I see that Americans went for the safe and sanitized rocker, Lee Dewyze, for the win. No doubt all the text-happy tweens, pre-menopausal women, and Christian evangelists had a hand in crowning him the winner. Nothing new there then.

I guess I was hoping that voters would choose the winner based on actual talent, rather than on who they’d most like to sleep with.

Listen, I liked Lee, I did, but there was no way he was more talented than Crystal. Even he knew that.

Last year when safe, and sanitized tween-magnet, Kris Allen beat out Adam Lambert, I knew how the script was going to go. Kris would probably die in obscurity, because the people who voted for him probably wouldn’t buy his records, whilst the decidedly unsafe and unpredictable Adam would probably dance amongst the stars. I wasn’t wrong was I? Adam will be Lady Gaga to Kris’s Taylor Swift. One is an American darling who will fade once her fans grow breasts, and the other is an international star, whose stock will continue to rise for a long time to come.

It’s funny how many of the losers have gone on to do better than the actual winners.
Chris Daughtry was on one of the earlier Idol shows with his band, and he didn’t even make it to the semis did he? I’m still convinced that the only reason Kelly Clarkson won was because Americans thought she was the safe choice. Nine seasons gone, and Americans have only gotten it right two times it seems.

I give American Idol one more season without Simon. Simon Cowell is American Idol. It would be like going to see the Beatles without Paul McCartney, and who the fuck wants to do that? (Actually, I wouldn’t want to see them even with McCartney, but that’s beside the point).

Good luck Lee, but I think you know as well as we do that Crystal will outsell you massively. It’s an American Idol tradition these days. At least Crystal wont have to turn into an Idol-Bot, churning out shit music, album after album.

I should be grateful that at least the pretty boy with the girly hair didn’t make it to the final. Now that would have been ridiculous.

What a terrific speech:

“If you’re someone who only reads the editorial page of The New York Times, try glancing at the page of The Wall Street Journal once in awhile. If you’re a fan of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, try reading a few columns on the Huffington Post website. It may make your blood boil; your mind may not often be changed. But the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship. So too is the practice of engaging in different experiences with different kinds of people.

For four years at Michigan, you have been exposed to diverse thinkers and scholars; professors and students. Do not narrow that broad intellectual exposure just because you’re leaving here. Instead, seek to expand it. If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with some who grew up in a rural town. If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your race or your ethnicity or your religion, broaden your circle to include people who’ve had different backgrounds and life experiences. You’ll learn what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes, and in the process, you’ll help make this democracy work,” – President Obama.

Via Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish

By the way, IT’S ELECTION DAY IN BRITAIN TODAY!!!

I do love Margaret and Helen’s blog. Those two old ladies talk so much sense.

Whether they are for real or not, who cares, but whoever they are, they have to be the most amusing, startlingly perceptive, forthright political bloggers out there. I love how they get right to the heart of the matter.

Their latest log is entitled “The Elephant In The Room Is A Kangaroo” and starts: (more…)

They look so happy together don’t they? No doubt the vile Rush Limbaughs and the Sean Hannitys will try to put a negative spin on the photo. Bastards.

On Twitter a couple of days ago, MsMichelleR linked to a column on the Huffington Post, which pointed to a piece by Katie Couric, were she denounced all the scaremongering that’s been going on, re the proposed healthcare reforms in the US.

Katie Couric denounced the “fear and frankly ignorance” that is driving people to town-hall forums on health care in her “Notebook” segment.

She expressed alarm that the debate has stirred up a hornet’s nest and has “uncovered disturbing attitudes and emotions that have nothing to do with policy. Are we really still debating health care when a man brings a handgun to a church where the President is speaking?

How does a swastika spray-painted on a Congressman’s office further a discussion about Medicare?

These are tough and challenging times and lots of people are scared about their jobs and the economy. But we can’t let fear and frankly ignorance – drown out the serious debate that needs to take place – about an issue that affects the lives of millions of people.

It’s time for everyone to take a deep breath and to focus on the task at hand before this sideshow drowns out the main event.”

Fox News found the one pseudo-British politician who was quite happy to denounce the NHS. This man is a member of the European Parliament (MEP), which quite frankly means that not many people had a clue who he was. We know who Daniel Hannan is now though, and his comments have come as an embarrassment to Conservative leader, David Cameron. (more…)

Really? I can’t see how this story is true, they were so supportive of each other. Seemingly, at least.

Any other reports on this story, other than from the AlaskaReport.com?

I’m not really sure how to feel about this story if it’s true, because I can’t imagine anything harder than a divorce playing out in the public eye, no matter who you are. She’s a human being at the end of the day. Not my kind of human being, admittedly, but a human being just the same.

Mind you, if they both had affairs, then her hypocrisy definitely has to be called into question, with all her ‘family values’ talk and all.

Jesus,there will be a manic feeding frenzy amongst the media. *Shudder*.

I bet she’s truly regretting launching her family into the limelight last September.

A lot of people seemed rather surprised about REPUBLICAN governor Mark Sanford cheating on his wife, but I’m not exactly sure why.

He will not be the only high profile politician giving it to somebody other than his wife. He’s a politician for God’s sake. All that power? Of course it’s bound to go to their heads (pun intended).

Some politicians start unnecessary wars, others cheat on their wives. I know which I prefer.

By the way, what kind of wife could read the following, and take the bastard back?

During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he’s trying to fall back in love with his wife.

Unbelievable. I’d be very tempted to take a rusty knife to his bits if I was her.

As much as I hate the extreme left-wing nutters, there seems to be a malevolence to the extreme right-wing nutters, that the lefties have no chance of competing with.

This story about the racial slurs darted at Malia Obama made my stomach cramp. (more…)

There’s been all kinds of speculation as to why Sarah Palin of the #AbstinenceFail fame really quit.

She of course blamed the media. Well, why the hell not, those bastards are responsible for most heinous crimes, dog-darn it.

Me, I think she just wanted to see herself on the front pages again. It’s been a long dry spell for her with no crazy media interest after all.

Other pundits think that she may be quitting in order to try to run for president next time around. Can you imagine?

Anyway, I’d also like to know how the Alaskan people feel about her quitting as governor.

Do they give a shit, and are totally heartbroken, or is this a case of ding-dong, the witch is dead?

Enquiring minds would like to know.

Thanks.

Colour me surprised. Not.

WASHINGTON – Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

“Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92 percent of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000, or 10 percent of pretax family income,” the researchers wrote.

“Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations.”

The researchers, whose work was paid for by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the share of bankruptcies that could be blamed on medical problems rose by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007.

“Unless you’re Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,” Harvard’s Dr. David Himmelstein, an advocate for a single-payer health insurance program for the United States, said in a statement.

“For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection,” he added.

Remember my call for universal healthcare? When I read stats like these, I’m really not convinced that the current healthcare system in the US can be sustained for much longer.

I still maintain that the people who are against universal healthcare, are the ones who have adequate health insurance.

Can you imagine having to file bankruptcy because you were unfortunate enough to get cancer? Talk about a double whammy.