This and That

I've been pretty busy lately but I wanted to remind you that I'm still taking Ask A Moron questions.  I know have several I haven't done but many of them require a good amount of time because I want to do them right.

Also, I wanted to pass on this rather disturbing personal anecdote that might not fit on the main page here. 

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 12:10 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Some very good news

One of al-Qaeda's bio and chemical weapons guys was taken out in Pakistan by a CIA drone.  Adios, motherfucker!

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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ATTENTION ALL MORONS: Big Announcement & Call for Help

As is clearly evident today, most of us are disheartened with the current GOP presidential (and possibly vice presidential) candidate for 2008.  But it gets tiring writing and criticizing the bad within the GOP day in and day out. 

To that end, a friend and I have started a new blog to promote conservative candidates.  The new blog is called Down the Ticket, and the URL is www.downtheticket.com.  Right now, we are focusing on 6 candidates for the fall election, and 2 candidates in GOP House primaries.  The fall 2008 candidates include:

- Andy Harris (Md. - 1^st)

- Chris Hackett (Pa. - 10^th)

- Jason Chaffetz (Utah - 3^rd)

- Lou Barletta (Pa. - 11^th)

- Tom McClintock (Calif. - 4^th)

- Lt. Col. William Russell (Pa. - 12^th)

The 2 candidates who still have to win GOP primaries are:

- Rep. Jim Ryun (Kan. - 2^nd) - primary on August 5.

- Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (Alaska - AL) - primary on August 26.

I am open to adding more candidates (including gubernatorial and senate candidates), so if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments section, and be sure to add Down the Ticket to your blogroll and favorites.  I didn't cough up $15 for a domain name for nothing.

***{doubleplusundead} *Bumped!*  Thanks for the link See-Dub, be sure to offer Vintage any suggestions for conservative candidates you can for Senate, Congress or Governor races****

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 11:36 AM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
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Hate crime!

Have you seen the funny new Snickers ad featuring Mr. T? No, of course you haven't. Because before it ever aired here in the U.S., it was deemed offensive to gay guys:

The latest advert, first shown in Britain on July 13, never aired on American television, but prompted a flood of complaints from the US claiming it was offensive to homosexuals.

During the advert, Mr T, who played B.A. Baracus in the 1980s series The A-Team, pulls up in a large truck next to a speed walker and shouts: "Speed walking. I pity you fool. You are a disgrace to the man race. It's time to run like a real man."

He then fires Snickers bars at the man until he breaks into a sprint.

Thanks to the magic of the Internets (which is, ironically, probably how I would guess the OUTRAGE! was generated before it was ever shown on television), you can judge for yourself:

Okay, so the dude's speed walking is kind of prissy and effeminate, but all speed walking is pretty much prissy and effeminate, isn't it? It's just the nature of the, uh, "sport."

As for the "get some nuts" line, [insert tasteless joke here].

(Via Allahpundit)

Posted by: Sean M. at 02:17 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Palin inhaled

Hmmm....yes, I realize it's two years old, but it's new to me:

Palin doesn't support legalizing marijuana, worrying about the message it would send to her four kids. But when it comes to cracking down on drugs, she says methamphetamines are the greater threat and should have a higher priority.

Palin said she has smoked marijuana -- remember, it was legal under state law, she said, even if illegal under U.S. law -- but says she didn't like it and doesn't smoke it now.

"I can't claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled."

I guess it's better than trying to suppress it for an October surprise.  I'm not really bothered by it (just as I'm not too bothered by Obama's way-in-the-past drug use).  To think, just 16 years ago, Bill Clinton felt the need to say that he "didn't inhale."

Related true story: While I was staying in Oxford one summer during grad school I ate at the pub where Bill Clinton supposedly "didn't inhale."

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 12:43 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The living PSA

Anti-drug commercials tend to be pretty lame: an egg that represents your brain, tearful teens screaming "I learned it from you, dad," etc. Weak stuff.

No, if we really want to keep the kids off the drugs, we need to turn to the walking (or, more accurately, stumbling) horror show that is Amy Winehouse. Consider the fact that Amy went from this, just a few years ago...

...to the following disturbing image, below the fold...

more...

Posted by: Sean M. at 11:30 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Misfires in Gatlinburg

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Wow! Wisconsin Has The Awesomest Of Awesome Prison Systems!

Nice to see that alcoholic inmates in Wisconsin are allowed to kick their habits and addictions in only the finest fashion: by going to a bar!

I know. Details. Details. It turns out the trip was part of some sort of motivational and uplifting trip to help them kick their addictions. But helping the drunks kick their habits this way?

The probe was started after a drug treatment counselor complained that allowing the inmates to get near alcohol was a setback to their treatment.

The counselor, Mark Nelson, 47, of Prairie Farm, alleges he was pushed out of his job shortly after he filed his complaint about the incident. A Department of Corrections spokesman said officials did not retaliate against him.

Nelson said it was unethical for officers to take alcoholic inmates to Ready Randy's Sports Bar & Grill in New Richmond -- to hear a motivational speaker -- since most of them will be barred from going into establishments where alcohol is served when they are released.

Top officials at the St. Croix Correctional Center approved the jaunt, saying inmates were closely supervised and could not get alcohol. They said they wanted inmates to hear an uplifting speech by motivational speaker Dick Hoyt.

"This was a rare, special opportunity for a motivational speaker," Superintendent Jo Skalski said. "(The inmates) are very thankful. It was very inspiring to them."

Yeah, I bet. It inspires me to just lock myself in my basement when I want to get hammered, so that I don't go outside and get arrested.
 

Posted by: eddiebear at 10:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Man, I So Want To Go To The Olympics!

Well, that is, if I want to breathe filthy smog (as if there was any other kind) and have my lungs burned from the inside out as if I was a villain getting killed at the end of a sci-fi movie.

It appears as though a really awful smogstorm has decided to settle in on Beijing just in time for the Summer Games.

The grayish haze was one of the worst seen in Beijing in the past month despite tough traffic restrictions imposed a week ago to help reduce pollution.

The city's notoriously polluted air remains one of the biggest question marks hanging over the games, which begin on August 8.

'The air quality in August will be good,' Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, told reporters on Sunday. He did not explain the reasons for his optimism.

Du blamed the thick haze on a combination of fog and light wind unable to blow away the pollution, but he said pollution levels now are 20 per cent lower than one year ago in similar weather conditions. He did not provide any details.

'Our job is to decrease the pollution as much as possible, but sometimes it is very common to have fog in Beijing at this time,' Du said.

You know, I am not a scientist, but that smog looks bad.

Posted by: eddiebear at 10:28 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Barack Obama will give you herpes hopeys

Here's the new ad from the dingbats at MoveOn:



Yeah, whatever.

(h/t)

Posted by: Sean M. at 09:52 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Fly the drunken skies

God knows, I love vodka as much as the next Moron, but I also love not making an ass of myself in public, and I really love avoiding fines and possible prison time:

The women, who had been drinking heavily, caused mayhem and panic on the flight.

Terrified passengers watched on in horror as the pair, aged 26 and 27, swigged vodka from a bottle and shouted abuse at cabin crew.

Then one said: 'Let's open the door. I want some fresh air,' before being restrained by staff. The flight from Greece to Manchester landed in Frankfurt and the two women were frogmarched from the plane.

They were arrested by police and questioned before being released to return to the UK. But the pair could face a year in jail for the air rage incident and could also be hit with a bill of £20,000 from the airline.

Just to be clear, they tried to open the door to get some "fresh air" at thirty thousand feet. I think they might have had just a little bit too much to drink.

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Wonderful bacon-y WIN

Awesome.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 06:22 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Obama's Plan To Lower Gas Prices

"Fast track alternative fuel sources"*

I'd just like to point out that it is impossible to fast track an undiscovered or unproven technology.  In order to fast track something, it must be known what and how that thing is to be done.  Currently, there is not a single alternative fuel source that can meet even 25% of our current fuel needs at even twice the price. 

Sorry, Obama.  You're fucking retarded on energy policy.  You sounded a lot smarter before you started mentioning specifics. 

* - Wisconsin is obviously a battleground state because I get McCain/Obama commercials in every break.  I tried to find this commercial (a response to McCain's "Pump" commercial) online but couldn't locate it.  The other methods he recommends to lower gas prices are requiring higher mileage and going after speculators, whatever the fuck that means.   It's like listening to a blind guy explain the color scheme for his new house.

Update: Wrong word has been fixed.  Problem with my brain remains.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 06:10 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Sean Parnell leads Don Young in new poll

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell has a three point lead over Rep. Don young in a new poll.

That is very welcome news.  The GOP primary is slated for August 26.

You can donate to the Parnell campaign here. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 04:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Looks like it's Pawlenty for VP

Frickin' fan-effing-tastic retarded if true. I am hoping this is just more speculation. I share Allahpundit's sentiments:

His working-class pedigree is all to the good, but between the lack of name recognition and the “boring old Republican white guy” effect, I’m underwhelmed. He doesn’t even have serious religious cred to reassure antsy evangelicals. Let’s hope the report’s wrong, although given the general savviness of McCain’s campaign these days, it probably isn’t.

Here's my plan.  I am, from this point on, going to do absolutely all I can do to get Sarah Palin re-elected as Alaska Governor in 2010.  If anyone knows the first steps I could take to that end (what staff member I should get in touch with, etc.), please let me know. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 04:01 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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More on LA dingbat Jan Perry's fascist food policies

You remember the post we did at doubleplusundead on the "Food Apartheid", and LA Councilwoman Jan Perry's efforts to ban fast food joints in South Central LA, primarily in minority neighborhoods, right?  I talked about the potentially destructive economic consequences this could have on neighborhoods, and the destruction of opportunities for people in those economically depressed South Central neighborhoods.  Well, Jan Perry won, a one year ban on construction of new fast food restaurants in South Central was indeed passed. 

I have to agree with Steve at Hog on Ice's excellent post (h/t), this really is a creepy, racist and disturbing ban.  These LA legislators are basically saying minorities are too damn stupid to eat properly and take care of themselves, so the government simply has to take control over their lives and decide what they eat.  That's insulting, and I find it sad that there isn't a huge outcry over this in California, and an even bigger one in the communities this ban targets. 

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 02:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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NJ State Legislator is a Creepy Perv. Guess Which Party?

Don't be shocked. The AP actually reported the political party in the fourth paragraph.

A New Jersey legislator resigned Monday amid reports that he's under investigation for suspected possession of child pornography.

The clerk of the Assembly received a one-sentence letter from Assemblyman Neil Cohen just before 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Cohen said his resignation is effective immediately, but he did not offer any explanation.Cohen has not been charged with a crime.

Colleagues who use the same legislative district office as the 57-year-old Democratic lawmaker said last week that they told law enforcement authorities about images of child pornography found on his computer.

No word from Cohen. He's still in the hospital for psychiatric treatment.

Posted by: conservativebelle at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Why does anyone still live in LA?

I'll admit, I've wanted to move there from time to time, but if they do something this braindead, that's a urge I'll never have again (emphasis mine):

Faced with the potential loss of a telephone users' tax worth $65 million a year, Los Angeles County supervisors are asking voters to approve a new measure in November that would preserve the tax at a lower rate - but also expand it to include new technologies.

Supervisors voted unanimously last week to place the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, reducing the tax individuals and businesses pay on phones, natural gas and electricity.

[...]

But the measure also would expand the types of communications that could be taxed, including text messaging on cell phones, paging, conference calls and other new technologies.

A tax on text messaging would kick my ass.  I barely talk on my phone at all due to text messaging, especially since I started getting unlimited texts.  And what better way to attract business than to tax conference calls?

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 01:50 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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McCain tax positon takes on some nuance

My, how times change.  When people float the idea of a Mitt Romney vice presidency, my first thought is "how are we going to hit Obama for changing his position out of political expediency with Mitt Romney on the ticket?"  Well, we might as well put him there now, since McCain's already invalidating that attack point for us.  Here he is in March 2007:

Ponnuru: If you could get the Democrats to agree, or at least to come to the table on entitlements or on tax simplification, are those circumstances under which you’d be willing to accept a tax increase?

Sen. McCain: No; no.

And here he is yesterday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos:

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?

MCCAIN: There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table.

I don't want tax increases. Of course I'd like to have young Americans have some of their money put into an account with their name on it. But that doesn't mean that anything is off the table...

It's amazing how "straight talk" got a little more fuzzy after Maverick won the nomination.  I think this is, along with his attack on the free market, the clearest sign yet that he is more interested in wooing moderates than conservatives.  VP Charlie Crist, here we come!

(The only thing I like about this is that Ramesh Ponnuru, one of the earliest and loudest McCain supporters at National Review was the one who wrote the post noting this flip-flop at The Corner.  I hope he appreciates what he helped to make possible.)

***Thanks for the link, Ace!  Everyone make sure to check out the rest of the good stuff we've got here at doubleplusundead!

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Robert Novak diagnosed with brain tumor

Sad news, a lot of cancer badness this year.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 12:55 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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