Not to beat a dead horse here, but WTF Bristol?

Courtesy of NY Daily News:

Kirstie Alley can throw away a lot of clothing. 

The actress and former 'Dancing with the Stars' contestant, 60, revealed to 'Entertainment Tonight' that she bought the same dress in a variety of sizes, from 4 to 14, and made a deal with herself to keep shedding pounds until she fit into the smallest size. 

Now, at a staggering 100 pounds lighter, 'I feel like I'm back in my element,' said the former 'Fat Actress' star. 'I honestly didn't even realize what I looked like.' 

Okay EVERYBODY knows that Kristie Alley has spent much of her life engaged in a losing battle with her weight.  She loses some weight before appearing on television as a contestant on DWTS, where it accelerates dramatically, and she is so inspired that she keeps it up until she looses 100 pounds!

And did I mention that she is 60 years old!

So what happened here?

DWTS first practice September 2, 2010

November 23, 2010

Did I mention that Kirstie Alley has not had ANY plastic surgery?

But Bristol has undergone some rather dramatic cosmetic surgery.

Kirstie Alley goes on DWTS and comes away with a slimmer physique and a determination to get into even better shape. Bristol ends the show looking probably fifty pounds heavier than she did when she started, and even today, after obvious plastic surgery, STILL looks...dare I say it...postpartum.

I have worked side by side with women my entire life, and more than a few of them had babies.  I have also worked as a personal trainer who helped women lose weight through increased physical activity. And NOTHING that I know of explains Bristol's weight gain with the exception of one possibility.

Listen I keep getting a couple of trolls who claim that I am making stuff up by insinuating that Bristol was pregnant on DWTS. But hey I'm a reasonable guy! If that is NOT the reason than please tell me what it could possibly be?

Because I am dying to hear it.

If you want a little inspiration to help you come up with the an explanation you can click here to read how Bristol herself explained it, but I warn you it does not make great deal of sense either.

Just a taste of what this country is in for if Rick Perry miraculously made it into the White House in 2012.

"You know thinking makes my head hurt. That ever happen to you?"

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:

Texas lawmakers cut sex ed from two six-month courses to a single unit of "abstinence only" education. But early indications showed that the program wasn't working. In fact, teens in almost all high school grades were having more sex after undergoing the abstinence only program. By 2007, Texas had the highest teen birth rate in the nation.

Nevertheless, the program continued. By 2009, 94 percent of Texas schools, which at the time were educating more than 3.7 million students, were giving no sex ed whatsoever beyond "abstinence only," a curriculum that includes emphasizing that birth control doesn't work.

Instead of providing fact-based information, the programs use fear and Jesus -- over-emphasizing the risks of sexually transmitted diseases leading to cervical cancer, radical hysterectomy and death, together with Christian morality.

One Texas public school district's sex ed handout is entitled "Things to Look for in a Mate:"

I. How they relate to God
A. Is Jesus their first love?
B. Trying to impress people or serve God?

Another public school district uses this:

Question: "What does the Bible say about sex before marriage/premarital sex?"

Answer: Along with all other kinds of sexual immorality, sex before marriage/premarital sex is repeatedly condemned in Scripture (Acts 15:20; Romans 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:13,18; 7:2; 10:8; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Jude 7).

The results? Teen pregnancy in Texas went up -- higher than before "abstinence only," and more than 50 percent higher than the national average. Even more troubling was that repeat teen pregnancy went up -- to the point that it, too, led the nation. It turns out that Texas kids thought that "if birth control doesn't work, why use it?"

But none of this seems to matter to Gov. Rick Perry. When confronted with the dismal statistics during an October 15, 2010 televised interview with Texas Tribune reporter Evan Smith, Perry's response was to reaffirm that "abstinence works."

The audience laughed and Smith pointed out the state's abysmal teen pregnancy rate. "It works," insisted Perry. "Maybe it's the way it's being taught, or the way it's being applied out there, but the fact of the matter is it is the best form of -- uh -- to teach our children." Smith asked for a statistic to suggest it works, and Perry replied that "I'm just going to tell you from my own personal life, abstinence works."

Like somebody suggested on an earlier thread, if Palin decides to pass on a Presidential run this time around, Perry has to be on her short list of those to endorse. 


Of course we have already seen what a Rick Perry presidency would look like during the eight years that George W. Bush ran this country into the ground.  I said once before that a Rick Perry candidacy really concerned me, and it does, but I cannot imagine the American people not getting a raucous case of deja vu every time this poor man's version of Jethro Bodine opened up his mouth.


That alone should be enough to doom his chances.

At least that is the hope I am hanging my hat on.

Full Bristol Palin interview on the View.

It is interesting to me that Bristol walks out there  is NONE of the usual hugging and enthusiasm that you see with virtually EVERY other guest.  Instead she she walks right past Elizabeth, Sherri, and Joy to sit down next to Barbara who seems to be the ONLY person glad to see her there.

Then Barbara, no stranger to the plastic surgeon's knife herself, begins to compliment Bristol on her weight loss and her new look. Awkward!

However Tripp is an extremely cute little boy, and when they show him on screen it suddenly defrosts the other co-hosts, allowing yet another Palin to use their children to gain sympathy and acceptance.

Barbara then confronts Bristol concerning her story about having her virginity "stolen," asking her whether or not she gave consent. Bristol stumbles over her response, seeming to believe that "losing your virginity" is akin to losing your car keys, and then claiming that if she had not been drunk it would never have happened. (I did think it funny when Barbara asked her if she was "high." Especially since I have talked to a few ex-friends of hers that say she is not a virgin in that area either. So much for that "moral code.")

By the way Levi WAS at the house almost constantly, and essentially moved in there when her mother was on the campaign trail. I have talked to both Mercede and Sherry about this extensively and they both say he was there constantly for months. Once Tripp was born, that is when the relationship suddenly ended (yet again).

When Bristol admits she has asked Levi to hand over his parental rights, that part is accurate. Bristol seems determined to have the opportunity to refer to herself as a "single mom" (And earn money by doing so) and Levi has made that hard by constantly attempting to be a part of Tripp's life.  It seems much of the reason she wants him out of the picture is because his presence screws up her ability to attract pity for raising her son on her own, with no support. (I guess everybody is just supposed to ignore that her mother is a millionaire now.)

Now as for WHY Levi has not taken Bristol back to court for not allowing him his visitation rights, I cannot explain.  I will say that back when Levi was first going through this legal process with Bristol that I tried to get Tank and Rex to hire a REAL family lawyer to represent him, even going so far as to find one willing to look at the case for free, and possibly representing him pro bono.

They refused, and instead seem to have made the worst possible custody deal I have seen in a long time.

Yes, it has occurred to me that Team Levi was paid off, but I have no real proof of that. I have also wondered if Levi himself was paid off, but both Sherry and Sadie simply refuse to accept that possibility. And once again I have no real proof.

As for Tripp being Levi's child, I truly believe that he THINKS Tripp is his son, which is why he has his name tattooed on his bicep. I know that he never had a paternity test, which I also pushed for back in the day, so of course we can always speculate, but Sherry and Mercede went to the hospital on December 27, and believe they met their nephew/grandson on that day.

After this Levi portion, around the 4:37 mark, Whoopi asks Bristol if the criticism she has received since "writing" the book has bothered her, which gives Bristol the opportunity to trot out her newly discovered Christian talking points.

Next Barbara asks her about her new abstinence pledge to wait until she is married before having sex again.  Bristol ABSOLUTELY lies right to her face when asked about this. (Hey Bristol if you are reading this I saw the pictures, and I know you are lying.)

By the way I really believe that Bristol's dislike of Meghan McCain and her family stems from NOTHING more than simple jealousy.

Clearly Bristol has had her hand slapped for saying that Sarah has made her decision to run or not, and refuses to answer the question this time.

At the end I almost choked when Whoopi said that Bristol was being a good mother (I totally disagree with that), and when Bristol said that she welcomes Levi into Tripp's life all of the time (Nothing could be further from the truth). She has become a seamless a liar as her mother, and I truly fear for how Tripp will be raised by this family.

You know I really do not believe that Bristol, nor Sarah for that matter, are really able to perceive just how poorly they come across to the majority of Americans. Even the terrible book sales may not be enough to convince Bristol that she has defined herself as an untalented, money grubbing, hypocrite, who uses her child to line her pockets while disrespecting his father in the public square, and that MOST people find that extremely distasteful.

If things don't go her way she will simply blame it on the "haters," and walk away without learning anything, or growing as a person in any way.

Essentially, despite her often expressed denials as a teenager, she has now BECOME her mother. Which, by the way, is EXACTLY the fate that she deserves.

The Sexual Subversive [Abstinence]

¡Hola! Everybody...
First: This week at the online magazine, Subversify, I wade into the Birther Bullshit. What? It had to be done! LOL Click here to read/ leave a comment.

Today’s post was inspired in part by a Facebook contact’s question…

* * *

-=[ Requiem for a Serial fornicator ]=-

Until we lose ourselves there is no hope of finding of finding ourselves.
-- Arthur Miller

Today I want to explore what happens to the way we relate if we awaken even a little bit. This is the kicker, the fire with which we test ourselves. When one person meets another and the interplay of energy takes place, it pushes to the surface all the little places we pushed back from the light. Whether it’s a history of violence, emotional bulimia, habitual criticism, or the trauma that comes from repeatedly having our trust betrayed -- these become like little bubbles that rise to the top, that come to the surface. What happens in a relationship is that your beloved becomes a mirror of yourself.

For most of my adult life my relationships with women were a series of dysfunctional interactions that either left me bruised and bleeding, or caused others much pain. My relationship history resembled a series of horrific car crashes. My way of relating to women was screwed totally and so when I decided to make changes in my life, the first thing I did was call a moratorium on romantic relationships. I knew I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, so I wanted to stop, look, listen, and learn a new way.

At some deeper level I realized that there was something I was looking for, or better out, I had a sense of lack -- as if a piece of me were kissing. I felt that at the core of my being there was a broken window with a fierce wind blowing through -- a void, if you will. I experienced this void as a primal wound, a profound but delusional sense of loneliness.

I am not speaking of the regular, run-of-the-mill variety -- the kind of loneliness we all encounter at some point or another. There’s this kind of loneliness that no matter how firmly wrapped we are in our lover’s embrace still manages to slither in for a brief stay every once in while.

If I were to be honest, there’s not much to say about loneliness, for it’s not a broad subject. Shit, even a child, alone in her room, can travel the complete range of loneliness, from border to border, in less time than it will take you to read this.

But though it may not be broad, it is deep. Loneliness, dearest, is a river deeper than the ocean. But even here there’s no mystery. The same precocious child is liable to fall quickly to the very bottom without even trying. And since the depths of loneliness cannot sustain human life, the child will swim to the surface, perhaps none the worse for wear.

Some of us, however, insist on bringing breathing aids with us for longer stays: sex, more sex, imaginary friends, drugs and alcohol, soul-corroding relationships, mind-numbing entertainment, virtuality, inflexible routines, and pets (pets, in my opinion, are some of the best enablers of loneliness). With the help of these aids, a poor soul can survive the airless profundity of loneliness long enough to experience its worst horror -- its duration.

I wanted a way out, some measure of, if not happiness, at least some serenity. I went almost two and a half years without a relationship and was sexually abstinent during that time (yup). For clarity’s sake, I define sexual abstinence as refraining from having sex with another human being.

One of the first things I learned during this time was that I couldn’t love another until I could love myself. Not an earth-shattering insight, huh? I’m sure many will immediately make the point that they love themselves, but there’s a need to look at this a little deeper. People think if they boost their self-esteem that this equals self love. However, let me ask you this: if what you perceive as your self is basically fucked up, isn’t boosting the self-esteem of something inherently flawed still fucked up? Or put more bluntly, tell me you don’t experience yourself as alone and separate at least some of the time.

In other words, truly learning to love yourself unconditionally is to accept yourself as you are, fearlessly exploring where you are causing your own suffering, learning how to move away from those patterns, and creating newer ways of relating. I’m sure we have plenty of arrogant people walking around “loving” themselves, but that's not the kind of love I’m talking about here, people.

So there I was trying love to myself unconditionally, warts and all, trying to uncover where I was causing my own pain and embarking on that long and hard road back to my original self. I took a clear look at and became willing to undo my character defects. Along the way, I learned to relate to women as human beings, rather than as objects of my desire and made life-long friends in the process. In taking away the relationship (“I need you”) and sex (“I want to fuck you”) agenda, allowed me the space to relate to women as friends, as people, as equals.

And it was a great discovery for me. I mean women are totally fascinating creatures with thoughts, perspectives, ideas, compassion, etc. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little here, I knew all this before, but the process of removing the “game,” allowed me to experience women in ways I never dreamed of before and as a result, my relationships changed for the better.

Well, time passed, I grew, I became more comfortable in my own skin, to borrow a phrase from a friend, and I thought I had made great progress. And you know what? I did! I learned for example, that I was acting scripts, some of which were written before I was born; that I had major trust issues, that I often resisted true intimacy because I was afraid of allowing people close to me (and then wonder why I felt alone); I encountered a fear that fueled my anger -- all this with an attitude of acceptance and unconditional love. In addition, I was in the process of living a more spiritually centered life and I like to think that made me a better person.

Then I met the woman who would eventually become my wife…

Oh boy! My marriage was one of the most challenging experiences. Don’t get me wrong, I loved and was loved in return; I grew in ways I never imagined as a result of my marriage and I still reap the rewards of that union. But remember all those things I mentioned working on? That I thought I had at least partially resolved? They all came back with a vengeance!

At first I couldn’t understand it, where were all these little monsters coming from? Why were all my ego centered goblins running rampant in my love life? Didn’t I work through that anger issue? And the trust thingee I thought I got rid of that little fucker. Like abandoned children, all my little inner monsters were wreaking havoc with the tidy picture I was attempting to construct.

As I said before, relationships act as a mirror to our deepest selves and those little gremlins running around in the dark corners of our psyches will come out to play as soon as we get close to someone. It is almost impossible for us to get to know ourselves alone. There are always blind spots, unexplored corners of our past and present lurking somewhere. In this way, relationships become a way for us to put to the test all that we have learned. A relationship, especially a romantic relationship, is the crucible in which we dissolve the impurities of our hearts. It is where the dross is turned into the golden thread with which we sew the tears in our hearts.

Genuine love lies in making relationship like a practice -- a sacred discipline -- in which two people agree to make (and change) agreements, explore honesty (true honesty), and questioning assumptions

For me, awakening, or living in a more conscious manner, is a process. Sometimes I'm in a groove and things flow, at other times, I slip and really make an asshole of myself in the process. However the point is the practice, not the perfection, or playing to some spiritual stereotype. The point, I guess, is that uncovering the heart means exposing the very core of the self. This is a scary move into unknown territory, even though it is a part of our inner selves that we are uncovering. The heart symbolizes feeling and intuition. Though we may be fearful, the true danger is in the death, not the exploration, of the heart. But I have learned that the uncovered heart contains both vulnerability and strength. Its strength perhaps lies precisely in that ability to open itself to itself, with an exquisite grace that invites the hearts of others to do so too.

Love,

Eddie