Corey Haim Connection to Massive Drug Ring

Corey Haim's death is now under investigation -- and has been linked to an "illegal and massive prescription drug ring."

State Attorney General Jerry Brown says his office is conducting a probe of Haim's death because an unauthorized prescription in his name was found during a probe of fraudulent drug-prescription pads in San Diego.

Read more: TMZ

Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli Loves the Gays

RICHMOND -- Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has urged the state's public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school that their boards of visitors had no legal authority to adopt such statements.

[...]

From WaPo

A hat tip to anyone who has a shot of Ken carousing in a gay bar.

The Marriage Ref: Must (not) See TV

Following 30 Rock, quite possibly the best scripted comedy show on TV, The Marriage Ref has the daunting task of keeping the Thursday night NBC comedy night franchise going.

How does it do? Badly, really badly. Even with the star power of its A-list guests, this show is flatter than the EKG of a dead guy.

It's as bad as Leno was at the 10 PM hour and that's borderline insufferable. As the other Seinfeld cast members have found, the sophomore jinx is real.

Wrap this show up in yesterday's newspaper and throw it out with the fish -- it stinks!

Vile Slimette of the Day: Liz Cheney

Sure, she's the daughter of a Dick, but just how she managed to make the leap that Department of Justice attorneys are terrorist sympathizers due to their legal work defending Gitmo detainees is beyond all reasonable comprehension.

Indeed, a group she's strongly associated with has labeled these attorneys the "Al Qaeda 7. " You know because the might as well have been piloting the hijacked jets on September 11.

It is somewhat pleasing to see that even some conservative folks have rebuked her for this idiotic condemnation, but no doubt her comments do appeal to some of the lunatic wingnuts this kind of Joe McCartheyesque rhetoric appeals to. You know, like the IRS kamikaze dude, the Pentagon shooter and, of course, Glenn "I never met a logical fallacy I didn't like" Beck.

Liz, honey, when an attorney represents someone charged with DUI, that does not, ipso facto, mean the attorney is in favor of driving under the influence. Jesus Christo, what a bozo. Bless her cotton socks, she's actually dumber and more paranoid than Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter.

Glad I'm here to straighten that small gray object between your ears out, babycakes.

Liz's group is known as Keep America Safe, but I refuse to link to such a demented site. I suppose if they really wanted to keep America safe they would smuggle the whole Cheney clan out of the county.

Anyway, Lizzie, watch for my bill in the mail, but in the interim enjoy your fameball status as my Vile Slimette of the day.

And say hello to your mother for me.

The Catholic Church Endorses AIDS, Herpes, Genital Warts, Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Hypocrisy

It's not news to read that the Catholic Church is against all forms of artificial contraception, but it is still sad to know that in this age of AIDS and other rampant STDs, the church remains trapped in the Dark Ages.

This article about a high school in Rome that has installed condom dispensers, reminds us that the Catholic Church's view of sex is sadly and dangerously outdated. And of course, with all of the countless sex scandals that have rocked the church down to its very foundations, it's also a font of pure hypocrisy.

Also, by attempting to stop the dissemination of condoms, the church is fostering an environment that leads to abortions. So much for the sanctity of human life, eh?

At least the pope has nice Prada shoes.

Waiting on your State Tax Refund? It May Be a While.

From USA Today:

Residents eager to get their state tax refunds may have a long wait this year: The recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen states to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five months.
States from New York to Hawaii that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn say they have either delayed refunds or are considering doing so because of budget shortfalls.
[...]

Must Read Editorial by Howell Raines in the Washington Post: FOX News Exposed

Howell Raines has penned a scathing indictment of Fox News (and the news media in general) that should be read by anyone who can fire off more than a few neurons, and this includes the Fox News audience -- although to be fair, that's unlikely to happen.

Do yourself a favor and read the editorial and accompanying links.

Howell asks important questions that will likely fall on deaf ears, but perhaps someone will pick up on this and do the kind of reporting that this issue begs for.

Yellow Journalism is alive and well, and Roger Ailes is the man behind the curtain.

Read it here -- now!

This world will be a better place when Murdoch and Ailes are put out to pasture.

Happy Friday! The Housing Market is Still in Deep Doo Doo

Just when you may have thought it was safe to go back in the water, comes this bit of news that is sure to brighten your weekend.

Oh, don't despair, despondency is so last year. Look, it could be a lot worse. Bush could have actually choked on that pretzel and this yutz could still be in office.

Have a great weekend, people!

Pentagon Shooter: John Patrick Bedell

UPDATE: Here's a link to a link of audio files from this guy. I listened to one for about a minute and then I started to nod off. He does sound very young, very controlled and very flat (also, rather effeminate, not that there's anything wrong with that.)

UPDATE II: News reports indicate this guy was also a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. That pretty much tells me he was a wacko who should of had all his guns and sporks confiscated and he should have been on the do not fly, drive or bicycle watch list. Conspiracy theorists are all kooks. 9/11 conspiracy theorists are paranoids or borderline paranoids. Also, he was probably a Tea Bagger. Just sayin', Andrew Breitbart.

And here's a pic of the Pentagon shooter, John Patrick Bedell. Early reports suggest he was yet another in a long line of anti-government sociopaths.

Frankly, I don't know too many people who aren't anti-government on some level at some time. Just look at your pay stub and see all the money you pay for the privilege of living in the USA.

And if that doesn't get your knickers in a twist, just look at the huge amount of government waste, the no-bid contracts, the do-nothing state and federal employees, the corruption, the gold-bricking, the nepotism, the absurd number of people in this country who are employees of the government, the vast sums spent on elections, ad nauseam.

So, it's not terribly surprising that there are those living on the fringes of mental health who act out in this way. It's upsetting, of course, but we needn't make a logical leap from these examples of mental derangement and blame the victims or make some huge federal case about this. It was a lone wack job, just like the imbecile who crashed his plane into the IRS office in Texas. There are thousands upon thousands of mentally ill people in this world, and many of them have access to guns or other instruments of death.

Fortunately, most of us understand that while our system is badly broken, these random acts of violence accomplish nothing -- unless of course your real objective is simply suicide, which in all cases can be done without the assistance of anyone other than yourself.

Kudos to the law enforcement personnel who ended this disturbed man's life before he could do even more damage, and condolence and best wishes to the injured.

The price of peace is eternal vigilance -- still. We will never be able to stop these lunatics completely, but neither can we allow them to affect how we live our lives.

The Hurt Locker: Why the fuss?

It's a decent film that starts off a bit like weak tea and then hits its stride as the fine lead actor [Jeremy Renner], and the director and script, starts to better flesh out his character.

It doesn't break any new ground, has the feel of a made-for-television morality play at times, and has a predictable story arc, and a gaggle of recycled stereotypical supporting characters that only underscore the hackneyed quality of the screenwriting.

Apparently there's a small but vocal group of military folks who object to inauthentic aspect of the narrative, but it's a movie, folks. Not a training film, not a documentary, not a recruiting tool or a military primer.

It will probably win a few Oscars, but not because it's great, but merely good, and in this season of sometimes hugely inept films (yes, I'm looking at you, The Hangover -- wretched), it stands out by being largely inoffensive and reasonably entertaining.

Vile Slime of the Day: Glenn Beck

For crimes against critical thinking, common sense, logic and humanity, Glenn Beck is the under-educated, paranoid, wingnut, Slime of the Day.

Short may his reign of Father Coughlinesque kookdom be, and may his anal fissures continue to delight and amuse us all.

And now here's Glenn losing his shit yet again. Enjoy the madness.

Glenn Beck Hates--HATES! --9/11 Victim's Families

In his continuing effort at self-destruction and complete irrelevance, here's Glenn waxing poetic on the victim's families of 9/11 and the victims of the hurricane Katrina, aka "scumbags" in Beck's parlance.

ABC 7 Goes Dark in NY: World Yawns

So, ABC pulled the plug on their NY metro area Cablevision feed last night around midnight. Probably due to some Cablevision screwup, this also brought down all or most of the HD channels for a good half hour or so.

I don't watch much TV and can think of nothing on ABC 7 that I'll miss, so adios to the Oscars and all the other swill served up on Channel 7 here in Gotham.

Eventually the Dolans will reach some accord with Eiger and all the warm borscht ABC produces will once again be available for your viewing consumption. In the meantime, please try and find a way to live without Cougartown, Desperate Housewives, and Eyewitness Snooze.

ABC's amusing anti-Cablevision PR efforts includes this page on switching to another provider.

Matt Drudge: The Drudge Report's Logical Fallacy Tactic

Drudge has a link to a horrible individual story about healthcare in the UK. Naturally, it's awful, but so too are the tens of thousands of sad stories that take place every hour of every day in US hospitals.

As a matter of fact, there are generally only two ways for a patient to leave a hospital, and that's out the front door or the back door, via a hearse, but what Drudge hopes to show is that socialized medicine is very bad, and he does that by to linking to anecdotes that prove nothing at all. Indeed, this is the same thing he does with anything he disagrees with.

Instead of linking to clear, empirical evidence, he'll link to a snow storm in Florida (because he doesn't accept the evidence for man-made global warming), or the story of Canadian politico who came to the US for medical treatment. Find a topic that the right disputes, and Drudge will find some anecdotal stories to make the case. But these links tell us nothing substantive at all.

Only what Drudge thinks, and from my perspective, I see very little evidence of any thought by Matt Drudge.

Anecdotes prove absolutely nothing, Matt. Although they do demonstrate that in the absence of any real credible, scientific evidence, you'll grasp at any straw that you imagine makes your point.

Drudge slinked out of Usenet years ago and somehow established his fatuous page of links as the destination spot for all media. It's a testament to his efforts and the power of the Internet that he wields such power, but when you actually read the cruft he posts, almost all of it is opinion, conjecture, poorly sourced and researched and/or clipped from that days GOP talking points.

HIV Hides Out in Bone Marrow Cells

"Medications can reduce the level of the AIDS virus in the blood to zero, but HIV doesn't disappear and often roars back when patients stop taking their pills. Now, research is giving scientists new insight into how the virus manages to hide and avoid the killing powers of

medicine."

From Business Week

[...]

Glenn Beck Urges Listeners to Leave Churches That Preach Social Justice

From Politics Daily

"On his daily radio and television shows last week, Fox News personality Glenn Beck set out to convince his audience that "social justice," the term many Christian churches use to describe their efforts to address poverty and human rights, is a "code word" for communism and Nazism. Beck urged Christians to discuss the term with their priests and to leave their churches if leaders would not reconsider their emphasis on social justice."

[...]

Read the article for the complete picture.

Beck seems to get crazier by the minute. One has to wonder just how long he will hold onto his own sanity before experiencing a complete psychotic break. Even if his rants are just 50% for shock value, the remaining 50% would be very troubling. I'm convinced he's a few fries shorty of a Happy Meal® and cannot listen to him for more than a minute or three before I'm repulsed by his brand of crazy.

Palin admits to crossing border for Canadian healthcare

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

From The Globe and Mail:

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska.

You know, Sarah can see Putin and Canada from her perch high atop Alaska's Mount Dumbfuckistan.

Like Kathie Griffin, I would view a Palin reality show as a gift from on high. Not since Paris Hilton has the country had someone so completely oblivious to their ignorance.

Apple Airs First iPad Commercial During Oscars, Steve Jobs at Event

Here's a YouTube version. Better quality available video on Apple's site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9KTnsGsd_0&feature=player_embedded

Don't imagine performance will be as punchy as the ad shows, but I can certainly see the appeal of this device, just not to me.

Another monthly service fee for functionality that I already have via my computers would be hard to justify, plus the form factor of a tablet is one that I think fails.

Unlike the articulated screen of a laptop, that has an almost infinite range of viewing angles, the iPad tablet requires you to either hold the item with one or more hands, or use it in an off-axis viewing angle.

Also, is the screen bright enough for use outdoors?

In any event, I have no plans on buying one and see this largely as another vehicle to simply plug into Apple's profit center app and music ecosystem.

Great for AAPL, not so much for the average consumer.

I expect they will sell a lot at intro, but I'm less optimistic for the longer term.

How cheap is eBay? VERY!

Yes, I'm an eBay PowerSeller and I recently passed a fairly important feedback milestone. I'm also a "Top-rated Seller" and I have a very, very high buyer satisfaction rate. Over my years selling on the site, I have paid eBay, and their sister site, PayPal, many, many thousands of dollars in fees.

I'm not begrudging those payments because I could not do the business I do without eBay, but just today I received an acknowledgement for my efforts and achievements from eBay.

And just how did they honor me?

With a slightly bent 8.5" x 11" card stock achievement award that looks like the kind of thing you might give a second grader on their completion of that classic reader, "Fun with Dick and Jane."

This thing isn't even suitable for framing or hanging on the refrigerator!

I'm proud of what I've achieved on eBay, but I'm also embarrassed by their acknowledgement of same. I actually expected nothing from eBay on this milestone, but now I feel like I've received less than nothing with their gift.

In gifts, the rule is it's the thought that counts, but from my perspective, this gift shows no thought whatsoever. I would have much preferred nothing at all than this cheap and tacky "plaque."

So for this conduct I nominate Lorrie Norrington, President eBay Marketplace, as the cheap ho of the day.

Enjoy your reward as much as I'm enjoying mine, Lorrie.

The Marriage Ref: Must (not) See TV

Following 30 Rock, quite possibly the best scripted comedy show on TV, The Marriage Ref has the daunting task of keeping the Thursday night NBC comedy night franchise going.

How does it do? Badly, really badly. Even with the star power of its A-list guests, this show is flatter than the EKG of a dead guy.

It's as bad as Leno was at the 10 PM hour and that's borderline insufferable. As the other Seinfeld cast members have found, the sophomore jinx is real.

Wrap this show up in yesterday's newspaper and throw it out with the fish -- it stinks!

Lahore Suicide Bombs: Attacks Kill 43, Wound 95 In Pakistan

From the AP:

LAHORE, Pakistan — A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other Friday, killing at least 43 people in this eastern city and wounding about 100, police said. It was the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence after a period of relative calm.

About ten of those killed were soldiers, said Lahore police chief Parvaiz Rathore.

The bombers, who were on foot, struck RA Bazaar, a residential and commercial neighborhood where several security agencies have facilities. Security forces swarmed the area as thick black smoke rose into the sky and bystanders rushed the injured into ambulances. Video being shot with a mobile phone just after the first explosion showed a large burst of orange flame suddenly erupting in the street, according to GEO TV, which broadcast a short clip of the footage shot by Tabraiz Bukhari.

Senior police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq said 43 people were killed and about 100 were injured. Some of the wounded were missing limbs, lying in pools of blood after the explosions, eyewitness Afzal Awan said.

[...]

Lesbians in Mississippi: Run for your lives!

From the AP

JACKSON, Miss. — An 18-year-old Mississippi lesbian student whose school district canceled her senior prom rather than allow her to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo said she got some unfriendly looks from classmates when she reluctantly returned to campus Thursday.'

Nicely played, Mississippi. Next year, separate proms for whites and coloreds.

Find this Guy: Female Bar Patron Savagely Beaten in Manhattan

Watch the video for the deets and call the police if you can ID this guy.

Glenn Beck Advertiser: Seeds as the "Ultimate Barter Item." Also, Bottle and Sell Your Own Sweat for Big $$$!

Sure, times are tough and there's good cause for worry. Home values have cratered, job losses mount, anxiety about the future is to be expected, but the thin line between understandable concern and outright paranoia has now been breached.

And this Glenn Beck advertiser is here to prove that. If I had not seen it for myself on his program, I would deem this only worthy of The Onion.

People, people, people, get a grip! You might as well invest in survival toilet paper (I have some available cheap!) or survival bottles of oxygen, because when the end times come and Beelzebub has laid waste to earth, you're still going to need to breathe.

Also, stock up on Wendy's coupons because you're going to get peckish waiting for The Rapture and seeds take too fucking long to grow into anything edible. Also, $149 buys you a lot of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and those are quite delicious with a pinch of salt.

Waiting on your State Tax Refund? It May Be a While.

From USA Today:

Residents eager to get their state tax refunds may have a long wait this year: The recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen states to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five months.
States from New York to Hawaii that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn say they have either delayed refunds or are considering doing so because of budget shortfalls.

[...]

Must Read Editorial by Howell Raines in the Washington Post: FOX News Exposed

Howell Raines has penned a scathing indictment of Fox News, and the larger news media, that should be read by anyone who can fire off more than a few neurons, and this includes the Fox News audience. Although, to be candid, most of them can't spare the brain cells.

Do yourself a favor and read the editorial and accompanying links.

Howell asks important questions that will likely fall on deaf ears, but perhaps someone will pick up on this and do the kind of reporting that this issue begs for.

Yellow Journalism is alive and well, and Roger Ailes is the man behind the curtain.

Read!

This world will be a better place when Murdoch and Ailes are put out to pasture.

Happy Friday! The Housing Market is Still in Deep Doo Doo

Just when you may have thought it was safe to go back in the water, comes this bit of news that is sure to brighten your weekend.

Oh, don't despair, despondency is so last year. Look, it could be a lot worse.

Have a great weekend, people!

Murduch and Ailes: The Two Most Disgusting Men in the USA

Really, these two men need no introduction, but one needs to be sent packing to his home country of Australia, and the other needs to be returned to his home country of Fatstupidrightwingimbecelia.