Treasury Sec Geithner Didn't Forsee the Debt Talks Taking This Long...Really?

Fox News - Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Sunday that he did not initially think lawmakers would bring the debt-ceiling negotiations "this close to the edge," appearing taken aback by the lingering distance between the two sides with an Aug. 2 deadline looming. Geithner told "Fox News Sunday" that he remains confident lawmakers will lift the $14.3 trillion debt cap and avoid a national default. "We're running out of runway. We're almost at the edge. I never thought they would take it this close to the edge," Geithner said. Though House Speaker John Boehner broke off talks with the White House late Friday, Geithner appeared to hold out hope for a large-scale deal -- such a deal, as envisioned, would raise the debt ceiling, while cutting spending and reforming the tax code and entitlements. As a second option, Geithner pointed to a fallback plan in the Senate that would enact smaller cuts now and entrust a special committee to craft broader deficit reduction in the future. 

 First of all Treasury Sec. Geithner is apparently not familiar with modern day politics...at all. When was the last time a major decision was made prior to the deadline? Shit just doesn't work that way, both sides have to puff their chests out, ruffle the others feathers, and pander to their minority, but loud and extreme, fan bases.  It's a gigantic cock fight, and Geithner is either a complete idiot or playing dumb if he's saying he didn't forsee this.

Secondly, and this is to Washington...Just fix the frigen issue and lets move on.  Yea, easier said than done, easy to complain from a blog, what would I do if I was in their position, yada, yada, yada...Well you know what? Luckily I don't have to make that decision. It's not my job, not my pay grade...I didn't run for office and put myself into the position to have to figure this shit out. But these guys did, and now they're acting like a bunch of 5th graders, loud mouth bloviating, but deep down just a bunch of chicken shits afraid of not impressing their group of friends (their extreme fan bases in this analogy).  

Stop acting like children and hammer a deal out that works right now, but more importantly works a few years down the road so we don't have to go through this ordeal again. I'd like to wake up next week and know my dollars are still worth something, I'm borderline deciding whether to walk down to payroll to inquire if they can pay me in British Pounds starting next week.  And again, don't worry about fixing everything right now, shit is royally fucked up right now, throwing a bandaid on our 14 trillion dollar debt isn't going to do anything. Whatever you do make sure this plan works 4-5 years from now when it counts.

Now then, go out there and get to work.

NFL Players Union Saves the Season, Fails in Banning Brett Favre in New CBA

This is an actual shirt you can buy, here.

Look, I'm tremendously happy football is back.  I don't know what I would have done Sundays without it, I mean lying around in your underwear all day, browsing the internet and eating leftover pizza just seems pathetic without football.  

But at the same time, I can't help but think that the players certified this a bit premature.  I mean if you're going to have a lockout, potentially alienating fans and shaking the foundations of the game, at least make it worth it. When people look back on this years from now it's just going to be remembered as the work stoppage that resulted in a new way to split up the billions of dollars everyone makes, and the players bitched and moaned their way into a few less practices, that's it.  Meanwhile the biggest problem the league faces still lives on...Brett Favre.

Yep, Brett Favre, the old gunslinger is up to his same old game all over again.  You can practically hear Rachel Nichols packing her bags and smacking her lips preparing for her assignment to camp outside his ranch in Mississippi for the next few weeks.  ESPN already digging up some stock footage of ole' Brett slinging with the local high school team, Jenn Sterger nearly feinting from relief because she'll stay relevant for one more year.  

It sucks. And the players and owners have no one to blame but themselves. Given the chance to radically alter the CBA and write in one simple sentence..."Mandatory and permanent Retirement for Brett Favre," they blew it. For shame, For     Shame.

Woman Gets $1 Million Bail in Husband Castration Case...Judge OK's Cameras in the Courtroom.

Westminster, California (CNN) -- The arraignment of Catherine Kieu Becker, the Southern California woman accused of cutting off her husband's penis and throwing it into a garbage disposal, was continued Friday to September 23 at the request of her public defender. Orange County Superior Court Judge Debra Carrillo also set bail at $1 million for Becker, 48, who had been held without bail since her arrest this month. She is charged with torture and aggravated mayhem. The judge also rejected her attorney's request to bar cameras from the courtroom. Orange County Deputy Public Defender Frank Bittar unsuccessfully argued that the intense media coverage would jeopardize Becker's ability to get a fair trial.

Setting aside the fact that this woman was somehow granted bail, $1 million or not, I cannot wait for this trial to start. I might take a week or two off from work to watch this play out on TruTV.  This is exactly what this country needs in the wake of the Casey Anthony trial...a trial with juicy details and a woman we can all rally around and hate...if it weren't for her henious crime I'd call Catherine Kieu Becker a hero for bringing together a nation of tabloid court watchers and healing them when they've needed it most.

Speaking of Casey Anthony, you know she's hiding out praying that this trial starts tomorrow. Sooner all those that have nothing better to do but stay home and watch court proceedings, have a new sensational case to watch, sooner everyone forgets about her.  The mob is fickle that way.

Israeli PM Demands Female Reporters Remove Bras Before Interviews

JERUSALEM - Female foreign reporters complained Friday after being asked to remove their bras for a security check before being allowed into the offices of Israel's prime minister.The three women were told by security personnel to undress and take off their bras for X-ray in two separate incidents at the Jerusalem offices of Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.All three complied with the request despite the distress it caused, in an incident denounced by the Foreign Press Association as "unnecessary, humiliating and counterproductive.Each of the women was taken behind a curtain in the lobby of the entrance hall and patted down before being told to undress -- then their bras were passed out, in full view of male and female colleagues and security personnel, to be put through an X-ray machine.

Now thats an absolutely baller move..here these woman are, thinking they're all professional, and equal in the workplace and then, boom in  walks the Israeli PM to restore order and knock them down a peg.  Let that be a lesson to the ladies of Israel, yea you may not be a Muslim nation, but dont ever forget where you stand in the grand scheme of important things .

PS: How badly do you think Obama wishes he could slam this ruling down on Hillary...soon as she starts spouting off on foreign policy..."oh, hey Hillary, forgot to mention the new policy. From now on you've gotta go braless in the Oval Office, teach you a lesson about showing me up in front of the joint chiefs.

Man Smuggles Hacksaw Inside Taco To Prisoner, Says He Didn't Notice the Saw

San Antonio - Testimony began Wednesday in the trial of a former Bexar County jailer accused of providing a small hacksaw-stuffed taco to high-risk inmates plotting an elaborate escape attempt, including a man who was awaiting trial for capital murder. Alfred Casas, 31, knew he messed up two years ago when he agreed to meet the girlfriend of double-murder suspect Jacob Keller after work so he could pick up a taco to give Keller, jurors heard the defendant admit in a recorded interview with detectives. “It was one taco and I opened it and there was nothing in it,” Casas said through tears as detectives had him change off-camera into orange inmate scrubs. “I know it sounds stupid. I'm stupid for bringing those tacos. But it was a regular taco. I didn't know (about the hacksaw blade).” If convicted, Casas, who was a three-year veteran of the sheriff's office, could face up to 20 years in prison for two counts of accepting bribes. He faces up to 10 years for a charge of providing an implement for escape.

Unless this guy has lined up Caycee Anthony's attourney, or really hams up the diminished mental capacity card in court, he's getting the max sentence.

Here's the thing, when you're caught for something like this, you're caught. Don't bother lying about it, and certainly don't bother telling the judge that you looked at the taco and didn't notice the hacksaw in it. Are you freaking kidding me buddy? Didn't notice the hacksaw.

Do you know what my case would be if I was the prosecutor? Two exhibits, one, a .99 Cent burrito from Taco Bell, and two, a hacksaw I picked up on the way to court from Home Depot...that's right on the way to court, no need to prepare for this case...Just walk in there throw out one of those cliched lawyer lines, "ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I implore you (hold up taco in one hand, hacksaw in the other), the man claims he inspected the taco and missed this saw, do we really want this kind of liar in public?"  And that'd be it.  Case closed.

Is it Baller To Carve Your Name Into Your Own Personal Island?

The Atlantic - The Sun has a curious report today on Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family. The paper informs us that the billionaire sheikh had workmen carve his name, Hamad, in capital letters into an island he owns in the United Arab Emirates called Al Futaisi, without elaborating on when the name was inscribed, how it was accomplished, or how The Sun learned of the exploit. The paper reports that the name is so massive--we're talking two miles across, with each letter over half a mile high--that it's visible from space. Indeed, it is. To get a sense of just how gigantic this thing is, here's a view of both Abu Dhabi and Al Futaisi captured by Google Earth's satellites in 2009 (we've inserted an arrow to Hamad's name):

I mean, yea, its completely baller, don't get me wrong, I'd kill to have enough money just to build the H. So it's defintitely baller. 

But at the same time, I feel like by rich people standards, maybe this isn't that great? I mean I just picture Richard Branson living on his chain of islands getting a chuckle out of how hard this goofball sheikh is trying to fit in... That's the difference between true ballers, the movers and shakers of the world, and your average rich idiot. 

This island being the perfect example of the latter...this island is the equivalent of a hood rich dude pimping out his 2001 civic with a gigantic spoiler, 18 in rims and a fake hood scoop...Does it look allright? Sure.  When it lines up next to a dude rolling a 700 series BMW? Looks like a cheap childs toy.  In this analogy Richard Branson's string of tropical islands being the BMW.  Because without a doubt, push comes to shove, I'd rather own a tropical island in an area of the world I'd actually have a desire to visit, over some sandy waste land of an island, in the middle east, with neighboring terrorist countries and 120 degree heat.   As far as rich people are concerned this Sheikh's island is the equivalent of you or I carving our name in the sand with our toe at Hampton beach...big frigen whoop.

Woman Finds Sinkhole Under Her Bed in Guatemala, Sink Hole Capital of the World

Yahoo - Here's something you never want to hear: "That loud booming sound is coming from inside the house!" That's what one Inocenta Hernandez from Guatemala City learned after a sudden noise caused her to run outside, thinking there had been an explosion nearby. When she realized the problem was inside her home, she returned to find a gaping, three feet wide, 40 feet deep sinkhole beneath her bed. Hernandez, 65, was relieved that the damage was only to her house, and hadn't harmed her grandchildren, who had been playing near the bed. This was a little too close to home, but she couldn't have been too surprised that a sinkhole had visited her city. Guatemala City is prone to spawning giant pits, which are often caused by tropical rain storms. Sinkholes are natural depressions in the earth that can range anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of acres wide, and measure a shallow foot to 100 feet deep.

What the hell is wrong with Guatemalans? The lady finds a 65 foot hole beneat her bed, right through her linoleum floor and she isn't surprised because Guatemala is the sinkhole capital of the world? GET THE HELL OUT OF GUATEMALA PEOPLE!

Like, aren't you all uber religious like the rest of Latin America? Take it as a sign of God and get the fuck out, because I swear if I see some headline on the news 6 months from now about a whole city getting swallowed by a hole no one saw coming, I won't be donating time, money or blood to the Red Cross. You're gonna have to figure a way out of your hole on your own, standing on top of eachother's shoulders or some shit.

You can't go flaunting fate, living in the sinkhole capital of the world, expecting us all to feel bad when half your population sinks into the earth. Not gonna happen.

TSA Downgrading Full Body Scanner to No Longer Show A Person's Naked Body, Giving Up on America's Safety

Fox News - Under fire from privacy advocates, the Transportation Security Administration is upgrading its full body scanners to eliminate the use of images that show a passenger’s naked body. Over the new few months, the agency will install new software known as Automated Target Recognition (ATR) that can auto-detect items that pose a potential threat using a generic outline of a person for all passengers. “This software upgrade enables us to continue providing a high level of security through advanced imaging technology screening, while improving the passenger experience at checkpoints,” he said. Under the current system, TSA screeners who watch travelers as they pass through the machines do not see the naked images. The screeners who see such images work in separate locations and don’t see the passengers. Travelers may choose not to go through the scanner, but they then receive an invasive pat-down, which many feel also violates privacy.

Well, that's it for me, will have to tell my girlfriend we're either driving or not going on our vacation later this summer because there is no way I'm hopping on the plane now, not when the TSA can't gaurantee to me that the plane is bomb free. 

You see what you did people? You've put us all in danger, instead of shutting up and accepting the fact that some guy in a security room like a half mile away is viewing silhouetted pictures of your body in the name of America, Freedom, and Safety, we're now stuck with this cartoon machine that's going to make everyone's body look like Cathy from the Sunday Funnies.  Does that sound safe to you?

PS: Love how they try to phrase it as an "upgrade." Umm, no, pretty sure it sounds like you'll be seeing less detail, sounds very much like a downgrade to me.

Kim Kardashian Now Suing Old Navy For Using Look-A-Like Melissa Molinaro

Daily Mail - They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But Kim Kardashian has been left furious after clothing brand Old Navy used a lookalike in their new ad campaign. The 30-year-old reality star is now suing the clothing giant for somewhere in the region of $15 - $20 million. Perhaps adding to Kardashian's fury is the fact that the model and actress in the ad, Melissa Molinaro, is said to be currently dating 26-year-old NFL player Bush.

15-20 Million? Well that seems a bit outlandish...have you been to an Old Navy lately Kim (of course you haven't, it's rhetorical)? You can buy like 3 shirts and 2 pair of cargo shorts for like 8 bucks. Where do you think they're going to scratch $15-20 million from?  Seriously, look at their commercials? Aside from the one time they splurged and hired your look-a-like, when was the last time they actually hired a real live person? It's always those plastic mannequins, apparently they're able to sell their clothes at steep discounts because of all the cash they're saving on actors in their commercials.

As for the actual law suit, say she happens to win (she won't), does that leave the door open for her to also sue Reggie Bush? Isn't he benefitting from someone imitating her likeness just as much (if not more) than Old Navy.  I'm pretty sure if you asked an Old Navy exec and Reggie Bush who's enjoying the Melissa Molinaro era more, Reggie will be the one with the bigger grin.  I mean sure Old Navy is getting tons of publicity out of this, but Reggie is getting all the fun in plowing her twin without having that nagging thought in the back of his head about how everyone in the world has seen his girlfriend getting nailed by Ray-J. That's gotta be worth more than $15-20 mill, no?