Okay, just one political bit:

[Lee Greenwood]GOD BLESS THE USA![/Lee Greenwood]

So some pretty complete coverage here: Part 1, Part 2

A few choice costumes:

Miss Ireland has no time for Riverdance

Miss Chile got stuck in a hole for months, and all she got was this crummy costume

Miss Costa Rica is ready for the human sacrifice

Miss Japan has got some kickass platforms. And swords.

Meep

Meep is a member of the Irish Catholic mafia, having a suspiciously high number of green-eyed, red-haired friends. While she doesn’t have red hair herself [except when she goes into the sun (rare for any vampire)], she does have green eyes. She’s a raving Papist and is a life actuary on the side [i.e., she counts dead people]. An amateur pain-in-the-ass [willing to go pro!], she likes covering retirement, mortality, math, and education issues.

Meh, he's in Minneapolis. He would have been better off in Milwaukee.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Been busy building and launching websites. Which is good. Not complaining.

Here's a cool rebuild we just launched: http://www.GermanSteins.com

Proprietors are Kevin and Danica. Husband and wife. Kevin started this company in 2003.

Our mandate was to take two sites, meld them into one, retain the existing rank of the sites, and improve the sales conversion ratio.

Both Kevin and Danica have poured their sweat into the business and are good, hard-working Midwestern people. They live "up nort dere hey" and their business is a true example of determined entrepreneurship.

Theirs is a unique website wherein one can find authentic German Steins, ceramic and glass mugs from Germany, Oktoberfest party supplies, and of course German cuckoo clocks.

If you are looking for unique gifts or something for Dan, or perhaps want to demonstrate your Krautophile-ness, please do check them out.

Support small business. Support good, solid, hard-working industrialists. You know, the people who employ others, contribute to the tax base and generally work their asses off.

Also, so as I can categorize this post...

Certified 100% German Yummy-ness

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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If you ever read over at my site, you'll know that I'm obsessed with music. I love all kinds. Sometimes, I want music to be senseless and fun, I also want it to make me think, ask questions, and even answer them. All those attributes are summed up in the artistry of Grace Potter. And I'm in love.

I got to meet her after a recent concert she did in Memphis. She and her bandmates met at St. Lawrence College in, where else, but Vermont.  "It was a "school for f*ck-ups, we're nothing but a bunch of f*ck-ups." She told me as I stood there in awe not even really sure what to say to so much genius and soul.  Now, I'm no great judge on what determines a f*ck-up, usually being one myself, but from where I was standing, there was no f*ck-up-ness happening on that stage that night. She writes all her own music, sings without auto-tune (believe it!), plays multiple instruments.  But the thing I love most about her, is that she leaves it all on stage. She's totally fearless. I went to one little concert and I'm  hooked for life.

So check her out. There are too many great songs between her two albums to mention, so I'm going to bless you with just a few videos. You can thank me later.

A fun song.

One that makes you think.

One that asks questions.

One that answers them.

PS. Dan, happy birthday.

Johanna

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Also.... the following is are a bit much for me... but as a display of solidarity... with the Germans Japanese

Harumi Nemoto's Generosity - for some reason reminds me of Oktoberfest

Other models made in Japan

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Special thanks to: the McCain-Collins Institute of Therapeutic Breast Staring (501 (c))

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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That's why Dr. R. Stacy McCain and I are announcing the McCain-Collins Institute of Therapeutic Breast Staring (501 (c)). We are taking applications now for women with breasts who might want to help boost men's (starers') health by showing theirs via videocam. There will be remuneration proportionate to your (staree's). . . education and experience.

I don't care what Duane says: THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED!

UPDATE: The Institute is thrilled to announce that we have acquired the services of a new Associate:

Dr. Proctor, OB-SCT [Scatologist], is the Chief of Vaginology at The Lord Fatheringay Von Whoopsie Memorial Hospital and Tiki Bar [on his lunch hours and weekends, he practices as Dr. Robert Oswald Belvedere, OB-GYN]. He is an avid beaver hunter and is a consultant to Lane Bryant and Playtex.

Our legal counsel has advised that it would be well for us to have women represented among our staff, so we have hired Joy McCann as Patient Liaison.

Mike Hendrix has agreed to represent our very reasonable funding demands on The Hill.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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The last couple days have been hard for me, at least on the internet.  Another story about the notorious Wakefield study broke yesterday, and I tried to bite my tongue through tweets, posts and links that I knew weren't true.  Or at least accurate or fair.  A lot of it was coming from friends on the right, friends that have been so supportive of Lord of the Flies.

The vaccine debate just makes me really sad.  It's not debated fairly by either side, and it's such a distraction.  There is so much more to helping people with autism than talking in circles about vaccinations they've already gotten, and the eventual impact this will have on society as a whole if we don't find the source is all but ignored, especially on the right.

So I wrote a carefully worded post about it here as this week's contribution at Pundit League.  As I went to click "publish" first thing this morning I saw my twitter timeline full of Red Eye tweets from last night.  I like Gutfeld, but he's, at the very least, not telling the whole story on this.  I don't know if he had measles as a kid or what, but he spreads misinformation... often in joke form and it really pisses me off.

I don't know if there is a link between vaccines and autism, but I do know that Jenny McCarthy and co. are not telling anyone to not vaccinate their children.   I also know the vaccine link theories were never based solely on the controversial Wakefield study. It seems these things are hard to fit in 140 characters, so this is lost on twitter.  So I've spent the morning trying to correct the record as much as I can.  I've been pleasantly surprised with the response to my Pundit League post, and I've seen some friends try to correct their tweets.  A few have paid me lip service, but haven't issued any corrections.

This is Generation Rescue's recommendations on vaccinating children. It's actually very sensible and exactly what I would do if I could turn back the clock.  I would still vaccinate Jack, but I would delay some of the vaccinations a few months, and I would insist he get them one at a time.  Especially the MMR vaccine.  I would ask to have that divided into 3 shots.  I also would make my own baby food and not put sippy cups in the microwave, among other things.

I wonder if the right is lumping the vaccine issue in with climate change and throwing the whole baby out with the hypodermic needle.

I've been asked what I think causes autism.  I don't know.  I'm not a science person.  I have no choice but to defer to those who are.  If I had to place a bet, I suspect this is what's happening:

I think some people have a congenital predisposition to whatever this is.  I also think there is something in our environment, maybe something new that is acting as a trigger.  Most likely their bodies can't filter the toxins in the vaccines as fast as other bodies can.  It's probably the same reason Jack's system can't filter gluten or casein, a protein My hope is that in the near future we will be able to isolate the genetic component, be able to test for it, then the parents of children at risk more informed decisions from there.

Then the debate will probably change from vaccinations to aborting the problem way, but that's for another day.

crossposted at KillTruck

UPDATE: Melissa Clouthier (aka MelissaTweets) has weighed in. I wanted to ask her what she thought about this when it broke, but I knew she was on the road.  She's much more knowledgeable about the science and explains it so much better than I did, and agrees that the persecution of parents has to stop.

Kill Truck

KillTruck is a wife, mother, blogger and native midwesterner now living in Eastern Washington state. She writes about politics, pop culture, parenting, wifing and a few other subjects she has no authority to write about. She has macabre fascinations with prostitution and/or cannibalism. In her free time she enjoys eating and/or drinking her feelings, liveblogging Lifetime movies, thinking about Scott Brown and mocking things she doesn’t understand.

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You have to read it closely, but this article notes that the gorgeous Shania Twain is now 45 years old.  I suppose it makes sense when I think about the time that's passed, but really?  Has that much time gone by since "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?"

Confirmed:  Mutt Lange is an idiot.  But so is Ryan Reynolds.

Adam Wells

Living life at 84 mph and 7000 feet. All I ask is that you don't block traffic, act like a professional, and don't act all surprised when your actions have consequences. Oh, and don't complain about the refs; trust me, they don't care if your team wins or not.

One can see from the following that POWIP has become the Destination for some interesting searchers.

One can only imagine how disappointed many of those searchers are when they are greeted by Spewey instead of full on prOn.

Nevertheless, much of this is the handiwork of Dan Collins, our host.

And of course, recently Dede's Beefcake series has added to the PrOnWIP collection, adding a much-needed women-who-like-penises' perspective. You will note that her Beefcake Series has earned its very own section (found under the main navigation "Series of Unfortunate Posts" above). I refuse to link to it, as it makes me think of scrapbooking and sex in the city. Not to mention, the men featured therein are naked or semi-naked mens with packages (or bulges).

However, the men of POWIP and all male readership who like boobs, ta-tas, breasts, sweater puppies, cans, jugs, teams, fun bags, angel cakes, baby pillows, bazongas, melons, milk cans, mambos, hooters, bosoms, bra buddies, rib cushions, dueling banjos, headlights, honkers, etc.. have been doing our best to counter the POwPRAH-ization of this section of the intarwebs.

So consider this a post with two objectives:

1) to promote PrOnWIP in general

2) to provide some fair (red-headed to be precise) and balanced coverage with women in bikinis who are hawt women with great legs, occasionally nude women, women wearing thongs, etc.

We understand - we really do.

Give the People What They Want

Also, Aimee Mann - because she is easy to look at.

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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