Dr. Rick Warren will present President George W. Bush with the first “International Medal of PEACE” from the Global PEACE Coalition in recognition of his unprecedented contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases during the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health, to be held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1.

This is not from the Onion, so I hed to find out a bit more about this "Global PEACE Coalition. That sent me here where I found out what they think PEACE stands for.

Promote reconciliation
Equip leaders
Assist the poor
Care for the sick
Educate the next generation

Now how W fills ANY of those roles I have no idea, especially if you consider the specifics of what they note (HIV/AIDS) where W's insistence on abstinence only education and funding may very well have caused increases in the spread of it. But hey, if it fits their religious agenda...

I'll just have to make sure not to have sex with fundamentalists, they're going to be the ones with the AIDS.

Warren to award President Bush for HIV/AIDS fight | Liveblog | Christianity Today

The Los Angeles federal court jury rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorization to inflict emotional distress on young Megan Meier.

However, the jury found defendant Lori Drew guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization. Each count is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

She did it, she knew she did it, knew what she was doing, and a 13 year old is dead. I hope the judge sends her to prison.

Jury convicts mom of lesser charges in online hoax

When you're dating a guy, you can forgive him for some indiscretions, but it's nearly impossible to turn the other cheek if he strays. Well, Cosmo did some investigating to ascertain the traits that may make men more likely to cheat, and some of our findings were surprising eye-openers.

1. Is he a guy? Yes? Then expect him to wander all over the menu.
2. Does he still have testicles? Yes? What, you were expecting him to not check out the waitress?
3. See 1 and 2.

Thank you Cosmo for still more things that are useless.

Dating 101: Will Your Guy Cheat on You? -- Yahoo! Personals

Mrs. Clinton's and her closest advisers' turning a suggestion by the President-elect that she might, among other things, head the State Department into an "offer" and reports that she was agonizing over whether to accept it, did not please officials in Chicago, some of whom hoped that issues over disclosure of Bill Clinton's post-presidential record might block the appointment.

Let's spell this out in more clear terms. There was no offer to make Hillary Sec State. Her flunkies floated a story that there was and that she was unsure about accepting it turned it from pure fiction into a fait accompli.

She created it out of thin air, and to what end? If Obama doesn't tap her, well that's evidence that see, he really is the sexist bastard she said he was! And pumps up the Hillary fans and Obama haters. If he does pick her, that still pumps up the Hillary fans, and now also pumps up the Hillary haters to rally against Obama. Heads I win, tails he loses.

Now that may be ascribing a bit much to the Senator from New York, on the other hand, it may not.

The Truth About the Election - The New York Review of Books

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked. “Why not?” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

When even Vladamir Putin knows Bush is a cautionary tale, all I can say is, what the hell is wrong with the people in this country who think he's still doing a "heckuva job"?

Vladimir Putin 'wanted to hang Georgian President Saakashvili by the balls' - Times Online

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

The monster years - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York Times Blog

The Republican is outwardly confident, but there’s urgency in his voice as he tours North Georgia, trying to boost turnout in his predominately white base: “The other folks are voting,” he bluntly tells supporters.

Those other folks would be who? Oh, that's right, the black ones.

Thank you Saxby Chambliss for showing us exactly what kind of politician you are. The Wallace/Forrest kind.

Obama shakes up Georgia's Senate race - David Rogers - Politico.com

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

The First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If the Governor's statement doesn't scare the hell out of every single person in this country, they don't have a brain. The First Amendment is there so we can call out people in office, or in this case people running for office, not as a means for them to silence their critics. Sarah Palin has demonstrated not only has she no understanding of what the Constitutional protections mean, she uses them to push exactly their opposites. Black is white, up is down, wrong is right.

Governor, you are the anti-American.

Political Radar: Palin Fears Media Threaten Her First Amendment Rights

The head of the Hillsborough GOP, David Storck, distributed an email from a Republican Party volunteer saying the voters are a threat.

That's because, as the volunteer says in the email, he sees "car loads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes for Obama."

It goes on to say, "This is their chance to get a black president and they seem to care little the he is at minimum a socialist and probably Marxist in his core beliefs." The Republican volunteer says that is because, "After all he is black- no experience or accomplishments but he is black."

And the bigots start to get exposed... as GOP officials?

Not to say all GOP officials are bigots, I mean just because Mitt Romney's church is the biggest funder for Prop 8 in California, and this deal above, and John McCain's silence after getting asked about voting for a government insurance plan that covered viagra but not the birth control pill, and guys like Rush Limbaugh screaming about how the NFL wants McNabb to succeed because they need to be able to point at black quarterbacks, and Hannity has anti-semites on his show, and Nancy Pfotenhauer talking about "real Virginia," and Bob Allen, McCain's Florida co-chair who went to jail after telling a black undercover cop he'd give the cop $20 if he (Allen) could suck off the cop then said he made the offer because he was afraid of black people... Okay, so maybe a lot of them are.

Local GOP Chairman distributes racist e-mail | 10connects.com | Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater

Palin spoke after touring Xunlight Corp., one of a handful of solar technology startup companies in Toledo, a struggling industrial city in this swing state. The city's leaders are hoping that the solar companies will create jobs to replace some of those lost by downsizing in the auto industry.

But Palin made only a passing reference to solar power in her speech and instead renewed her call for more drilling in U.S. coastal waters. She repeated her signature anthem, "drill, baby, drill," which seemed to fall a bit flat on the audience at the plant even as it's become a popular chant at her rallies.

(emphasis mine)
Yep, "drill, baby, drill" at a solar energy company. I'd say Caribou Barbie indeed. There really isn't anything except a couple slogans bouncing around in that empty plastic head.

The Associated Press: Palin calls for break from Bush energy policy