Lady Gaga is more powerful than Nancy Pelosi, says Forbes.

News/Politics

BP Oil Disaster: Business-hating President Barack Obama really went out of his way to shield British Petroleum.

Ah, the World's Greatest Deliberative Body.  No, not the courtroom of Judge Judy - the United States Senate.  Once a bastion of the elite and much more a body that represented state legislatures than Da Peehpuhl (as we say here in California), then civilized by the 17th Amendment, it is now the Place Where Good Legislation Goes to Die on the Vine.

Earlier this week, I blogged about SUNY Albany's plan to fulfill its "world-wide" mission by cutting almost all of their European language programs and declaring its intention to fire the full-time tenured faculty who teach French, Russian, Italian, and the classics. At the same time, Albany cut its theater major.

Flipping the Bird: Maurizio Cattelan let’s the Milan Stock Market know how we feel.

News/Politics

Taliban: Blowing stuff up.

 Mudflats has obtained e-mails revealing Todd Palin's anger at Joe Miller, the Republican Tea Partier nominee for Senate from Alaska. They also have e-mails detailing Miller's inside-the-campaign response:

I just found this in my inbox. This is what we're dealing with. Note the date and the complete misconstruction of what I said.

Holy cow.

I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.

-- Christine O'Donnell, Republican for Senate

I'm not a witch either. Like Christine O'Donnell, I'm you. Indeed, I'm much more you than Ms. O'Donnell. I'm so you that if you weren't you, you would think that I was you. In fact, the only thing holding me back from actually being you is you, if you get my meaning.

Love his music? Love her politics? Then Sarah Bieber may be just for you.

News/Politics

Rogue French: A rogue trader – called in some circles a thief – pays the price with a whopping three years in jail for stealing billions and nearly killing the French economy.

Is it really just over a month until election day? I guess I'd better apply for my absentee ballot. Don't worry. I will. But at the risk of being scolded, I have to admit, I don't care all that much. It's okay to judge me for my apathy. Two years ago, I was Judgey McJudgerson. I couldn't believe why anyone in their right mind would vote for John McCain or choose not to vote at all. Actually, I still can't really believe why someone would make one of those choices, which is why the absentee ballot will be duly completed--albeit without a single ounce of enthusiasm. 

Being the greatest country in the world means occasionally having to say your sorry for infecting the people of another country with wicked sexually transmitted diseases just to see what happens.

From BBC:

US testing that infected hundreds of Guatemalans with gonorrhoea and syphilis more than 60 years ago was a “crime against humanity”, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom has said.

When you have access to a pug puppy, you take advantage of said access. So I present, with no further delay:

Alfredo the Pug Puppy