Internal Monologue

Those of us who enjoy watching Republicans squirm on the spit of sexual hypocrisy should pencil in November 28th on our calendars: WASHINGTON -- The "D.C. Madam" served a subpoena Tuesday on Sen. David Vitter, R-La., requiring him to testify about his use of the Washington, D.C., escort service federal prosecutors say was a prostitution ring. The subpoena calls on the freshman senator to testify at a federal court hearing Nov. 28 looking into the business operations of the $2 million escort service Deborah Jeane Palfrey operated in the nation's capital for 13 years. (via The Carpetbagger Report ). Remember the Internal Monologue offer: any politician who comes forth and proposes decriminalization of prostitution, or even gets a good discussion going on how we should deal with sexual matters in our culture, will get a pass from Internal Monologue when it comes to sex scandals.

The Military Commissions Act is one of the more hideous pieces of legislation the US Congress has passed (if you care about civil rights, human rights, and the moral standing of the United States, that is). Here's a site devoted to fighting it: torturelaw.org . (HT: Pablo ).

I have complained about the baggy pants fashion among today's youth, but I suppose I should be thankful that it is no longer 1977 and we were subject to stuff like this : (HT: Bryan via email.) There's so much more. Follow this link , if you dare: Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife's grandfather. After a bunch of hours spent in The Hottest Attic In The Universe, he had a ceiling fan that ducted to the side of his house. While my brother-in-law and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this [...] A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It's not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking.

All the annoyances we put ourselves through at airport security are basically forms of voodoo: by going through a ritual that looks like it has something to do with security, our magical minds convince us that we are actually more safe. The charade is pretty transparent though, and it annoys the crap out of me. Now that I have a baby son, all those annoyances are magnified tenfold. And these measures don't even stop relatively straightforward attempts to get dangerous devices on planes : A report made public Wednesday said government investigators smuggled liquid explosives and detonators past airport security, exposing a dangerous hole in the nation's ability to keep these forbidden items off of airplanes. The investigators learned about the components to make an improvised explosive device and an improvised incendiary device on the Internet and purchased the parts at local stores, said the report by the Government Accountability Office. Investigators were able to purchase th

The Supreme Court won't hear the case : MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge to Alabama's ban on the sale of sex toys, ending a nine-year legal battle and sending a warning to store owners to clean off their shelves. Now purveyors of sex toys will have to call them medical devices if they want to avoid rather stiff penalties: Up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine for a first offense. A second offense carries a prison sentence of one to 10 years. This story does little to change my stereotyped thinking about The South. Aren't people just embarrassed by this kind of law? Fortunately, Alabamans can still buy this stuff from other states and online. Sweet home Alabama Ain't no dildo sellin' here You buy as many guns as you want It's those butt plugs that we fear HT: RazzyBlog

Here's a fun vocab quiz that dynamically adjusts its difficulty to make itself very hard for you. I got up to level 47, but I tend to bounce around 43-46. Each correct answer causes the sponsors to donate 10 grains of rice to UN famine relief. (HT: My wonderful wife Sarah via email.)