POTpourri

• Mitt Romney showed less than impressive foreign diplomacy skills on his recent trip.
• Richard Hanna (R-NY) is a Republican who get's it.    
• Jenna Jameson endorses Mitt Romney.  She may want to think that through.
• Job creation:  Bush vs Obama.  Doesn't the Romney plan mirror the Bush plan?
• Independent study finds Romney tax plan would increase middle class taxes. 
• An easy way for Mitt Romney to quiet Harry Reid's no tax claim?  Release the returns!
• Who is Mitt Romney going to select as VP candidate?   Should he go outside the box?
• Can you hear the dog whistles?  They can be very subtle. 
• 10 Takeaways from the Pennsylvania Voter I.D. trial.  We all know what it's about.
• Tampa strip clubs are eagerly awaiting the GOP convention.  Morals party anyone? 

August Flavor of the Month . . . . .

...... is Andrea Rincon (aka Selena Spice).   Check out her website.

Most Hated Man in America?

Who do you think it is?   James Holmes has to be the new leader.

1. James Holmes - I'm not buying the insanity claims, it seems too convenient.
2. Jerry Sandusky - he's a monster, there's no two ways around it. 
3. Bernie Madoff - the epitome of Wall Street greed.
4. Fred Phelps - man of God?  I don't think so, he's a despicable human being. 
5. Terry Jones - another so called man of God, yikes.  
6. Jared Loughner - he's a freaking madman. 
7. Mel Gibson - anti-semite bigot, enough said. 
8. Tiger Woods - arrogant prick, I've lost all respect for him.
9. George Zimmerman - incredibly over zealous neighborhood watch coordinator.
10. Casey Anthony - acquitted or not, she's pretty despicable.

Body by Victoria

Fall never looked so good.  

AZ Tidbits

• Suns deal Robin Lopez & Hakim Warrick for Wesley Johnson & draft pick. 
• As election time nears you may want to bookmark AZ Fact Check.  
• Arizona falls to bottom 5 in child welfare rankings. 
• Diamondbacks trade Tatman to Marlins.  
• Arizona Republic endorses Schweikert over Qualye in GOP D6 primary. 
• Joe Arpaio testifies in Racial-Profiling trial.
• The Insight Bowl is now the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
• No more Tim & Willy?  Oh well. 
• Big time endorsements for Andrei Cherny & Jeff Flake.
• I knew there had to be something holding up the Coyotes sale.

Diamondbacks Acquire Chris Johnson

The Diamondbacks acquired Chris Johnson from the Astros over the weekend for a couple of minor leaguers (Bobby Borchering & Marc Knauss).  It's honestly not a deal I'm that excited about, they gave up a couple of decent prospects for what I'd consider to be a pretty mediocre third baseman.  I guess they were desperate.  He is probably an upgrade over what they've been throwing out there but I would have preferred they just stick Ryan Wheeler out there and found out what he could do, I think his upside is much higher than that of Chris Johnson's.  I guess the fact that they are "buyers" means they haven't thrown in the towel on 2012 yet, I'll take that as a good sign.  

Twins Trade Francisco Liriano

The Twins traded starting pitcher Francisco Liriano to the White Sox late Saturday night.  They received middle infielder Eduardo Escobar and left handed pitcher Pedro Hernandez in return.  To say I'm disappointed in the Twins return in this deal is an understatement, I just don't see much upside in either of them.  Escobar is a good glove/no hit prospect, his upside is that of a potential utility infielder, not a very good one at that either.  Hernandez is yet another pitch-to-contact pitcher, his upside may be that of a bottom of the rotation starter (although that may be a bit optimistic, best bet IMO seems to be that of a lefthanded middle relief pitcher).  Terry Ryan had said earlier in the week that he was looking for high upside prospects in return in any potential deals, that clearly did not happen here, they essentially gave Liriano away.  To me it reeks of another cost cutting move, something they shouldn't be doing 2 years in to playing in their spanking new ballpark.  I get it that Liriano hasn't been that good since he got back from his arm injury 2 years ago now but he has been pitching fairly well as of late and at this point was clearly the Twins second best starting pitcher (behind Scott Diamond), to just give him away for filler doesn't make sense.  If that was the best deal they could get they may as well have just kept him and finished out the season with him and then let him walk as a free agent (instead of having these 2 guys use up spots on their 40 man roster).  I am quickly losing confidence in the Twins front office, I was hoping for better once Terry Ryan took over for Bill Smith, but they are not giving me much reason for optimism.

Colbert on Mitt's London Trip

Good stuff as usual!

The Colbert Report

POTpourri

• 2012 Summer Olympics in London begin. 
• Mitt Romney didn't seem to make much of impression on the Brits. 
• Repealing the Affordable Care Act would cost $109 billion.  
• How come this is the first that I've heard of Sara Corrales? 
• Is the U.S. economic policy debate a sham?  More here.
• Why is the GOP so afraid of facts?   I guess it's just easier to lie. 
• 20 Hottest Athletes of the London Olympics? 
• RIP Neil Reed. 
• Apple TV or Roku?  Which is better? 
• GOP continues to mislead with 'out of context' attacks. 

Lawrence O'Donnell on Gun Control

Lawerence makes a lot of sense.  What's so wrong about sensible gun control?   Do people really need submachine guns?  Or armour piercing bullets?  How about a restriction on the amount of bullets a clip can hold?  What would be so bad about that?  What's so wrong about a waiting period or a background check to purchase a gun?  Why is there a gun show loophole?  Is there no room for common sense here people?

I don't want to hear the Second Amendment arguments either, they didn't have submachine guns or armour piercing bullets or RPG launchers when that was written and as Thomas Jefferson once said "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."  

And what of the First Amendment, specifically "Freedom of  Speech"?    There are sensible restrictions placed on that, you can't run into a movie theater and yell out "FIRE!" can you?  You can't libel or slander someone can you?  If there are sensible restrictions on the freedom of speech, why not sensible restrictions on the freedom to bear arms?

**** This just in, Justice Scalia seems to agree with me.  

POTpourri

• Take a look at the face of evil.   
• Even NRA members aren't opposed to more gun regulations. 
• Ichiro Suzuki traded to the Yankees. Hanley Ramirez traded to the Dodgers.
• RIP Sally Ride, Chad Everett & Sherman Hemsley.
• Aida Yespica is kinda hot!
• Huge sanctions on Penn State for handling of Jerry Sandusky scandal. 
• Fiscal conservatives debt limit fight cost the government $1.3 billion. 
• Mariah Carey announced as new 'American Idol' judge.
• I love hot girls in white shorts! 
• What are the costs of global warming?   

Kirilenko to Wolves?

Supposedly the Timberwolves have come to an agreement with Russian free agent F Andrei Kirilenko on a 2 year $20 million contract.  Rick Adelman wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to bring in some experienced players for this coming season as Kirilenko and Brandon Roy will bring in a ton of experience.  They have really turned over their roster.  Exiting are Michael Beasley, Wesley Johnson, Anthony Randolph, Anthony Tolliver, Martell Webster, Darko Milicic, Wayne Ellington & Brad Miller.  Coming in are Brandon Roy, Andrei Kirilenko, Greg Stiemsma, Chase Budinger, Alexey Shved, Dante Cunningham & Robbie Hummel.   I like the changes, they were really weak at the wings last year and have improved dramatically at both the SG and SF spots.   I'm not sure if they are done yet either, I could still see them trading away one of their point guards at some point (although that may not happen until Rubio is healthy).  They'll be fun to watch this year. 

Projected lineup: 
PG - Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea
SG - Brandon Roy, Alexey Shved, Malcolm Lee
SF - Andrei Kirilenko, Chase Budinger, Dante Cunningham
PF - Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, Robbie Hummel
C   - Nikola Pekovic, Greg Stiemsma

I Love Summer

POTpourri

• Has the filibuster pirated democracy?  Was this the founding fathers intent? 
• Ernie Els wins 2012 British Open Golf title.  
• I'd say that Tom Cruise has upgraded.  
• Super-Rich hold up to $32 trillion in offshore tax havens.  Where's the trickle-down?
• Penn State removes Joe Paterno statue.  Rightfully so. 
• Is this how a legitimate news organization should be acting?  Especially given this?
• Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of fit girls? 
• Does leading a private equity firm translate into leading a country? 
• ScandanavianGirls is my new favorite Tumblr site.  
• Is President Obama partaking in "Crony Capitalism"?  

Random Lesbian Kiss

Just because.