Women Smoking While on Oxygen Tank Leaves a Mess for Fire Department

Well you certainly can't question her "commitment" to that sweet, sweet tobacco. A woman in Ohio set herself on fire while smoking because she was hooked up to an oxygen tank for emphysema. The funny part is that this is third fire of this sort in the area this year alone. From Cincinnati.com:

A woman smoking a cigarette while hooked up to an oxygen supply set herself on fire early Friday and badly burned her lower body, Middletown fire officials said.

It was the third such fire in Middletown this year, and a frightening illustration of the power of nicotine, experts say.

"To me, it's a sign of how incredibly addictive tobacco smoke is," said Robert Anthenelli, director of the Tristate Tobacco and Alcohol Research Center at the University of Cincinnati. "Despite the fact that there's obvious warnings and high risks, this person, like many other people, continues to be driven to smoke, despite these adverse consequences."

I can vouch that cigarettes are that addictive, but you think that once your lungs turned to fleshy, charcoal residue, you would re-think your priorities. Maybe it's just a sign of Obama being elected so people feel they can "Do whatever the hell they want". Much like the 15-year old on Maury who wants to be a stripper.

Getting Bagged

I think we've already been "tea-bagged" by the colossal sack of the Stimulus "package", but a witty sign nonetheless. Excellent political journalist David Weigel has more shots of the D.C. protest at his website, and Jonn Lilyea is liveblogging thing. Good shit.

Regular legs aren't good enough for this cocky asshole

What ever happened to the time when being well proportioned was enough for everyone? You know, Secretary Bird, it's pretty easy to prance around on regular rooster legs, I've seen it done quite a bit. But were they good enough for you? No, you had to get GIANT FUCKING LEGS LIKE A GODDAMNED FLAMINGO. Well, you aren't a flamingo, Secretary Bird, you are just a regular bird that traded in its basic decency for a fucking gimmick. Apparently, it wasn't even good enough, because you had to get a shitty job (btw, it should be Assistant Bird, asshole, way to demean yourself). Since you are apparently so good at dictation, you should get ready to take a message: Dear Secretary Bird, comma. Fuck you, period. Sincerely, etc.

Get These People Some Nails and a Cross

Bobos Feeling the Pinch of the Recession (Not so Much)

I suppose some Americans are suffering from the economy somewhere out there, but it sure as hell wasn't any place the Washington Post investigated:

Within one week, Mary changed the bulb in the headlight of her Mercedes, cutting out a $120 trip to the mechanic. The couple made a cake for their 11-year-old daughter's birthday party instead of spending $50 at the local bakery. And Chris, who works in a management job, picked up some cans of paint from the Sears in Fair Oaks to help a friend redecorate -- seven hours of work but a savings of roughly $1,000.

"We really had to look at the equation to build in additional efficiencies," Chris Poleto said.

Consumers are weighing similar decisions across sectors. Paola Domenge, 34, of Potomac canceled her lawn service last year and now mulches the yard and trims the wisteria herself, saving as much as $500 a month -- even before she was laid off from her marketing job about a month ago and started a bakery. Alina Zhukovskaya, 28, of Arlington dismissed her personal trainer to save $60 a week.

I have no clue what "wisteria" is supposed to be, but I'm sure these upper middle class cracker types will be happy that it's probably somewhere in that monstrous stimulus package. Good thing Obama will solve all of our problems.

Attorney General To Re-impose Assault Weapons Ban

Nothing freaks out non-country club going conservatives like the prospect of jack-booted thugs from the government coming to seize your firearms. At best, gun control is a way to tamper down on an American sub-culture that might prove "problematic" for the administration. And at worst, it's the first step to rounding up "unenlightened" Americans for the 21st century gulags. That's why Obama's "bitter" comment proved so embarrassing for him during the campaign season, because many Americans value the importance of the reasons behind the 2nd Amendment with zero equivication. This might seem completely paranoid and maniacal to you (although I'm drifting further into that camp by the day), but it's difficult to understand any sort of rationale behind Attorney General Holder's announcement to re-institute the Assault Weapons Ban. From ABC:

"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder told reporters.

Holder said that putting the ban back in place would not only be a positive move by the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns going across the border into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels along the border.

"I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." Holder said at a news conference on the arrest of more than 700 people in a drug enforcement crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the U.S.

While Mexico is certainly having a crisis of security, the Mexican drug cartels are not using AR-15s, but grenades, RPGs, and automatic weapons which are not available in American gun shops. Don't expect Holder to re-think the decades long failed drug policies in America, because the man is a confirmed crusader. The left did their best in the 90s to disarm the American population by swarming like buzzards around human tragedy to portray every school shooting as the fault of the NRA. Michael Moore interviewing an Alzheimer's-ridden Charlton Heston during Bowling For Columbine showed their "by any means necessary" approach to this end. Sure, liberal weenies are funny as hell when they're crying about trees or screaming while being arrested, but these people are in charge now and their threat to freedom shouldn't be laughed off. Don't think bad shit can't happen here because it's America. [/end paranoid rant for the day]

The Shit Heap of Debt

A Ramirez Cartoon That Rings True

For a guy who stated that he was going to halve the deficit by 2013, the President certainly isn't off to a very good start. His proposed FY10 budget is reaching upwards of $3.6T. WSJ has the details:

President Barack Obama delivered a $3.6 trillion budget blueprint to Congress Thursday that aims to "break from a troubled past," with expanded government activism, tax increases on affluent families and businesses, and spending cuts targeted at those he says profited from "an era of profound irresponsibility."...
...The president blamed the nation's economic travails on the administration that preceded him and on a nation that lost its bearings. His budget plan projects a federal deficit of $1.75 trillion for 2009, or 12.3% of the gross domestic product, a level not seen since 1942 as the U.S. plunged into World War II.

The below graph shows the years of surplus vs. deficit leading up to 2010 and proves that no politician of any party can be trusted to govern in a fiscally responsible fashion.
Where's Ross Perot when you need him.

Crossbreed kittens are genetically engineered to fuck shit up

Kitten, they created you so you could be a Persian cat without long hair, but what they didn't predict was you sticking your fucking head out of that bed and making a face which is pretty much the worst thing I've ever seen. You are like the Natasha Henstridge in Species of cute. I would blame the misguided souls that made you, but I'm not entirely convinced you couldn't just keep it together and lead a normal cat life. For example, why are you looking at the camera? And Jesus Christ, stop fucking frowning. You have your whole life ahead of you!

And then I find out you have your own blog? And it's in Japanese! Uh-uh, learning how to use Flash, I believe, BUT THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY YOU KNOW JAPANESE, KITTEN, IT'S A REALLY HARD LANGUAGE TO LEARN. Something is going on here, Kitten. I'm going to find out what it is. So get ready, Kitten, I'll give you something to frown about.

Aliens on Other Worlds To Save us From Our Wretched Existence

It'll Be Like Plan 9 From Outer Space...Everyday!

Great news. For all of you folks who got wedgied in high school for reading a copy of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and praying that a UFO would take you away from this cruel world, cheer up! It seems that it's virtually statistically impossible to not have planets capable of sustaining life. From Live Science:

There are about ten thousand billion billion habitable planets in the observable universe, and some of these Earth-like worlds could be found by a mission set to launch early next month, a leading planet-formation theorist now speculates.

Alan Boss, astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., and author of "The Crowded Universe" (Basic Books), published this month, came up with that rough number by estimating there is about one habitable planet around every sun-like star in the galaxy, of which there are about 10 billion, and multiplying that by the number of galaxies in the universe (about 100 billion).

This result is inexact of course, so give or take a power of ten or so, Boss said, which is standard for these types of estimates in astronomy.

"Based on what we already know, the universe is going to turn out to be chock full of habitable planets (i.e. Earth-like worlds), and therefore life is likely to be widespread," said Boss, who discussed these estimates with a group of reporters last weekend in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Now if only NASA could get something into space without it getting blowed up, maybe we could accelerate civilization's destiny before we all end up killing each other.

Patrick Ruffini Carpet Bombs Joe Teh Plumber

That's Gonna Leave A Mark

The bizarre fetishization of JTP has gone on for too damn long amongst conservative outfits like Pajamas Media. Joe recently met with The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institue and referred to them as "bi-partisan" showing a complete lack of knowledge on political matters, and a recent interview about Obama's speech last night further lauded his embarrassing imbecile credentials. Yet, he's currently being trumpeted around CPAC like he's the hot-chick version of Sully and is going to lead the GOP out of the wilderness. Influential conservative Patrick Ruffini says what we're all thinking and states the man needs to quietly go away. From The Next Right:

This culture of identity politics means we get especially defensive about the Liberal Majority's main lines of attack, because we think of our position as inherently fragile. The one that spawned the Cult of Joe the Plumber was the meme that Republicans want tax cuts only for the rich and that we don't stand for working Americans. When find a highly visible figure who contradicts this notion, we swing into action. And we go on to press the argument to the point to absurdity, replete with plungers and custom "Joe" yard signs to prove our working class chops. These are the not the marks of a movement that assumes it operates (or should operate) from a position of political and cultural supremacy.

Maybe the GOP has some self-hatred they are trying to eradicate, because progressives frequently portray them as some sort of Mr. Burns admiring their own monocle collection. Any trip through middle America (or the military for that matter) would easily dispel this stereotype. But, the GOP tries too damn hard to be the "anti-elite" party by parading around guys who work for a living as a sign that they aren't a bunch of country club yahoos. This was evident in Jindal's lousy speech last night, where he laid on the extra-thick Southern accent as if he just got back from wrestling a gator at a Lynryd Skynyrd show. His attempt at folksyism was bizarre, considering the dude is a Rhodes scholar.

Lest anyone question my non-elite bona fides, I'm sitting on an air mattress right now drinking a 16oz MGD can, but I understand that people in positions of leadership and policymaking should be up to speed and know what the fuck is going on. The American Revolution was won by a bunch of pissed-off farmers who wanted the King of England out of their face, but the leadership was all well-educated Masons. Seems to have worked out pretty well, so why can't conservatives understand that?

Dior and Vanity Fair Celebrate the Launch of Brandaid Foundation

I am off to LA to get some much needed rest so I am not going to have the opportunity to post as often as I would like . I hope everyone have a fashionable  weekend!

Taraji P. Henson looks absolutely chic in this ivory textured Michael Kors dress. With awards season over, I hope this poor girl can get some rest!

Tichina Arnold also look chic as ever in this black strapless dress but I am not a fan of her nude sandals. She needed a pop of color of a red or metallic platforms.

I simply adore LeToya Luckett. I love her because she is current and she doesn't try too hard. I am sorry but Beyonce needs to take notes!

Lorraine Toussaint and CCH Pounder are beautiful and talented actresses. I loved CCH Pounder since she played Max's mother on "Living Single". God, I loved that show!

Charlize Theron and Josh Brolin

I am not sure what is going on with my fashion icon Charlize Theron because she has been looking miscellaneous lately. She looks okay in this black Dior ensemble but I demand drama!

Even though Olivia Wilde is wearing just a simply black Ralph Lauren dress, she still looks great.

Angie Harmon looks amazing in this black feathered dress adorned with a tied ribbon.

I am not crazy about leopard but Amy Adams looks sensational in this leopard ruffled backless sheath dress.


Maria Bello looks divine in this electric blue chiffon cocktail dress.

Designer Of The Week: Bibhu Mohapatra

Bibhu Mohapatra

I stumbled across Bibhu Mohapatra while viewing Style.com and I was truly intrigued with his chic and sophisticated unique silhouettes.

Born in Orissa, India, Bibhi Mohapatra shown an interest in fashion at an early age. In 1998 he started out as an assistant designer for Halston moving on to design director for J. Mendel. After ten years of working as a designer of luxury fashion houses, Bibhi Mohapatra has launched his new ready-to- wear collection during New York fall 2009 fashion week.

I absolutely love his amazing collection. I am all about elegant, texture and funky garments and Bibhu Mohapatra collection produced all three elements!

Red Carpet Transformation: Tichina Arnold

RED CARPET GLORY

RED CARPET HOT MESS!

This horrendous gorilla jacket is more scarier up-close!

Tichina Arnold is from the old school and I loved her since "Martin". She has come a long way from her over-the-top ensembles to more sophisticated quality pieces.

Tichina Arnold finally understands the concept that less is more. I pray her days of those gorilla fur jackets are over!