Style or substance… Or rather: Style for Lack of Substance.

A style piece by Kareem Hassanien

Jan 14 2012

            Well now that we are a couple of weeks into the new year our fickle minds have already shifted from what was once thought of as the CLUE mystery game that is the Republican presidential primary (it was Professor Paul in the Library with the economics textbook by the way).  We are now in an inevitable game of Mousetrap where the remaining Republicans try to set up elaborate hurdles for Mitt Romney to get through on his way to the nomination. We know that he’ll likely make it through to the end but really we just want to see all the funny traps go off.

            Yet since the media is slowly beginning to see their reality show veering towards a boring predictable end they have been looking for anything else to fill the void.

            Newt Gingrich gave a little fodder with his entertaining invite to sit in on the NAACP to explain how African Americans should demand paychecks instead of food stamps despite the fact that half of people on food stamps are white and most people on the program have at least one job as comedian Jon Stewart pointed out last night. He really thought he was being a champ too as he later stated on MSNBC: “…I would have thought there would have been a positive response that says, Gosh. Here’s a Republican that cares enough that he’s willing to go and talk to one of the most left wing organizations in America about the people they represent.”

            Although Newts rants and awkward backpedaling (well not really… is sidepedaling a thing?) were amusing it seems that stories of irrelevance were going to be more fun.

            With that: Enter the Santorum sweater vest. With no less than 89 articles as of the time of this writing that I can find in pretty much every major US news publication. I figured it was time to make it an even 90. Not to mention that it has been all over the primetime shows as Santorum repeatedly states that his vests actually “gave him this power”.  He has already started using it in his political theories. When interviewed by Erin Burnett on CNN he told her his new official sweater vest line is available on his website and he believes they show that he is a supporter of the second amendment because they show: “…the right to bear arms”.

            Santorum believes it is the new look of the more conservative members of the party although I tend to believe lame rich white guys didn’t exactly shy away from sweater vests in the past. However his fashion forward trend is working. He is selling the vests for no less than $100 dollars a pop and in the few days it has been available on his website it has made an extra $100,000 for the campaign on the sleeveless sweaters alone. Dick Santorum has actually brought a style to prime time! Down with the sleeveless blue-collar wife-beaters! Up with the sleeveless white-collar…maid-beaters!

            Now Santorum isn’t the only one with a clothing line let’s not forget there is a current President of the United States. Obama has been amassing quite an election collection himself with designers such as Vera Wang, Danity Kane, and even Victoria’s Secret throwing in clothing (or lack thereof in Victoria Secrets case) in support of the current POTUS. A new website named Runway to Win is featuring clothes by designers such as Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Derek Lam and Von Furstenburg (these are apparently high up fashion people I’m supposed to know right?). There are also designs by Rachel Roy, Sean Jean, Beyonce’s House of Dereon (ah ok there we go) and even (chuckle) Russell Simmonds. I guess that Simmonds may be fitting in a sense since Obama supporters come November might very well be “Sweating to the Oldies” (oldies of course the taboo code for a Republican voter).

The Best Reality Show on American TV: Survivor Iowa: The Republican Lowlands

An article by Kareem Hassanien

Jan 4 2012

            I have stayed up late tonight with a whole host of other political bloggers writing about our latest water cooler TV story. Amusing as it may be to see an old cat lady sing a song well or watch Paula Abdul in a drug induced stupor, American Idol has never had a selection of back and forth, up and down losers like this. Jeff Probst may have twists and turns in Survivor but how the hell did Santorum find a hidden immunity idol amongst all that Iowa corn? No matter what way you slice it this primary season may leave voters all kinds of disenchanted (especially Republicans if you see my last article) but it sure has been some fun TV to watch.

            With 99% of Iowa precincts reporting Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are split at 25% with Ron Paul coming in at around 21%. Santorum who until a week and a half ago was just the other redneck somehow convinced enough Iowans to give him supreme conservative nut status and send the original redneck Rick Perry’s campaign into suspension. It’s quite an achievement for a campaign that three weeks ago was polling at just over 5% in that very same state. So basically if this was Survivor Santorum not only found the Immunity idol when he knew he was going to be voted out he just stole the conservative base alliance out from Gingrich, Perry and Bachman!

            However much like in Survivor it was a move that may buy a few more days but not really a guarantee to the end game. Everyone knows at this point Romney is probably going to win immunity in New Hampshire and Newt Gingrich is as likeable as Survivor villain Russell Hantz. Ron Paul is probably a guy like Coach from the last season. A likeable enough guy but with foreign policy ideas so far out from where the rest of the Republican party is that he’ll never get past the jury of evangelicals.

            Which brings us back to our star of the night and new flavor of the week, the last of the Republicans to not have a surge at one point during this primary season. Jon Stewart was brilliant in comparing him to the last chocolate we haven’t tried in the box that we know has that weird cherry goop in it. Rick Santorum was literally the last bastion for the Anybody-but-Romney front. However it shows once again how absolutely short sighted these voters are as he is maybe the little train that could in Iowa but could never be the little train that can for the Presidency.

            Santorum is a social issues candidate and where he stands is far to the right of most of the American public in the general election. It would be all too easy for Obama to call him out on his stances on outlawing birth control and his extreme positions on gay marriage. Let’s not forget Santorum was the guy who compared homosexuality with having sex with dogs and let’s also not forget that another way to say the name ‘Rick’ is ‘Dick’.

Regardless of his far right stances this isn’t an election on social issues. It’s the economy stupid. The reason Santorum has not come under fire leading up to this point is because he was so far out of range nobody could hit him. Romney spent millions on attack ads on Gingrich leading up to Iowa. Huntsman just gave up and went to New Hampshire while Perry and Bachman just rode their crazy trains in a circle and now have to see if they have enough gas to get to the South. However now with Gingrich beaten down he’ll become the attack dog and suddenly Santorum will have to take his new place in the light. Romney knows with his likely win in New Hampshire the last fights will probably come in the South which aren’t his strong states but at least Mitt has enough chips to keep seeing the flop. This just means it’s a matter of time before Santorum hears “Rick, The tribe has spoken” and his fire is snuffed out.

Of course just as in many other reality shows I couldn’t really care less about any of the characters and don’t really wanna see any of them win…but… I still can’t wait to see the next episode…

Yes He Can Again… if they keep it up. Why Republican indecision will give Obama a win in 2012

An editorial by Kareem Hassanien

December 26th 2011

As we enter 2012 many Republicans are starting to believe the Mayan doomsday prophesy at the end of the year is possible as they scramble to find an electable candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. The only problem is like most horoscopes they are the victims of their own self-fulfilling prophecy. Not because of greenhouse gasses, violent weather or “fracking” for natural gas possibly contributing to increased earthquake activity but because of the fact that their own indecision and separation of their own party will eventually probably be the biggest factor in Obama being reelected.

Now this article comes about due to a series of around the table talks that inevitably happen at Xmas parties and large family meals. They are almost always brief, mostly unsubstantial and shelved as soon as someone feels they may not have a counter. Usually it ends with: 'Maybe I haven’t been following closely' or 'I’m not sure of all the facts' or in Canada we always have our favorite way out: 'Well doesn’t matter to me. I’m Canadian!' (as Russell Peters likes to state, we’re not fond of participating in world events). However usually I find one simplistic concept among people who only partially follow news (in between episodes of House Hunters and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding). In short their idea is: Obama is for sure set to lose.

            Now this statement usually comes in response to the unwavering idea that the US economy is in the toilet. While it is true that no US president has been reelected with unemployment where it is currently; that is like hockey stats about how many games a team wins at home against another given team. While there is truth to it, it really only mildly matters. More relevant is that Clinton is the only Democrat since FDR to win reelection. However one year out from election Nixon, Reagan and Clinton were all hovering barely a couple % points above Obamas current approval ratings and were all two termers.

            The reality of a two party system is that the options are limited on purpose and you just have to pick which of the ugly girls to kiss. The biggest problem on the Republican side is there are two many ugly girls and for the most part those chicks are also nuts.

            With the Iowa caucus less than 8 days away we’ll get a good idea of where the party is going to stand. Having a look at the diversity (I’m obviously referring to mindset not at all to any ethnic diversity) of the front-runners you get a good idea that the party really has absolutely no clue which way to go. The endless roller coaster of poll toppers has really been something to watch in the Republican primaries as they go from village to dell looking for anybody but Romney. Bachman ended up being crazy so they went to Perry. Then Perry opened his mouth and made Bush look like Plato so they moved to Herman Cain. Then the ex Pizzaman opened his pants so they had to move on from him. Although with Cain it looked like he could slip through anything when the allegations first started it was amazing how he just decided to show us he was a moron as well and just fed us gems (the classic Iran has mountains comment and my favorite bit on Libya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_nDFKAmCo&feature=relmfu) .

So with the Republicans looking for a non-Romney savior they come back to Newt Gingrich. It’s been like getting back together with a boyfriend who cheated on you (which Newt is no stranger to). The base was cautious, had been hurt in the past by him and one part (the tea party part) just could never accept his old establishment Republican ways. Forget the scandals, affairs and all that. This good old fashioned compassionate conservative (remember when they called themselves that before they booed Gay Military servicemen and cheered for people being executed?) had to just sit back and enjoy the ride to the top but instead came out AGAINST child labor laws and suggested putting children to work as janitors and in the low wage jobs that poor people are having trouble getting now! Nothing stimulates the economy like taking jobs away from the lower class that can’t find a job and giving it to school kids.

            Which brings us finally to the Iowa caucus. The first test of the primaries and where people finally start dropping out of the race (note: This is where I can mention Huntsman aka the other Mormon, and Santorum the other liberal hating Redneck.) The polls now indicate that Ron Paul (not to be confused with Rue Paul) is in the lead with Romney and Gingrich just behind. Just what the party needs a new frontrunner! Haven’t tried that yet. It’s a shame that Ron Paul will never be make it to the nomination because he really isn’t a republican. I’m not even sure he is a politician. His views are all over the roadhouse and he probably is the only candidate who doesn’t seem like he’s had a frontal lobotomy and has stuck to the exact same platform for his entire run. The problem is that platform was abhorrent to the base 4 months ago and is only now interesting because he is the last alternative. Still he could be the wildcard in Iowa and shake up the primary and is probably the only candidate who could actually pull voters away from Obama in the general election as young people seem to love his libertarian ideals and his disdain for any American troop foreign intervention.

            This leaves us with the mortified Mormon. The guy who just cannot get people behind him but who will probably still get the nomination. Watching Poor Mitt Romney and the Republican base get together at this point is going to be like watching the couple on Virgin Diaries on TLC. They will eventually kiss but it will be the most awkward and uncomfortable situation that America could watch.

            So where does that leave NObama? Well in a pretty good position actually. Many of the things the general electorate dislike about Obama they dislike about Romney. The rest of the party has bashed Romneycare as much as Obamacare and both are in the hands of big business. Gingrich is in on the party too. All have been known for flip flopping on issues and supporting action to curb carbon emissions (albeit in different ways). That doesn’t sit well with Republicans. Worse for Romney only one in four Americans believe Mormon views are close to their own (most of them are Mormon) and less than 60% are even willing to consider a Mormon in the white house according to the Wall Street Journal. This brutal primary season as well is sure to leave a lot of tea partiers disenchanted.

            So Obama really is running against himself and as he’s been known to do he likes to turn things on at election time. He already is starting to finally after 3 years fire back and start attacking the Republican stalemate as the problem, instead of his own inability to lead and it’s already starting to stick. He has started pitching that his jobs plan has been held up by the House to win the election and keeps delivering messages under run down streets and bridges visually telling people like Neanderthals “Ug, you need job. Street need fix. Ug can fix street.”

            So despite the media rhetoric this holiday season I think Obama is looking towards 2012 as not a year of doom as the Mayans truly saw it. Not as an end of days but as the beginning of a new age. One that sees him take of the gloves. It’s not a lock yet. There is enough rage out there for a third party candidate like Ron Paul goes it alone and this time last election cycle Hillary and Mike Huckabee looked like locks for party nomination but with the Republicans splitting up their own voters and independents fed up with the nonsense of the primaries 2012 could very well be the year of the second chances for a man who loves the word hope. 

Does anybody smell bacon around here? Swine flu fun

by Reem Himself on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 2:27pm
Ok ok ok. So it's been a while since I've ranted for my online friends however... I think it's time we sit around and chew the pig fat.

This swine flu thing has more twists and turns than an M. Night Shalymanlyman film. It's a complete media driven frenzy created out of roughly 2000 cases worldwide making it seem like this is the Apocalypse. Let's think about this rationally for a second... IS THAT EVEN FUCKING POSSIBLE ANYMORE??? Arent we just supposed to be scared of whatever the news tells us? WASN'T IT JUST PIRATES LAST WEEK? I can barely keep up.

Ok ok. Calm down Reem. You don't wanna die from any stress related illness either. Look the odds are like this: There are upwards of 6.7 billion people worldwide and 2,341 (as of when this was written have contracted swine flu and 44 have died as a result. ERGO:

NOTE: (I have the math skills of a iguana with a frontal lobotomy so feel free to check):

Odds of contact with someone with Swine flu (H1N1 to get specific): 6.7 billion to 2,341
=2 758 946 to 1
Odds of death from Swine flu (H1N1): 6.7 billion to 44
= 152 431 818 to 1

This does not seem like an extreme risk to me when you consider the following:
Odds of drowning in a bathtub: 685,000 to 1 
Odds of being struck by lightning: 576,000 to 1 
Odds of being killed by lightning: 2,320,000 to 1
Chance of dying in a fireworks accident: 1,000,000 to 1 
Odds of striking it rich on Antiques Roadshow: 60,000 to 1 

I'll even throw in some other disease scares we've had!:

Chance of contracting the human version of mad cow disease: 1 in 40,000,000 
Chance of dying from SARS in the United States: 1 in 100,000,000 

So what the fuck is the big deal? Also it's a FLU! You sneeze, you cough, you shit a few extra times and thats about it! Do people in places like Chatsworth, Ontario really need to be wearing masks over their faces? 

You know what I've been doing since I heard? I've been licking every fucking doorknob and handrail I have come into contact with and (guess what?) it seems to work just as well as the mask thing. Know how I know how? I HAVEN'T GOT A GODDAMN THING. The logic seems the same to me. It's probably better because I know I am not sterilizing the shit out of my own body so that it develops some white blood cells to actually kill diseases so that I don't have the biological equivalent of a fly swatter as the only thing keeping H1N1 at bay.

THE MOST important point I seem to notice that has been missing from the discourse is "How was this disease created?" NOT WHERE to which apparently the answer is Mexico. But HOW? This is a perfect example of the consistent degradation of our meat packing industry and these genetic mutations come from the geographical locations of hundreds of thousands of animals being put into one place. This has been very gently brushed on but barely by the news media. It is a disease not just from pigs but birds and humans as well and has mutated due to our high concentrations of animals on feedlots. 

About 1000 Egyptian farmers rioted after the Egyptian gov't started slaughtering over 
300 000 pigs even though they have not one confirmed case and no real mass feedlots as a majority non pork eating nation. Why? They saw it on TV and got scared. Just in the same frenzy as any of us. 

Meanwhile in Mexico there was a 6.0 scale earthquake earlier in the week and the drug cartels are still battling and controlling parts of the country. Did ya hear about those things? I have a feeling a few places there are still more worried about 'lead' poisoning.

And here at home the odds of a man developing cancer in his life is still 1 in 2. 

This leads me to believe that we, as a society, have the collective attention span of a cat with ADHD. I miss the pirates.

An election by any other name would stink as sweet (Canadas time for a post)

by Reem Himself on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 10:27am
Okay okay okay. 
I didn't realize I had people who actually read these beyond who i post in them but i've been receiving a bunch of emails/msgs with mad things like: can we have "a note about the situation in canadian politics at the moment" or "What's more ridiculous is that as Canadians, we are more concerned with American politics rather than our own federal election campaign taking place at home. "

So in response here we go...

So i'm sure you won't like this my patriotic friends but as you an see I like many Canadians are less than enthusiastic about our Canadian snap election declared by our Canadian snap prime minister. The reason being? It is basically another example of Canadians tring to rip off attention seeking American blood sucking media frenzies. For fuck sake it isn't enough that we have: the Dragons den, the new Degrassi, Canadian Idol, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Canada's Next Top Model and a slew of other shitty TV shows that were made famous in Hollywood but pretty much created in Britain anyways? Of course Harper is going to try and ride the media fuck wave of the US election to spring him into another minority gov't. Sorry folks I'm not that interested in watching... because it's a repeat.

Not wanting to let the Greens in the television debates. (didn't i see this before with Ralph Nader not being allowed in the US debates in his pres. runs in the states?) The literal poop flying in the campaign cartoon in the paper. (remember the New Yorker with Obama and his wife in islamic military fatigues?) Dalton McGuinty refusing to support his own party's platform (another non jewish Joe Lieberman anyone?) Not to mention the constant barrage of useless and endless numbers in polls that mean absolutely nothing (what the fuck do french canadian, anglican, females, who are 18-24 with a baby, bus pass and live in Chicoutimi have to do with the general election public?) 

This brings me to another important point about Canadian elections. Ours is even more useless than the Americans general nationwide popular vote polls. Why you ask? Say it ain't so Reem! BECAUSE WE HAVE A RIDING SYSTEM! In our elections we vote for the PARTIES in our ridings which are then tallied up countrywide to determine which party leads and which is the opposition. If I am in my old hometown of port elgin and I want to support NDP nationwide there isn't an option really because I am voting for the party race in my small district of Bruce County (which is primarily between Conservative and Liberal). Many towns are like this. In Windsor, ON you can find the Marxist-Lenninist party and in Victoria you can vote for the Marijuana party (the new green party) but you can't vote for the same thing everywhere except for Tories and Liberals pretty much. I can't vote in Toronto for the Bloc Quebequois. What if I wanted them to seperate too? (well not when the Habs are the best chances Canada has for a Stanley Cup... but I digress). The point is a poll that tells you how approx 1000 people coast to coast feel tells you nothing about how they feel about Harper, Dion, Layton or anyone else because you don't vote for them on the day, you vote for the person in that party in that riding, who could want to have candy canes hanging from light posts year round and be a total douche. 

I love Canada, don't get me wrong but our own version of things is not nearly as smart as having our own brand of things. The Americans have us beat in media, we all know this. It's why we have the CBC yet still have almost equal coverage of both elections! We have been watching the Americans for 2 years screwing each other over to get to the White House and now when it's nearly over we Canadians decide to have a 5 week party of our own and expect people to care? Sorry folks the average stoner from Brampton cares as much about the Canadian election as he does about which way his penis is hanging while he watches Spongebob. He might notice it as it suddenly moves but there is really only a 30-40% chance he does anything about it. That is why i do pretty much feel that it's safe to say that most of the elected officals we have in Parliament (especially our great prime minister) are nothing more than a series of 'jack offs'.

and now the entire note en Francais...

Palindromes (Madam) Palindrones (Everyone else)

by Reem Himself on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 1:12pm

Ok ok... so now Republicans have a problem with pigs? Well I'm sure it would stop pretty quick if you told them in Islam they do too (well only in terms of dinner). 

The big news these days is that during a Tuesday talk, Obama criticized McCain's economic policies to those of Bush's, saying: "You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

So now McCain is attacking him for referencing Sarah Palin as the pig with lipstick! Isn't this the funniest stuff you've ever heard? It doesn't even get this bad on Family Feud!

McCain is claiming that this is sexism on the part of Obama calling Sarah Palin a pig (even though I don't really think he did). The funniest part about it is... doesn't by assuming Obama referenced her make it sexist on McCain's part?

This is getting so silly with the addition of this nutty woman. She is turning things on it's head. Nobody gave a good god damn when it was just a McCain ticket. Obama dominated the media. I guess what this election needed for republicans to come back was a right wing nut. Hey it worked for Bush twice!

How the hell is this all happening? Everything that this woman says is contradictory. She is happy to be featured in the media but has (as of yet) to actually take questions from the media! She just lets them feed off of the internet and each other like zombies after brains. (Uggh! Must Annnaalllyyze Paaaliin.. Paaaliin!) The media seems to be getting more about Palin from Perez Hilton then they are from the candidate.

She will absolutely trash and look back on the political histories of Obama and Biden but if the media talks about her history? 'oooh they are too hard on her.' This is awesome for her because her past small 2 years in office has already been full of craziness like sketchy trooper firings and keeping the money for the now infamous 'Bridge to Nowhere' and then choosing to not complete said bridge. But if you mention it... 'Whoa doggy! You better watch yourself you sexist prick!'

Case in point: Obama. A pig with lipstick? Well surely men are more often compared to pigs are they not? Realistically it may have been just as accurate to focus on the 'old fish' part referring to McCain's age. Or if they really wanted to get vulgar about it comparing the 'fish smell' part to the woman (but those connotations would almost make it a George Carlin Joke). I'm sorry I went there but all I'm saying is that it's a ridiculous stretch and anything that is said is being twisted like a gimp bracelet.

All of these ridiculous twists I will heretofore call 'Palindromes' in reference to the manipulation of language to make it come full circle out of nowhere. However these things need to be picked up and repeated 60-70 times a day to make it stick, which does McCains work for him. This is why I will now refer to the Sarahmaniacs known as the media as Palindrones.

Drill baby drill! (and other dumb Republican chants)

by Reem Himself on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 1:22pm
The conservatives were out in full force last night.The amount of bullshit yesterday if combusted would solve that fuel problem. During the Republican convention last night there were three speeches by former GOP cantidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. During the first one I heard myself say out loud (I was alone at the time) without thinking: “this guy is fucking nuts!”.

He said: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

When Huckabee spoke at the end of his speech I coughed the green tea that was in my mouth all over the TV. 

He said: Palin got more votes for mayor of Wasilla Alaska than Biden got running for president. (Palin got 616 and 909 for reelection to Biden's over 76,000 in 23 states)

Huckabee had the best point in that the medias scrutiny of the GOP has helped unify them but then he said all that stupid shit about it being ‘tackier than a costume change at a madonna concert.” That is a good one for a bunch of people stuck in the Reagan era when she was popular.

When Giuliani spoke he got the entire GOP to laugh at Obama's community organizing. Funny for a guy who ran on being mayor of New York during Sept 11th. He insulted pretty much every religion and got the chant going 'Drill baby drill!' 

Giuliani:
“Please tell me who they are insulting if they say ISLAMIC terrorism. They are insulting terrorists!”

Boy did the right get a free pancake breakfast last night. I haven't seen them so excited since Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City Bomber) got the death sentence. 

And then the hot chick. Many wore buttons that said 'hottest VP' and 'hoosiers for the hot chick'. 

Palin, after the 20 or so minutes of saying thank you went on to praise McCain more than herself and then brought up her kids going to Iraq. Her fam was all there. Girls: Bristol, Willow and Piper and Boys: Track and Trig (not to be confused for Track and Field). Trig is short for trigger I guess because she’s a gun nut. Which I find is interesting because she also went for the special needs vote claiming to be an ‘advocate for the disabled’. As my best friend in a chair said to me after she spoke:

'She only supports people dumb enough to lose a limb in a hunting accident and she DEFENDS their right to do it. The best part is she also is against "socialized medicine" so she's totally cool with them busting caps into people. If they didn't want to pay a couple thousand to get that bullet removed than they shouldn't have caught the bullet with their face' (well said Jeff)

She went on to say: The Difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick. During her speech we got a shot of a hockey mom being grabbed and thrown out by the secret service. I can't help but wonder what she had done. 

Palin said she put the gov't sponsored luxury jet on Ebay because 'the people of Alaska shouldn't have to pay for it.' What a stupid idea. Well did they get their money back then?

She was harder on Obama than those "OBAMA BIN BIDEN" Tshirts being sold and worn at the RNC. 'The presidency is not a journey of personal discovery' she said. She accused him for not knowing change like she does and with that I have to agree. How many times did Republicans change the reasons for war?

The full moon was out and those gun toting wolves were baying "U.S.A!" like I’ve haven't seen for a bit. They even had a country song Raising McCain. 

'You can get on the train or get out of the way.'

It even ended with a big YEE HAW by Cowboy troy. Wow. Deep.

The Grand Ol Party had a fun night for sure. God Bless their stone hearts.

Check out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check