Paul Burka is in New Orleans for the Fifth Circuit of Appeals hearing on whether DeLay should be able to run and represent a county/state in which he no longer resides.

I can't believe I'm recommending that you check out his blog for updates on the goings-on down there, but . . . well, I just did.

Texas Monthly: Burkablog

So, I'm off for another busy week. The weekend was great and I'm only mildly hungover and somewhat sore. I wanted to just remind you that I'm collecting things to send in a care package to a Marine reader of PinkDome. You can email me for my address so I can box it all up together and ship to him. Email me here. A soldier's wife gives some tips on a care package: DVDs, CDs, books, and sports magazines. He's also pointed out that it is hard to get a "real" American newspaper when he is deployed, so the local paper from home is always appreciated (especially the Sports section). You can also donate to the cause by using the PayPal button on the right. Money collected will go to buy DVDs and essentials to ship. I'll collect money this week. Thanks!

The Federal Courts will hear the DeLay case today in New Orleans. The whole question is whether or not that sneaky bitch Tina Benkiser can declare Tom DeLay ineligible and replace him at her will on the ballot because he moved...well, said he moved but never really did. This case is interesting not becase of Tom DeLay (I'm so over him) but the bigger picture of manipulating the primary and then general election.

If a candidate can win a primary and the party thinks he's not a strong enough candidate to win the general, can the party then ride him out of town on a rail and replace him for the general without some sort of election process? If so, why don't we get all the losers that won a primary off the ballot then? I'm totally making my list of primary winners I'm about to give the boot!

Jodi totally got had by a ruse.

The Republicans are so skilled at fucking poor America that we've started to just accept that it's the new way for America. This week they put together a proposal that is sheer political genius. They propse raising the minimum wage for the first time in nine years, but they also put in the same proposal the elimination of the estate tax. So, the democrats that support an increase in the minimum wage are basically forced to vote against it because the elimination of the estate tax is a dealbreaker.

When the November elections come around Republicans get to run on a record of supporting an increase in the minimum wage, while the democrats were opposed to it. Genius. But, oh...by the way...you poor folks still get fucked.

Hell, even Oprah figured it out. Shoudn't the rest of America also give a collective WTF? to Congress?

You've read the CNN report that Mel Gibson was arrested for DUI. But, did you also read that he spouted out about how much he hates the Jews? The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

Who would have guessed Mel is anti-Semitic? Oh, that's right, everybody. What a freak. His bizarre Catholicism is right up there with the freakshow Scientology as far as I'm concerned. Jeesh, in Hollywood it's either the Jews or the crazy alien Scientologists that are out to get everyone.

Senator Norm Coleman's 81 year old father cited for getting a blow job from a 38 year old woman in a pizzeria parking lot. Normally, I'm all for blow jobs. But the mental picture this story has put in my head has sufficiently ruined my appetite for food and blow jobs for the rest of the day.

The Houston Chronicle has a great bit of inside information from the Perry campaign. You remember all those folks that protested the new business tax by sending Perry $0.02 checks? Well, it turns out the campaign has a nice name for them:

A Small Supporter, or ASS 06

I just wanted to take a step back and look at the new, very inexpensive ways politicians have been finding to reach out to youngsters via the internet. Of course you have the esteemed groundbreaking blogger/State Rep Aaron Pena. Then there's Chris Bell and the rest of the Dems all over YouTube.

PD has already pointed y'all towards Rep. Rafael Anchia's MySpace page. Those crafty Strama campaign school kids even got Rep. Mark Strama to make his own MySpace page. Kinky Friedman has one as well. And of course I would be remiss if I didn't plug PinkDome's MySpace page.

Now US Senator Evan Bayh is on Facebook. You can friend him and write on his wall and poke him and all sorts of other mundane stuff that seems important to 19 year olds. Senator Bayh's interests include: Energy Independence, National Security, War on Terror, Iraq, Veterans and Military Personnel, Education, Middle Class, Poverty, Environment, Racial Equality, Economics, Business, Globalization and Trade Policy, Elections, Indiana Politics, Indiana Sports, Democratic Party, Phi Kappa Psi.

While that's not your normal "chicks, beer bongs, jagger shots, parties, and working out", it's definitely something. Getting youngsters to vote is incredibly difficult, but if this works to somewhat engage them, then who knows? For now I'll just say rock on, we'll see where this goes.

I'm glad there's nothing more important to do today.

Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee sent to the House floor a bill that would shut down the horse meat industry. Couldn't they have waited until Barbaro finally kicked the bucket? I mean, he'll bring a pretty penny.

The Ag Committee overwhelmingly rejected the idea of banning the sale of horse meat, but almost half of the House were co-sponsors of the bill, and Republican leadership has promised a September floor vote.

Leading the pro-Seabiscuit-consumption group, former Rep. Charlie Stenholm said that "we are going to be up to our eyeballs in dead horses" if owners can't sell unwanted animals to the sausage maker. Apparently over 400 My Little Ponies, racing horses, and carrot-nibbling stallions are slaughtered everyday in the U.S., just so Europe and Japan can chow down.

Stenholm could always push for the old school method.

The Future of Texas is no more. I mean the PAC. The Future of Texas PAC was one of the front groups that James Leininger used to funnel money into House races back during the primary. It originally focused on aiding loyal Craddick reps like Berman, Reyna, Swinford, Campbell, Howard, Krusee, Hill, Grusendorf, Crabb, Hegar, Betty Brown, Eissler, Flynn, and Phillips. Of late it has also been used to secure 3 solid votes come the 80th session, with money still going to likely future Reps Dale Hopkins, Brandon Creighton and Tan Parker.

Anywho, it seems they've gone and closed up shop now. They filed their final report a little over a week ago. Good riddance I say. Sadly, it probably means that Leininger will find some other PAC to funnel his money. Because of that I encourage every one of you readers to keep an eye on the ethics reports in order to keep an eye on him.

In other news, it seems strippers will be pouring into New Braunfels to float the river this Sunday, much to the vehement opposition of local officials. See what happens when James Leininger wins a race? The moral fabric of society collapses.

Q: What's worse than being in fourth place in a four-way governor's race?
A: Being in sixth place in a six-way race for the worst campaign in America.

Here's PinkDome's campaign tips to not suck so hard:
Stop talking about Tom DeLay and 'ethics'. Nobody cares.

The same artist that brought us the sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth has not given us President Hillary Clinton, aged. Behold.

The bust will be unveiled by the Musuem of Sex. I guess spots at the "Cold Bitch Musuem" were all taken. Full press release in the permalink. [via]

So what was it that made 11 valley mayors endorse Rick Perry? Let's see, what happened today...

PERRY PROVIDES ADDITIONAL $3.8 MILLION FOR BORDER SECURITY OPERATION (word doc)

And there it is. A little less than $4 million for border security. Failing schools? Lack of higher ed opportunities? Horrible healthcare? Hateful language directed at their culture? Screw it, give us the check.

For the record, Perry wasn't able to buy my vote with a bottle of gin and a pack of Marlboro lights. I'm holding out for Grandma's birthday card, she always sends me cash.

Carole Strayhorn, or Carole Cougar Mellencamp as some refer to her now, seems to be losing whatever umph she had earlier in the campaign cycle. Not only would a judge not take on her case (the judge said it's not under her jurisdiction) to put her nickname "Grandma" on the ballot, but the judge poked fun at Strayhorn, asking "what would prevent her from requesting that she be listed on the ballot as Suzanne "Best Judge in the Land" Covington" [KVUE].

Oh Carole, we're eager to see what you've got up your sleeve now.

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is considering running for governor of his home state of Alabama. Best known for spitting on a 9-year old girl during a game and throwing a man through a plate glass window [not during a game], Barkley would be running as a Democrat. Why? In his words, "I was a Republican until they lost their minds ... What I've said is I'm rich like a Republican. But I'm not one."

I think this would be great. I love Barkley, not only for his basketball prowess, but also his ability to tell it like he sees it. I mean, in terms of quotability, Kinky ain't got shit on the Round Mound:

• "The only thing Christian Laettner has in common with Larry Bird is they both pee standing up."
  
• "I'm rich, man. I can't be hitting people. It's a liability issue. Especially with all these white people in the crowd at golf tournaments. I can see the headlines: 'Charles Barkley kills white dude with a golf ball.' I don't need to be looking for my Al Cowlings."
  
• EJ: "Did they recognize you in South Dakota?" Charles: "Yes, they did. It was easy because I was the only black person there. When they see me walking down the street they say 'There he goes again'. And when I come back the next year they say 'He's back y'all!'"
  
• "My goals are to play the piano and get really, really, really fat."

It was great to see that the Republicans are already taking pot shots at him now that he's stated his intentions publicly:

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, said Barkley was never involved with the state party when he identified himself as a Republican, and she has no idea whether he's serious when talking about a future race for governor as a Democrat.

"To be governor requires more than a publicity stunt. It requires real leadership," she said.

Remember I told you we were blocked by the military so our readers in Iraq are PinDome-less? Well, not quite. Yes, the site is still blocked but a few of them have found some proxy site ways to still get to the site. I had an email conversation with our favorite marine, mostly about the heat.

Now is the time for us to show our support for the troops. Let's put together a care package to send to him and his buddies. No porn, no alcohol. DVD's and magazines and things we love are good things to put in the box.

If you email me, I'll send you my mailing address. I'll collect the stuff and send it off to our favorite marine in Iraq. Spread this post around. You can email me for my address here.

Rep. Mark Strama's Campaing Academy is gearing up to wind it down. This Saturday in Pflugerville (the pfabulous fcity with the pfunny name) is the Stramarama. An event to bring together voters, volunteers and the candidate in a big ol' family ho-down. The participants in this year's Campaign Academy are profiled a bit in today's AAS. Proving that at least they learned how to get some free media out of the Austin American-Statesman while up there at the Academy.

I met these kids, they rock the vote.

Rep Pena and Rio Grande Valley Politics are reporting that 11 mayors from the Valley have endorsed Rick Perry for Governor. Looks like someone in Perry's camp finally started listening to Royal Masset's pleas to stop picking on hispanics.

Still, it's time for a collective WTF.

I can understand the teachers going for Strayhorn, she used to be a teacher and she'll say everything they want to hear. But Perry and the Valley? The closest Rick Perry gets to a hispanic is one of the 11 servants he has at the Governor's mansion. He organized an entire convention around bashing the hispanic community.

What is going on in the minds of these mayors that they thought this was a good idea? What little thing did he offer them in order to get them to bite? Discuss amongst yourselves, I've got to run. Rick Perry's trying to court my endorsement with a bottle of gin and a pack of Marlboro lights.

The House Committee on Government Reform is holding a hearing right now regarding HHSC and the privatization of eligibility and enrollment services. The image was just emailed to me by a reader.

In the middle, that's Albert Hawkins, head of HHSC. On the right, we've got a pair of legs, which the camera man was nice enough to place just in the frame. As the reader said, "pretty scandalous outfit for a committee hearing - is it just me or did she spend the night at some dude's place last night after going clubbing and she didn't get a chance to get home and change?"

The ladies love Big Al.

About 30 minutes ago, the jury in Andrea Yates's retrial found her not guilty by reason of insanity. No snarky commentary here - this is a sad, sad situation, and I'm glad to see it end.

Everyone seems a little hesitant to make the switch to electronic voting systems. The reports of problems during the last election cycle ranged from machine malfunctions to user error. Travis County is testing their machines and processes so they don't make national news as the 'tards that f'ed it up next cycle. Good for them.

Apparently the group Texans for Texas has employed the proofreaders of Van Taylor, Frank Madla, Martha Wong, and Jeff Fleece. They've got a novel approach to solving Medicade. Good luck with that 'tards, the first step to solving a problem is learning how to spell it. As we get closer to election day, send us any campaign literature you can find that has typos. We'll send them back marked up with a red pen.

OK. I go to church, I have no problem with churches. I do have a problem with churches being given money by the government to help spread their message. Seriously, government subsidized religion runs contrary to the basic foundation of our country. If churches really want more money then they need to take a cue from the Scientologists. Recruit a few wackos with a big ass bank account and lavish them with praise. Worked with that Catholic spin-off group and Mel Gibson. Just sayin' is all.

I went to this site to see what our wonderful senators thought about net neutrality. I expected Cornyn to be the one that was against it, but surprisingly, he has made no decision either way. However, would-be gubernatorial candidate Sen. Hutchison is the one to agree with Rep. Stevens.

Remember guys - it's not a truck; it's a set of tubes. And they should all be regulated paid for.

I heard a story on NPR yesterday afternoon about a mom who reads her daughter's LJ page. Her defense was that the internet is free, so anything there is available (and I would add that if you post anything on the internet without proper privacy settings, your parents will be able to find it). Hmm. Maybe not for long, huh?

Paul Burka brings us word of what Senator Fraser is up to:

Our spy on the scene at the ALEC legislative conference in San Francisco Blackberried this report: "Sen. [Troy] Fraser was playing golf with Michael Gregg, his chief of staff, Wednesday. Michael hit a tee shot 200 yards and knocked Fraser out while driving his cart. The golf ball is resting comfortably."

Louie Gohmert Is A Little Bitch hasn't been updated since it first came online, and I have a theory why. Let me explain.

I was scanning The Hill's [not LC's The Hills, but DC's The Hill] 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill. I did a quick once-over, trying to figure out how high ol' Denny Hastert placed this year, when I came across number three: Lauren Huly, the communications director for Rep. Gohmert.

Ooh. La. La.

So I'm assuming there's only one logical thing that could have happened. After hearing a knock on his/her front door, the writer behind LGIALB opened it and was immediately blinded by Ms. Huly's effulgent teeth. "Nobody fucks with the Gohmert," Ms. Huly spat. Realizing that blogging is pretty tough when you can't see, the writer has moved onto his/her next project: learning braille.

Bellzila strikes! Chris Bell got a good article in the AAS today (read: bad article for Strayhorn) by concentrating on what got him a ton of great headlines a few years ago: ethics.

Bell charged Strayhorn with being both unethical and a Republican after reviewing documents received via an open records request. Specifically:

In early June, a lawyer and an accountant who represent businesses challenging taxes collected by state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's office met with a legal adviser to Strayhorn. By month's end, the visitors and their colleagues had given more than $400,000 to Strayhorn's gubernatorial campaign -- 13 percent of the $3 million she raised from January through June.

[via]

Hillary Clinton takes a page out of her husband's playbook with the winning strategy, "It's the American Dream, stupid." What a politics 101 way to get back to the principles the Democrats always win at...middle class America. I know what you're thinking, "What middle class?" Me too, It sucks to pull in six figures and still be poor. "A lot of Americans can't work any harder, borrow any more or save any less," she said. Girl, I hear ya cluckin!

Unlike most Americans, I have very little debt. I do believe in contributing to the economy so I buy a lot of shit. You know, the usual...drugs, hookers and bottles of Veuve Ciquot. I have a lot of friends that think playing the lottery is a sound retirement plan. My retirement plan is much more sensible. I plan to marry a rich old bag and push her wheelchair down the stairs.

So the White House decides a couple of days later that the use of stem cells is not murder after all. Looks like maybe they are back on their meds. Still, the measure was vetoed. The softening of language is akin to closing the barn door after you let the horse out or something like that.

Just for fun, leave your own revisions to White House statements in the comments!

Looks like I'll have to start dressing better if I'm going to be filmed running red lights in Austin. What a stupid waste of money. The biggest traffic problem in Austin isn't people running redlights. The biggest problems with Austin traffic are, in no particular order:

I just received word from Iraq that Pinkdome has finally been blocked from the military Internet cafe's. I was so going to help out the Texas Land Commissioner's efforts to bring more Internet to the troops, but now that we're blocked..fuck it.

Sen. Inhofe from the great state of Oklahoma compared environmentalists with the Third Reich. From tulsaworld.com, here's what Inhofe thinks of global warming:

"It kind of reminds . . . I could use the Third Reich, the big lie," Inhofe said.

"You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that's their strategy."

Someday we will see global warming as less of a political issue and more of a fact. . . but by then, it will probably be too late.

Just watching the trailer for the new movie, The U.S. vs John Lennon, made me wonder what in the world it would take to get masses of people inspired enough to change government policies we disagree with in today's world.

Pray for the Author: Review of Prayers for the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno
(This is the first in a, we hope, series of book reviews from our readers here on PinkDome.)
Reviewed By: Sadstaffer

It is 2040, and what was once the United States of America is split into several countries, the most powerful of which is the Islamic States of America. Vast numbers of people converted to Islam after the Zionist Betrayal – the nuclear bombing of Washington D.C., New York, and Mecca by Zionists who planned on framing Muslim extremists – was revealed. Within the Islamic States government there is a constant battle between moderns and fundamentalists, particularly over the treatment of the Catholics who remain in the Islamic States. Political intrigue is alive and well, and personal freedom has largely been exchanged for the security the Islamic States offer.

This is the background in Robert Ferrigno’s Prayers for the Assassin. Against it, the main characters, Sarah and Rakkim fight to stay alive as they attempt to uncover the truth behind the Zionist Betrayal while being stalked by Sarah’s uncle’s powerful enemies and a trained assassin. Ferringo does a wonderful job of not allowing the premise of his future world to overpower the plot, a common problem in futuristic novels.

This, however, is where the praise for Ferringo must end. His writing style resembles an eighth grader’s, with short, choppy sentences and a complete absence of flow within or between story lines. His characters barely have enough depth to be called two dimensional, and they seem to have been created with the typical spy/suspense novel stereotypes in mind – the strong but bullying father figure, the tough cop who is willing to bend the rules for his friend, the handsome and sensitive but violent hero, and the strongly independent female battle the evil but intelligent religious fanatic, power hungry politico, and bloody thirsty psychopath.

In keeping with the utterly boring characters and terribly predictable plot, Ferrigno’s message is as subtle as Whitmire at the Brown Bar. We must always fight for individualism, open-mindness, and religious freedom. Wow, how earth shattering. So glad I read this book because otherwise those things would never have occurred to me.

In the end, the good guys win, the bad guys are dead, and the reader is relieved that the book is finally over, wishing that Ferrigno had had the good sense to take his interest idea and give it to someone who could actually write.

This morning's Chron has a front page story on an investigation into the execution of Ruben Cantu. Cantu was convicted of a 1984 robbery that left one man dead and another bleeding from nearly a dozen wounds. When the Bexar County D.A.'s office was re-examining the case, apparently they used some "salty language" discussing the convicts that were going to testify Cantu was innocent.

This is where people get their panties in a twist and immediately attack the District Attorney's office. Wrongheaded, limp-wristed and frankly, it pisses me off. I don't know anything about this case, but here's the facts I can tell you from a five minute review of the article: Ruben Cantu was convicted of murder. Ruben Cantu was executed. The Bexar County reviewed the case. Convicted felons declared his innocence. Some fruitloops are up in arms claiming unfair.

Fuck off. I'm so sick of people siding with convicted crimminals over our police and judicial system. I am so in favor of capital punishment I think we ought to carry out the sentence fifteen minutes after the verdict is read. Maybe even carry out the execution in the high school stadium before the friday night game. We could buy foam fingers and wave them around as they lit up the field with the convict.

Benefit of doubt in this instance goes to the district attorney. Foul language used? Yep, but you're dealing with murderers...every once in a while a shit, hell or damn is gonna slip out. Claiming witnesses are liars? So what, they were convicted felons. You know why they wouldn't say that about you or me? Because we aren't convicted felons.

UPDATE--you have to read the comments. Love them.

Alabama elected its first openly gay state representative this week, dramatically changing the political landscape of the state. Lesbian, Patricia Todd, won her runoff to proceed unchallenged for the November Primary. State officials released the new demographic profile of Alabama Voters on Friday.

Okay, I just can't take her voice anymore. It drives me absolutely fucking insane. I am completely flabbergasted that a woman who sounds like that could ever make it on a local news show, much less MSNBC - not that their standards are necessarily that high.

When you Google "rita cosby" voice, over 68,800 hits come up, so clearly I'm not the only one who feels the need to complain. The first hit is from rateitall.com, where there's a page set up to rate Rita Cosby. A few highlights:

• How did this hosehound manage to get a broadcasting job? She sounds like she gargled with razor blades then followed that up with a chaser of Jim Beam. Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!???!?
  
• as i rush to switch the channel, i am entertained for a brief second by the thought that this woman might have a human husband somewhere in this world who must mate with her on a regular basis and what she must sound like as she is in the throes of passion. like envisioning the apocalypse, no man can truly glimpse a sound so horrifying, but i'll venture to guess that it might sound a bit like cows being sent to the slaughter, interlaced with the sound of a man choking on his own vomit, sprinkled with the the mating calls of silver back gorillas.
  
• I'm convinced she either sprinkles crushed horse steriods on her Wheaties in the morning, or she's crating around more than a wiggle in that skirt.

When was the last time you heard a sitting Congressman talk about any of the following on television?

1. Cocaine
   
2. Prostitutes
   
3. Cocaine and prostitutes

[via Truthdig]

A new blog, not so subtly titled Louie Gohmert is a Little Bitch, takes Congressman Gohmert to task for, well, being a little bitch. Why, you ask?

So last week, it turns out that an amendment sponsored by the Little Bitch died on the House floor. The amendment would have reduced extension of the Voting Rights Act to only 10 years instead of 25. Gohmert reportedly scurried around the hallways outside the House floor, handing little blue "Eight Reasons Why 25 Years Is Too Long" sheets to anyone who stood still long enough. With 134 Yeas and 288 Nays, the watering down of the VRA extension kicked the bucket. We mourn the tree that gave its life so that the Little Bitch could waste good paper on such a fruitless endeavor.

[hat tip to McBlogger]

Paul Burka has an note on his blog which should be interesting for those of you already bored with the '06 governor race:

A story is making the rounds that Kay Bailey Hutchison sent (or is sending, or will send) an emissary to David Dewhurst with the message that she is definitely running for governor in 2010 and would like the lieutenant governor to find some other office to run for. Is this a true rumor, or just truly a rumor? Well, the Dewhurst folks have heard it. They think it's coming from the Capitol in Austin, not the one in Washington, and was started by folks who do not wish the lite guv well. (MT is a suspect, and so is BM. And don't forget JS, who is now back in the game and so dearly loves to get inside an adversary's head.) Rather than a likely scenario, they see it as effort to undermine Dewhurst for the budget battle with RP and TC next session.

• MT = Mister T
  
• BM = Bowel Movement
  
• JS = Jimmy Swaggart

I feel that with all the free media that Kinky and especially Strayhorn got over how their names would be printed on the ballot, the Chris Bell campaign should also try to get in on the action. What's more, I think they have a better chance than anyone else of having their request for a name alteration on the ballot come true.

All Bell has to do is use the full version of Christopher, then capitalize the first 6 letters of his name. There is no actual name change so I can't see how the Secretary of State could overturn it. With CHRISTopher Bell on the ballot, he no longer has to fight for name ID...there are missionaries all over the world that have been establishing his name ID for the last 2000 years. Additionally, he may have just found the perfect way to rail in swing voters. Who needs the 38% Democratic base anyways? Those pansies have spent 7 months flirting with Kinky and Strayhorn. Now Bell can cut into that wide swath of Perry voters that everyone thought was locked up. Heck, Bell could even go ahead and make his name CHRISTie Bell to capture some of those women voters that are going to vote for Strayhorn by default because hers is the sole vagina in the race.

So there you go. Bell campaign, feel free to run with this. Not only will you capture the desired 38%, but you'll blow the other candidates out of the water. Now time to move on to Ave Maria Alvarado.

[SW!: I'm posting this on PinkDome's behalf, who is currently on assignment massaging world leaders' shoulders.]

The stories about Bush's slip into profanity made the rounds this week, but most of them left it up to our imagination what the actual word might be. The Associated Press went so far as to define it as the "s-word", wow...such bravery. On PinkDome we think you are grown up enough to handle it. The word was "shit." The President said the word "shit." Are you all okay? Just to make sure you didn't miss it:

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT

Whew, there you go - you can now copy and paste one of those in any news story you read online. Leave it to us to help you out.

The server was down this morning, so talk amongst yourselves for the moment. We'll get the ball rolling soon.

Well, when I heard that George Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were BFFs (Best Friends Forever), I figured they'd try and start doing more things together (braiding each others hair, making friendship bracelets, talking shit about Jaques Chirac and Vladimir Putin). Little did I know that aside from trying to coordinate outfits, they'd try to coordinate legislative initiatives. As you know, Bush issued his first veto yesterday to try and protect snowflake babies. Reuters is reporting that today, Germany has gone and asked the EU to also place a ban on the use of snowflake babies in science. So much for us here in America hoping that Europe would find the cures for us. I guess those backrubs can be mighty persuasive.

In Colorado, the big current debate is whether it's okay for dogs to moo or not. James Dobson and his cult of Focus on the Family (I went there, yes I did) think that any dog that doesn't bark is whack. The dogs that moo (the "different" ones) are supposed to symbolize gay people. And is that supposed to a positive image of gay people? It seems a bit bizarre to me.

When it comes down to it, this all sounds like a "Family Guy" episode waiting to happen. Even though the big issue here is gay rights, this argument has gone to the dogs (yeah, I went there too).

[HuffPo]

I was reading BOR and came across Chris Bell's new campaign ad [click the permalink to view via youtube]. A commenter said "Look out! It's Bellzilla!", KT said "photoshop?", and I said "why not?"

And for the record, I agree with those who give the ad a big ol' thumbs down.

Mayor, Lino Donato, is accused of exposing himself to two girls for his gratification. The first incident occurred nearly 10 years ago on Dec. 1, 1996. The second was Nov. 26, 2000.

The Poteet Police Department patted themselves on the back for such a timely response to the alleged crime. It's apparently the first time they've ever done anything so quickly.

What's wrong with a little flash every now and then. New Orleans practically bases their entire tourism industry on the thrill of the flash.