UConn James

There is now video of a 2004 fundraiser event that shows Mr. Hanks onstage with a man in blackface, a stuffed gorilla being auctioned, and making some really crass jokes. Some groups are now demanding that this Obama campaign video be re-dubbed with another narrator. Tom Hanks, Glenn Frey in 2004: Blackface, Race Jokes at Fundraising Auction Wow. I can see the (lame) attempts at political/pundit humor, but some of this stuff crosses the line. All I can say is this isn't quite a Tom Cruise level of meltdown, but there's a reason why entertainers should be very careful about what they do and say WRT politics and weighty issues. Very easy to get caught up in something and then you've just pissed off ~30-35% of your possible viewers. I've always seen Hanks as a good actor, but after all this I've gotta say that I am seriously disinclined to pay to see any of his projects.

If you think the GOP base will just lie down for a dude who'll possibly nominate 2 more Sonia Sotomayor clones, will have little to stop him from instituting any and all gun restrictions he can, and has seriously overestimated the strength of this "recovery" (99ers falling off the roles is not recovery), you're off your head. I think many people at this point would be eager to vote for a business-savvy automaton, if that's what the left is intent on categorizing Romney as. Because compared to wanna-be 'Al Green Night' American Idol contestant who wants the government to pick up the check for everything for everybody....

WSJ | Alan Blinder: The U.S. Cruises Toward a 2013 Fiscal Cliff : As tax cuts expire and spending falls, the economy will be hit with a 3.5% decline in gross domestic demand ----- And just to note: a lot of governments have thought the the Laffer Curve doesn't apply to them. And then they got a rude awakening.

It was revealed on the news this weekend that among the plans in Osama bin Laden's compound room were an assassination of Obama. OBL's logic: Link The man may have been a hateful murderer, but he wasn't entirely stupid.

Because those studies about how to get Chinese prostitutes (in China) to drink alcohol responsibly... and literally countless other items/programs/unnecessaries. That's seriously important stevestojan that our federal government has to increase taxes to pay for, and which shouldn't be cut first.

These things really keep me from getting into soccer any more than rabidly watching the World Cup. When you've got like 10 "championship" games a season, what the hell does it mean? What is the importance? Why call things "championships" when it's not the end game? I mean, with the Super Bowl, that's it. You win it or you don't. Now, I get the MLS; there's a season, a playoffs, and there's a championship. It's self-contained. What happens in Europe with different schedules being played simultaneously (and with "friendlies" and nationals mixed in for EXTRA confusion) is like Calvinball. The closest correlation we have, I guess, is college football. And there's a reason why the vast majority of people want it to become a standardized playoff rather than the mish-mosh of agreements of the Big-10 #4 vs. SEC #6 and the free-for-all "invitations" and all that. We just want it fairer and simplified a bit, is all. And, AJ, just as a note... Before you go into an explanation of the different levels and all that, it's probably not worth your time, bro.

For mine, the runner-up was Parker (as in, Nosy Parker). Once when I was younger and we got a brother-sister German shorthaired pointers, my dad joked that he was going to call them Spot and Stain. Then, when he called out to them, he could bellow "Come spot, come stain!"

More from the CBO: Investor's Business Daily | CBO Exposes Obama's $2T Budget Sleight of Hand: Obama's 'budget cuts' are actually tax hikes

This would be the place to ask! Oh. Wait. You mean the workout regimen?

There was a story in the Hartford Courant today that the state DEEP reported 7 dogs were killed in February by coyotes. It's a growing problem, and as jboy wrote, they have no natural predators. They are also not native to the northeast. So yes, the numbers of both need to be culled. (I'd add Canada geese to that category, too.)

Well, devoting an entire hour to the retraction for what was a 39-minute piece is MUCH more than one can say for so many other outfits that print/air material that is inaccurate or outright false. Case in point: the 1% tip story on the restaurant bill with 'Get a real job' written on it. Three days later, the restaurant confirmed that it was a fake bill and that this didn't happen. It was a story fabricated by the "Occupy Movement" run without any names, interviews or corroboration... that any credible news organization shouldn't have run, and wouldn't have run if it were many other topics. But tellingly about the state of the media, so many did. And then, by the time it was revealed to be a hoax, there was nary a correction to be seen. And so, PR / operations hacks are further bolstered that they can inflict their message with that initial item, almost without consequence because that first piece is what people will remember. As Mark Twain wrote, "A lie can travel halfway 'round the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes." Have to give TAL some credit for bending over backwards to provide a correction and not remaining quiet that they were duped, as far too many outlets will do these days.

Yeah, this is kind of like a loss leader for them. And even then, it's not that big a one because these things probably cost $15-20 to make, tops. And then they get people in the habit of using and buying on i-tunes.

Hit it right on the nail on a lot of your points. I think a lot of women could see the Limbaugh-Fluke spat for what it was (hypocrites) when the left refused to equally denounce Maher. As such, the only polling I've seen is that Obama and generic Democrats have ticked back several points since that time. It obviously didn't have the impact they thought it might. On Martinez, I absolutely love what she's done in New Mexico not backing down on issues re: fair re-districting (She and NM Repubs agreed with a plan that a Democrat-appointed federal judge proposed, but which was blocked by the NM Supremes), passing a law denying illegal immigrants drivers licenses, turning around the NM budget and line-item-vetoing earmarks from both sides, bi-partisanship on numerous issues, tax reductions.... I consider her a lot like Palin, only with tact, a lot more brains, and experience in actually getting things done rather than grandstanding or quitting when the going gets tough. The only thing where she might have trouble is that she was a registered Democrat until 1995. I don't know what her particular beliefs were that caused this, but perhaps most importantly she is Catholic and pro-life. The social stances from the 2010 race are very mainstream Republican. I'm not sure if it was a thing of when she was younger that 'Oh, I'm Latino, so I should be a Dem' until when she got involved in politics (she was a DA prior). Now, I'm one who's of the mind that like a lost sheep, some of the strongest adherents are people who've seen the workings of the other side and come to believe by looking at the facts/searching their hearts that what they were hearing there just wasn't right. But for some in the GOP who demand absolute purity, that detail might not be looked at kindly. (There was some mention of it WRT Perry being a Dem until '88.) Especially with Romney's situation, she might be the best pick from a hypothetical 'She'd be a good VP and attract Latinos and maybe help win NM' but she not be the best pick. Then again, if Romney's aim is to go after Independents in the general and rely on the hardcore base to show up in good numbers because they're willing to hold their noses and they primarily want Obama out, then I think it could definitely work.

IIRC, an arm of one of the players was copied and pasted onto another player's. I don't remember where/who it was in the picture. Might've been an issue of an errant 'bird' or a tat or something.

Monica is married to Daunte Culpepper. And yikes. That's a horrible 41, even with her fakes. Watching huge-forehead dude pick up Leif last night during the immunity challenge and just midget-toss him was . But hey, Probst said everything was legal. Christina was like at the vote. I would've voted off Tarzan just to get rid of having to see his grapefruit-sized prostate while he was in the water. Jesus, why didn't they digitally scramble that??? Still don't quite get Colton's strategy. Once he hits the merge and has to use the idol, the next vote, he's gone.

Well, they already have the 15-yard "Touching the Brady" penalty.

If Romney were anything other than Mormon, he would've wrapped this thing up back in Iowa. He would've won in '08. The South wants an evangelical Minister-in-Chief more than they want a president. Nothing new about that. Like Alan Alda said as Republican nominee Arnold Vinick in the West Wing, "From now until the end of the campaign, ask me anything you want about government. But if you want to talk about religion, please go to church." Many other people in other areas of the country really don't give a wit because first and foremost, we need someone who's going to lead the military/foreign policy, get out of the way of the economy and get the deficit & debt into check. I don't think it really matters how long the nomination goes. The rest of the country that isn't insistent on having the Ten Commandments as the only laws on the books will have the ultimate say and it will be Romney. Obama's goose is already cooked, and it'll be burnt once we have $5 gas this summer (and an accompanying jobs slide due to the rising costs of doing business) because of historic Democrat no-drill and now no-pipeline policies. We're not going to have green-tech tomorrow, next year, five years from now but this president wants to price things as if there is an alternative.

He lost states he was expected to lose. And yet, on the night, he was competitive with the Southern candidate and still picked up [on edit: MORE] delegates [than] Sweater Vest. He can run the race out an alienate a lot of Repubs from the GOP notion that the previous round's runner-up becomes the favored candidate next time, as Reagan did in '76 and as Romney did after Super Tuesday in '08 rather than fight to the bitter end. What Santorum is trying to accomplish is to get Romney to lose so Sweater Vest can run in 2016 against a clean slate (assuming Biden won't run, because he'll be... how old?... and he'll still be Joe Biden). What Santorum's doing is not what's good for the party and he would happily put Obama in office for the next four years for his own purposes. Once we get to the 24 April primaries, it'll likely be done. And if not, June 5th will put the final nail in Santorum's coffin and thoroughly f--- over any chance he has at a future in the party if he takes it that far.

Wash. Examiner link I'd say it, but, really... who's fooled by "Whoops!"?

Well, they'd better sign someone of consequence. After the collapse last season combined with the results of the last 12, it's going to take a lot more than freezing ticket prices to put asses in the seats. As I've written before, I'll start caring about this team and buying merch again once I get an indication that someone at OBD actually gives a crap beyond skimping so the owner can pocket the extra $30M.

Nevermind that half of those were Iraq. ...lybob is under the impression that during war, everything is supposed to go smoothly. Those were military mistakes in identification of targets from the NATO forces. All evidence says this appears to be a case of an outright murder spree by someone who just lost it. But, you know, they haven't responded in 3 days now. After the accidental Quran burning, Afghan soldiers turned their guns on Americans who were working with them. Obama formally apologized for that but none such here. So it begs the question... do they actually revere pieces of paper more than human life?

The only people I know who can actually speak well without notes and for that long a time, sell snake oil, time-shares and used cars. Frankly, I don't trust people who can go into a diatribe of persuasion because time and experience has shown they're so keen and full of vim/vigor because they're out to help themselves, not me. We've come to the point where Santorum is hurting the party. I expect it from Gingrich because he's quite simply a narcissist. But for Santorum to have any hope of being the next cycle's front-runner in GOP style, he needs to step aside soon and say he supports the presumptive nominee who's gotten ~40% of the delegates needed. Romney will probably have enough on the 24 April primaries, or certainly with California. The GOP will not forgive him if this intrasquad match contributes to Obama getting 4 more years and a "progressive" agenda that would have nothing left to lose. Polls late last week were showing a Romney +5 and +9 lead in Alabama and Mississippi.... and showed him winning by 3 points in November. That was Rasmussen. And ABC/WP yesterday has Romney winning the general by 2. Looks like Obama 1) was on the wrong side of the "free" contraception story and 2) is going to take a beating with gas prices this summer.

He's not the only one. Brandon(?) is a complete and utter *. Just like that, some little thing doesn't go their way and he's like 'We should quit the race.' He isn't fly-off-the-wall angry, from what I've seen --- he says crap like this very coolly. Which to me makes him more of an * because I can partly understand saying things when someone is really pissed and worked up. And frankly, I'm not sure what he does have to be mad at. Rachael, while she is a whiny be-atch, has mostly kicked butt in the roadblocks and stuff. I don't know whether to say that she'd be like this without him (her thing with Vanessa has me thinking that no, Rachael is just a be-atch); I get the sense that their relationship is like vinegar and baking soda. Apart they may be somewhat stable (if volatile) but when mixed together, they erupt. But I'm not qualified here. Anyone who can comment who watched BB? The Army dude and his wife aren't far behind in the dysfunction department. That dude needs to chilax a bit. They went a little heavy in the in-show endorsements with the Ford Focus, but this is one time where it was actually pretty cool with the park assist thing. It works. It actually works. Now we just need autopilot cars (and pray that these companies don't offer a 'Drive like a Mass-hole' function ). That was a nice gesture from the Border Patrol guys. They finished early with the express pass and hung around for Bopper and Mark when they could've banked that and gone to the hotel or whatever for some ZZZs. That was a bad break for the Kentuckys that they missed the travel agency. Something small and it really screwed them for everything this leg. Still annoyed by their accents, but they've grown on me as people and yes, I enjoy their attitude of being happy just being together. Maybe a lot of people on AR don't wear it on their sleeves nearly as much, but they all signed up for it with someone they know and like/love. And while it's sometimes easy to forget this as they're in the heat of things, this race will always be a big part of their relationships in those "Remember that time...?" moments.

In the Reuters link, the reporters "poured over" Eisenhower documents. Grammar is more and more becoming a lost art. When papers laid off, who do you think went first? That trickles down into a society that learns more and more not to care about accuracy.

A smarmy sentiment, but perhaps Mr. Santorum should get off of his grandstand. Does it really matter whether one uses a TelePrompTer to deliver a speech versus repeating what has been said in message meetings, etc.? The latter takes a good memory. Speaking for myself, I've taken some public speaking classes and it can be terrifying up there, even for someone who is trained to do it. Speaking off-the-cuff is admirable for those who can do it and stay on point, but I would not expect it from a guy who's giving a 30-minute talk, and where his/her words will be recorded and used for posterity --- the chance of a misstatement is too big and the consequences too real (especially when talking about foreign policy/military issues). When talking about Iran, Republican or Democrat, I don't want an errant comment be misunderstood because of a lapse in wording/brain fart/foot in mouth; there's a reason why those kinds of speeches are so strictly controlled. Besides that, depending on a candidate's level of involvement in the process, those speeches have been looked over by him/her and tweaked or approved, have been written by someone who knows the candidate, their ideas, and their language. If Rick can speak extemporaneously, fine --- good for him. But I don't want someone who can't do that well, but is otherwise a good candidate excluded because s/he isn't a parrot or an actor.