This is because we don't have a left and a right party in this country any more. We have a center right party, and a crazy party. And over the last thirty odd years, Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital.

This is why I always laugh at the folks who call Democrats "liberals" or "socialists" or, well, anything but Democrats. Compared to everyone else in the world, we don't even HAVE a liberal party in the US. And socialism?!? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! And I'm including the Green party, even though they don't really count...

Rising from the water like rusty invaders out of H.G. Wells, the Maunsell Army Forts in the Thames Estuary are decaying reminders of the darkest days of World War II. Part of the Thames Estuary defense network, the anti-aircraft tower-forts were constructed in 1942, with each fort consisting of a cluster of seven stilted buildings surrounding a central command tower. When operational, catwalks connected the buildings. Built on land and then transported to their watery homes, the forts were designed by Guy Maunsell, a British civil engineer, later known for innovations in concrete bridge design. Originally there were three of these forts, but only two are left standing: the Redsands Fort and the Shivering Sands Fort.

After their successful wartime career, the forts were decommissioned in the 1950s. The Nore Army Fort was badly damaged in a storm and by being struck by a ship, and was dismantled in 1959-60. In the 1960s and 70s, the remaining abandoned forts were famously taken over as pirate radio stations. The micro nation of SeaLand occupies a nearby Navy fort of a different design known as the Roughs Tower, also by Maunsell. All of the Army Forts are now abandoned.

Seriously, check out the pictures at the linked article. They say HG Wells, I say George Lucas...

In response to Apple pulling the Google Voice application from the iPhone App Store, Google has removed all search results leading to Apple.com from its index. Google is also redirecting searches for "iPhone" and "app store" to the IMDb.com page for Payback.

The official explanation was that the Google Voice app duplicated functions on the iPhone, but many think the rejection order came from AT&T. The application would allow users to make calls and send SMS messages for free using the app, threatening the profits of AT&T.

The Google Voice application is still available for Blackberry and Android phones.

Google's official explanation for removing Apple from its search results came from Vice-President in charge of search, Marissa Mayer, "Those search results duplicate a lot of the functionality of other sites. For example, people can find cell phones on many other sites. We just think this makes it easier for our users."

Seriously, Apple, WTF?!?

Yet even as the balance begins to shift, the old guard is still yapping in the foreground. Shortly before McCain sat for this interview, Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, gave an interview to Christianity Today in which he complained about “queers” and declared, “I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children.” Unprompted, McCain rails against the man her father’s presidential campaign touted as an American everyman and made a showpiece in the weeks before the election. “Joe the Plumber — you can quote me — is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing.”

*giggling*

Of course, many people assume that Jefferson’s views, having been written before Darwin’s “Origin of Species,’’ are now scientifically obsolete.

Gee, ya think?!? Let's see. Thomas Jefferson, a very bright guy, didn't come up with evolution. Charles Darwin, a very bright guy, did. And this 'intelligent design' moron thinks we should listen to Jefferson because he was the one who said the church and state should be separate? Truly, this joker has a nebulous grasp on the obvious.

But you know, Darwin didn't predict DNA, therefore he must be wrong about evolution. WTF?!? Why are dumb people so bad at logic? Oh, wait.....

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, who should be getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan, is instead seeking a temporary restraining order under the guise of being a conscientious objector. Cook is a birther who is arguing that President Obama is not a natural born citizen and, therefore, ineligible to be commander-in-chief.

Boy, is this guy dumb. Heck, all birthers are dumb (we've HAD this discussion - the idiotic idea that the President wasn't a citizen has been EXTREMELY thoroughly debunked - check factCheck or Snopes, don't take my word for it - I won't even link, do your own search [assuming you're dumb enough to be a birther, that is]), but this guy seriously thinks the US court system is going to excuse him from military service because the President isn't allowed to be President? Wow. Mind-boggling. Hope he has fun once he gets in the field. Real soldiers aren't amused by people who try to dodge their service for stupid reasons, and I suspect the Major is gonna get busted down to 2nd Lt pretty damn fast.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Monday that it would seek to ban many routine uses of antibiotics in farm animals in hopes of reducing the spread of dangerous bacteria in humans.

In written testimony to the House Rules Committee, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, said feeding antibiotics to healthy chickens, pigs and cattle — done to encourage rapid growth — should cease. And Dr. Sharfstein said farmers should no longer be able to use antibiotics in animals without the supervision of a veterinarian.

Both practices lead to the development of bacteria that are immune to many treatments, he said.

This isn't even debatable. There's no justification for putting everyone's health at risk just so your cow grows faster and you can spend less money taking care of it. This is the sort of thing you can count on the laissez faire GOP to ignore because businesses should be allowed to regulate themselves (and the market should correct this, how exactly?!? Yeah, thought not).

Once again, thrilled with Obama. Absolutely thrilled.

For beer lovers this is one of only a few places in the world where they can truly, literally, immerse themselves in beer. At the Austrian Starkenberger resort they offer a complete beer centered experience with beer trivia, beer history and of course, beer drinking.

However, the most unique element of the resort is the "world’s only beer-swimming-pools," seven 13 foot pools of warm beer, each containing some 42,000 pints where one can sit and bathe and relax fully immersed in beer.

I like a good beer (porter or stout, preferably), but bathe in it? Um, no thanks. *shudder*

"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."

These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."

Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.

... or else start admitting that the base of the GOP really IS full of racists, just like the stereotype would claim. See, the problem for the GOP as a whole isn't that some idiots say stupid things - the problem is that they do it on a mainstream conservative blog and they aren't reprimanded or shut down in any way, which makes everyone who sees this story think that all conservatives are like these idiots.

Someone is bound to claim that there are liberals who said equally obnoxious things about President Bush's daughters. I would like a link, if so. And I don't mean a link to one comment. I mean a link to an entire thread full of liberals saying the sort of things these conservatives said, without any consequences. The worst thing I ever heard about the Bush daughters was that they partied a bit too hard, and since they were in College I never really saw that as a big deal (or as particularly debatable - it was obviously accurate, but then the same could be said about many of us).

Q: I have no idea why, but I have a massive S&M crush on you. With other men, including my boyfriend, I'm pretty normal, but something about you makes me want to tie you up and have fun with you. It's weird. This is not a drunk e-mail, or a high one, or anything like that. Can I get a "Yup, these are my readers?"
-- Jennifer, Atlanta

SG: I need a safe word. Besides, we're not quite there yet.

Q: Hey Bill, I saw your man Ray Allen at a bar in Hartford on Saturday night. After getting over the shock of seeing him, my boyfriend turned to me, very serious, and said, "OK, go have sex with Ray Allen and tell me how it is." Would you make that offer to the Sports Gal for any sports figure? If you did would she be offended? Because I wasn't, and I think maybe I should have been.
-- Jen S., Newington, Conn.

SG: Yup, these are my readers.

I love the mailbag columns, I really do.