Special Treatment

Golly I am a terrible person:

Trial dates have been set for Conrad Black's eldest son, Jonathan, who says he has been singled out for special attention and will plead not guilty to charges of criminal harassment, uttering threats and breaching bail conditions.

It totally could be the case that he is completely innocent and that he is receiving special attention from police because of how totally awesome his horrible space-lizard family is.

Why Canada Rules

Michael Moriarty:

In 1994, when my protests fell lamely through the nets and sifters of the MSM and the Clintons were not only reelected ’96 but Janet Reno retained her post as Attorney General, I knew America was in for the longest spiritual bloodletting of her entire history.

Mankind’s last and greatest hope for continued individual freedom and responsibility, the United States of America, had been co-opted by the most cunning sabotage efforts in world history.

The Soviets and their KBG, ordered initially by Joseph Stalin to primarily infiltrate the “soft underbelly” of the American performing arts, had successfully turned Hollywood and New York into its very own propaganda machine.

The subsequent invasions of Washington D.C. and the White House by the increasingly radical Left became inevitable until we ended up with a President Barack Obama.

Thank God I left for Canada.

I feel so sad for those poor American slaves and their communist guarantees of free health care and education and full employment.



Oh wait, I was really looking for this one, which makes me shed tears for being so ridiculously innocent and happy-sounding.



Oh my god the lyrics:

CA-NA-DA
(One little two little three Canadians)
We love thee
(Now we are twenty million)
CA-NA-DA
(Four little five little six little Provinces)
Proud and free
(Now we are ten and the Territories sea to sea)

(Chorus):
North south east west
There'll be happy times,
Church Bells will ring, ring, ring
It's the hundredth anniversary of
Confederation
Ev'rybody sing together!

(French verse):
CA-NA-DA
(Un petit, deux petits, trois Canadiens)
Notre pays
(Maintenant, nous sommes vingt million)
CA-NA-DA
(Quatre petites, cinq petites, six petites provinces)
Longue vie
(Et nous sommes dix plus les Territoires; Longue vie)

(Second Chorus):
Rah! Vive le Canada!
Three cheers Hip, Hip, Hooray!
Le centenaire,
That's the order of the day
Frère Jacques Frère Jacques
Merilly we roll along
Together all the way

(Repeat second chorus)

Isn't that echo of one-little-two-little-three-little Indians sweet and totally non-racist?

We're Number Three!

Shame:

The Australian city of Melbourne has beaten Canada's Vancouver to the title of world's most liveable city for the first time in almost a decade.

Vancouver has topped the annual Global Liveability Survey since 2002, but this year fell to third behind Vienna.

Overall, Australian and Canadian cities did well, capturing seven of the top ten spots.

Harare, Port Moresby and Dhaka occupied the bottom of the table.

The cities were assessed in five categories - stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Vancouver missed out on the top spot because its infrastructure score had fallen due to periodic closures of a key motorway.

Periodic not-having-a-summer may also play a role, but yes, we shoulda just not repaired that road.

IT-GETS-BETTER UPDATE

The crack team of the Economist's Intelligence Unit at work:

The change in score is, in part, “reflecting recent intermittent closures of the key Malahat Highway,” the magazine said.

The thing is, the Malahat is on Vancouver Island. To get there, someone from Vancouver would need to spend 90 minutes on a ferry and at least that much time driving and waiting in a car.

I blame Vancouver's lowered rating on Seattle's proximity.

A Scam

Old news from Florida:

In their effort to force Rubin to testify, Ohio investigators included in the Hernando lawsuit copies of the receipts that accompanied the e-mail. Among the items the [scam charity] Navy Veterans said it bought to send to troops overseas: frozen burritos and Lean Cuisine dinners, two window air-conditioning units, Alpo chicken and rice cat food, Natural Ice beer, raw chicken quarters, 10 boxes of "Just for Men" hair dye and six tubes of Pinaud's mustache wax.

Though most of the receipts were from Tampa — including a $1 hot fudge sundae from McDonald's in Ybor — the papers attached to Rubin's e-mail purported to reflect some purchases in Connecticut. Five packages of rat poison were from a WalMart in "Waterberry," while other illegible receipts were from WalMart in "New Havin." Ohio investigators said it was unlikely Connecticut residents would misspell the cities' names.

Navy Veterans also donated a lot of money to politicians.

Melting Pot Hegemony

Mark Steyn:

My previous book was famously “alarmist” (and so no doubt is my new one), but, if you’re disinclined to meet me halfway in my demographic analysis, try the United Kingdom’s Office of National Statistics:

He then quotes not the UK's Office of National Statistics but a nitwit named Damian Thompson writing for the Torygraph whose reading of the ONS statistics must have resulted in many filled diapers. Steyn ends:

For my own part, I’d bet that many parts of mid-century Britain will be a violent, brutish, Balkanized ruin. Let’s meet for lunch circa 2035 and see who’s right.

Now, the funny part is that Steyn excerpted a bunch of the panic from Thompson's column, but not the salient comparison:

The colour of people’s skins isn’t the problem, of course. The danger lies in a clash of ethnic and religious cultures against a background of broken families. London is already well on the way to turning into a US city, with sprawling black ghettos and a semi-invisible network of foreign white gangs: organised crime from Eastern Europe, one of the most powerful forces in the world today, has only just begun to flex its muscles in Britain.

Surely nobody in their right mind would want their city to be a US city, where meeting for lunch even now is impossible.

Doo Doo Doo

The Lovely Daughter: What's a bee's favourite rapper?
Me: I dunno.
LD: Buzz Markie.

A Message from Ron Paul

Here is an email to me, a fellow conservative, outlining Ron Paul's plan to destroy everything. It's nice that he wants to destroy the occasional bad thing, like kooky war efforts, but if you're gonna destroy everything I guess you get to destroy some of those along with, you know, everything else in the world. I'd take out all the links but it isn't worth the editing, and really, this is just note-taking on my part so I remember the bullshit as it plays out across the glorious internet. My apologies.

Who will you pick?

Dear Fellow Conservative,

Right now, you have a choice to make. Who will you pick to take on Barack Obama and end the liberal, tax-and-spend stranglehold on Washington?

You can choose a Republican who fought for state-run health care while Governor, but now laughingly claims to want to repeal ObamaCare.

You can choose a candidate who cosponsored a bill to forcibly unionize government workers nationwide by federal mandate - but now wants to claim the mantle of "Tea Party" champion.

You can choose a Governor who has been on record in favor of taxpayer subsidies for illegal immigrants and has doubled his state's debt.

Or you can choose the one candidate in the race who can honestly say that he is a lifelong, true, pro-life, pro-gun, constitutional conservative.

They say people can tell the real deal when they hear it. I sure hope so, because that's what I am.

If you agree with my vision for America's future when you finish this note, I hope you'll support me at this crucial time in the race. Our campaign is surging. We are in the top 3 nationwide, and we cruised to a very strong 2nd place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll.



The establishment is doing its best to make sure you don't hear about my record and views, so I want to take a moment to tell you what I stand for. And I want to do it in a personal letter to you, rather than in a slick 30-second ad, or a minute on TV in a "debate."

You see, I firmly believe that the more you know about me, the more you'll realize there really is only one true constitutional conservative candidate for President this year.

I believe that the federal government should not be doing ANYTHING that is not specifically authorized by and enumerated in the Constitution.

You might hear some other folks say something that sounds like that. But look at the record.

I am the only candidate in the race who can say that they have NEVER voted for an unbalanced budget. Ever. And I will never sign one as President.

I have never voted to raise the debt ceiling. And I won't sign a debt ceiling increase as President.

There's a lot to learn about candidates on the issues. As President, my priorities would be:

*** Balancing the federal budget and ending deficit spending. I've earned the nickname "Dr. No" as a U.S. Congressman for voting AGAINST wasteful federal spending. I plan on earning the nickname "President No" for continuing that tradition!

*** Protecting the lives of the unborn. As a pro-life OB-GYN, I delivered over 4,000 babies. And I've always believed that life begins at conception. It is the duty of government to protect life, and I will vote to end abortion and stop all federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

*** Protecting the 2nd Amendment. I've been endorsed in my campaigns by the Gun Owners of America, and I believe there can be NO compromise on gun rights.

*** Securing our Borders. You can't have open borders and a welfare state. I'll fight against any amnesty and National ID schemes, and I'll champion real solutions that protect our nation and uphold the rule of law.

*** Protecting our national security AND our sovereignty. I will stop using our brave soldiers as the world's policemen, and I will end nation-building overseas so we can focus on rebuilding our own nation. I'll pull us OUT of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and other international, sovereignty-destroying organizations that work against our nation's interests.

That's just the beginning. But it's a good beginning. And the best part - you will always know where President Ron Paul stands. It will be with the American people and the Constitution.

Governor Rick Perry of my home state of Texas, on the other hand, has expanded the size and scope of government in ways that would make Washington, D.C. proud. He has doubled Texas' debt. We now have more debt per capita than California!

I suppose these days that would be in style back in Washington. But I think we are all FINALLY ready for real change - not more of the same!

Other candidates have little or no record. That's fine. I don't think it's a requirement for office that you have to accumulate years of fighting and leading.

But it certainly helps.

You see, the best way to figure out what a candidate will do in office isn't to listen to what they say during a campaign. The best way is to look at their record. Look at what they've done. Look at who has been a leader on issues of importance across the board to conservatives.

I believe that if you look at who has led the way on budgets, in defense of the unborn, and for gun rights, as well as who has fought the longest and hardest against the political establishment of BOTH parties - well, I hope you'll see that the only answer is Ron Paul.



If you need more information, please visit my website at www.RonPaul2012.com.

If you agree with me that we must take action now to restore America, please consider giving me not only your vote, but your financial support as well.

The establishment has its DC lobbyists and corporate fat cats. For me to succeed, I must raise funds from millions of grassroots Americans just like you.

Perhaps you can give $500, $250, or $100. Perhaps $25 is as much as you can send right now. Every dollar is appreciated and will be used to advance my fight for liberty!

So please, check the real records of each of the candidates. Decide for yourself which one has always stood for smaller government, personal liberty, and the right to life.

Take the time to talk to your friends, family, and relatives. Take a look at what the other candidates are telling you - and what they're trying NOT to tell you.

I hope and pray you'll choose to support my campaign for President.

It's time to take our country back. Please join with me today.

For Liberty,
Ron Paul

P.S. If you'd like to support my campaign, please complete the pledge and chip in a generous contribution. I'd appreciate your support.

But most important, I ask you to take a look at the issues that matter to you. Then take a look at the real record of each of the candidates who are asking for your vote. Don't let the media tell you how to vote. Vote for the person who best represents constitutional conservative principles and real values.

I believe you'll find that candidate to be me, and I hope I will have your vote for the Republican nomination for President.

Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades

Prophecy:



Fulfillment:

History's Greatest MacGuffin

What makes a great film?

You’ll never hear me make any apologies for my unqualified love of this film. It’s just a fact (admit it) that when you’re in the right mood and have three-hours to kill, Brian DePalma’s completely over-the-top gangster pic feels like the greatest movie ever made. Among my perversely large DVD collection (yes, I have a problem), “Scarface” ranks in the Top 10 Most Re-watchable.

For me, the movie takes off during the chainsaw scene; when a handcuffed Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is splattered with gore as his partner is cut to pieces. He refuses to talk, even when faced with the most gruesome death imaginable. The look of defiance and fear on the actor’s face is unforgettable. Furthermore, DePalma’s crafting of the scene is masterful. The director is famous for exploitation and yet he chooses not to show the chainsaw doing its dirty work. You only hear it, which allows your mind’s eye to vividly picture what’s far worse than anything any special effect could cheat.

Best of all, everything that happens is Jimmy Carter’s fault. He’s the idiot who got duped by Castro and let Tony Montana into Miami.

Yes of course that is John Nolte.

Signs of New York

Congress

Totally-not-gay Eugene Delgaudio in an email to yours truly:

Yes, it's true, homosexual activists are riding high.

Homosexual "marriage" passed in New York; judges in Iowa threw out two hundred years of law and declared for homosexual marriage by fiat; a judge in California denies the vote of the people and declares homosexual marriage a "right"; and every day the drumbeat from the media and Hollywood culture is how good and normal homosexual sex is ... and how you and I are bigoted fools blinded by a false religion.

Now homosexual activists bang through the halls of Congress chortling with glee.

Dear Penthouse Forum:

I never thought having sex in the halls of Congress would happen to me and it won't as long as I am here in this closet. Please send more stories about first-time cocksucking.

(Apparently you can find the whole thing here. Myself, I am not clicking.)

My Glamorous Life of Travel

I am now in lovely Toronto, home to a hockey team with a legacy of having a legacy.

Time spent here has involved helping organize an apartment and a visit to the AGO (where locals I don't have free time to get drunk with should RUN RUN RUN to catch the General Idea exhibit). Also there is ice cream. Beats the vegemite.



And gee... Palin's supporters say Palin will run. There might be something to learn about fools and money there but I gotta go get that one Pokémon outta that vending machine and it's just not dropping so I keep feeding the coins in and WHY WON'T IT COME OUT? Back later.

FOOT FETISH UPDATE!

I don't think this is quite the same piece as the one I saw at the AGO, but here is Ann Klein with a Baby in Transit by Willie Cole.

I Liked It

Disappointingly there was no mention of the JanusNode.

But the movie with the apes was good. What was that called?

Murderers

Crime in the big city my friends. THIS is why you want to live in a little town full of bible-thumpers panty-sniffers and sheep-fuckers.

Entertainment

Bullshit?

"I have three women as sources who had sex with Rick Perry or have escort friends who have," he says. "The first one is a stripper who tried to give him a blow job one time 'but he was too coked up' (her words) to complete it. None of these are willing to come forward, hence the ad is an appeal for strippers, hookers, young hotties and gay men to QUIT covering for Rick Perry. I got a call from an incensed homosexual on Monday who told me his ex's ex had sex with (a gay fling) Rick Perry many years ago. I sent him to a reporter who is working the gay angle. The gay rumors on Perry have been rampant for years. I never believed the because I knew about the women. I believe them now. Rick Perry has been a RAMPANT bisexual adulterer. It is just a matter of getting folks to go on the record."

It is irresponsible not to speculate. Has anyone checked the diving shops for wetsuit purchases?

If You Build It, They Will Come to the Conclusion that Beach Volleyball Sucks

I find when I am playing beach volleyball with the gang from Riverdale that running into a fucking light-post is the highlight of the day.

Yes yes, travel photos are dull. Yet I travel and take photos.

Note to Smut

Nobody wants their dinner party described as "tentacular".

Decay and Decadence in Empire

Yes, fellow scolds and pearl-clutchers, in New York City people DRINK WITH BABIES. The advantage of the Kinderbiergarten being that if you are drunk and spoiling for a fight - the little bastard ordered a glass of milk and I laughed in his face - you can take everybody in the place.

Also the beer below tastes like bacon.



Thanks to N__B and the Big Bad Bald Bastard for a fine playtime.

The Savages

It's a never-ending succession of dicks at Big Hollywood:

The Irish gentlemen, Jonathan Swift, once penned a scathing pamphlet in reaction to political and economical conditions in Ireland due to English policies. His satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal” reached outlandish proportions when he recommended that society make use of beggar and bastard children by eating them. It was a political and economical “solution.” Mothers would have incentive to care for their children and take a pass on abortions because of economic gain their children’s flesh would bring. Crime would go down because unwanted children would no longer roam the streets. Instead, they would be put to use by feeding the rich. Lastly, society as a whole would benefit from the emerging market.

The absurdity of his proposal was the point: “For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public as a part of the Martel-Harper Challenge.”

In Swift’s time, the average person in Ireland was poor and destitute, children were unwanted and a lot of pregnancies ended in barbaric abortions. Petty crime and thievery and moral decay was rampant due to the existing circumstances that forced children and adolescents to fend for themselves. The wealthy nobility languished over the sorry state of affairs, but only offered criticism and scorn for the savages instead of reform to help aid their condition.

Further on in the column we learn that Glenn Reynolds is just like Swift for proposing that industries that fund Democrats take tax increases.

The Pork Store

Okay, Jokey McJokester, You've Had Your Fun

A Lesson

Message to the bats: if you want to paint tits, just paint tits.

Here in Lovely NY

I have to say insects in Vancouver are politely quiet. Must be the dope.

That Guy in the Seat Behind You Who Won't Shut the Fuck Up

Walrus Todd Huston:

Remember back in the early 1960s when blacks could get any job they wanted in the American airline industry? Oh, and remember back then how no one smoked cuz it was really, really bad for you and stuff? Yeah. No one else does, either. Well, maybe not no one. Big Three Network ABC seems to remember it because that is how they are envisaging how the world worked back in 1963 for its new TV series about airline stewardesses entitled “Pan Am.”

In yet another example of Hollywood PCism run amok, producers, we are told, “admitted” that studio execs at ABC-Disney nixed any chance that the show’s characters or extras would be smoking during the series even though the historical fact is that the bulk of the adult population of 1960s America smoked.

EVEN WORSE!

That isn’t the only whitewashing going on either — literally. There is a worse disconnection from our history that is happening on this show. The series also intends to feature black employees as stewardesses (at least if not in other positions as the series goes forward) and that is also an historical fantasy.

IT IS AN HISTORICAL FANTASY!

Now, we all wish that history was different in many instances. I am sure that Jews everywhere would love it if the Holocaust had never occurred. So would the rest of us. But the fact is that it did. Pretending that the vexing things from history did not happen is a childish game of avoiding truth.

And when has Hollywood ever been about pretending?

Good Talk

Telepathic Ed has a picture-perfect old-man rant. No excerpting, it's too good as one block of prose poetry.

Direct Pressure

Ouch:

CHANDLER, Ariz. — As Joshua Seto, 27, and his fiance, Cara Christopher, walked to a local grocery store last week for refreshments, he tried securing her pink handgun in the front waistband of his pants.

The gun fired, striking Seto's penis and continuing through his left thigh. The bleeding started immediately and was heavy, according to police dispatch recordings released Sunday.

"He is still conscious, there is just a lot of blood," Christopher, 26, told 911 operators and dispatchers when the accidental shooting occurred Tuesday.

One operator told Christopher to apply direct pressure to the wound with a dry towel or T-shirt, but to avoid looking at the wound.

There's a hole in my penis
Dear Cara dear Cara
There's a hole in my penis
Dear Cara a hole.

I mean, like, a new one.

Point and Counterpoint

An exchange over at the Jerusalem Post:

Caroline Glick:

Another aspect of the same anti-liberal behavior is the tendency by many to pick and choose which sorts of terrorism are acceptable and which are unacceptable, in accordance with the ideological justifications the terrorists give for their actions. The most recent notable example of this behavior is an interview that Norwegian Ambassador Svein Sevje gave to Ma’ariv on Tuesday.

Ma’ariv asked Sevje whether in the wake of Breivik’s terrorist attack Norwegians would be more sympathetic to the victimization of innocent Israelis by Palestinian terrorists.

Sevje said no, and explained, “We Norwegians view the occupation as the reason for terror against Israel. Many Norwegians still see the occupation as the reason for attacks against Israel. Whoever thinks this way, will not change his mind as a result of the attack in Oslo.”

So in the mind of the illiberal Norwegians, terrorism is justified if the ideology behind it is considered justified. For them it is unacceptable for Breivik to murder Norwegian children, because his ideology is wrong. But it is acceptable for Palestinians to murder Israeli children, because their ideology is right.

Barry Rubin:

One of the most sensitive aspects of the murderous terrorist attack in Norway by a right-wing gunman is this irony: The youth camp he attacked was engaged in what was essentially (though the campers didn’t see it that way, no doubt) a pro-terrorist program.

Norway's deputy foreign minister Espen Barth Eide responds to Glick and Rubin:

The suggestion that Norway would condone or promote terrorism, particularly in the direct aftermath of this terrible attack, is both incorrect and disappointing.

We will continue to meet statements that we disagree with in a spirit of democratic tolerance and openness, and we will continue to defend the right of The Jerusalem Post and its columnists to hold different view to ours. But we cannot deny that statements like those I have referred to have dismayed us, particularly at the present time.

Caroline Glick defends with offence:

Since my column was a defense of free speech and a general explanation of why terrorism is antithetical to the foundations of liberal democracy – regardless of its ideological motivations – I did not focus my attention on Norwegian society. I did not discuss Norwegian anti- Semitism or anti-Zionism. Indeed, I purposely ignored these issues.

But when on Friday, Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide published an unjustified attack on me on these pages, he forced me to take the time to study the intellectual and political climate of hatred towards Israel and Jews that pervades Norwegian society.

That climate is not a contemporary development.

Rather it has been a mainstay of Norwegian society.

Barry Rubin's turn:

Essentially, the position of Norway’s media and government is this: Hamas isn’t terrorist, but I’m pro-terrorist.

I should have titled this "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

I Blame Both Sides

Hope for change:



Rational actors:



--

OT a liberated comment from DKW on an earlier post about medical writing should have gotten a look when it was current.

Improvisation

The Wikipedia has all sorts of amusements:

[Robert] Plant, known generally for his improvisation while performing live, would ad lib during live performances of "Kashmir". He would add in "sweet mama", "slowly dyin'", "now just a minute", "sweet darlin'", and he would stutter the words "baby" and "mama". He would also end that section with "there's no denyin'" and "Woman, talkin' to ya!"

Harry Potter: Conservative

Of course he is! Everything good is conservative, unless some filthy hippie has it - or maybe an Iranian - in which case it is bad. Apart from the usual heroes-are-good-villains-are-bad-means-it's-conservative nonsense, look here:

• Belief in Traditional Families. The series repeatedly stresses the importance of the traditional family. Harry’s mother and father died to protect him, and in so doing, put a charm on him, which protects him so long as he has family, even nasty family like his uncle and aunt. The happiest people in the series are the Weasley family, who impart invaluable lessons about love, responsibility and all the other things conservatives want parents to teach their kids. By comparison, the messed up kids, from Neville Longbottom to Luna Lovegood, come from single parent homes (though they rise above their problems — another conservative theme). Similarly, Malfoy and Dudley, who have complete families, are taught the wrong lessons. Malfoy’s family is loveless and spiteful. Dudley’s family is over- indulgent and selfish. Consequently, Dudley and Malfoy became really messed up. The implication is clear throughout the book: a strong family is the best foundation. Love your parents, love your kids, and teach the right values. Indeed, the greatest moments in the book involve self-sacrifice to save family members.

That's right, the traditional family is best except when it's not and the non-traditional family is worst except that good children come out of them. Conservatism triumphs again!

So Lonely

Conrad Black:

From my most recent NRO article, on a couple of stars in the conservative firmament: “There is nothing like Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham in other countries, nor much like them in this one. The packaging is leggy women with bright teeth and eyes and lots of blond hair, and they are charming, though not demure. The message is God, Christ, learning, and country. They are outstanding bearers of that timeless message that has reprehensibly few public champions, certainly not including the incumbent president.”

Conrad, you're not due back in stir until September. Barbara not putting out?

Hey, his son is a shithead too.

More Black humour:

When he first arrived in prison, Conrad Black befriended a Mafia don. ‘It was obvious from the way the prison officers stood back from him that he was an eminent figure,’ explains the disgraced peer.

‘He told me, “No one will bother you. If you catch a cold, we’ll find out who you got it from.”

‘Then he offered me whisky and a cell phone, both of which were banned in prison. I said: “I am at war with the U.S. government, but I want to do things through legal channels …”

Shrunken: Conrad Black seems a pale version of himself after spending time in prison, right, in comparison to 2007 when he's seen entering court, left

‘Despite frequent searches, there was constant stealing and smuggling. This is a great country, but when they’ve finished singing Sweet Land Of Liberty and eating apple pie, it’s a bit of a jungle — which is part of its attraction.’

[...]

Explaining how he helped fellow inmates, he adds: ‘I am not by nature a bleeding heart, but their stories were affecting and it was fulfilling to strategise what they needed to do to pass exams. If they couldn’t spell, I would get them Hemingway’s short stories from the library. I showed them simple sentences, such as “I shot the elephant …”.’

Black held English classes for prisoners during the day, insisting his pupils obeyed two simple rules: ‘Don’t interrupt the others; and don’t treat me like part of the prison regime, because I hate the regime, too.’

For some reason I will add more. Here's Black on News Corporation:

As I have written elsewhere, the most nauseating aspect of the News Corporation telephone- and email-hacking imbroglio, until recently, has been watching the self-righteous hypocrites in the British establishment who grovelled to Rupert Murdoch for decades now piously demanding that he pull up his ethical corporate socks. It has been no secret how News Corporation was operated for decades. It is a nasty, vulgar, cynical, dirty-laundry operation that has reduced standards of public taste and decency on at least four continents for decades. The only quality product it has ever touched that did not wither in its hands was The Wall Street Journal.

What a spectacular kook.

Here Come Cowboys

Hi Deanna Murray!

Ed. Note: Please make Deanna feel welcome here at Big Hollywood. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a beautiful relationship. –JN

Well okay then. Whaddaya got?

When you discover you just spent more than $10 to see pretty much the worst movie EVER made, can anything give you comfort?

I didn’t think so ... especially when my mind started wandering about 15 minutes into ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ and the thrill of seeing Daniel Craig in chaps had worn off...

Frankly I welcome masturbation endorsement as the Surgeon General says it's cool. Anything else? There are a lot of pixels to use up.

This ridiculously asinine excuse for a movie (thank you, Stephan Spielberg) about aliens stealing town folk from an old west mining town to ‘see how they tick’ so they could annihilate the human race, started to become a perfectly normal paradigm of how the left is infiltrating every aspect of our lives. And in case you hadn’t figured it out yet ... the left are the aliens and us red-blooded conservatives are the cowboys.

My god! That is so much like ME I can't believe it! I mean, look:

Basically, in the sandstone hills and mountains of what looks like Texas or New Mexico, the aliens have imbedded this colossally large space ship underground and it sticks up out of the ground like a tower (and totally doesn’t blend in, btw).

The aliens, on occasion, swoop into town in their metal spaceships and throw out these rope lassos from the sky and round up people, pulling them bungee cord style behind their spaceships.

Once aboard the mothership, the townspeople are forced to stare into the light for some sort of brainwashing before being dissected by the brutally disgusting aliens whose hands come out of their chests in this terriblby grotesque manner.

This describes last the last Tuesday of the month, affectionately known here as Terriblby Tuesday. You'd think the dissection would be the fun part, but that light is SO COOL.

Collaborative Research

Academics should understand it's fraud to sign off on PR:

It's fraudulent for academics to give their names to medical articles ghostwritten by pharmaceutical industry writers, say two Canadian law professors who call for potential legal sanctions.

Studies suggest that industry-driven drug trials and industry-sponsored publications are more likely to downplay a drug's harms and exaggerate a drug's virtues, said Trudo Lemmens, a law professor at the University of Toronto. The integrity of medical research is also harmed by ghostwritten articles, he said.

As always, there is room for compromise:

Linda Logdberg of Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta wrote a second commentary. Logdberg worked in the medical communication industry for 11 years, and she offered her personal view of her work and why she did it.

Logdberg proposes eliminating the middlemen between drug companies and doctors by having pharmaceutical companies employ medical writers to work directly with researchers. The pharmaceutical company's role would be limited to fact-checking and related topics, meaning drug promotion would still happen, but would be in the hands of advertising agencies alone.

THAT WILL FIX IT.

Defective Products

Hooray! A Happy Meal™!







This is possibly the unhappiest meal since the Death Wish 3 promotion.

And no wonder he's panicky since he is a COMMUNIST and people are ON TO HIM.

The Brewmaster's Task

Not only do you have to carefully measure out, blend and brew a mix of barley malt, rice, water, hops, yeast, tomato juice, salt, lime, and clam broth to create the finest pre-vomited beverage idiots will drink when other options are unavailable, but again you must use your wizardry to readjust the balance of these nine already perfectly matched ingredients to, let's say, empotion a lighter version for the slightly sharper mental deficients with the blessed awareness to realize they are too fat for that first drink.

Unity in Finger-Pointing

What is more satisfying than having fluff news confirm your prejudices?

Vancouver-based testing firm AptiQuant Psychometric recently polled more than 100,000 English-speaking adults in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australasia. They were asked what version of browser they used, then asked to take a standard IQ test.

The results: People who use Opera are most likely brainiacs; those who prefer Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Camino are, while not exactly Einstein, still smarter than your average bear; and those who use any flavor of Internet Explorer probably could not find their mouse with both hands and need help tying their shoes.

To Hell In a Slightly Cushier Handbasket

Hey, this is some good news:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced sweeping new guidelines for women's health care which will change everything from distribution of birth control pills to administration of breast exams -- and will mean insured women will no longer pay anything out of their own pocket.

Beginning Aug. 1, 2012, all private insurance plans will be required to cover women's preventive services without a co-pay or deductible. The move is intended to help women have the chance to stop health problems before they start.