Titties, Toes, & Tater-Tot Tuesday

The Science Of Kissing...

Who ever know that making out could be so complicated? I mean, for a guy all it usually takes is a decent meal or a bouquet of flowers. Women are so complicated...

From telegraph.co.uk:

Couples who share a passionate kiss this Valentine's Day will enjoy sensations of relaxation and excitement because of a complex series of chemical processes, as well as their love for their partners.

The study showed that women need more than just a kiss to experience the same chemical high as men - with additional features such as a romantic atmosphere of dimmed lights and mood music also required.

Wendy Hill, professor of psychology at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania began the research to find out why the mundane physical activity of rubbing lips can elicit such a gratifying emotional response.

Her team tested the levels of two hormones, cortisol and oxytocin, in 15 couples before and after holding hands and kissing.

They found that kissing reduced the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in both sexes. But levels of oxytocin, a hormone linked to social bonding that they expected to be boosted by kissing, only rose among the men.

The scientists have since replicated the tests in more intimate settings, to see if the less-than-alluring environment of the university health centres where the original research was carried out hampered women's hormonal surge.

The final results will be presented at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago this week.

"This study shows kissing is much more complex and causes hormonal changes and things we never thought occurred," said Prof Hill.

"We tend to think more about who we are kissing and how it feels, yet there are a lot of other things happening."

It is not clear how kissing provokes such hormonal reactions, but some scientists believe they are triggered by the exchange of pheromones – chemicals our bodies release to attract sexual partners – in the saliva.

This interaction may also have health benefits. Helen Fisher of Rutgers University, New Jersey, said: "If you share your germs with somebody, you're boosting your internal defence system."
This is not the first research to analyse the physical effects of kissing. In 2007 British scientists measured the brain and heart activity sparked by passionate kissing, but found it was less intense that the stimulation produced by eating chocolate.

Romantic love has also been shown to have a close link to neurological activity, with scans showing that it has similar effect to cocaine on our brains.

Titties, Toes, & Tater-Tot Tuesday

Monday With McCain

Defeated US Presidential Candidate John McCain says India will attack Pakistan if it fails to act against those involved in the Mumbai raids.

McCain, who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan, outspokenly told a group of reporters in Pakistan's Lahore that Indian Premier Manmohan Singh was visibly angry about the killings and damage to property in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. “The democratic government of India is under pressure and it will be a matter of days after they have given the evidence to Pakistan to use the option of force if Islamabad fails to act against the terrorists,” Pakistan's Daily Times quoted him, as saying on Sunday.

The Arizona Senator stressed that if Pakistan does not do anything to find and arrest the 'bad guys', India will have no option but to use force. Questioned about what the United States would do in the event that India carries out such a threat, McCain said that Washington would not be able to do much, even as “privately I will try to dissuade India from doing so.” “We were angry after 9/11. This is India's 9/11. We cannot tell India not to act when that is what we did, asking the Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden to avoid a war and waging one when they refused to do so.” He noted that such an Indian attack could cause retaliation from Pakistan and that this is precisely the course of actions and reactions that those who attacked Mumbai were hoping for.

McCain said that Pakistan could respond to such an Indian attack, but reiterated that the threat to Islamabad on this score will be very real. The comments come after US and Indian intelligence reports suggested that the Mumbai attacks were carried out by the Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Meanwhile, Islamabad continues to express doubt over involvement of Pakistani 'elements' in the incident. US and India have vowed to keep pressure on Islamabad over the Mumbai raids. Earlier US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, during her meetings with Pakistani civilian and military leaders, made it clear that Pakistan needs to act effectively to bring the perpetrators to justice. She warned that the "US will act if Pakistan did not". She urged Islamabad to "follow evidence wherever it leads" and lend 'absolute' and 'transparent' cooperation to New Delhi in the probe into the Mumbai terror strikes. 10 gunmen targeted Mumbai's luxurious hotels and tourist attractions on Nov.26 with automatic weapons and hand grenades in a 60-hour terror assault, killing nearly 200 people and injuring almost 300.

Monday With McCain

So what does John McCain do now that he has some free time on his hands? Countersue Jackson Browne of course! Way back in August, when Sarah Palin was still just Alaska’s problem, John McCain used Jackson Browne’s classic 1977 hit “Running on Empty” in an attack ad against Barack Obama’s energy plan. Needless to say, the hippy dippy Browne was decently PO'd at McCain for using the tune without his permission and promptly filed suit against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

McCain, who admittedly had bigger things to deal with at the time, pulled the ad and carried on with his campaign, effectively ignoring the lawsuit until he could finally deal with the matter from the comfort of the Oval Office.

We all know how the rest of the story goes. Obama and his Hopeskateers stormed the polls and snatched victory from the floppy jaw of McCain. Now finding himself with too much time on his hands, McCain needs something to fill the long hours while he patiently waits for death, so he’s decided to tie up some loose ends from his campaign days. First on the list: Jackson Browne. After months of silence, McCain’s fleet of lawyers countered the folkie with two bullshit 20-page motions against his suit. I’d call McCain a sore loser, but at his age he’s probably always sore, so I guess there’s no use in being redundant: McCain is a loser.

The Billboard article describes the first motion about as succinctly as possible:
The first is a standard motion to dismiss, claiming that McCain’s use of the song was fair use. The campaign’s fair use reading is based on the application of the standard four-factor test that includes the purpose and character of the use of the song (McCain argues it was non-commercial and transformative); the nature of the work (McCain derides the song as old, old, old, with a title that’s an acknowledged cliche); the amount and substantiality of the use of the song (McCain only used the title phrase, and cites a recent judgment against Yoko Ono, who had sought to prevent the unauthorized use of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ in a film); and the effect of the use of the song (McCain says that rather than damage the song’s commercial potential, his use ‘will likely increase the popularity of this thirty year-old song’).

Holy Toledo, what a load of caca! The second motion is even worse. McCain claims that Browne is impeding on the Arizona Senator’s free speech by suing over use of the song. As a result, McCain is demanding attorney fees and court costs for his trouble. Goddammit, John McCain, you just ran for president of the United States! You’re telling me you don’t have any money left over to deal with this crap? Rather than go into another paragraph ranting against John McCain (after two years of campaigning, I have already wasted too many paragraphs on that man), I’ll leave you with this video about the ins and outs of fair use. It should explain well enough why, yet again, John McCain doesn’t have a wobbly leg to stand on.

Monday With McCain

"I think she's most qualified of any that has run recently for vice president, tell you the truth." ---on Sarah Palin, interview with Don Imus, Oct. 22, 2008

Titties, Toes, & Tater-Tot Tuesday

Monday With McCain

"Presidential ambition is a disease that can only be cured by embalming fluid."---John McCain

Monday With McCain

In honor of election day, the top 25 McCain/Palin quotes from recent months...

1. "Our economy, I think, is still ― the fundamentals of our economy are strong." ―John McCain, Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 15, 2008 (Source)

2. "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should. I've got Greenspan's book." ―McCain, as quoted in the Boston Globe, Dec. 17, 2007 (Source)

3. "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where ― where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." ―Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS News's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008 (Source)

4. "[Sarah Palin] knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America. ... And, uh, she also happens to represent, be governor of a state that's right next to Russia." ―McCain on Palin's foreign policy experience, interview with WCSH-6, Portland, OR, Sept. 12, 2008 (Source)

5. "They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan." ―Palin, speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco, Oct. 5, 2008 (Source)

6. "Well, let's see. There's ― of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but ―" ―Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008 (Source)

7. "I think ― I'll have my staff get to you. It's condominiums where ― I'll have them get to you." ―McCain, after being asked how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own, interview with Politico, Las Cruces, N.M., Aug. 20, 2008 (Source; take a Google Earth tour of the McCain residences)

8. "I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you." ―Palin, asked by Katie Couric to cite specific examples of how John McCain has pushed for more regulation in his 26 years in the Senate, CBS interview, Sept. 24, 2008 (Source)

9. "All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." ―Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Sept. 30, 2008 (Source)

10. "I think if you're just talking about income, how about $5 million?" ―McCain, after being asked by Rev. Rick Warren to define "rich," Lake Forest, California, Aug. 16, 2008 (Source)

11. "Maybe a hundred...That would be fine with me." ―McCain, to a questioner who asked if he supported President Bush's vision for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 50 years, Derry, New Hampshire, Jan. 3, 2008 (Source)

12. "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending soldiers out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan." ―Pailn, on the Iraq war, speaking to students at the Wasilla Assembly of God, June 2008 (Source)

13. "You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." ―McCain, breaking into song after being asked at a VFW meeting about whether it was time to send a message to Iran, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, April 18, 2007 (Source)

14. "There was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one." ―McCain, pointing to Barack Obama during the second presidential debate, Nashville, Tennessee, Oct. 7, 2008 (Source)

15. "I told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere." ―Palin, who was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, multiple speeches (Source)

16. "I was looking at the Sturgis schedule, and noticed that you had a beauty pageant, so I encouraged Cindy to compete. I told her [that] with a little luck, she could be the only woman to serve as both the First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip." ―McCain, on the annual Miss Buffalo Chip Pageant, which features topless (and occasionally bottomless) contestants, Sturgis, South Dakota, Aug. 4, 2008 (Source)

17. "I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'" ―Palin, as quoted by former City Council Member Nick Carney, after he raised objections about the $50,000 she spent renovating the mayor's office without approval of the city council (Source)

18. "I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing ... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that." ―Palin, after an Alaska legislative report found she had broken the state's ethics law and abused her power in the Troopergate scandal, conference call with Alaska reporters, Oct. 12, 2008 (Source)

19. "She's a partner and a soul-mate." ―McCain on Palin, whom he had met only once before selecting her to be his running mate, "FOX News Sunday" interview, Aug. 31, 2008 (Source)

20. "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt." ―McCain, to his wife, Cindy, after she playfully twirled his hair and said "You're getting a little thin up there," as reported in the book The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter (Source)

21. "That's exactly what we're going to do in a Palin and McCain administration." ―Palin, elevating herself to the top of the ticket, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sept. 18, 2008 (Source)

22. "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity." ―Palin, in her speech at the Republican Convention, quoting the fascist right-wing columnist Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist and anti-Semite who once lamented that Franklin Roosevelt's would-be assassin hit the wrong man and also expressed his hope that Robert F. Kennedy would be gunned down (Source)

23. "Honestly, I have to analyze our relationships, situations and priorities, but I can assure you that I will establish closer relationships with our friends, and I will stand up to those who want to harm the United States. ... I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region." ―McCain, after being asked if he would invite Spanish President Jose Rodriguez Louis Zapatero to the White House, casting an ally of the U.S. as a potential enemy while simultaneously confusing Spain for a Latin American country, interview with Radio Caracol Miami, Sept. 17, 2008 (Source)

24. "As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" ―Palin, interview with CNBC's "Kudlow & Co", July 2008 (Source)

25. "Across this country this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners. And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent." ―McCain, Bethlehem, Penn., Oct. 8, 2008 (Source)

And From The Great, Ignorant State Of Texas...

From the chron.com:

A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected. But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding: 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama is a Christian who was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Yet just 45 percent of those polled identified the Illinois senator as a Protestant.

The Obama-is-a-Muslim confusion is caused by fallacious Internet rumors and radio talk-show gossip. McCain went so far at one of his town hall meetings to grab a microphone from a woman who claimed that Obama was an Arab.

The Texas numbers are unusual because most national polls show that just 5 to 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim — less than half the number of Texans who buy into the debunked theories.

The UT poll shows McCain running ahead of Obama statewide, with a 51 percent to 40 percent margin. Cornyn, a first-term Republican from San Antonio, leads Rick Noriega, a state representative from Houston, 45 percent to 36 percent. Another 14 percent of voters remain undecided in the contest.

The poll found that 89 percent of Lone Star State voters say the country's economic situation is worse than a year ago. And President Bush and Congress both get record low marks.

Just 34 percent of Texans approve of Bush's job performance — a big change for a former governor who won re-election 10 years ago with 70 percent of the vote. And Congress is even more unpopular: Just 8 percent of Texas voters approve of the work being done on Capitol Hill.

The telephone poll was conducted by the Texas Politics Project and Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. The poll was conducted from Oct. 15 to 22, and had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

GOP October Surprise Has Arrived!!!

WASHINGTON, DC - In a shocking reversal, the Alien has switched his endorsement from Barack Obama to John McCain.

With major implications for the U.S. presidential election, political kingmaker the Alien has changed his endorsement amid furor. Both political camps are buzzing about the implications, as the Alien has correctly predicted the winning president in every election for the past 28 years.


Ongoing investigation points to Cindy McCain as being the cause for this historic shift in allegiances.

Uncovered photos suggest that in a last ditch effort to help her husband’s failing campaign, Cindy McCain seduced and then blackmailed the Alien for his endorsement.

At a recent McCain rally, inside sources say Cindy McCain disappeared with the Alien after sharing several champagnes with the notorious intergalactic lightweight. Ms. McCain’s alien-like good looks and natural blood temperature of 54 degrees Fahrenheit may have proved too much for him to resist as she reportedly put her cyborg husband into sleep mode and worked her charms.

This is not the first time the Alien, who sources say is no prude, has been in political “hot water.” During the 2004 election he was photographed in a hot tub with Laura Bush and Teresa Heinz Kerry. As the Alien is now married with children the release of these photos could be devastating for him.

What impact this news will have on the election has yet to be determined. Swing state voters, who will decide this election, have the highest rate of alien abductions and UFO sightings and are known to vote in accordance with supernatural forces.

This Modern World

McCain Cuts & Runs

Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin were scheduled to make an appearance in Quakertown, PA Tuesday, October 28, but due to a little rain and cold weather decided to leave his supporters out in the cold when he cancelled his appearance without notification. If McCain can't even run a campaign that is respectful to his constituents, how does anyone expect him to run a nation? Story here at morningcall.com

Titties, Toes, & Tater-Tot Tuesday

Monday With McCain

"He's (for) health for the mother. You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything. That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, 'health.'"---mocking Obama's support for protection of a mother's health in abortion decisions, presidential debate, Long Island, New York, Oct. 15, 2008 (Watch video clip)