Ladies, it's never O.K. to pose topless. Ever.

Really, it isn't. Especially if you tell people that you're a Christian.

In a caption with the image in the magazine, Disney's Hannah Montana star tells VF: "I think it's really artsy. It wasn't in a skanky way. Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought that was really cool. That's what she wanted me to do, and you can't say no to Annie. She's so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look and you're like, 'OK.' "

But by Sunday, Cyrus apparently had changed her mind. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," she said in a statement issued by her publicist, Jill Fritzo. "I never intended for any of this to happen, and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

And if you read the article further, you find out that her parents (or minders (?)) were on the set with her. During the shoot. Approving of the photos taken.

Disgusting.

Please help Raging Cindy get on the November ballot

If I lived in San Francisco, I'd sign this:

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan wants to snatch House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat from her in November, but first she's going to need the help - and signatures - of 10,198 friends and supporters.

Sheehan was at San Francisco City Hall on Friday to take out papers for her independent run for Congress, but without those signatures from voters in the district, her name won't show up on the ballot.

She promised she'd do it, and now she is. Good for her. Now surely we can find 10,198 people in and around San Francisco who are crazy enough to get her on the ballot.

Come on San Franciscans! Say "no" to Bug Eyes and get crazy for Raging Cindy!

God Bless You, Linda Daves

Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman, has told the Troll to go jump in the lake, figuratively speaking.

State GOP Chairwoman Linda Daves reiterated in a statement Thursday that the ad will run.

“There has never been any intention to pull the ad and it will air,” she said. “The ‘Extreme’ ad has garnered attention around the country. I want to thank the people across North Carolina and across the country who have shown overwhelming support for us. Our aim is to tell the truth and ask difficult questions. We will continue to do so.”

Be strong, Ms. Daves.

Here's the ad:

Happy Tax Freedom Day!

After today, we have worked enough days to pay our Federal Income Taxes for 2008.


Just another warm fuzzy moment for you.

Swim Team season has begun

(I know, I know. I said a few days ago that I was busy getting the house ready to sell because we're moving and that I wouldn't have time to blog. Deal with it.)

Today was the kids' first Swim Team practice of the year. It's a little hectic, getting them fed and ready to be at the pool by six. But it affords me the opportunity of ninety minutes of reading time. Yes! You see, I can't be at the house doing stuff, someone has to be with the kids. So I'm forced (forced, I tell you) to lounge by the pool and read while the kids swim. I love Swim Team.

And so, I brought a book to read (one of the SIX left unpacked and available to read (no, I'm not an ounce bitter, really)). Here's the very first paragraph:

I was nine years old when I met my father. His name was M.C. Thomas, and my birth certificate describes him as a "laborer." My mother divorced him in 1950 and he moved north to Philadelphia, leaving his family behind in Pinpoint, the tiny Georgia community where I was born. I saw him only twice when I was young. The first time was when my mother called her parents, with whom my brother Myers and I then lived, and told them that someone at her place wanted to see us. They called a cab and sent us to her housing-project apartment where my father was waiting. "I am your daddy," he told us in a firm, shameless voice that carried no hint of remorse for his inexplicable absence from our lives. He said nothing about loving or missing us, and we didn't say much in return—it was as though we were meeting a total stranger—but he treated us politely enough, and even promised to send us a pair of Elgin watches with flexible bands, which were popular at the time. Though we watched the mail every day, the watches never came, and when a year or so had gone by, my grandparents bought them for us instead. My father had broken the only promise he ever made to us. After that we heard nothing more from him, not even a Christmas or birthday card. For years my brother and I would ask ourselves how a man could show no interest in his own children. I still wonder.

Thus begins the autobiography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, My Grandfather's Son. I hope that by the end of Swim Team season, I'll be able to provide you a full review of this sure-to-be-inspiring book.

2008 Houston Area High School Rankings

Did you know about this? An organization called Children at Risk publishes a yearly ranking of Houston area high schools. Check out the top ten:

1. YES Prep Public Sschools — YES Prep Southeast Campus
2. Houston ISD — DeBakey High School for the Health Professions
3. Houston ISD — High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
4. Fort Bend ISD — Clements High School
5. Katy ISD — Cinco Ranch High School
6. Spring Branch ISD — Memorial High School
7. Katy ISD — Taylor High School
8. Spring Branch ISD — Westchester Academy for International Studies
9. Houston ISD — High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
10. Fort Bend ISD — Stephen F. Austin High School

Intersting. Let me see, what's missing? What could it be? Hmmm... Oh, I know. A Klien ISD school or a Cy-Fair ISD school. But how could that be? After all, Cy-Fair spent over $80 million on the Berry Center. And last year they got $329 million in property tax revenue. So where did Cy-Fair schools rank?

22. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Cy-Fair High School

...

40. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Cypress Falls High School
41. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Cypress Creek High School

...

46. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Jersey Village High School

...

48. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Langham Creek High School

...

54. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Cypress Springs High School
55. Cypress Fairbanks ISD — Cypress Ridge High School

Strange. All that property tax money and the wonderful Berry Center and . . . oh well. I'm sure Klein schools did better.

18. Klein ISD — Klein High School

...

47. Klein ISD — Klein Collins High School

...

74. Klein ISD — Klein Oak High School

...

113. Klein ISD — Klein Forest High School

Yikes! Even worse! I wonder how Klein ISD voters feel about the upcoming bond election containing two new $100+ million high schools. (Fortunately, there are a group of parents, called Klein For All, opposing the bond election.)

I'm so glad the Light Bulb family is moving to Katy.

Hat Tip - the World's Most Wonderful Mother-in-Law and blogHOUSTON - and while you're there, check out this post that describes how Klein Oak High School wants to extort money from their students (not their students' parents, their students) to buy Tablet PCs for each of them. If I were one of those students' parents, I'd have gone thermonuclear by now.

Funny

Debra Wilson and Will Sasso in Mad TV's "Big John's Shirt and Tie Barn".

Typical Liberal Snob

From Michele Malkin.


Beautiful.

Happy Tax Day 2008

Have you completed your tax forms yet? Of course, it's more costly than last year.

Tax season became a little more taxing this year, with the average person spending more than a day and more than $200 collecting, calculating and compiling those numbers for the tax man, according to a report based on Internal Revenue Service figures.

If it's any consolation to the individual still trying to get receipts in order a day before Tuesday's filing deadline, businesses have it far worse. The National Taxpayers Union, in its annual look at the burdens of taxpaying, said the corporate cost of compliance is about $170 billion. General Electric in 2006 filed returns equivalent to 24,000 printed pages.

Hallmark makes cards for every occasion, it seems. I wonder if they have a card for Tax Day? Certainly it would be appreciated by all the CPAs and H&R Block employees across the nation. What would a Tax Day card say?

Here's one:

Don't think of it as taxes . . . Think of it as toilet paper for bureaucrats.

I'll keep working on that.

I'm going to be busy for a while

If you've noticed scant activity at the Light Bulb lately, there's a reason. The Light Bulb family is in the process of moving, and most of my non-work and non-compulsory family time is concerned with readying a house for the market and preparing to find the next one. It is misery and leaves little time for blogging.

Oh, there are so very many things I have wanted to write about these past few weeks/months. There was He-whose-middle-name-must-not-be-spoken's press conference where some reporters actually began asking him . . . questions . . . instead of fawning. ("I answered, like, eight questions.") Then there was the spectacle of Big Oil being questioned by some of our nation's most dazzling examples of economic illiteracy. And the naturally disingenuous reporting that followed. (Thanks for paying all those taxes, Big Oil.) I started a sure-to-have-been-wonderful post on the woeful cost of the Entitlement Society highlighting the multi-trillion dollar lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers for the levee breach during Hurricane Katrina. And, of course, there's the Republican Party's nominee apparent, the amnesty-pushing troll.

Alas, this and more shall not be for a season. However, I will make a quick remark about . . . cleansing breath . . . home improvement shows. In short, do not ever believe a single word they ever say. They are thirty minute, well polished lies from the very pit of Hell itself, with great production values. I have tried to do some of the things these shows recommend. I am a normal person. I have average or above average intelligence. I can work a power drill. I can do normal home repairs. The things these shows say you can do cannot be done without the aid of professionals and their expensive tools. They are liars. Do not believe their lies. If you want to get things done around the house like they do, you have to do two things: (1) get rich, and (2) hire someone to do the work. Disregard all else. (And what they call "neutral colors" are anything but neutral.)

One more thing. You really have to "stage" your house in order for you to try to convince a prospective buyer that they could live in your house. (It's such a deception, it's not even funny.) Anyway, this "staging" does not comport to reality. In fact, living in a "staged" home is a misery. We've endured this misery on a limited scale for the past few weeks, but it will be misery in full force when our house goes on the market in mid-May. Please, please, please pray for us.

Note to FBI, pay no attention to Mayor Phil Gordon

Dear FBI,

I have read recently that the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, Phil Gordon, wants you to look into whether or not Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has violated civil rights laws by having the gall to arrest illegal aliens and treat them like the criminals they are.

Please pay no attention whatsoever to this buffoon, Mr. Gordon. His views do not represent those of normal, law-abiding American citizens. His letter to you is merely an attempt to pander to left-wing special interest groups.

In fact, if you do choose to investigate something, please investigate whether or not Mayor Gordon has pursued policies that would cause the city of Phoenix to be considered a Sanctuary City. As you may know, these cities are ones that harbor illegal aliens by virtue of the fact that their local law enforcement agencies are told to not pursue the question of citizenship when apprehending criminal suspects. This, far more than Sheriff Arpaio's wonderful track record, deserves your focused attention.

Very sincerely,

Mr. Light Bulb

Chelsea Clinton, yet another arrogant Defeat-ocrat in the making

Peggy Noonan has described Monica Lewinsky's Ex-Boyfriend's Wife's arrogance as "breathtaking gall." Unfortunately, Her Vileness has transmitted this trait to her daughter.

The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was first confronted with a question about the infamous intern while campaigning at Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., on March 26.

A male questioner earned a terse response when he asked whether her mother’s credibility had been hurt during the scandal. Before learning the truth about her husband’s relationship with Lewinsky, the former first lady had claimed the allegations against him were fabricated by a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”

“Wow, you’re the first person actually that’s ever asked me that question in the, I don’t know, maybe 70 college campuses I’ve now been to, and I do not think that is any of your business,” Clinton said.

The question resurfaced five days later, when Chelsea Clinton was speaking Monday to students at North Carolina State University.

Clinton again declined to speak about her father’s relationship with Lewinsky, telling students, “It’s none of your business … that is something that is personal to my family. I’m sure there are things that are personal to your family that you don’t think are anyone else’s business either.”

Indeed, Chelsea, there are things that are personal to my family. But none of my family members are running for President. And none of my family members had to endure a national scandal brought on by your (purported*) father.

But let's face it. Her behavior is entirely expected, isn't it? After all, she's been raised by two of the most entitlement-focused individuals in our nation. She's simply living what she's been taught by example. How sad.


* Yes, purported. Remember, he told Juanita Broaddrick that he was sterile due to having mumps as a child.