Are you tired of venting about politics?

Have you had it up to here with stoopid fights?

Have you seen enough trolls to last you into 2012?

I was just watching the 11PM news on WBZ TV, the ABC affiliate in Boston, and political analyst Jon Keller did a report on the possibility that John Kerry will be Obama's VP choice.

Keller said he's heard talk around town about Kerry as VP choice, and personally feels Kerry would bring money, name recognition, and the military hero image to Obama's campaign.

Keller's blog also has an entry about John Kerry:

Kerry for VP?

An excerpt from the blog:

Alert Boston Phoenix scribe David Bernstein has picked up some cable TV chatter about the possibility that Sen. John Kerry might be on the Obama list of possible vice-presidential nominees, to which I say - bring it on!

Those familiar with the charismatic Christian movement know that wild claims are a hallmark of these groups. A short list of "miracles" I've heard through the years includes reports of gold dust and (Holy Spirit) feathers falling during church services, undocumented healings, gold teeth appearing in people's mouths, reports of astonishing finanacial miracles for Christians who give money to certain ministries, and multiple unverifiable reports of people being raised from the dead.

Most charismatic Christians thrive on outlandish reports of supernatural occurences, and unquestioningly believe every claim. Remember when Benny Hinn announced that everyone who touched their TV set during his program would be healed?

I've been away for a few days and saw coverage of this ad on MSNBC. (I searched and haven't found it diaried here yet, but if it has been, I'll delete.)

PETA has a new TV ad, "Sex Talk," which seems to be inspiring both love and hate in viewers.

According to the PETA Media Center:

Tallahassee, Fla. - Prompted by Florida's teen-pregnancy rate, which is the third highest in the nation, PETA will air its controversial "Sex Talk" TV ad in Tallahassee this week. The ad uses a satirical comparison to teen sex to promote the spaying and neutering of companion animals.

The 30-second spot features a couple who encourage their teenage daughter to become sexually active. When the horrified girl asks, "But what if I get pregnant?", her parents urge her to "pop out all the kids you can." The ad concludes, "Parents shouldn't act this way. Neither should people with dogs and cats. Always spay or neuter."

"When they’re 8 years old they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody."...MA Rep. James Fagan, addressing the MA State Legislature last month

I realize that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, but should a defense attorney emotionally destroy a child rape victim in the process of defending an accused rapist?

Listen to this rant by James Fagan of Taunton, MA, who is a representative to the State Legislature and a criminal defense lawyer. In a speech last month opposing mandatory sentences for child rapists, he delivered some shocking statements about how he would make child victims suffer on the witness stand:

Oh hai. Bet you dint know us pooties has been taking yer pitchers. Yes, we can haz digital cameras. LOLOLOL!

Here's sum, but we haz more. We calls them LOLKOSSACKS.

This first pic iz Big Boss Markos:

......and as a community, maybe we can provide some extra love and support. I don't know him at all, but my heart goes out to him.

In his diary Life and Death, which is slipping down the list, willb48 revealed that he was diagnosed with lung cancer today, and the prognosis is not good. Yet his courage in facing this battle is inspiring.

Hugs and love and prayers and good words might be a real encouragement to him. Thanks so much for reading, and for being a community of people who care.

Markos, us pooties iz not gonna let you floss over this issue. We knows you is a pootie-hater. What us pootiez wants to know is, why you writez diarry about McCainines insted of writting about pootie tooths?

Our teeths is beautiful. Look:

UPDATED: Link to petition to fire Liz Trotta (Thanks to tnichlsn for pointing out the need for this link.)

I haven't seen this diaried yet. It's another example of the colossal and offensive ignorance we've been hearing lately from some public figures.

From the Washington Post today, Rightfully Let Go, But Not Soon Enough:

Unless you've been living in Pittsburgh in recent years, you've probably never heard of Mark Madden, let alone had the displeasure of hearing his highly rated low-brow sports talk show on the city's ESPN-owned and operated radio station..........

And better yet, no one except the people in the same room with him will be listening to Madden any time soon in Pittsburgh, and perhaps anywhere else. On Tuesday, he was permanently taken off the air of 1250 ESPN, six days after making despicably vile comments concerning the news last week that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has been diagnosed with brain cancer.

I've observed that during the eight years of the Bush Administration, a mean-spiritedness seems to have seized many Americans. A smallness of heart, a lack of compassion, a rude way of dealing with people.

Perhaps seeing George W. Bush close his heart to the Iraqi people, to our own wounded soldiers, to the victims of Katrina, to the homeless, to the uninsured ...... perhaps the President's mean-spirited attitude has been contagious. It's one more reason why we desperately need Barack Obama's grace and integrity in the White House. Our country must once again function as a community of caring people.

But not every politican is mean-spirited. This week I've been reading in the Boston newspapers about Senator Ted Kennedy's compassion and intervention in the lives of so many of his constituents. Even as my own heart is broken over his illness, I am inspired and uplifted by what one man with a big heart has accomplished in this state.

I invite you to let these stories lift your own heart tonight. Meanness of spirit is not the American way; compassion is. And compassion has motivated Senator Kennedy's life.

You're not the only one who is sick of trolls on this site. The resident pooties have had enough!

Posting signs hasn't worked to keep trolls away:

This is an open letter to the pootie haters on DKos...

We pooties have been posting our pictures at DailyKos for a long time. We've been cute and adorable and exposed our pootie butts and generally made assholes of ourselves, just to make you laugh.  

But over the past few months we've noticed that things have become progressively more anti-pootie and pro-pooch. Pootie diaries rarely make the Rec List because you people would rather write about politics and social issues than worship at the (four) feet of pooties.

We've put up with the affronts to our dignity because we've always believed that every human has a secret soft spot for pooties, and that our cuteness would in time prove to be irresistible.  But alas,  DailyKos is not the site it once was thanks to the anti-pootie nature of certain members of our community.  

This iz seriouz threat. Us pooties will refrain from posting here if you continue to ignore pootie diaries. A certain owner of this site (who shall not be named) is a known pootie hater, and allows the administrators to post non-pootie diaries on the front page without any fear of consequence or retribution.  

Do parents who are not credentialed as teachers have the right to homeschool their children? On 3-7-08, a California appeals court said NO:

Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state

3-7-08

A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.....

The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.

All evening long, on CNN and MSNBC, I've been hearing speculation that the "momentum" has shifted to Hillary. Huh? Three weeks ago, Obama was 20 points behind in both Texas and Ohio, and has closed the gap. So, WHO has the momentum in this race?

And who has the delegates?

Obama pooties have returned tonight to make you smile:

So excited over the primaries you can't sleep? Can you use a laugh about now?

Well, some of my pootie friends are here to cheer for Obama. Feel free to join us!

Obama will help the middle class:

I know Congress has been extremely busy with urgent matters such as investigating Roger Clemens and demanding financial records from rich TV preachers who own jets and live in mansions.

With such a pressing schedule, it's no wonder that Congress hasn't even attempted to find the nine billion American dollars that disappeared somewhere in Iraq.

I'm embarrrassed to ask this question of our overworked and underpaid legislators, but....why do two mothers in Massachusetts have to collect sheets, pillows and blankets so that soldiers returning to their bases from Iraq don't have to sleep on bare mattresses for several days?

One catalyst for this diary was BeninSC's humble and self-effacing, This Diary is Not About Me. When I read it, I was cut to the heart at my selfish promotion of pooties, specifically MY pooties, to the exclusion of all the worthy pooches in the world. Yes, I cried and repented in sackcloth and ashes. (Well, actually, I repented in jeans and a sweater, and never managed to squeeze out a tear, but that doesn't sound as dramatic, does it?)

And secondly, I received this heartbreaking note from one of the neglected breed:

I just had one of those "I don't know whether to laugh or cry" moments as I watched the 11PM news on a Boston TV station.

As we all know, our economy is in the toilet, the endless Iraq war rages on, millions of Americans are without health insurance, and a bunch of lying thugs are in charge of America.

But with these mammoth problems facing this nation, what did our government do today?