to the reporter sitting alone in the audience."

Maybe they should have called it "The Quitter?"

Meanwhile, that Potter film smashed box office records. One would expect Warner Brothers executives to offer their first born children and burnt offerings to Mrs. J.K. Rowling?

"Please, can't we see what happens to Harry in college?!"

Go On, Call His Bluff

When Mr. Obama walked out on the debt crisis session #32, he yelled to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, "Don't call my bluff." Mr. President, you're not much of a poker player, are you?

Charles Krauthammer for one, thinks the GOP should "call his bluff."

President Obama is demanding a big long-term budget deal. He won’t sign anything less, he warns, asking, "If not now, when?"

How about last December, when he ignored his own debt commission's recommendations? How about February, when he presented a budget that increases debt by $10 trillion over the next decade? How about April, when he sought a debt-ceiling increase with zero debt reduction attached?

All of a sudden he's a born-again budget balancer prepared to bravely take on his own party by making deep cuts in entitlements. Really? Name one. He’s been saying forever that he’s prepared to discuss, engage, converse about entitlement cuts. But never once has he publicly proposed a single structural change to any entitlement.

Hasn't the White House leaked that he's prepared to raise the Medicare age or change the cost-of-living calculation?

Also, at today's press conference, Mr. Obama went off on, "corporate jet owners' unnecessary tax breaks," again. Again? Come on. The class warfare nonsense really needs to go, especially since you're the one with the world's largest executive airplane.

How about the spending?

I mean, let's just quit kidding ourselves. They didn't ever plan on the Baby Boomers making it this long, and draining the Social Security all at once. That's obvious. Maybe they had higher hopes for nuclear war or the Swine Flu? I don't know, but the Boomers are rushing the gate just like it's the first day of Woodstock - and they're not taking no for an answer.

[Super special thanks to John Ruberry for the cutnpaste]

Super Awesome

"This kid had lost his dad in the crowd, and freaked out until he saw the Flash and Wonder Woman. He went up to the Flash to ask for help, because he knows him.”

Hey, kid, forget the Flash - ask for a hug from the Amazonian.

A No Hitter for Clemens?

Judge Declares Mistrial in Roger Clemens Perjury Case

The federal judge presiding over Roger Clemens’s perjury trial declared a mistrial because the prosecution revealed information Thursday that he had previously deemed inadmissible.

The United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton abruptly stopped the trial and scolded the prosecution for playing a videotape of the 2008 Congressional hearings on performance-enhancing drug use in baseball. The part of the tape that worried him included comments made by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a MDDemocrat, about the credibility of Andy Pettitte, Clemens’s former best friend and teammate, who is expected to be one of the star witnesses for the government.

Read More

I wonder how much money the taxpayers would save if they lopped off all the terrible show trials? Looks like there are way too many overpaid lawyers and government workers sucking off the taxpayers -- with zero results.

Great job, Eric Holder.

Medal of Honor

Just wondering, why wasn't THIS discussed in the news, at all, yesterday? I guess selfless acts of courage aren't encouraged in this day and age?

I suppose that unless it's a video game, most people haven't heard of the Medal of Honor?

Medal of Honor recipient Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry - in 2008, near Paktya, Afghanistan, distinguished himself by saving the lives of two fellow Rangers, was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, July 13, 2011. Petry lost his hand in the 2008 fight, but now uses a state-of-the-art prosthesis.

Debt Debate Roundup

Okay gang. This is it - Eat your peas.

Americans, you deserve better from your 'leaders'. Both sides are morons. But I'll tell you ALL this - if you raise taxes or move that debt ceiling by one dollar more - I don't care who you are, I'm going to actively campaign so that you lose your job.

Murdoch's Bad Week

Murdoch Just Dropped His BSkyB Satellite Bid

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced that it is withdrawing it's $12 billion bid to take over the shares it does not already own in Britain’s main satellite television broadcaster, Sky News reported. Ironic the source? Maybe they heard it down the hall?

So this development is the latest that stems from the phone hacking scandal within Mr. Murdoch’s British newspaper empire that has convulsed his company and ended not only the News of the World - but more importantly a very close, cozy and influential relationship with the British establishment. Police and also Ministers. What that really means is that power recognizes power. And when insects recognize a sick plant - they attack it. Or use the shark analogy. Whichever works better for you.

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Ron Paul News

Republican Ron Paul said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election to the House of Representatives in order to focus on his uphill presidential bid.

In other words, he's retiring.

Paul, 75, who has served more than 20 years in the House, told his hometown Texas newspaper "The Facts" that he would step down from Congress to devote all his attention to winning the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

"I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election," Paul said. "It's about that time when I should change tactics."

This is his third bid for the White House. He ran as the Libertarian candidate in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008, when he failed to win the nomination despite a devoted following attracted by his support for limited government, reduced federal spending and a noninterventionist foreign policy. Funny how those topics seem to be a smidge more relevant than flag burning, or 'Change.'

He is a TAD of an underdog again in a 2012. Ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and House member Michele Bachmann are leading, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is too busy trying to sneak into the spotlight, while Newt is - is he still in this?

Paul was first elected to Congress in a 1976 special election, but lost the ensuing general election. He won the seat back two years later but left for an unsuccessful Senate bid in 1984 before returning to Congress in 1996.