"If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't.
Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism." Oscar Wilde


189 comments:

Debrah said...

Terror and Candor from Krauthammer.

"There’s a final reason why the administration’s cowardice about identifying those trying to kill us cannot be allowed to pass. It is demoralizing. It trivializes the war between jihadi barbarism and Western decency, and diminishes the memory of those (including thousands of brave Muslims — Iraqi, Pakistani, Afghan, and Western) who have died fighting it."

Debrah said...

What is going on with Blogger and Google?

So bizarre.

First, another blog keeps showing up in my "browser history" when I post a comment, as it has for months.....

......then today a blank Google page appeared after posting which prompted me to post it again.

Only for the same comment to have been duplicated three times.

Perhaps it's time to drop Blogger and set up The Diva World in another location.

Too much strangeness for the Diva.

Debrah said...

Byrd Tributes Go Overboard

I don't usually read Jonah Goldberg; however, this is a great column.

Did anyone else find it bizarre how over-the-top all those Robert Byrd eulogies were?

"On Thursday, Byrd’s colleagues took the unusual step of honoring him with a special service on the Senate floor, where he would lay in repose — with some irony — on the Lincoln Catafalque, the bier used to hold the slain body of the president who freed the slaves. The irony stems from the fact that for much of Byrd’s life, his allegiances were with Lincoln’s opponents in that effort."

LOL!

"The common interpretation is that Byrd’s is a story of redemption. A one-time Exalted Cyclops of the KKK, Byrd recruited some 150 members to the chapter he led — that’s led, not 'joined,' by the way. (If you doubt his commitment to the cause, try to recruit 150 people to do anything, never mind have them pay a hefty fee up front.)"

Wonder how the magnificent Liberal hero Robert Byrd felt about same-sex marriage?

Did he ever say?

Debrah said...

OMG!

I'm so upset. Why does everything have to be so depressing?

Christopher Hitchens has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

I hope against hope that he is able to beat this.

Debrah said...

Christopher Hitchens Watch

It's unbelievable what some people will post.

That guy is actually discussing his death as a foregone conclusion.

Also, an update from Hitchens at Vanity Fair.

Debrah said...

Big Andy finally put up something fun and humorous.

Although, like most of what he links on his dishy blog, it's likely a tip from someone else.

Cat-In-The-Box

hymlic maneuver said...

Wishing diva and all a happy and safe 4th of July.

I share your hope that Mr. Hitchens beats the odds and is one of the lucky ones.

Kantian said...

Happy 4th!

Debrah said...

My Deathless Passion

"Sometimes the thing that’s weird about you is the thing that’s cool about you.

"When you’re young, and even at times when you’re older, it’s hard to fathom this: What needs to be nurtured is the stuff that’s different, that sets you apart from the pack, rather than the stuff that helps you blend in."


Such an offbeat offering from you today, Maureen.

You're speaking the Diva language with this one!

Debrah said...

Hi "hymlic maneuver" and "Kantian"--

Happy Fourth of July to you as well.

It's such a steamy one!

Debrah said...

A celebration of the Cherokee Indian tribe this 4th of July holiday.

Although I often find many of these events superfluous and silly, it should be acknowledged that tribes like the eastern Cherokee and numerous tribes in the Southwest and the Plains of the U.S. have beautiful and authentic histories.

Many have exerted monumental efforts toward keeping those histories alive.....even as we are firmly planted inside the 21st century.

I am personally pleased by this since a full one-eighth of my own ancestry is Cherokee.

It should also be noted with refreshing relief that the Native American or American Indian population does not usually accost the country with protests and grotesque displays of hatred for the Declaration of Independence and other elements considered "patriotic".

Though if any group in this country had a reason to confront the incongruities and occasional hypocrisy, it would be they.

Debrah said...

Well.....it's Sunday brunch time.

It's hot and steamy with temps that will hover near the 100-degree mark in the coming week.

The Fourth of July---half the year 2010 is gone. Kaput! Kapoot!

What is the Diva to do after an energy-draining Saturday night party in which too many goofy and uninteresting people were in attendance?

Topping off a day in which too many over-indulgent adults overindulged their kids and preened for their friends inside the environs of manicured lawns and blue pools squinting in the summer sun.

Loud eardrum-shattering fireworks displays followed last evening for about an hour to provide even more premature 4th of July annoying grotesquerie.

For me, this ruined the evening....for as beautiful as the fireworks were, the effect was much too overpowering. It was more like being inside a war zone than a party.

I can't wait to see what a few of the exuberant nuts in the neighborhood have in store for later this evening.

In any case, it's time to chill out and relax with a little Diva brunch snack and what else?

Another glass of bubbly!

And last, but not least, the stupendous Jean-Luc Ponty Rite of Strings which I listen to every morning.

I'm going to tout this one over and over again because I love it so much.

If you do not go beserk from the intricacies and the magical genius, then you have yet to evolve!

So many layers.

Such complexity.

Yet so starkly beautiful.

Bobby said...

I agree Rite of Strings is great. I didn't know much about Ponty before but the electric violin is his trademark.
Greetings on the Fourth of July.

Debrah said...

The Atlantic's 50 most influential opinion makers.

Paul Krugman is assigned number one?

Ha!

Charles Krauthammer is number six and Maureen Dowd, number 17.

Andrew Sullivan is given (and I do mean GIVEN!) number nine.

If he were not associated with The Atlantic there is no possible way that he would rate that high.

I'd give him a number 25. Tops.

No way that Dowd is less influential than Big Andy.

This is farce!

Debrah said...

Lately, I've begun checking Andrew Sullivan's dishy blog more often......not for anything he has to say, but for the links he posts to blogs and work of other people.

Some are most Diva-worthy.

It occurred to me how very little work is required for a blog like Sullivan's. The politically mercurial pig from across the pond just links articles and reports the way I do.

Which is no work at all. LOL!

And there's something about a man calling his blog "The Dish" that's really creepy.

I might need to send him a skirt.

In any case, Subjective Validation, a post by David McRaney on his blog You Are Not So Smart--A Celebration of Self Delusion was linked on Sullivan's blog.

I might have to check out McRaney's site on a regular basis. He covers lots of fun and interesting topics.

Debrah said...

The Diva comment left last evening on the You Are Not So Smart blog:

"Provocative topic.

Certainly the horoscope fare published daily by news outlets consist of superfluous, generic, and mindless effulgences that can be applied to anyone; however, I wonder if the blog author holds the same opinion with regard to in-depth astrological chart analyses which are achieved by using not only the subject’s birthdate, but the exact time of day/night and global location of one’s birth.

Those are, necessarily, a bit more subjective and there are sometimes too many coincidences to be coincidences.

Perhaps a more formidable strain of the Forer Effect……….no?………..(grin)

Lastly, the human body is mostly water. If the moon exerts influence on ocean tides—and it does—then the position of the stars and celestial patterns at the time of birth might conceivably exert a degree of influence on the chemistry of the body and give one potential toward various traits.

Then again, it’s all rather like a new lover.

You assign attributes so often at odds with reality……..

……..because you want them to be true.

Ha!"

Debrah said...

Riveting from David Horowitz.

Second Thoughts is the first of what will be a two-part series about Christopher Hitchens.

I urge everyone to read it. Horowitz covers all the bases and provides a comprehensive look at Hitchens and his work.

This illustrates, in bold relief, the vast difference between people who work to provide an in-depth analysis of any given topic and the gadfly navel-gazing bloggers like Andrew Sullivan.

I'm looking forward to the second part of this series and have been in a kind of mourning since hearing the news about Hitchens.

His prognosis seems dire, precisely because once esophageal cancer is actually detected, it's progression is usually near complete.

Yet I still hope against hope for a miracle.

Christopher Hitchens possesses a rare intellect that doesn't come along very often.

He has never locked himself inside one ideology.

I can easily identify and this is why I've always liked him so much.

First WFB. Now Hitchens.

If he doesn't beat this it will be a huge blow to the political, pop-culture, and, indeed, the intellectual world.

Debrah said...

Kitty Marks the Spots

Using glands located at the tail, face, and underside of the front paws, your cat rubs his or her scent onto you with each pass. Cats find familiar scents comforting and also use them to determine who is part of their social pack.

Debrah said...

Greater Fools at The New Yorker

"The depth of our financial ignorance is startling. In recent years, Annamaria Lusardi, an economist at Dartmouth and the head of the Financial Literacy Center, has conducted extensive studies of what Americans know about finance. It’s depressing work. Almost half of those surveyed couldn’t answer two questions about inflation and interest rates correctly, and slightly more sophisticated topics baffle a majority of people. Many people don’t know the terms of their mortgage or the interest rate they’re paying. And, at a time when we’re borrowing more than ever, most Americans can’t explain what compound interest is."

Debrah said...

The New Black Panthers Case

"Perhaps the Panthers should have been prosecuted under section 11 (b) of the Voting Rights Act for their actions of November 2008, but the legal standards that must be met to prove voter intimidation — the charge — are very high."

Debrah said...

Second Thoughts, Part 2

Horowitz on Hitchens.

Debrah said...

WTC Conqueror Philippe Petit Teaching Tightroping

Petit will lecture on the "aerial theater of balance" and teach exercises to develop "symmetry in the flesh," according to the school's Web site.

And for this you pay a $1200 fee?

Ha!

Gyro Gearloose said...

You must have put some work into making that comment about astrology sound ingenious and highfalutin but it's a lot of poppycock.

Debrah said...

Oh, man.

I got so busy yesterday that I neglected checking out Maureen.

Kicking the Hornet's Nest

So funny....as well as pathetic.

*******
"But even before the scalding portrait of her in 'Game Change' and 'The Politician,' strategists who had worked for her and her husband said she had rejected the idea of a campaign commercial featuring Edwards’s mother and millworker father, dismissing them as hicks, just as she sometimes put her husband in his place by calling him a bumpkin."
*******

Well Lizzy, he's the "hick" to whom you stayed married for over three decades and judging from the well-known facts about you and the fact that your own "hick" and malodorous family members camp out at the N&O under pseudonyms to attack detractors.....show that you are the certified "hick" of your embarrassing clan.

Such a pathetic fraud.

When you're apprised of the declasse facts of this train wreck, one begins to feel kind of sorry for John Edwards for having submitted to this domineering and oily coupling.

Maureen nails it with this column.

Debrah said...

A complex and riveting post at You Are Not So Smart prompted this Diva response:


David underscores this from Skinner:

“My book is an effort to demonstrate how things go bad when you make a fetish out of individual freedom and dignity. If you insist that individual rights are the summum bonum, then the whole structure of society falls down.”
***************************************************

After a lecture in Denver an audience member once asked William F. Buckley to name the person whose philosophy was most at odds with his own.

Most would have expected to hear Stalin or Castro or Chomsky.

“B.F. Skinner,” Buckley answered instantly — the psychologist who argued that notions of freedom and human dignity were anachronisms in a scientific age.

It would seem, and indeed, can be endlessly argued, how one comes down on these two opposing views of human behavior will predict how successful he or she will be in negotiating life’s never-ending obstacles.

Personal responsibility or victim of human nature?

Debrah said...

The Selective Modesty of Barack Obama from Krauthammer

"Obama is not the first president with a large streak of narcissism. But the others had equally expansive feelings about their country. Obama’s modesty about America would be more understandable if he treated himself with the same reserve. But it is odd to have a president so convinced of his own magnificence — yet not of his own country’s."

Charles Krauthammer, as always, dissects every aspect of his subject matter quite literally like a surgeon.

The fact that he earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and was a practicing psychiatrist before embarking on his journalistic career gives him a fierce edge over the average pundit when analyzing.

Obama has really disappointed many people and continues to do so with each passing day.

He reminds me so much of a university classmate I had---positively as well as negatively.

Obama's shift to the Left is in stark contrast to the way he campaigned.

I always knew that he was phony, but supported him for many reasons that I believed would move this country forward in positive ways.

But the Obama administration has governed in such mindlessly partisan fashion that the country is polarized more than it has ever been in history.

All this will most certainly catch up with him.

Lastly, I am so very tired of seeing him on TV nonstop. For every minute occurrence.

This is just not necessary for a president. Less is more.

He is comically narcissistic and this is bizarre to witness from a "Commander-in-Chief".

Krauthammer really has Obama's number.

Debrah said...

Details of killing of Virginia lacrosse player released

Debrah said...

One More Mission from Christopher Hitchens, who, by the way, seems to still be at his desk after the bad news he received last week.

Great for him!

I agree with him on this one. McChrystal should be retained for further missions since he is one of very few capable of getting the job done.

Anonymous said...

diva, obama will easily be elected to a second term. thought you were a supporter. what happened?

Debrah said...

Miami's Hoops Cartel from Maureen

Perhaps the most boring topic and column I've read in a long time.

())))))) YAWN ((((((()

Debrah said...

Hamas thinks time is on its side from the Economist.

KHALED MESHAL, the head of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement widely regarded in the West—and even more so in Israel—as a gang of terrorists bent on destroying the Jewish state, exudes a tranquil confidence as he calmly lays out his case in a well-guarded safe-house in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Debrah said...

TO anonymous (4:53 PM)--

I've explained my views on that subject many times.

Like so many voters in this country, I extended undue largesse to the Obama campaign and supported his candidacy in 2008.

Even after the horrific racist and anti-Semitic friends of Obama surfaced and it was quite clear that he had been an integral part of the Chicago machine.

I knew that Obama was one of the most superficial candidates for president we've seen in a long time; however, he also possesses many qualities that are positive.

I think he'd be a fun guy to be around and he's rather charismatic and intelligent.

Moreover, the entire country was ready for a drastic departure from the polarization.

Obama campaigned telling everyone he'd be governing from the center.

I wanted that and the country needed that.

Tragically, he hasn't kept that promise.

There's only so much that people will accept and then they become fed up with all the allowances.

They demand follow-through and some authenticity.

It's not unlike the various elements of the Duke Lacrosse Hoax. For a greater cause---ensuring that three innocent men were saved from the radical Leftists and race-mongers who tried to thwart due process---many people allowed mostly Liberals to run the show and for their characterizations of everything---which were often muted---to prevail.

Unfortunately and dishonestly in many ways, we pushed the more conservative voices to a back seat so the radical Leftists wouldn't be able to use a phony issue of the lacrosse case being fought between the left and the right.

The Leftist, racist "activists" would have loved if only conservatives had come to the assistance of the innocent lacrosse players.

What an easy and worn-out narrative that would have handed them.

Consequently, in order to neuter the Leftist academy and Leftist racists, many of the most eloquent and accurate voices were silenced for the "common good".

Debrah said...

Polanski Free As Swiss Reject Extradition Request

Debrah said...

This is a video from Dan Ariely who teaches behavioral economics at Duke.

He's discussing online dating and why it most often fails.

Quite interesting and true.

"People Are Like Wine" at The Dish.

By the way, when Ariely was in high school and taking part in Israeli political demonstrations, over 70 percent of his body was burned in a freak explosion.

Lastly, Sullivan is (mercifully!) on vacation this week and David Frum and David Weigel are the main bloggers subbing while he's away.

Debrah said...

Hilarious and bizarre from Vanity Fair

Debrah said...

Maureen on Steinbrenner, Seinfeld, and "George".

The Sultan of Swagger

Debrah said...

Supreme Immodesty: Why the Justices Play Politics from Stuart Taylor at the The Washington Post.

"Elena Kagan professed such a modest approach in her confirmation testimony. Yet so did the eight current justices, and once on the court, all eight have voted repeatedly to expand their own powers and to impose policies that they like in the name of constitutional interpretation.

"Why so immodest? Perhaps because the justices know that as long as they stop short of infuriating the public, they can continue to enjoy better approval ratings than Congress and the president even as they usurp those branches' powers."

Debrah said...

Underdogs from the theatre section of The New Yorker.

"How do you play a stereotype knowing that it is one? As performed by Al Pacino in the Public’s new production (beautifully staged by Daniel Sullivan, at the Delacorte), Shylock is less a character than an idea. The seventy-year-old Pacino is a great star, one whom only New York City could have produced—like the best of us, he is amped up and perpetually paranoid. And he brings to Shylock that appealing New York City diction, a combination of black, Jewish, and Puerto Rican rhythms. But Pacino’s Shylock, it turns out, is interesting not in relation to the rest of the play but because he is Pacino’s Shylock."

Debrah said...

Obama's Second Act from Krauthammer

It's Time For Democrats To Give Up The Funk from Eugene Robinson

Well.......this explains the earthquake in Washington, DC.

Krauthammer and Eugene Robinson are on the same page today.

Debrah said...

A Concise History of "Fuck" at Vanity Fair

Jaeden said...

ברכות יפה הדיווה

Debrah said...

Hi Jaeden.

Great to see you again. Thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

So, so sad about Mr. Hitchens and hoping for a good outcome. Aaaach. Horowitz was fabulous. Had no idea he was such an able thinker. Extremely busy at work these days. Glad you are still busy collecting the best and most interesting journalism out there for our reading enjoyment.

Observer

Debrah said...

Hi "Observer"--

Good to see you and glad to know that you were able to check out the Horowitz on Hitchens series.

It's a rather lengthy one, but worth the time.

Right now I'm ready for autumn already.

Even though we've yet to experience summer's dog days, the near 100-degree temps on the East Coast have certainly been setting records for a grueling season.

Debrah said...

The Hard Truth: How Human Touch Influences Our Emotions from Kathleen Parker

"Reaching out and touching someone has become easier than ever, but we never really make contact. Hunkered over our keyboards, tapping and clicking messages to the vast Other......."

Debrah said...

Very provocative and a topic that could serve as subject matter for an entire evening.

The Illusion of Transparency

Debrah said...

A conversation with Christopher Hitchens on the Hewitt blog.

And the atheist Hitchens' own reply as to whether believers should pray for him.

"I think that prayer and holy water, and things like that are all fine. They don’t do any good, but they don’t necessarily do any harm. It’s touching to be thought of in that way. It makes up for those who tell me that I’ve got my just desserts … I wish it was more consoling. But I have to say there’s some extremely nice people, including people known to you, have said that I’m in their prayers, and I can only say that I’m touched by the thought."

Debrah said...

A little note of correction, however trivial.

In a few comments above, I noticed that in my haste I included a few unworthy dangling apostrophes.

There are at least two ( "it's" ) which should have been just ( its ), obviously.

I hate that Blogger does not have a way to actually correct typos in the comment section.

Ha!

Gyro Gearloose said...

Your politics fluctuate with the wind. No wonder you have a kinship with Christopher Hitchens. If he works on it he might get to be as smug as you are.

Debrah said...

Mel Gibson Isn't Just An Angry Narcissist from Christopher Hitchens

His tirades are the distilled violence, cruelty, and bigotry of right-wing Catholic ideology.

Debrah said...

TO "Gyro Gearloose"--

What's your problem?

I'm not "smug".

Rather, a super-sensitive Diva who might occasionally be misunderstood!

Debrah said...

The Diva comment in response to Peter Wood's terrific column at NAS.

************************
Though not an atheist, I must concur with many of Christopher Hitchens' views with regard to religion being used in some very negative ways.


However, religious zealotry is far eclipsed by the methods of academic leftists and gay "activists".

Even scholars inside the academy who purport to stand for fairness no matter whose rights are being violated come across as condescending on this one.......simply because they know there's such a tiny percentage of faculty who will ever voice their true opinions on gay male sex.

A number of Howell's views are shared by more people in the general population whose opinions are not informed by religion than many wish to acknowledge......across the demographic spectrum.

Hence, even some of the most liberal states in the Northeast do not support same-sex marriage.

Yet procrusteanized narratives alluding to the South and the mid-20th century civil rights movement continue to be used as gross analogies when reality would suffice.

Is anyone inside the academy really capable of divining how the "tweens and millennials" will respond to gay issues when they are no longer inside the throes of a university campus whose very nature---right or wrong---provides no emollient for those who are not on the "right side" of the culture wars?

It can be argued those who criticize Howell's email fail to comprehend that even university students might be more acquiescent than they are giddy when pushing the idea that there are no negative results from gay male sex.

Save for frottage, in the usual gay male sexual relationship, one man (the receiver) must, necessarily, take the heterosexual woman's role. Why is that so difficult to admit?

Although verbalizing this may be inelegant and a delicate venture........reality is not mitigated by phony condescension and righteous indignation from gay men whose ultimate mission is to embarrass people like Howell and leave an aura of.....

......."You'd better not discuss this openly again in the midst of young students----our great hope for the future passage of SSM!"

Howell would not be my cup of tea because he seems too invested in religion; however, there's amusement in reading those who put on an air of supporting his rights, yet make fun of him simultaneously.......as if the physical negatives resulting from anal sex between gay men are negligible.

Gay activists and gay professors on university campuses know that they will always have ample props.

Condescension prevails.

No true acknowledgment that no matter in what decade or century we find ourselves, human bodies are still being churned out with the same number of orifices in the same locations.......designed for the same functions.

If gays were secure in their own pertinacity they wouldn't have to work so hard to stifle free speech.

The Howell episode underscores the grand reality that the quadrumvirate of race/class/gender/sexual orientation inside the academy has metastasized beyond mention.

Thanks to Peter Wood for this even-handed and concise analysis.


***************************

Debrah said...

I've got MSNBC on in the background this noonday and Barber as well as Margiotta are on regarding the protest rally.

When the Lacrosse Hoax-sters have a "cause", they make sure to get their mugs on national TV.

And just think, the real show comes later this evening with Puffy T and company.

LOL!

Kantian said...

Hi Debrah,

Looked like another pony and dog show downtown.LIS

Wonder why Puffy T was not down there at the school board meeting with the rest of them that got arrested?

Debrah said...

This from Deroy Murdock really cuts to the chase.

Debrah said...

Ancient Grudges, Anew

Maureen, you're still getting tips from the Diva when Leon Wieseltier lets you down!

Al Pacino's Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice" is all the rage.......rendering an eerie, yet transformational, twist to every character he inhabits.

The bija mantra.

"Everything is transactional. Obsession with money can trip you up. Obsession with love can let you down. And what could be a more modern message than that?"

Yes Maureen, what?

Debrah said...

The Tablet's Smears

"It was just low rent Wieseltierism."

F*ck you, Andrew Sullivan.


Why Israel Serves America's Interests

Well, the disgruntled balding gay bunny is back to obsessive Israel-bashing again.

Debrah said...

New Study Shows Law Schools Hiring Far More Liberal Professors Than Conservatives

Does anyone really need to be told this?

Debrah said...

Who's Having the Most Sex?

1) Approximately half of all Americans say they have sex at least once a week.

2) Men have 16 percent more sex than women do.

3) Jews and agnostics are 20 percent more sexually active than Catholics and Protestants.

4) People with Associate in Arts degrees have 32 percent more sex than people with advanced college degrees and people who did not finish high school.

5) Miami residents are 59 percent more sexually active than residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

6) African-Americans have 8.2 percent more sex than Caucasians.

7) Smokers are 10 percent more sexually active than nonsmokers.

8) People who rarely go to church have 31 percent more sex than people who regularly go to church.

9) People with a strong preference for jazz are 30 percent more sexually active than the average American.

10) Artists and poets have as many as 233 percent more sexual partners than people who aren't artists or poets.

11) Teenage girls are 6.5 percent more sexually active than teenage boys.

12) 22 percent more homosexual male couples who have been together for two years or less have sex at least three times a week than heterosexual couples who have been together for two years or less.

13) Children whose parents read to them less than once a week are 33 percent more likely to be sexually active when they become teenagers than children whose parents read to them at least once a week.

14) Men over 70 years old have 215 percent more sex than women over 70 years old.

15) Women of what doctors consider normal weight are 30 percent more likely to have had sex in the past year than obese women.

Debrah said...

Beware the Lame Duck

As usual, Krauthammer asks all the right questions and puts forth all the possibilities.

"Barack Obama’s considerable political capital, earned on Election Day 2008, is spent."

"It’s a target-rich environment. The only thing holding the Democrats back would be shame — a Washington commodity in chronically short supply. To pass in a lame-duck session major legislation so unpopular that Democrats had no chance of passing it in regular session — after major Democratic losses signifying a withdrawal of the mandate implicitly granted in 2008 — would be an egregious violation of elementary democratic norms."

Handy Man said...

Hello there diva. I am happy to report I've had a fine vacation the last month. Traveled up and down the Cali-forn-eye-aye coast and even stopped by Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch and restaurant in Carmel.
Great views and prime surfin' for a beach bum like me. Thanks for some great reading material!

Debrah said...

How Apple Stays Divine

A very ingenious little video illustration for that post.

"When you're buying into Mac, you're buying into an ideology. You're buying into a community."

Debrah said...

Hi "Handy Man"--

Sounds as though you've been on a fantastic journey.

Nice to see you again inside The Diva World!

Debrah said...

Probe expands into Duke researcher's credentials, data

There seems to be much more concern regarding the "credentials" of some Duke employees than regarding others.

Curious, that.

Debrah said...

You'll never believe what this White House is missing

Yada, yada, yada.

As you often do, Maureen, you make some good points and highlight grand irony.

Then you go overboard just the way most Liberal grovelers in the media do.

Sherrod is no Mother Teresa as has been ridiculously depicted to overcompensate for the unfortunate events.

No real suffering was endured for within 24 hours she was being showered with 24/7 nationally nauseating apologies, a personal ring from the Prez, and was offered a much better job.

She was incorrectly called a "racist" when she was actually lamenting her past behavior on the video.....detailing events when she actually was a racist.

Consequently, she was calling for reconciliation on the part of everyone.

This episode was analogous to an Alcoholics Anonymous member coming clean and revealing change as well as urging others to do better.

It's not as if Sherrod had never been a racist as so many of the media are trying to pretend.

However, she should be applauded for her change of heart; however, all this goo-goo, ga-ga over her sainthood has pretty much packed the magnet.

Maureen does make great points about the Obama administration's ineptitude.

Debrah said...

Rich Doc, Poor Doc from Slate

Do cheaper doctors provide inferior care?

"......a doctor's ability to build a large client base—and gain leverage for negotiating with insurers—might have little to do with patient outcomes. Studies have shown that patients' hospital preferences are more responsive to improvements in amenities like wireless Internet and on-demand video than the likelihood that the hospital will help them get well."

Debrah said...

A Media Game Changer

The website Wikileaks [founded by rogue journalist Julian Assange, whom I have mentioned in a previous thread inside The Diva World] has published more than 90,000 leaked U.S. military records about the war in Afghanistan.

....."some 15,000 documents would be withheld from release for a few days until Wikileaks could redact names of individuals in the reports whose safety could be jeopardized."

Debrah said...

The Good Men Project was referenced over at Andy's blog.

Checking it out, it's kind of a clever topic that can be turned into wit or into the excremental.

Naturally, Andrew Sullivan's response to the question utilizes the latter.

This is why he is so creepy, in my opinion. If he were not soft, he and that equally creepy Kathy Griffin would make a great couple.

Both are over-exercised stumpy drones with thick necks the size of a wrestler.

Here's Sullivan's attempt at being macho. I hate men who talk like this; however, I suppose it's better that he didn't reveal what he really does when he camps inside the loo.


“Taking a piss standing up with my arm leaning against the wall. Smoking a cigar. Growing my beard. Scratching my ass.”
Andrew Sullivan, blogger and author

Debrah said...

Shadow Strokes from the Economist

Scientists at the Louvre have discovered the secret to the Mona Lisa’s face.

Debrah said...

Maureen's Lost in a Maze in Afghanistan.

"Not since Theseus fought the Minotaur in his maze has a fight been so confounding."

Debrah said...

While contemplating the strange this morning I had a harrowing thought.

Just months away---2011---we will begin being assaulted nonstop with 2012 election grotesquerie.

It won't end.

Daily kibitzing and "analyses" from insipid little cable talking heads.......fed warmed-over dialogue by control room controllers.

One wonders.

Would it be a good idea to disengage? Totally?

Shut off cable?

Put the iMac back in its box and into a closet?

There's never resolution.

The same really bad drama played out by some of the most banal of characters.

Another thought is that I'm so thankful I'm not a teen or a twenty-something at this time in our history.

Of course there are some really smart kids out there, but it's different now.

They lack "meat".

The seem void of the raw talent and substance that you have when you actually spend time with yourself.

Even what passes for "talent" is less substantive and convincing.

Here's just a brief example of the "texting culture".

Is it really a surprise that so few of them can spell or write properly?

To wit:

L2G--- Like to go?
L2G--- (would) Love to go
L2K--- Like to come
l33t--- Leet, meaning 'elite'
L8R--- Later
L8RG8R--- Later, gator
LBAY--- Laughing back at you
LD--- Later, dude
LD--- Long distance
LDO--- Like, duh obviously
LEMENO--- Let me know
LERK--- Leaving easy reach of keyboard
LFD--- Left for day
LFG--- Looking for group (online gaming)
LFG--- Looking for guard (online gaming)
LFM--- Looking for more (online gaming)
LGH--- Lets get high
LH6--- Lets have sex
LHSX--- Lets have sex
LHM--- Lord help me
LIC--- Like I care

hymlic maneuver said...

The latest on the Arizona immigration law. Obama continues to screw up and go contra to the people.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/28/protest-planned-phoenix-despite-judges-ruling-immigration-law/

Debrah said...

This video with Mark Bauerlain at Reason TV alludes to what I was saying in a previous comment.

The issue isn't really that teens and twenty-somethings aren't as smart as previous teens and twenty-somethings, but there's no question---even among casual observers---that the majority use this digital age for adolescent social networking, not for intellectual purposes.

And when you talk with them.......this fact is painfully obvious!

Debrah said...

Ruling Against Arizona is a Warning for Other States

"hymlic manuever", this issue won't be decided for years to come.

It's a temporary obstacle for the majority of the population in states of the Southwest like Arizona; however, the Obama administration is playing with fire by pretending the horrific problems with illegal aliens don't eclipse the possible inconvenience of a few people asked to provide proof of their citizenship.

This entire scenario is appalling.

When you travel outside the U.S. you keep your passport with you at all times.

That's just the way it is.

And on occasion you are given the third degree by officials in other countries. You show your documents and you answer their questions which are usually designed to reveal the purpose of your travels.

What is so difficult about all this for the Obama administration to comprehend?

Unless they think measures should be relaxed for a group of people who represent an ever-growing constituency for the 2012 election.

Uh-huh.

The borders must be secured.......whatever it takes.

Debrah said...

Anchoring Effect from the blog You Are Not So Smart

I love this post.

Such a great illustration of how we make decisions on a daily basis.

Kantian said...

I agree Debrah, The borders must be secured.......whatever it takes.

If they don't have the proper paper work book'em.

Debrah said...

"Kantian"--

This is an issue that politicians will use to-the-max and the negative fallout from allowing illegals to run rampant, coming in and out of the country---effectively using the border as a revolving door---is way down on their list of concerns.

And in making my point, one always has to be on the defensive.......to essentially make it clear that you have nothing against anyone coming to this country......whatever.

Certainly no xenophobe, I.

Just do so LEGALLY!

To deny the horrific effects is sheer idiocy.

Only those who are employed by the government or otherwise in an environment where these issues don't directly impact their lives are in support of the current chaos.

Lots of people---besides the illegals, themselves---benefit from their breaking the law.

They provide cheap labor for many business owners.

Ready-made tenants for slumlords and low-end rental complexes.

Thousands upon thousands of automatic voters for the Democratic Party.

A never-ending chaotic mess.

Just one more parasitic group looking for a "balm".

And the Obama administration sues a state in the Southwest (Arizona) for trying desperately to secure its borders?

Debrah said...

Iran Starts To Feel the Heat from Krauthammer

This is the kind of brinkmanship you get when leaders of a rogue regime are under growing pressure. The only hope to get them to reverse course is to relentlessly increase their feeling that, if they don’t, the Arab states, Israel, the Europeans, and America will, one way or another, ensure that ruin is visited upon them.

Debrah said...

Rangel must choose between his party and his job from Slate

The prospect of a September trial represents a Worst Case Scenario for Democrats. It would showcase a prominent Democrat's alleged ethical failings two months before the midterm elections, boosting the GOP case that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has failed in her promise to "drain the swamp" of corruption in Washington.

Debrah said...

Give me an effing break.

Can't believe that I missed this one until now.

CNN will host a new show in the nighttime lineup featuring Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker

In the CNN release, McGuirk describes Spitzer and Parker as interested in “exploring the world of intelligent ideas” and bringing an “elevated discussion to prime time.”

Ha!

Debrah said...

Interesting from Vanity Fair.

An interview with Bunny Mellon whose money unwittingly helped finance John Edwards' former mistress. She turns 100 in August.

Bunny Mellon's Secret Garden

Gyro Gearloose said...

No mention of the wedding of the century?

Debrah said...

A different twist from Maureen this morning with Mad Men and Bad Girls

“In ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ all of a sudden — because it was Audrey who was doing it — living alone, going out, looking fabulous and getting a little drunk didn’t look so bad anymore,” Wasson writes. “Being single actually seemed shame-free. It seemed fun.” So, as a haute hooker, Audrey Hepburn was a fairy godmother, not only to feminism but to the prevailing ethos that style and cool trump all.

Yes, style and cool do trump all.......

.......simply because so very few possess real style.

Debrah said...

"Gyro Gearloose"--

I assume you're referring to Eleanor Roosevelt-lookalike Chelsea Clinton having tied the knot this weekend with Marc....son of the felon and ex-con Ed Mezvinsky?

Birds of a feather, as it were.

Looks as though a good time was had by all!

Debrah said...

I had long been keeping up with Wikileaks and Julian Assange; however, hadn't kept up with the intricacies of the current and devastating military leaks.

The suspect Bradley Manning just happens to be gay.

He's been having "relationship" problems with his "boyfriend".

My question is when are such people going to begin being executed?

A clean and simple solution for such a diseased mind who thinks nothing of causing certain death to innocent people as a result of these leaks.

This is so horrific as not to be spoken.

Gays in the military is a reality.

One that has always been.

However, instances like this make me wonder if the military shouldn't start treating gays like women.

People like this Manning scum certainly behave like a woman going through PMS.

What are the true objectives of such useless and angry people?

Kantian said...

Hi Debrah,

Thanks for the link about Bunny Mellon's Secret Garden.

I felt like I was walking in the Land of OZ for a moment, until Edwards was mentioned.LIS

Debrah said...

A sobering post from John Rosenberg.

Professor Espenshade Runs From His Own Research

Debrah said...

Hi "Kantian".

Yes, the Mellon story is typical of Vanity Fair and one reason why I subscribed to the mag for so many years.

Now I just go online when I want to read it.

They really do lots of insanely provocative exposés about people and events.

I didn't know that Mellon was so old.

I suppose that's why she was so easily bilked by the John-boy campaign.

Ha!

By the way, I added the link "David's Blog" which is David Horowitz.

I never followed him closely at all......and must confess that I listened to so many of his detractors who always wish to make him seem unusually strident......

.......when he is essentially just telling the truth.

I also didn't know that he is such an excellent writer.

Debrah said...

This from The Hill

President Obama told Democratic fundraisers Monday that Republicans are banking on voters having "amnesia" in the midterm elections.

"They have not come up with a single, solitary, new idea to address the challenges of the American people," Obama said. "They don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas — not one."

******************************

Oh, but Barack........nor do you.

Aside from the enormous government programs you've added to the agenda.

People simply don't see "a change".

Debrah said...

Something referenced on Andy's blog.

Obama's Surveillance Power Grab

Very troubling.

Is the alarm justified?

Debrah said...

Kitty whiskers!

I miss my Kitty Diva so much I might go crazy!

Debrah said...

Tragedy of Comedy from Maureen

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Debrah said...

Ha!

Christopher Hitchens' account of visiting Hugo Chavez along with Sean Penn and historian Douglas Brinkley.


".....the evidence is that he does have an idiotic weakness for spells and incantations, as well as many of the symptoms of paranoia and megalomania."

Debrah said...

A great one from Ruth Marcus at the Washington Post

"The obvious question is: What is wrong with these people? The tempting answer: They're members of Congress.

"This may sound both harsh and glib. I'm certainly not suggesting that most lawmakers are as heedless of ethics rules as Rangel and Waters appear to have been -- although many members of the public appear disposed to believe so, and the seemingly endless stream of ethics revelations reinforces this misperception."

Debrah said...

Some helpful tips from WebMD.

I get so many emails each day that it's difficult to check out all of them.

8 ways you might be damaging your hair seems an interesting one for some people.

Luckily, hair is one problem I don't have.

Thanks to good genes from my grandfather whom we called 'Papa'.

When I was born he was around 80 years old and when I was in the first grade, he died.

I remember seeing him in his casket and I tapped his hair with my little hand to say goodbye. His hair was so very thick even at that age.

I stayed at his house a lot as a preschooler. There wasn't anything he would deny me and I loved him so much---my 'Papa'.

Debrah said...

Ooops!

I forgot to answer an email question about the beautiful wild cat who comes to my veranda each night for snacks.

Yes, "Mister" is fine and I know he's very happy that it's summertime.

His injuries from what I assume was a territorial fight with another cat this past winter seem to have heeled.

During the bitter cold weather he really had a tough time. The frigid temperatures as well as the serious injuries to two of his legs and his face must have been horrible to endure.

I always tried extra hard to get food to him and I know that's what kept him alive.

He showed up last night around 11:30 PM and was in such a sweet mood.

Maybe he'll stay out of cat fights from now on!

Wild, undomesticated cats have very hard lives; however, not nearly as hard as the domesticated cats and dogs who are rendered homeless and who do not have the wild instincts to stay alive.

One must always look out for the animals of this world. They are far more helpless than the humanoids.

Debrah said...

Illogical Immigration

"America extends housing, food, and education subsidies to illegal aliens in need. But Mexico receives more than $20 billion in American remittances a year — its second-highest source of foreign exchange, and almost all of it from its own nationals living in the United States. Are Americans then subsidizing the Mexican government by extending social services to aliens, freeing up cash for them to send back home?

"These baffling questions are rarely posed, never addressed, and often considered politically incorrect. But they will only be asked more frequently in the months ahead."

Debrah said...

Correction:

In the (3:42 PM) ......."heeled", of course, should have been "healed".

LIS!

When will Blogger include software so the comment sections can be corrected just like the posting sections?

Huh?

Debrah said...

This is simply wonderful from Christopher Hitchens at Vanity Fair.

What stunningly dry wit in the face of his current circumstances.

Topic of Cancer.......

........as opposed to Tropic of Cancer.

Debrah said...

Prop 8 Overturned

Regardless how you come down on the same-sex marriage issue, this Judge Walker has relied more on legal conclusion than facts.

And there's a big difference between writing a column as Ambinder has and arguing inside a courtroom.

With the exception of a few basic facts, Ambinder's little list consists almost totally of interpretation.

This issue will likely go on forever.

The White House response has been tepid, to say the least. Obama does not support same-sex marriage, yet the gay community seems to be comically oblivious to that fact.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder apparently spends an inordinate amount of time on emotional issues, including his own lack of discipline.

An upper-middle class man who obviously has a difficult time keeping his mouth shut.

Here he whines about his former obesity which was ameliorated by artificial means rather than his own willpower.

Do I really want to place unquestioning credence in this guy's emotional effulgences?

Like Judge Walker, he might be using his professional perch to push his private agenda.

Many gay men eff-up things by publicly placing their d!ck-sucking over professionalism.

And we thought it was women who can't hang and who make fools of themselves when romance is in the picture!

Personally, I wish this SSM issue would get resolved sooner rather than later.

I have no doubt that SSM will eventually pass....simply because most people don't consider it important enough to care one way or the other.

The push within the gay community is for financial benefits and a kind of forced "dignity".....

.....even as so few of them actually respect the institution of marriage. Choosing just one partner is hardly the modus operandi of gay male culture.

And it can be argued that monogamy has gone by the wayside for everyone since only about 50 percent of marriages last.

However, same-sex couples need to find their own "institution" instead of mulcting off a lifestyle appellation for which they would have no respect if not for the desire to receive financial benefits from being "married".

Same-sex couples have almost none of the same family responsibilities as do heterosexual couples.

And half of them like to sneak in and out of the gay closet like opossums of convenience.

It's all such a waste of time and such a superfluous "cause" that offers little as a contribution to society, in general.

Just one more group of "victims".

I'd like to ask this of gay men:

If this country supports same-sex marriage, will you cut down the constant spreading of STD's and give our health-care system and the taxpayers a rest?

Between the billions spent on health-care for illegal immigrants, the self-indulgent obese, and those who continue to spread HIV and STD's......

........the rest of us can only hope to find affordable health-care for the foreseeable future.

Handy Man said...

You have to give Mr. Hitchens credit for courage. I'm not sure many people could write something like that while going through the ordeal.

diva, I think you're right about gay marriage. It will become law sooner or later, but I'm not sure falling back on the Constitution as they always try to do makes much sense. Don't gays know that Thomas Jefferson thought sodomy should be punished by castration? Worse than dumb to use comparisons from history. The founding fathers didn't have "Joey and Stevie" in mind.
And some of the people they put on the tv for interviews don't do anything to advance their argument. Why can't they find people to represent them who don't look and act like idiots?

Debrah said...

Hi "Handy Man"--

Whether or not one supports same-sex marriage, it is mandatory that things be ushered through the Democratic process, not by judicial decree based on made-up constitutional law.

The people of this country will rebel, otherwise.

Eugene Volokh has several well-written posts on the subject today.

The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage and Constitutional Amendments

Debrah said...

On the ADL and the Ground Zero Mosque, it's Dershowitz vs. Hanson.

Who is right?

Debrah said...

Mark Bauerlein's The Safe and Secure Professoriate is a dose of reality that is never given enough print and discussion.

A friend and I were talking the other day about tenure in the academy and he seems to think that it will soon be a thing of the past.

Good!

So few, if any, deserve lifetime security so they can spend their days pushing their private agendas and pretending to know much of anything outside the confines of their course syllabi.


".......as Hacker says.........a majority of department members are tenured and have been in place for 25 years. Professors have occupied offices alongside one another in the same hallway, attended hundreds of meetings together, formed and dissolved department factions and cliques, remembered slights for years, jockeyed and competed for perks, took turns serving as chairman, and slipped into 'infantile' conflicts over tiny injustices.

"That freezing of professors into one place, with all its consequent behaviors, is one of the outcomes of the tenure system. When tenure promises people a paycheck for several decades to come, the whole employment picture solidifies. In fields that thrive on intellectual freshness, it's a disaster."

Debrah said...

Another topic, but related.

Related because the university campus is a most fertile place to push the gay agenda and essentially force it and "normalize" it among the most naive, vulnerable, and impressionable.

Even the so-called "fair-minded" professoriate patronize those who do not support the gay agenda and same-sex marriage full-throttle.

Less than enthusiastic support for the gay agenda will be met with condescension......as if they are the sole "unenlightened" ones. LOL!

Imagine the pressure a university student feels if he/she does not go along with the gay agenda inside the academy.

Most would simply acquiesce.

Moreover, if you have a professor whom you like a lot and he/she also happens to be gay, students would automatically openly support an agenda promoted by that professor.

We all remember university life. As a kid, you say "Anything goes!" to most things.

Such a mindset is positive and necessary for personal growth; however, for the responsible ones who have to somehow chisel a life after university--(not remain coddled and propped by a university campus all their lives as some do)--unquestioning, youthful exuberance is tempered by reality.

Homosexual Marriage: Building Block of the Nihilist Civilization

It's easy for Leftists and gay "activists" to make fun of religion and put on a show of "enlightenment"......

........but those same people rely on the traditional institutions for their very existence.

Many mulct from the taxpayers' coffers as they sneer at their unlikely benefactors.

It is a foregone conclusion that the push is to obliterate the very foundations of our culture....which will, after all, be a necessary task to complete in order for every mongrel form of "marriage" to become "normal".

"In his article, 'How Important is the Left?', David Horowitz reiterates a central theme concerning the post-Marxist Left. The revolution is no longer focused on the establishment of a Communist, economic utopia, but rather, on the nihilist destruction of civilization as we know it."

For the sake of argument, any number of examples can be found where same-sex couples have raised "healthy" children.

However, I would venture to say that the number who have grave emotional/psychological issues far eclipses the former.

We can all pretend; however, same-sex marriage provides nothing close to the environment provided a child by having a mother and a father from whom to draw life's lessons.

I'm sorry, but this whole liquid farce is beginning to bore me.....

........and to see those who are allegedly intelligent go along with this pretense is disappointing, to say the least.

There's nothing that quite instantly feminizes a man faster than watching him pine over another man.....

.......and call him "husband".

And even though many great thinkers, artists, painters, and poets through the ages have been gay, I dare say that was not their grandest asset.

Debrah said...

I like David Horowitz's response to the Pryor post that I linked above.

He thinks, as do I, that she's a bit over-the-top.

David's view is one with which I most fully agree.

Debrah said...

Here's the link to Gay Marriage a Threat to Civilization? Not Quite which I referenced above.

Every time I use Safari to navigate that website, the links are not as dependable for some reason and often come up dead.

Ha!

Debrah said...

OMG!

What's with the fluctuating links?

Not the Diva's fault, I can assure of that!

For some reason, there isn't a way to link that post; however, here's what David says:

"With all due respect to Jeanette Pryor who is entitled to her opinions, I do not oppose gay marriage in principle and certainly don’t see it as a threat to civilization, a view that I regard as overwrought and unfounded. What I do oppose is the left’s attempt to ram gay marriage down the throats of the majority through a judicial tyranny. Those who support gay marriage need to do so through the legislative process by persuading majorities."

Debrah said...

Great graphic from Instapundit

LOL!

Gyro Gearloose said...

David Horowitz is right when he says that gay marriage is being pushed down the throats of everyone else by judicial tyranny.
The California decision begs to be struck down on appeal although I suspect it will become law eventually. I'd support gay marriage just to get it out of the way. Talk about boring as hell.
The graphic of Michelle Obama is great but the commentary is even better.

Debrah said...

TO "Gyro Gearloose"--

Judge Walker gave a less than stellar performance, but since he's gay, himself---Oops! We're supposed to pretend that doesn't matter at all!---he perhaps felt compelled to bring emotion and opinion into the ruling instead of a decision that would have ushered SSM through the Democratic process.

I agree that the Instapundit post is excellent. No first lady has ever been so tone-deaf to good taste and attention to the current political climate.

Is she afraid that Obama won't win a second term and she wants to get in all the lavish European travel for herself and her daughters while she can?

Simply stupid, politically.

Debrah said...

Maureen's Feliz Cumpleaños, and Adiós

"In politics and pop culture, optics are all. And Michelle’s optics sent a message that likely made some in the White House and the Democratic Party wince."

With this one, Maureen is subtle; however, it's clear by sneaking in so many examples of Michelle's excesses in travel during Obama's strategic political episodes, that she, along with many, view this lavish travel trend as a bit bizarre.

Debrah said...

Mau-Mauing the Mosque from Christopher Hitchens is a unique way of looking at the controversy.

" A widespread cultural cringe impels many people to the half-belief that it's better to accommodate 'moderates' like Rauf as a means of diluting the challenge of the real thing. So for the sake of peace and quiet, why not have Comedy Central censor itself or the entire U.S. press refuse to show the Danish cartoons?"

And he's right about the absurdity of it all.

New York City should have built a structure at Ground Zero long ago so that this mosque wouldn't even be an issue.

Now, almost a decade later everyone gets all weepy and shocked over the idea of a mosque being built.

And the most ridiculous aspect of this fiasco is for anyone to pretend for a second that building the mosque at the 9/11 site is not a calculated move by Muslims like Rauf, the supposed imam, to stick it to Americans and NYC and indirectly, certainly, Jews.

Imagine what symbolism this provides for the Taliban and the entire anti-American Muslim world.

Debrah said...

Almost forgot to mention something.

I was watching cable news a few nights ago and checked out Judge Napolitano's "Freedom Watch"....just as a matter of course while channel-surfing.

There was a panel on the show discussing the economy.

To my surprise the economics professor Steve Horwitz who used to comment on the lacrosse blogs was a member of the panel.

A friend who was watching with me and who is quite knowledgeable in the areas of business and the economy had praise for Horwitz's comments and projections.

LOL!

Who would have expected that one?

Debrah said...

Good one today from Maureen.

Don't Send in the Clones

"Choosing roommates who are mirror images may fit with our narcissistic and microtargeted society, but it retards creativity and social growth. This reluctance to mix it up also has been reflected in the lack of full-throated political and cultural debates on campuses (as opposed to ersatz debates on cable TV), replaced by a quiet P.C. acceptance of differing views or an obnoxious stereotyping of anyone different."

Debrah said...

Here we have the video of Ted Olson making a very strong argument for SSM and in support for Judge Walker's decision recently.

Gays are now using poor Ted as their new and favorite "Mama". LOL!

On any given day and any given hour, I can agree with him in many ways; however, judicial tyranny such as Walker's very tendentious decision can only be supported if you have the quest of making sure that same-sex marriage becomes the law of the land as your primary goal.

On a fundamental level, there isn't much in this world that interests me less than whether or not fur-trapping (lesbian sex) and butt-effing (gay male sex) become normalized and are seen as integral elements of what is definitely a heterosexual "institution"---marriage.

Rather, what animates me, stirs my ire, and compels me to respond are the ways in which the gay community attempts to force the lifestyle on the entire population.

And don't even pretend that this isn't the case.

For such a tiny percentage of the population, they have become the most obnoxious and certainly the most parasitic........

........designing a litany of double standards for themselves.

Debrah said...

A valuable post from David.

Alinsky is a Totalitarian

"........in order to create equality of results government would have to take away individual liberty since human beings are born and remain unequal by nature (Federalist Papers #10). This seems an obvious truth but it is one that escapes people on the Left, who are in massive denial when comes to the obvious facts that some people are innately smarter than others, some prettier, some more eloquent or energetic, while some develop habits of discipline that last a lifetime and others don’t, and that each of these qualities can be translated into power, money and inequality. The only way to counteract the natural inequalities, which translate into power through the exercise of human freedom is to take that freedom away."

Debrah said...

Those who still believe that it's a great idea for a mosque to be built at Ground Zero in NYC should read this chilling report.

One of Europe's most notorious mosques, Masjid Taiba, formerly known as the al-Quds mosque in Hamburg, Germany was just closed this week.

This is where Mohamed Atta and two other of the 9/11 pilots worshipped.

The Life and Death of a Radical Mosque

"When deciding whether a mosque should exist on public property, simply look at the people involved, figure out what they've done, and look into where the money comes from. Radicals leave a trail, and it really isn't that hard to find it. The hard part is acting when you find the evidence."

Debrah said...

This one in the NY Daily News by Jonathan Rauch reminds everyone of the dangers of judicial tyranny.

Occasionally, his calm and candid approach to issues reminds me of Stuart Taylor, who, by the way, has written of his support for SSM, but like the Diva, believes that it's ridiculous to push this agenda through any channel other than the Democratic process.

Judge Walker might have done more harm than good on this one. Ironically, he's a Republican-appointed judge, but the obnoxious gay "activists" would never acknowledge that fact as they display their grotesque revelry in his decision.

And who cannot feel all warm inside from seeing Ted Olson and David Boies work together in a bipartisan effort?

Olson's defense of Walker's decision is formidable, but only if you pretend that the Constitution states marriage as a "right".

And only if you bastardize the 14th Amendment.

I think perhaps Olson, in his mature years, is trying to become more moderate.

Perhaps doing penance for having been married to one of the most conservative women on the public stage.

Barbara Olson, who was also a lawyer and who was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, was a very hardline conservative and wrote books lambasting the Clintons at the time.

Or perhaps Olson has discovered that an offspring or a relative is gay and he needs to become illogical for "the cause".

RobertG said...

David Horowitz's current blog series on Saul Alinsky is valuable reading for both conservatives and progressives. He overstates the dangers of what he labels "totalitarianism" on the left, but more than makes up for it with the other interesting information he brings in to state his case.

Not doubting his unique experiences and his nimble writing skills, but I think he overstates the power of the progressive left.

I'm in agreement with him on gay marriage and the Walker decision as I see you are as well from your comments there.

Debrah said...

Sacrilege at Ground Zero

You really can't explain this issue any better than has Krauthammer.

Bloomberg isn't dumb. He's just being disingenuous......

........exhibiting the same brand of disingenuousness that he exhibited by showing up at the recent Charlie Rangel "birthday party".

Being mayor of NYC requires consideration of the needs and objectives of a metropolis comprised of the planet's diverse mixture of humanity.

However, Bloomberg---if he doesn't comprehend already---could use a few brain cells, not to mention, verbal skills, from Charles Krauthammer.

Debrah said...

Hi "Robert G"--

Yes, I think the Alinsky series will be an interesting one.

For me, anyway.

I haven't really spent lots of time reading such topics, so, consequently, will check it out.

David also posted that he will be a guest on Beck's show next week.

I don't watch that show, but will try to watch when David is on.

When I have more time I intend to go back and read his current series on Alinsky and company.......which I have yet to do.

And yes, my view---along with many legal experts, including those like Stuart Taylor, Jr.---is that if gay "marriage" becomes law, it should go through the Democratic process.

However, it looks as though a few judges will decide.

Though I am vehemently pro-choice and even though I strongly disagree with gross analogies being made between SSM and Roe v. Wade.......

........from what I've read on the topic, the backlash through the years with regard to the abortion issue was the result of judicial tyranny as Judge Walker has exhibited in his decision.

In any case, gay marriage is in a category all its own.

Protestations to the contrary, notwithstanding.

Debrah said...

Just a reminder.

It's Friday the 13th.

Debrah said...

Obama: Fighting the Yuppie Factor

This is one of the very best critiques of Barack Obama and his wife that I've read.

Though I'm sure there have been others I've yet to read, this one hits it.

Hanson zeros-in on the exact opinions and ideas I have held in the back of my mind ever since I decided---(for a number of reasons, none of which comes close to the idea that he was capable of actually being a good president)---to support Obama in 2008.

Because I know myself and I know my peers and what animated us and stirred our desires and outlook on the world......

.......it has always been easy to dissect the characters of Barack and Michelle Obama.

At university, one of my friends was a carbon copy of Michelle. She was also a Chicagoan and because of the "diversity" factor was given a complete financial free ride.....

.......which freed-up lots of cash for her upper-middle class parents to buy her a condo and a Mercedes SL series to pad her experience as an undergraduate.

At the time I didn't think anything about that. It was the norm. Every "good little liberal" knew all "minorities" went by different rules.

Just because!

Debrah said...

I'm glad I was that way as a kid.

Jumping outside the idealistic bubble and moving away from the meaningless feel good attitudes wasn't a smooth ride for me as a young adult.

Perhaps because I was such a true believer in hoping for a better world and because I was such a sincere kid.....artistic and trés chic all the way......

.......that I now have little patience for those who still wish to keep up the "progressive, altruistic" facade.

It's been the reality for decades that if you are a "minority", no matter what socio-economic level your family, the instant rewards from the academy will be waiting for you to easily partake.

There's the constant phony schtick of "ever-overcoming-a-hard-life" such as the Obamas have tried to portray.

Their way of life is actually one of elitism and detachment.

Hanson's outline of the Obamas is precisely one so familiar to many of us and the people we know.

And let me underscore that there is nothing wrong with one's decision to be self-possessed.

Just don't try to run a country and propose to represent and work for the betterment of its people if you have no clear understanding and do not really care about them and their needs.

That's why I would never get into politics.

I don't want the problems of other people in my world....even though I am one of the most loyal and supportive for causes I choose.

You cannot be as honest and candid as the Diva and others when you are in politics.

Consequently, if you are not naturally an altruistic person, you either have to be a phony and pretend.....

.......or simply find another profession.

Regarding Hanson's article.......yes.......we all knew that Obama wasn't being held to the same standards of other politicians during the 2008 campaign and it feels so very refreshing to admit that his act never, ever fooled me.

Like so many others, I was hoping he'd keep his word and govern from the center for which he certainly had a mandate.

And like the groveling press, I was also hoping that by electing a president of African ancestry, this would take the tiresome crutch of "race" off the table.

But alas, none of this has come to pass because Obama is not strong enough underneath his well-worn facade.

Where's "the change we can believe in"?

Anonymous said...

About your, "I'm glad I was that way as a kid."
:) NoD

Anonymous said...

Also ponder this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A&feature=player_embedded
NoD

Anonymous said...

Amazing. Over at DiW we get to wait and see if our plebeian comments are worthy of publication. Here just an an immediate publication with possible deletion later!
Nod

Debrah said...

Maureen's No Love From the Lefties

Have to agree.

Gibbs needs to be replaced.

I've been surprised from the start that he was even put into that position.

Such a drab doughnut. Typical of so many N.C. State alumni.

Bland, boring, and a bit redneck.

Debrah said...

Hi NoD--

The Milton Friedman video that you pasted is certainly archival.

Phil Donahue looks so young there.

Indeed, Friedman influenced many movers-and-shakers, including Ben Bernanke, as well as the late WFB.

I'm not an authority on economic issues (at all!); however, it doesn't take an MBA to know that gross government intervention inhibits the necessary flow of a free market system.

And no, I don't monitor comments.

In the past, when there were a few controversial topics being tossed about and a few blog "dust-ups" taking place, I had to monitor comments; however, I've always left the comment section open.

Although many visitors stop by, very few leave comments.

Random effulgences don't attract the timid, I suppose.

Also, someone who did lots of commentary on the Lacrosse Hoax and who is also a columnist, told me that the way I've set up The Diva World confuses some people.

He said that some wouldn't know that "random effulgences" means "comments".

He said that it's hard to see that there is even a place where visitors can comment.

I don't agree; however, if I wanted to turn this blog into one of just serious discussion, I would, certainly, make it more bland........and less visual.

Right now, I just enjoy making any comment I wish about anything.

I like that kind of freedom and I prefer having someone else provide structure so I can be the embellishment when I want.

LIS!

That's why Wonderland was such a great fit for me.

Plus, I'm always attracted to a place of scholarship and brains.

It's sexy.

I have entertained the idea of doing specific posts with lengthy commentary, but haven't so far.

That would require more discipline from the Diva!

Handy Man said...

NoD, the diva never deletes my comments because I'm so erudite.
At DiW what difference does it make when it's dead? That case has been over.

Debrah said...

Thomas Sowell's new book

Debrah said...

Our Mosque Madness from Maureen

Good points are made, of course; however, it cannot, and will not, be overlooked that the push for a mosque in that location by Rauf and his band of concrete nomads is to make a point to all non-Muslims.

We will do as we wish!

Sensitivity to the horrors of 9/11 be damned!

Pass the couscous!

Debrah said...

Making Gender Irrelevant expresses so much of what the majority of people on the planet feel about this issue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These newer “studies” of same-sex parents are as valid as the earlier propaganda presented in the guise of scientific studies. Like the boy-girl studies, these were conducted by academics with agendas: to deny male-female differences and to promote same-sex marriage.

And if mothers and fathers are interchangeable, men as men and women as women lose their significance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know, on some days this topic is just one big laugh-fest.

Until you move closer and witness just how rabid much of the gay agenda really is.

How embedded in the psyches of the naive and the indoctrinated.

This is why I've chosen to "come out"--(LOL!!!)--during such debates and let a few of the most rabid understand that some of us are certainly NOT conservatives and are NOT informed by issues of religion or morals or anything else that "activists" use as worn-out debating tools.

The more I think about it the points that Prager makes in this column are the most solid and express the visceral realities that inform those like the Diva who simply recoil at the grotesque display.......

........of men walking like girls, sliding one knee into the other as a girlie-pause-pose the way many of us women do naturally.

And seeing other women with shaved heads and masculine garb swaggering with a eunuch-styled mate.

OK, fine.

But don't design labels for yourselves and believe you will ever force them onto the public.

There's no live and let live objective with such agenda-driven people.

Many sabotage themselves by the way they look and behave.

The authentic pheromone-inspired lust between a real man and a real woman enveloped in the throes of passion cannot be duplicated by any other coupling.

Therefore, it's a rather insane objective for gays to attempt to take on the hetero institution of "marriage".

Except for the fact that they are really after the financial benefits.

As well as attempting to force a "dignity" for their coupling that doesn't apply.

G/d, how I feel for the children of this forced grotesquerie.

How they must feel among their peers and struggle for their own identities.

As the gay parents scream and moan and cast blame on "society".

In essence, they are the selfish ones.

Their children---conceived by whatever tortured means---are the victims.

No question that same-sex marriage will pass eventually. Most people are so tired and so bored sh!tless with the subject they just say enough already.

But if those who forcefully push this agenda do not want enormous push-back, they'd best not tread on the human realities which they will never be able to change.

Let's keep a........how do you say?......a cordon sanitaire........a healthy buffer between who you "feel" you are.......and what you actually "are".

On the gender front, if the clit doesn't fit, you're not legit!

Debrah said...

A Diva effulgence of the day:

Men as men and women as women must, necessarily, lose their significance for the SSM agenda to take root.

An irreducible maxim of human existence.

Gender interchangeability is the goal and I think this—although rarely voiced aloud by gay “activists”—will continue to create obstacles for them.

From time to time the interests of the state and civilization will bifurcate, and unless there is independence of thought and responsibility to truth, the cause of civilization is neglected.

Debrah said...

The Cynical Brilliance of Imam Rauf

Debrah said...

Moral Myopia at Ground Zero from Krauthammer

It’s hard to be an Obama sycophant these days. Your hero delivers a Ramadan speech roundly supporting the building of a mosque and Islamic center at Ground Zero in New York. Your heart swells and you’re moved to declare this President Obama’s finest hour, his act of greatest courage.

Alas, the next day, at a remove of 800 miles, Obama explains that he was only talking about the legality of the thing and not the wisdom — upon which he does not make, and will not make, any judgment.

You’re left looking like a fool because now Obama has said exactly nothing: No one disputes the right to build; the whole debate is about the propriety, the decency of doing so.

Debrah said...

Obama and the Muslims from Conrad Black

Mr. Obama praised “Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings . . . (its) great diversity and racial equality” and “American Muslims’ . . . extraordinary contributions to our country.” In fact, Islam has done nothing to advance justice or any version of progress or tolerance, and Obama, like Condoleezza Rice, is regularly denounced by the official outlets of leading Muslim countries in ethnic slurs that would embarrass Bull Connor and Lester Maddox.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is inexcusable that there is any serious thought of building a mosque near the World Trade Center site. It has nothing to do with freedom of religion, tolerance, and so forth.......

This is an argument that only a degenerating society can have, and when Maureen Dowd is trying to enlist George W. Bush to this cause, we know that this is not necessarily a sick society — as the Left loved to claim in Johnson’s, and Nixon’s, and Reagan’s days — but that the New York Times is a sicker pigeon than we thought.

Debrah said...

Hitchens at Slate......It's Not Just About Israel

Debrah said...

Maureen's Going Mad in Herds

Part drivel.

Part insight.

"Obama is the victim of the elevated expectations he so skillfully created in 2008."

Debrah said...

OMGosh!

Big Andy has taken another vacation?

He left his readers at The Dish with this sappy note:

"I'm going off-grid for my annual bloggatical. Aaron has forbidden me to blog or write in this period, and for good reason......."

His hubby has forbidden him?

LOL!!!

Debrah said...

Most informative from Jonathan Chait.

Are you listening "activists"?

Are you listening bloggers and others who ruin and essentially taint your own blogs by pushing this overwrought agenda to the point of alienating and boring everyone else sh!tless?

Every right and every financial benefit are achieved already by civil unions.

What Does Obama Really Think About Gay Marriage? A Telling Timeline.

Obama is given a pass for being against gay marriage....while gays focus on the conservatives who are against it.

Too funny!

Many want to ramrod this issue and lift the hetero term "marriage" so that teaching it in schools will be the end result.

This push for forced "dignity" would facilitate a variety of socio-cultural objectives.

But in reality, very few gays will actually even get married when and if same-sex marriage becomes law.

Good thing monogamy isn't a prerequisite.

This push is an attempt to normalize gay marriage.

Fine.......but same-sex "marriage" will never be equivalent to hetero marriage and no one can ever change that.

The real issue now is why the push.....and the push.....and the pathetic push for this silly agenda?

Debrah said...

A few days ago, a helpful Diva World devotée sent a DVD for me to check out.

Thanks so much!

It was the little "film" made from Duke Gang of 88 mascot Timothy Tyson's book--"Blood Done Sign My Name".

After watching this one---by the way, a few hours out of my life I'll never get back---I can understand why it never even got out-of-the-gate at the box office.

Before the Duke Lacrosse Hoax of the Spring of 2006, I didn't know Tyson from Adam or Eve and vaguely recall some mention of that "book" from news articles.

No wonder the Gang of 88 mascot wanted to get into the middle of the Mangum hoax and get himself in the news regarding this culture war issue.

But alas, poor Tyson's objective of injecting himself into that case as well as the fate of the little "film" didn't quite measure up to a race-hustler's dreams.

I certainly expected such a treatment of this subject to contain all the predictable pap we've come to know.

But this thing takes passé and banal off a cliff.

Apparently, not one actor of stature could be persuaded to sign onto the visual rendering of Tyson's oeuvre.

Rick Schroder is the only actor that might be familiar to an audience.

There were a few obscure actors whose faces I recognized from made-for-TV movies.

However, for the most part, this is a poorly-rendered film in almost every respect that can be considered ......

.........and from all objective accounts I've read, many actual events offered up as facts have been either manufactured or embellished to the extreme.

No one in this country needs to be reminded of the ugly historical facts of slavery, Jim Crow, and the struggle for civil rights.

However, many wish to pretend that things are the same as decades long gone and invent story lines and meta-narratives from long-dead history.

Such is the case with this poor film.

The visuals and dialogue are constructed to depict a milieu for the audience that does not match the actual time of events.

Lots of care was taken to make believe that Jim Crow existed in the year 1970.

Every black character was wonderfully kind and pure of heart.....with perfect diction and grammar.

Despite the fact that they perhaps would have had little education.

The white "villains" were depicted as totally recalcitrant, unthinking, and incapable of being anything but horrifically detached "racists".

LOL!!!

And there was no in-between.

No nuance.

Absolutely no illustration of human nature....of how real people really are.

Debrah said...

All of us in past years who have been grand supporters of the innocent Duke lacrosse players have also cast much-deserved and ultra-justified criticism toward Duke's administration and its rabidly out-of-touch professors.

However, it would be impossible to illustrate in a mere comment just how ridiculous this film made from Tyson's "book" is.

A full critique could never rise above the excremental.

One only needs to go back and read Tyson's libel and listen to his slander of the lacrosse players before there was any evidence of guilt.

Revisit those oily performances with race-baiting galore.

Multiply that grotesquerie about a thousand times and you'll get close to how nausea-inducing this little "film" is to watch.

It's unseemly that John Hope Franklin allowed himself to be a part of it shortly before he died----albeit, only in a gratuitous cameo.

Only those who are ignorant of history and only those who are unfamiliar with Tyson and his ilk---as they've essentially made a living off stoking race issues---would buy into this archaic piece of pap.

Lastly, the character of Ben Chavis was played up as some honorable "hero" from a reasoned and all-knowing family.

But people who read will remember Chavis' sorry tenure as head of the NAACP and his less-than-savory lifestyle.

This "film" is part fantasy and part comedy.

Debrah said...

A few more observations which I think place Tyson's "film" inside the realm of comedy.

His father constantly called him "little Buck".

(Time-out to throw up now.)

This reminded me of a knock-off "Andy of Mayberry" script.

If you check out one of the syndicated episodes of "Mayberry", it's clear there was an effort by those who made this film to give it a similar patina from a much earlier time in history.

Tyson's father was given an "Andy of Mayberry" kind of personality---folksy, wise, and righteous in all things.

Naturally, he and his entire family were "strong, brave, and true"........willing to sacrifice all for their fellow man.

Pop Tyson portrayed by Schroder presented more of a Clint Eastwood aura than a younger version of the reckless and rotund John Burness...(a comparison closer to reality).

Multiple examples of sappy dialogue were added to the mix by having members of Pop Tyson's church shower myriad lofty monologues over the proceedings.

If you're over the age of 40 and can come off watching this believing in its veracity......

.......you are either a sheltered agoraphobe hidden away in a place like Greenwich, Connecticut......

......or your lack of honesty is breathtaking.

Lastly, former Duke Board of Trustees Robert Steel was its producer.

Anonymous said...

http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-christopher-hitchens-my-prayer-for-a-worthy-opponent/19601750?icid=main|htmlws-main-w|dl5|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fopinion%2Farticle%2Fopinion-christopher-hitchens-my-prayer-for-a-worthy-opponent%2F19601750

The Rabbi and Mr. Hitchens...

Observer

Debrah said...

Hi "Observer"--

This must be the article that you brought about the Rabbi and Christopher Hitchens.

Hitchens appeared on his show today and I'm sure there will be a record of it published.

I added a video on the front page for now with him as well being interviewed by Charlie Rose.

He discusses his illness in such a matter-of-fact way.

So chilling as well as courageous.

Debrah said...

Something I have yet to read, but want a reminder to go back and do so.

The Greatly Ghastly Rand

Handy Man said...

wtf is the order of the long leaf pine?
The gov should have given Barber the order of the fullest buffet table.

Debrah said...

Ha!

Too funny, "Handy Man".

The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, I think, refers to some coniferous tree that grows in the state.

There's a metaphor there, somewhere, no doubt.

Debrah said...

Interesting one.

I didn't know anything about these guys at all.

Covert Operations from The New Yorker

The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.

Debrah said...

Stem Cells, Life, and the Law

"Embryonic-stem-cell research 'is clearly research in which an embryo is destroyed,' since by definition it requires the destruction of human embryos. It makes no sense, the judge wrote, to claim that the destructive act and the experimentation on the resulting stem-cell lines are 'separate and distinct "pieces of research." ' The fact that embryonic-stem-cell research 'involves multiple steps does not mean that each step is a separate "piece of research" that may be federally funded, provided the step does not result in the destruction of an embryo.' The judge issued a preliminary injunction halting all federal funding of embryonic-stem-cell research."

This is such a tedious and disingenuous set of circumstances.

Of course, stem-cell research should proceed.

In most every case, the embryos would be destroyed simply by tossing them.

There's really no logical reason for the continued push against research using embryos when it's clear so many people would benefit, medically.

It's the same thing ad nauseum.

Just like the abortion issue.

The Far Right and the Far Left should find a home somewhere together on the planet where they can beat each other to a pulp.

And spare the rest of us the inanity.

Debrah said...

At NRO this chilling example provides a glimpse into "moderate" Islam.

Along with a video in which the imam will not admit that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Let's hear the word "moderate" again.......OK?

Debrah said...

What Did Obama Do Wrong?

Do you have a few hours?

These points are certainly plausible ones:

"......it's possible that the Democrats would now be in a better position if they had underpromised. Instead of framing the decline as a Bush-caused disaster that they could fix, they could have said that financial crises are multi-causal and take a really long time to fix, and that it was therefore going to get worse before it got better. Obama did make a few noises along this line, but mostly he followed the line of blaming Bush, and promising dramatic relief with his policies. Since the dramatic relief has not arrived, voters are naturally going to be skeptical of his policies."

Debrah said...

Obama has screwed up royally and many are incapable of admitting that.

He made an enormous production of revamping a very “big 3″......education, health-care, and energy.

Many apologists have suggested that he tries to be a bit too “cool” and detached; however, the fundamental problem is that he’s too Far Left.

Obama misread his mandate.

He’s attempting to introduce a dramatically socialist patina into American society which has always been individualist.

The show works for a while, but sooner or later the platitudes and dazzling speeches wear off.

Debrah said...

The Last Refuge of the Liberal from Krauthammer

This is a solid example of perfection in thought and articulation.

G/d, he's so superb.

Debrah said...

Glamour Underground.......MoMA's exhibition of smart, stylish London transit posters from Slate.

Those are great and an interesting exhibition.

I've ordered lots of things from the MoMA and love their prints.

Debrah said...

Don't Just Sit There!

(How bathroom posture affects your health.)

This topic is a delicate one, obviously---the understatement of the year!---but it's a must-read.

There's also a little demo-video of a new version.

One wonders if these studies have some validity.

If so, American john makers will be busy reorganizing.

In parts of Europe such designs can be found and when I lived in Tokyo, the "squatting" models could be found in locations outside the city in the less-Westernized and more traditional environs.

The new style in the video with combinations of all options built into one is a great idea.

Anonymous said...

Looked at DiW 8/28/10 . Hidden linked pot shots at Glen Beck. Why can't he just watch and give his own analysis?
NoD

Debrah said...

Since Maureen is "off" again today, I thought I'd bring in Frank Rich with one of his signature screeds.

The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party

Debrah said...

Hi "NoD"--

I don't follow Glenn Beck; however, I caught the news about his big gathering on the Mall in DC.

You have to understand that when KC includes something like that in a post, it's to provoke such a response as yours.

It's always been the grandest irony that non-Liberals were the most helpful, accurate, and supportive---not to mention the most articulate---during the Lacrosse Hoax.

In fact, without non-Liberals' support, I don't know where that case would have gone.

It certainly wouldn't have garnered the brand of national and international attention that it received at the time.

As I have noted before, some would get a shock by how really "yellow"-Leftist-Liberal a few of the lacrosse defense attorneys are.

Especially that slimy little arthropod Brad Bannon.

Before he was prompted by one of his good friends (of whom I am keenly aware) from afar to delete the links and information on his Facebook front page......it would have been easy to replace his name with Wahneema Lubiano's and the fit would have been complete.

Seeing that told me all I need to know about what a socially-arrested dumbazz he is.

A nauseating little man whose friends are in the same circle as those who went after the innocent lacrosse players.

But I digress.....

Almost all pundits and commentators on cable news design their shows to provoke.

Some better and more successful than others.

Unfortunately, the ultra-Liberals have almost bled dry their schtick.

That "hopey-changey" thing is beginning to look more phony than at first blush.

Debrah said...

Do This For 5 Minutes, Get 5 Years Younger from RealAge

Debrah said...

Almost forgot.

This morning while I was waiting to watch "Meet the Press" there was an NBC promo for a new show with Nancy Grace called Swift Justice.

Hilarious!

She has really turned into a heavy weight.

In the promo, there was a segment where she was walking down the hall and she literally looked like a huge box on two legs.

Unfortunately, big Nancy isn't aging very Grace-fully.

Ha!

Gyro Gearloose said...

Are we to understand that Nancy Grace is trying to be the next Judge Judy?

That's one show I'll definitely avoid.

Anonymous said...

Re: Hi "NoD"
Finally figured out I'm a Deist, and therefor not a tremendous Beck fan. But politics make for strange...
And yes I saw in the latest DiW the poor soul (formerly known KC Johnson) takes yet another shot at Mr. Beck through one of his links.
But I say nothing.
NoD.

Anonymous said...

One other thing. Cable news allows me to hear Charles Krauthammer, So the poor soul can stuff it.
Nod.

Debrah said...

"NoD"--

If you feel like debating the issues, then do so.

I'm sure he will clear your comments.

Heaven knows, there's no more to bleed from the Lacrosse Hoax.

Outlandish personal and peripheral issues have been entertained there before.

About Krauthammer, I am enthralled by his ability to present material in such an analytical and precise way.

I could listen to him all day because he's so calm and cool and he knows how to make the complex, simple......and the simple, complex and interesting......whatever is required at the time.

Stunning overviews and analyses of the political and historical characters in question.

Both he and Christopher Hitchens are really quite spectacular in their own individual ways.

Debrah said...

Not So Easy, Is It?

John Dickerson, have you been reading the Diva comment section?

"...as Obama demonstrates the natural limits of presidential action, he unwittingly adds perspective to assessments of what President Bush could do.

"As he benefits from policies he once opposed—such as the surge in Iraq, which helped make tomorrow's speech possible—Obama proves that even a smart politician with the best of intentions can be wrong.

"...Obama's announcement Tuesday would not be possible were it not for a strategy that he adamantly opposed. When Bush announced the surge in January 2007, then-Sen. Obama not only fought the increase in troops, he opposed on more than one occasion the underlying approach (already in practice in Iraq) that the new troops were being sent to pursue."

Debrah said...

Heavy Drinkers Live Longer Than Non-Drinkers, Study Says

Saw this report on the news last night and I think, more accurately, people who drink moderately-to-semi-heavily live longer than teetotalers.

Very heavy drinkers suffer earlier death just as teetotalers often do.

I've always been keenly aware that moderate consumption produces considerable rewards for the body.

My brother doesn't drink at all and I think he has higher lipid levels, etc......

He's also one of the most boring people on the planet, despite his good looks and intellectual capacity.

These goo-goo, self-righteous, and constipated people are the decided detriments to creativity and authentic human engagement on this planet.

Handy Man said...

Damn! I've been cutting back for no good reason and taking years off of my life.

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You are so interesting! I do not think I've read through anything like this before.
So wonderful to find somebody with a few original thoughts on this topic.
Really.. many thanks for starting this up.

This website is one thing that's needed on the web, someone with a little originality!