Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of "destroying children's innocence".

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words, "Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!

"Mommy! Mommy! I want that!"

Tesco condemned for selling pole dancing toy | the Daily Mail

A post about Travolta's fly-in house.

[That's cool, but check out the house!]

Google Sightseeing Jumbolair

The ad, in which a white woman with blonde hair and bare shoulders looks into the camera and whispers, "Harold, call me," and then winks, was produced by Scott Howell, the former political director for Rove's consulting firm in Texas.

That's right, the ad blasted by everyone, from Bob Corker, the guy it's ostensibly promoting, to head of the RNC, Ken Mehlman, was done by Karl Rove's former right hand man, and paid for by the RNC.

Which had the balls to say it was produced by an independent organization and so they couldn't pull it.

They paid to get it made, paid to put it on the air, but couldn't pull it because they didn't produce it?

Rove Prot�g� Behind Racy Tennessee Ad, Controversial RNC Ad Against Harold Ford Jr. Produced By Rove Consultant - CBS News

Video of Fox talking with Katie Couric. Wow. Absolutely incredible.

Crooks and Liars - Michael J Fox makes a fool out of Limbaugh

Another Marine stationed in Iraq has sent us a screenshot of what happens when you need some hot news on Macaca and Foley:

forbidden, this page (http://www.wonkette.com) is categorized as (Personal Pages) ALL SITES YOU VISIT ARE LOGGED AND FILED.

Nice little threat at the end, too. Asswipes.

Notice the other browser tabs. Two actual “personal pages” that rah-rah for Bush (What’s her name, the wannabe Coulter, and Hugh Hewitt) show up just fine, as our Marine Operative confirms. But “Talking Points Memo,” which is apparently one of the “left leaning” sites one hears so much about these days, is prohibited.

That's perfect. Withhold information that has nothing to do with the situation on the ground but that isn't favorable to the administration. I realize there could suddenly be a morale issue, but when you're getting attacked every 15 minutes, I'd tend to think that pooch is already screwed.

STOP ABUSING OUR MARINES! - Wonkette

I believe when you get attacked and somebody declares war on you, you fight back. And that's what we're doing.

Read that and then read it again. Iraq didn't attack us and they didn't declare war on us. Is anyone surprised (other than the White House which expected flowers and shit) that the Iraqis are trying to toss us back out?

George Bush and his coterie of cronies have done damage to our national security and our reputation in the world that, if we're lucky, might be repaired sometime around the year 2050. How bad is it? Reporters Without Borders has the United States squarely behind such luminary countries as Serbia, Bulgaria and Bolivia in their press freedom index. But hey, at least we're still ahead of Kuwait, Suadi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates... Oh, wait, those are our allies in the Middle East. We're dead last in the western world.

USNews.com: Nation & World: Transcript: The President's Interview with Print Media Columnists

But the 109th Congress is no mild departure from the norm, no slight deviation in an already-underwhelming history. No, this is nothing less than a historic shift in how our democracy is run. The Republicans who control this Congress are revolutionaries, and they have brought their revolutionary vision for the House and Senate quite unpleasantly to fruition. In the past six years they have castrated the political minority, abdicated their oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution, enacted a conscious policy of massive borrowing and unrestrained spending, and installed a host of semipermanent mechanisms for transferring legislative power to commercial interests. They aimed far lower than any other Congress has ever aimed, and they nailed their target.

It's sad that the best source for a comprehensive overview of the mess that is GOP run Congress comes from Rolling Stone, but I guess that also makes sense. When you're not digging into the fiasco du jour, you have time to look at the total picture.

Rolling Stone : COVER STORY: Time to Go! Inside the Worst Congress Ever

MUD avatars rebel: virtual Independence Day.
- Paul Di Filippo

Some very short stories. Mildly entertaining.

Wired 14.11: Very Short Stories

In a notice dated Wednesday, the Justice Department listed 196 pending habeas cases, some of which cover groups of detainees. The new Military Commissions Act (MCA), it said, provides that "no court, justice, or judge" can consider those petitions or other actions related to treatment or imprisonment filed by anyone designated as an enemy combatant, now or in the future.

The relevant section from Section 9 of Article 1 of the Constitution:

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

It seems to me that the two positions are in direct opposition, on multiple grounds, and when that is the case, the Constitution wins.

Nice try, but this one don't fly Il Dupe. It's called "Violating the Oath of Office," and it means, "move back to Crawford you piece of crap."

Court Told It Lacks Power in Detainee Cases - washingtonpost.com

President Bush discussed his policies with conservative radio hosts last month at the White House, including, from left, Mike Gallagher, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Michael Medved.

Check out the photo. Scary.

As Talk Radio Wavers, Bush Moves to Firm Up Support - New York Times