Bill Maher, The Huffington Post, October 12, 2007 Have too many Americans become gullible, ill-informed idiots who have elevated feelings over facts and replaced critical thinking with a blind sense of trust for authority? I'm not trying to be insulting here; I'm just trying to figure out Rudy Giuliani's poll numbers. Four years ago Tucker Carlson asked Britney Spears on CNN, "A lot of entertainers have come out against the war in Iraq. Have you?" And Britney, who was chewing gum throughout the entire interview, answered, "Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens." It's this kind of head-in-the-sand, free rein granted to those believed to be in a position of moral authority that has led to warrantless wiretapping, torture, and a $6.1 million judgment for a Kentucky McDonald's employee named Louise Ogborn. In 2004, Louise was 18 and working at McDonald's when her assistant manager Donna called her into the back office, said a police officer on the phone had identified her as a thief, and then forced Louise, under the "cop's" orders, to strip naked, do nude jumping jacks, submit to a spanking and finally perform oral sex on Donna's 43-year-old exterminator fiancé. The whole ordeal, ordered by a prankster over the phone, lasted three hours. But you know what they say about fast-food work -- the time flies when you're busy. Read More Here

Michael Wyke, The Tulsa World, October 12, 2007 Three former Oral Roberts University professors have amended their lawsuit against the school, and have included an internal report detailing allegations against ORU President Richard Roberts, his wife and others. The new suit adds a new defendant to the case -- the ORU regents -- and two new allegation, negligence and civil conspiracy. Oral Roberts University officials, including President Richard Roberts, declined to comment afterhours on Friday because they had not seen the amended lawsuit, a spokesman said. The new suit includes a new allegation that Richard Roberts and ORU gave ''a convicted sexual deviant unrestricted access to the students of the university.'' The suit doesn't identify the person, but says that prior to his association with the school he had confessed to crimes in Tulsa, Tulsa County and Payne County. ''All three allegations of sexually-deviant conduct resulted in convictions,'' the suit says. The person was hired at the direct personal instruction and under the supervision of Richard Roberts, the suit says. The person, identified as a ''Mentor'' for ORU students, ''confessed to the facts regarding exposing himself to a fifteen year old boy in a school locker room,'' the suit says. Read More Here

Paul Krugman, The New York Times, October 12, 2007 Two weeks ago, the Democratic response to President Bush’s weekly radio address was delivered by a 12-year-old, Graeme Frost. Graeme, who along with his sister received severe brain injuries in a 2004 car crash and continues to need physical therapy, is a beneficiary of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Mr. Bush has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded that program to cover millions of children who would otherwise have been uninsured. What followed should serve as a teaching moment. First, some background. The Frosts and their four children are exactly the kind of people S-chip was intended to help: working Americans who can’t afford private health insurance. The parents have a combined income of about $45,000, and don’t receive health insurance from employers. When they looked into buying insurance on their own before the accident, they found that it would cost $1,200 a month — a prohibitive sum given their income. After the accident, when their children needed expensive care, they couldn’t get insurance at any price. Fortunately, they received help from Maryland’s S-chip program. The state has relatively restrictive rules for eligibility: children must come from a family with an income under 200 percent of the poverty line. For families with four children that’s $55,220, so the Frosts clearly qualified. Graeme Frost, then, is exactly the kind of child the program is intended to help. But that didn’t stop the right from mounting an all-out smear campaign against him and his family. Read More Here

Zeitgeist - the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time. This is one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Zeitgeist shatters the dominant myths of the Western word. This movie is completely blasphemous; it directly challenges our society's institutions of power. Even better, the information presented in the film just might be completely true. Christians may find their faith ruined by the half-hour mark. Those who believe in government will be even more disappointed by the time the film is done. View at your own risk. Click here to Watch Zeitgeist

Danny Katz has a story to tell

DAVE just reached into his pants, pulled it out, and started fiddling with it. DAVE STARTED FIDDLING WITH IT, RIGHT THERE, UNDER THE TABLE, IN THE MIDDLE OF A PLEASANT SUNDAY BARBECUE — doing it in front of his wife and friends and even children. I said "Jeeez Dave, put it away, not here!" but he just kept going, his eyes glazed over, a dumb grin on his lips — he said "Almost finished … almost done … OK" then he popped it back in his pants and went straight back to his lamb cutlets like nothing ever happened. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT:

Read on.... P.S. Just for the record - I don't do it.

From the Manitoba Herald, Canada (a very underground paper): The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The actions of President Bush are prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and agree with Bill O'Reilly. Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal- rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night. "I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. "He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?" In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn't give milk." Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves. "A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. "They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though." When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the Bush administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races. In recent days, liberals have turned to sometimes-ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers on Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney hits to prove they were alive in the '50s. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age," an official said. Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies. "I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?

While much has been made (and rightfully so) about Bush's veto and its impact on children, there is one group that is chronically uninsured and among those in the most need of help to get treatment and medication: those who are mentally ill. Recently, I checked out the availability of free mental health clinics in my area only to find that the only way to get mental help free or on a sliding scale was to develop a drug habit. Given the inflated costs of medication, a drug addiction may be cheaper than becoming a functional member of society. Most doctors charge at least $60 for a visit, and the medications for some of the more serious mental conditions can run at least $200 a month. Our health system is a catch-22. In order to be able to hold down a job and remember to pay the bills, a person with mental illness must be treated. In order to be treated, the mentally ill person must have a job with which to pay for the treatment. It is little wonder that so many of the mentally ill wind up homeless. If we as a society make a concerted effort to treat those who desperately need it, societal ills such as homelessness and drug abuse (which is sometimes called "self-medicating") would decrease. Why throw away money to treat the effects rather than the cause?