A Fox News piece on whether Fox’s American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is too fat. Now we just need to tie it into an ad campaign for “American Idol (brand) Diet Pills” –patent pending. Sigh.

MeMe Roth is a nutjob. Yes, obesity is a huge (no pun intended problem). But Roth’s “Founder’s Philosophy” as listed on the NAAO website reads,

After seeing my obese family on my wedding day, the groomsmen wagered how long until the bride would be fat too. Sounds cruel? It’s the same thing everyone in every pew was thinking.

If that’s your overwhelming thought (that you presume is also first and foremost in everyone else’s minds, too) on YOUR WEDDING DAY, you’re a little obsessed.

Note that Fox News didn’t feature, oh, a doctor, dietician or nutritionist to answer the question "Should Physical Size Factor Into Who Wins 'American Idol'?" Roth certainly ain’t it—her own site says, “the information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional or medical advice.” That’s because no reputable expert would touch this with a ten-foot pole.

Call me humorless, but I don’t see the entertainment value in picking on a 17 year-old girl. And FYI, Kelly Clarkson (Season One Idol winner) was also called fat and pressured to lose weight.

The Berger Group has a pretty good record. They've won civil engineering and enviromental awards, so this doesn't seem to be a case of obvious cronyism. That's the good news.

The bad news (aside from the whole US Embassy plans online thing, of course) is that they seem to have some complete idiots working for them. According to company spokesman Jeffrey Willis,

The actual information that was up there was purely conjectural and conceptual in nature. Google Earth could give you a better snapshot of what the site looks like on the ground.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1842750/posts?page=4

Are you friggin' kidding?

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Still more bad news--The Berger Group has been very busy:

Across the war-torn nation of Afghanistan, the Berger Group is constructing power plants, repairing of irrigation systems and dams and rebuilding damaged schools and medical clinics. The Team also undertook the design and construction of the Kabul-Kandahar Highway in Afghanistan, linking Afghanistan’s two major cities. In Iraq, the Berger Group is assisting in the reconstruction of transportation and communications infrastructure and the development of hospitals, schools, courts and police stations.

http://louisberger.com/berger/overview2/history.php

Should we be worried about any of their other projects?

YAF says, “prominent schools—including Yale, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Tulane—have a long history of shunning conservative policy makers on commencement day.” What do all of these schools have in common? Prominent schools? Yep. “Liberal” commencement speakers? Yep. And they’re all in Democratic states:

• Yale, CT—Democratic state. Home to Democratic Presidential Candidate & Senator Chris Dodd and former Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate Joseph Lieberman.

• Harvard, MA—Democratic state. Hell, its senators are Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

• UPenn, PA—Democratic state.

• Dartmouth, NH—Democratic state.

• Northwestern, IL—Democratic state. Home to Democratic Presidential Candidate & Senator Barack Obama.

• Tulane, LA—a split state, but with a Democratic governor and Senior Senator

Is it really that surprising that these top schools choose "liberal" speakers? Maybe YAF should start asking themselves why so many of the top schools seem to be in Democratic states.

"Has the R&B star's behavior clouded the way we understand his music?"

Absolutely yes.

It's one thing for someone to engage in unusual, gross or reprehensible behavior with a consenting adult. It's quite another to involve minors. And unlike Michael Jackson, R. Kelly doesn't have the extensive background of innovativeness and artistic talent that might allow some of us to enjoy his past work in spite of his transgressions.

But then again, I've never been an R. Kelly fan.

Samson141, you're right that it depends on what the meaning of "serious" is.

It also depends on which part of Gonzales' double-talk you question:

There has not been any serious disagreement -- and I think this is accurate -- there has not been any serious disagreement about the program that the president has confirmed.

-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/06/AR2006020601001.html

So it depends on the meaning of the word "serious." Gonzales also only "thinks" this is accurate. And he's only speaking with respect to aspects of the "program that the president has confirmed."

So Gonzales is either referring to the warrantless wiretapping program (that the president has confirmed) or only the specific parts the president has confirmed. Gonzales later says,

The point I want to make is that, to my knowledge, none of the reservations dealt with the program that we're talking about today. They dealt with operational capabilities that we're not talking about today.

This seems to reinforce the idea that he's only taking about "today's truths," not what could be revealed or confirmed tomorrow.

Al's gotta add this to make sure he keeps all of the lies straight.