To the People

The GOP Really Has Some Balls

2008-05-16T13:07:00.000-04:00

Obama deserves credit for his clear-cut explanation of his medicinal marijuana position. The issue isn't as near to my heart as others (I'd really like to see Obama do something for the inner-city victims of the drug war, but whatever...) but still -- he is still on the right side of the issue when he says that he would stop DEA raids of medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

The GOP on the other hand responds with this nonsense to Obama's recent declaration:

WASHINGTON – RNC Communications Director Danny Diaz released the following statement today:

“Barack Obama’s pledge to stop Executive agencies from implementing laws passed by Congress raises serious doubts about his understanding of what the job of the President of the United States actually is. His refusal to enforce the law reveals that Barack Obama doesn’t have the experience necessary to do the job of President, or that he fundamentally lacks the judgment to carry out the most basic functions of the Executive Branch. What other laws would Barack Obama direct federal agents not to enforce?”

Via Pete, who has this to say:

After 7 1/2 years of rubber-stamping the Bush Presidency, someone in the GOP apparently found a copy of the Constitution... and then failed to read it.

The Bush administration has quite possibly been the greatest danger to the Constitution in history, and the GOP (as well as the Democrats for the most part) have sat idly by and cheered.

Yeah, it is amusing when the GOP starts talking about on-the-job performance for the President when they've given us 7 1/2 years of Bush, or about "basic functions of the Executive", of which I'm not sure where ignoring the principles of federalism come into play.

Deadly Night in the City

2008-05-16T10:39:00.001-04:00

8 men shot, 2 fatally during a busy night in Baltimore.

"Every Doctor Knows That Most People Drink Too Little"

2008-05-16T07:06:00.003-04:00

You gotta love this 100 year-old beer ad. Alcohol advertising was a little different back then.

Hat tip: Ex-TtPer Baylen Linnekin at Crispy on the Outside.

Lindsay Lohan to be Immortalized with a Statue in the Ukraine

2008-05-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

KIEV, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - The town of Komsomolsk in central Ukraine is to erect a monument to a 'drunken pig,' the national UNIAN news agency reported on Thursday.

The monument, which portrays a pig lying on its belly with its snout in a trough, will be installed near a local cafe.

"This monument symbolizes those people who make pigs of themselves by drinking far too much," said Oleg Ryabo, the local sculptor responsible.

Full story here.

In other not-really-related celebrity news, via The Superficial comes this weeks Signs of the Apocalypse: Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty share what appears to be a kiss making us all wonder what horror could be unleashed from Amy's vagina if they bred, and Lindsay Lohan's mom, Dana, wins a Mother of the Year Award.

No Love for the GOP

2008-05-15T10:00:00.001-04:00

The Politico lays out the depressing outlook for the GOP come November.

Of Course He Does

2008-05-15T09:39:00.004-04:00

Another man ~~bites~~ fucks dog story:

Two black-and-tan German shepherds have been put in the care of animal welfare workers as authorities investigate a Palm Beach Gardens man accused of sexually assaulting the dogs.[...]

County attorney Shannon Fox said in court papers that the man, who lives in an apartment with his mother, had repeatedly performed sexual acts with the dogs.

No arrest had been made by Wednesday evening but "an ongoing investigation" is under way, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. An animal custody hearing will take place May 29. Neither the man or his mother could be reached for comment despite calls to their residence.

Officials said the investigation, which began more than a week ago, prompted renewed calls for a law making it a felony for people to have sex with animals.

Full story here.

Google Keywords of the Day

2008-05-14T14:18:00.000-04:00

Due to a severe and lingering case of bloggers block I bring you a post that requires no creativity or effort on my part. Kinda like all my other post, only this one has more links. Well, links to this blog, but who cares.

Anyway, I bring you Our quasi-monthly edition of Google Keywords the Get Visitors to TtP. Enjoy! Or just close out of your browser tab and pretend like you were never here, all the same to me.

-----

I've never heard of a link between the two, but someone thinks there is --- alcohol and testicle shrinkage takes you to our ever growing Testicle label.

We need a Merkel tag --- i'm big in the bundestag gets you to Probably Only Slightly Better Than Seeing Helmut Kohl's Ass

people with no nipples gets you to --- Hillary Clinton Has Huge Knockers, No Nipples

This leaves me wondering exactly what is a dog brothel? That search takes you to TtP's prolific Boobies tag. Which in the same vein as the Pharaohs of Egypt I too hope to be buried with my treasures -- the Boobies tag.

nbc alabama leprechaun --- gets you to Possible Leprechaun Sighting in Mobile, which quite possibly is the best thing ever on the internet, video embedded below.

Heard in the Office

2008-05-14T13:22:00.002-04:00

Two South Baltimore hens chattering about Mother's Day and cards:

Fatter One: Now I gotta say, my Father always got my Mother cards for Mother's Day and birthdays; and it wasn't ever those cheap $1.99 cards, they were those more elaborate expensive ones.

Not-as-Fat-One: Hallmark?

Fatter One: Yeah.

They then made a seem less segway from card talk to the subject of artificial insemination. Why? Who knows, maybe because they hate me...

NIDA: Smoking 50 Joints a Day Not Harmful

2008-05-14T10:55:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure that was the point of a study done by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, but that sure seemed to be the conclusion.

Heavy marijuana use can boost blood levels of a particular protein, perhaps raising a person's risk of a heart attack or stroke, U.S. government researchers said on Tuesday.[...]

Levels of a protein called apolipoprotein C-III were found to be 30 percent higher in the marijuana users compared to the others. This protein is involved in the body's metabolism of triglycerides -- a type of fat found in the blood -- and higher levels cause increased levels of triglycerides, Cadet added.

High levels of triglycerides can contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls, raising the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease.

Sounds kinda bad...I guess. Then we get this:

The study did not look at whether the heavy marijuana users actually had heart disease.

Right. Why bother? Back to the science!

"Chronic marijuana use is not only causing people to get high, it's actually causing long-term adverse effects in patients who use too much of the drug," Cadet, whose study is in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, said in a telephone interview. "Chronic marijuana abuse is not so benign."

The marijuana users in the study averaged smoking 78 to 350 marijuana cigarettes per week, based on self-reported drug history, the researchers said.

78-350 joints a week? A representative sample of the smoking population if I ever saw one. Actually, it sounds like they rounded up a bunch of vaginas for this study. Who only smokes 50 joints a day? Or even worse, 11? What a bunch of non-smoking losers.

The ONDCP blog is mysteriously silent on this relevant and damning study...Full article here.

Preakness vs Derby

2008-05-13T12:19:00.006-04:00

Looking at my calender I see that the annual Baltimore tradition -- and second leg of the Triple Crown -- is coming up this Saturday. I plan on finding just about anything else to do. Golf, yard work, rounding up feral cats at the dump, you name it -- I'd rather be doing it. Preakness is something to be done once, maybe twice, but only if you're lucky enough to survive the fist one. The infield is a virtual death trap between beer grenades and flying ice chests, and enough pools of urine, feces and vomit to breed both mosquitoes and hepatitis.

On that note, the Sun's Kevin Van Valkenburg compares the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness and ends on this:

RACING FIELD AND OVERALL AESTHETIC

Derby: The best 3-year-olds in the world, most of whom are anonymous, unless you are the kind of guy who hangs out at the track all day, every day, smoking cigars, drinking bourbon and studying a racing sheet, in which case you are awesome.

Preakness: Say what you want about the Preakness, but it always has the Kentucky Derby winner, and the possibility for a Triple Crown is still alive. C'mon, Big Brown, momma needs a new pair of shoes!

Comment: OK, so one time at the Preakness, a guy ran on the track and tried to punch a horse. And we still don't have slots to play while you wait. And, yeah, Barbaro ran his last race here. And the grandstand looks like a shuttered steel mill. Did we mention you can bring your own beer?

Advantage: Preakness.

OVERALL WINNER: Preakness.

The Kentucky Derby is like a cross between the circus and the opera for rich people, only with more drinking and less-tasteful nudity.

The Preakness is more like a working-class celebration, something out of a Damon Runyon short story. It's the people's horse racing event, and it's as exciting as it is unpredictable.

You never know whether the power is going to fail or whether you're going to find true love at the bottom of an inflatable pool that's filled with warm beer. Plus, who knows how many more years the Preakness will be in Maryland?

It almost makes me want to go...Just almost.

Full article here.

Bob Barr Interview

2008-05-13T10:35:00.000-04:00

Over at NRO. Barr on the Republican Party:

NRO: What convinced you that it would be impossible to reform the Republican party from within?

BARR: The fact that the Republican party has evidenced absolutely no interest whatsoever in moving back toward concepts such as the rule of law and away from concepts such as the so-called unitary executive, which flies in the face of both common sense and constitutional history in terms of separation of powers — a Republican party that for several years while the party controlled both houses of Congress and the White House did not move in the direction of shrinking the size, the scope, or the cost of government and has moved significantly and consistently to increase federal spending.

Read the whole thing.

Vote for Me, My Name isn't George Bush

2008-05-13T09:09:00.000-04:00

I'll admit, that's a decent stand alone campaign strategy, but Barack may need to start finding some deeper foreign policy experience outside of his middle name. From an interview with Jeffery Goldberg in The Atlantic:

“This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein, and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he’s not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush,” and that’s something they’re hopeful about. I think that’s a perfectly legitimate perception as long as they’re not confused about my unyielding support for Israel’s security.

Full interview here.

Barr-ing the Door to McCain?

2008-05-13T06:53:00.005-04:00

Former Republican congressman Bob Barr announced yesterday that he is seeking the Libertarian Party nod. With Alan Keyes having lost his bid for the Constitution Party nod that means ace Kazakhstan reporter Borat scored an interview with only one man who'll be on the presidential ballot this fall. Barr, you'll remember, was the one punk'd into thinking he had just eaten cheese made from breast milk.

Actually it is not clear that Barr will be on the ballot either. At the press conference to announce he bid he reaffirmed his anti-abortion views, his anti-immigration views and soft-pedaled his opposition to the war in Iraq. He's for a troop withdrawal, but not an immediate one and would not create a timetable. In response to a question about military bases abroad he said he would "re-evaluate" the need for them but indicated some may be needed to defend American interests. And the former drug warrior hasn't changed on that too much either; he's still "personally opposed" but would allow states to hold referendums on things like medical marijuana.

So he's likely to face some opposition from hard core LP members when the party meets (later this month I think) to pick it's nominee.

Should he get the nod, Barr made pretty clear that he'll go after John McCain's base, votes the senator can ill-afford to lose. As the American Spectator reported:

"When asked what his problems were with McCain, he quipped, 'How long do we have here?'"

Heck, I Didn't Even Know I Was Aiding the Environment

2008-05-12T22:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a bit of green technology we can all support. A Chinese guy built a solar water heater using empty beer bottles.

Headline Tells the Tale

2008-05-12T09:06:00.002-04:00

In the Baltimore Sun:

Shooting victims had poor attendance, system's data show

There's a little more to the story, but even the revelation that kids who are shot have poor school attendance before the shooting is pretty worthless.

T-Boneheads

2008-05-10T09:15:00.003-04:00

In the you-gotta-shitting-me news of the week, the White House has asked a federal court to prevent meatpackers from testing for mad cow disease more often. Why? 'Cause if they found a case of mad cow that might turn people off of steaks.

The AP says:

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.

The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

So Creekstone wants to do extra testing on its own to reassure customers' concerns. And the government says no way, you cannot do that:

Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.

"They want to create false assurances," Justice Department attorney Eric Flesig-Greene told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

But Creekstone attorney Russell Frye contended the Agriculture Department's regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. He said the agency has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers.

"This is the government telling the consumers, `You're not entitled to this information,'" Frye said.

What's going on here? Well, it turns out that other meatpackers are afraid that Creekstone's testing could become the norm for the industry. So they are leaning on the government to stop it:

Larger meatpackers have opposed Creekstone's push to allow wider testing out of fear that consumer pressure would force them to begin testing all animals too. Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound.

This stinks like fresh cow patties for a variety of reasons. If a private business wants to adopt safety measures over and above the federal regs that's their own business. The government should only be involved in setting minimums, not regulating every single aspect of the industry. It's pretty sleazy too how the whole industry is able to lean on the government to do its dirty work and bully one company that refuses to get in line.

And finally, as somebody for whom cheeseburgers are a staple of my diet, I would like to know if the next one will give me a crippling brain disease. I think that is somewhat more important than worrying about what the public reaction might be if there was a "false positive". Hey, feds, worry more about an actual infected cow slipping through the net.

Sen. Vitter Gets Off Again

2008-05-10T08:28:00.002-04:00

Louisiana Senator David Vitter -- the upright Republican who was patronizing Deborah Jean Palfrey's escort service -- got a bit of good news the other day. The Senate Ethics Panel dropped its complaint against Vitter "with prejudice" this week, meaning he'll escape any official sanction for his whoremongering.

How did he do it? Well, it seems that timing is everything, as the Washington Post explains:

In its ruling, the [Senate Ethics] panel said it could not punish Vitter because his association with the escort service occurred before he joined the Senate in 2005.

"The conduct at issue occurred before your Senate candidacy and service . . . the conduct at issue did not result in your being charged criminally . . . the conduct at issue did not involve use of public office or status for improper purposes," the committee wrote in a letter signed by all six senators.

Elected to the House in 1999, Vitter cannot be investigated by its ethics committee because it has no jurisdiction now that he is a senator.

So while the woman who ran the service got convicted, faced a jail term, was bankrupted and finally became so depressed that she hung herself, her patron gets away without even a slap on the wrist thanks to his Senate buddies. Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

On a related note, the Post earlier pointed out that Palfrey's total earnings from her escort service were peanuts.

Palfrey ran her business, Pamela Martin & Associates, by telephone from her California home, and authorities said she grossed about $2 million from 1993 to 2006, splitting the money about evenly with her escorts. They said she employed at least 132 women over the years, dispatching them nightly to clients in homes and hotel rooms in the Washington area.

So, $2 million over 13 years? Whip out your calculator: that means her whole operation was grossing about $154 thou annually. Half of that went to the call girls. Palfrey then had to pay whatever the overhead was herself (It was probably not that much, since she ran it all by phone). It's not clear whether she paid any taxes on the call-girl service either, but she wasn't convicted on tax-dodging charges, so she may very well have.

In short Palfrey was making about $77 thou a year before any expenses and any taxes. Retirement and health care came out of her own pocket too. Hardly a lavish operation. Isn't there actual, big-time corruption going on someplace the feds can go after?

Hello, Oregon Secretary of State? What Are You Wearing Now?

2008-05-08T23:17:00.003-04:00

Oregon is doing it's part to boost voter registration. From KTVZ, "Central Orgeon's News Leader":

A mistyped phone number just inside the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet is now drawing some unwanted attention to the upcoming election.

Voters' Pamphlets just started hitting mailboxes across Oregon last week, and each county has its own version. But one phone number that's inside every copy in the state is making headlines.

Inside the front cover, in a letter from Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, a 1-800 number is listed for voters to register on the phone. But as it turns out, the number has nothing to do with elections, voting or Oregon's primary - it's an adult hotline.

The recording then prompts you to dial another number - this one far more graphic.

It's an honest mistake that's now in some 1.7 million pamphlets across Oregon.

Once You Get Over This, The Rest Of The Week Is Easy

2008-05-08T23:03:00.003-04:00

From the Melbourne Community News.

Obama Girl Gives Mike Gravel a Heart Attack

2008-05-08T17:06:00.005-04:00

If I had to choose (and I soon will be) between Mike Gravel or Bob Barr for the Libertarian Presidential nomination I would definitely vote for the latter. But I have to give Gravel props (are the kids still saying that?) for this video.

US Representative Wins Triple Crown

2008-05-08T12:58:00.002-04:00

What else do you call it when a politician gets arrested for a DUI, gets bailed out of jail by his mistress, and admits to fathering her child?

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.), wracked by controversy since his drunken-driving arrest last week, has just issued a statement in which he confessed that he has had an extramarital relationship with the woman who bailed him out of jail following the arrest — and that he is the father of her young daughter.

I would have never guessed that a guy named Vito would drive drunk, cheat on his wife and father a bastard child. Vito also announced at the press conference that he enjoyed pasta, wine, and betting on the ponies. Totally unexpected all of it.

Story here. [sub required]

Thanks to Sean I've-Fathered-Very-Few-Children-Out-of-Wedlock Higgins for the link.

Mississippi Drug War Blues

2008-05-08T09:30:00.002-04:00

Drew Carey does his latest reason.tv episode on Cory Maye. Watch it and spread it.

P.S. I think I'm having issues embedding the reason.tv video, and as I've mentioned before while I'm at work I can't actually check To the People to see if the video published. I'll fix it when I'm home if that's the case. In the meantime just go to the reason.tv site and watch the video there.

I Shouted Out "Who Killed the Clintons?" When After All It Was You And Me

2008-05-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

After Hillary Clinton got her clock-cleaned in North Carolina and nearly lost in Indiana Tuesday, the main question now is why they hell does she still run? Is it ego? Massive self-delusion? Or is her campaign simply so punch-drunk after 5 months of ass-whuppings that they cannot see straight?

I'm going for the last possibility after reading this press release from Team Hillary:

So Hillary’s victory in Indiana - fought out against the backdrop of an ailing economy - is all the more incredible. We started out behind in both the public and internal polls.

For example, our March 13 poll showed Hillary trailing by 8 points, while our latest poll gave Hillary a 5 point lead. [Bold in original.]

Okay, but you won Indiana by just 51-49%. So what you are saying is ... that you blew a five-point lead? And you are citing this as proof of how well you did? After Clinton blew $6 mil more of her own money on the race?

Geez, woman, wake up and smell the reality. It's over. Take your consolation prize of a life-time U.S. Senate seat and be happy.

The Most Important Gender Gap is Closing

2008-05-07T13:08:00.003-04:00

I want to personally think all the women out there who continue to do their part for gender equality by downing glass after glass of beer, whisky, vodka, rum, and other types of alcohol. You've almost become equal with men. Keep it up!

Alcohol dependence was once much more common among men than women in the U.S., but the gender gap is closing, Reuters reported May 5.

Barack Obama: Agnostic?

2008-05-07T11:43:00.000-04:00

Sean Higgins has a piece worth reading up at the American Spectator questioning Obama's religious convictions.

I'd agree with most of Sean's piece only adding on a semi-related note that as a whole Obama strikes me as a guy who is just generally unsure about a lot of things, not just questions about where your soul is, or if dead people go to heaven. It's the biggest joke of his whole "I'm not your typical Washington politician" shtick -- He is, only he looks a bit different than your usual Washington politician. For example: I don't think that Obama is a secret Black Nationalist, or that he agrees with much that Rev Wright had, or currently has to say. I'd be willing to bet he joined Wright's church in the first place only because that's what he thought he was supposed to be doing as a hopeful black politician in Chicago, or even more simply -- as a black man in Chicago.

What's so scary about Obama is that so many people buy into his shtick. Where's the healthy skepticism -- and I'm calling out Obama friendly libertarians here -- about Barack's version of Hope and Change? It appears to be woefully missing in the conversation...