“It is the duty of every citizen according to his
best capacities to give validity to his
convictions in political affairs.”

- Albert Einstein

U.S. health officials are looking into reports that Viagra may have caused blindness in some men: Viagra Vision Link Raises Red Flag.

Last night you had two teams that really don't like each other go at it again. The team ahead in the standings looked to be a clear cut favorite, but a combination of poor clutch hitting, base running errors and the veteran team leaders looking like overmatched rookies let them snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

But enough about the Senate. Did anyone hear how the Twins did last night against Cleveland?

Mil-blogger joatmoaf at I Love Jet Noise found the following on the bottom of his flight boot the other day. It's from a blog called Forsake the Troops (joatmoaf's comments in plain text):

This website is proudly dedicated to the notion that our nation's military is grossly overcompensated, at the expense of the American taxpayers. Even as the evil, overspending Pentagon seeks to raise benefits for these scumbags, Forsake The Troops believes that these pukes get pay and benefits tax free when in a combat zone."

Verbatim prolog. I kid you not.
Here's more:

"Our problem is this: the military is a lifestyle these morons chose. What idiot risks their life for a country? It's what they chose. Forsake our Troops! They must think that if they go to war, they don't need to pay taxes just like the rest of us. Let 'em die in combat-- we don't need their ilk! "

I'm not going to give this deluded, anti-troop bowl of dog vomit any more direct links from this blog, or even build his Google index by mentioning the name again, but if you have to see what is there for yourself the URL is http://www.forsakethetroops.info/index.shtml. If you want more information, I'd rather any traffic go first to I Love Jet Noise, an excellent blog who's post on this subject includes Dog Vomit's supposed name and contact number. My reluctance to link to the offensive site, and to include the name and phone number here, is based on a strong hunch that this vomitous mass would love the attention. I probably should just let this pass without comment altogether and not even bother calling more attention to it - but if it's reaction he's after, then reaction is what he'll get.

The content of the blog is so bizarre and so far out beyond where even the bad taste buses run that I initially suspected some kind of Kaufman-esque attempt at humor, even though the sidebar claims the blogger is serious (perhaps a tip-off on its own account). Even if that's the case, he's gone so far that the only punchline I'm interested in at this point is the one that's forming outside his front door. Here are a couple more examples:

NINE MORE MARINES' CAREERS BLOW UP IN THEIR FACES
Don't military pukes learn anything? Nine more Marines bite the big one in combat. Stupid is as stupid does!

Number of US soldiers killed in the Iraq War, of their own doing, because they CHOSE to be leeches: 1,583. These scumbags deserved what they got.

Dog Vomit (and if there happens to be a blog out there that really is called "Dog Vomit" then I profusely apologize for putting your name in proximity with this bulging sphincter of a blog) also promotes a new blog under construction called "Forsake the Police" and includes wording that "this blog is sponsored by The Constitution and Free Speech." No hat tip, however, to the Armed Forces that have helped keep these - and Dog Vomit - living in the style to which they've become accustomed.

It's graduation party season again, and today's StarTribune - again on the cusp of a breaking news story - has tips on how to plan a successful party. Included was this tip from expert Mary J. Anderson:

"Most moms think [their graduates] want to have a party. But a lot of kids don't want the attention. Maybe their self-esteem is low or they don't want to be in the limelight."

This is a horrible implication: children are graduating from our high schools with low self-esteem even though this subject has been the focus of a public school education since this year's graduates were in kindergarten! How are these youngsters going to learn self-esteem now that they're no longer in school?

I guess colleges and businesses will have to add remedial self-esteem classes for those who have graduated, but there's still time to help those yet in school. I propose we add self-esteem to the 8th grade math and language skills competency tests; call it the "No Child Left Behind Hanging in a Locker By His Underwear" program.

Hmmm...if a low-self-esteem grad doesn't want a party, does it mean a kid with high self-esteem could have two parties?