Jenn has asked us to say Baseball Cards are back. I don’t know about you but I tend not to argue with her.

For us it started as a comment to this Independent Sources post, and the comment “Boy, you guys are stupid.” It was signed Nofanofcablecos. After a little back and forth we learned that the commenter was none other than Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik. Hiltzik had been pissed off at Independent Sources ever since our “It’s None of Your Business”: Only 40% of Hiltzik’s Business Columns Contain Business” and had been open for his contempt of it (and us) in his LA Times sponsored Golden State blog (since taken down).

While using pseudonymous is not uncommon in the blogosphere it is if you are an LA Times reporter and especially if you purposely misrepresent yourself. After an investigation Hiltzik lost his blog and then column and was reprimanded for dishonesty. That was 2006. Evidently 2008 is a completely different manner and perhaps the Zell owned Tribune can’t afford such high ethical standards. Whatever it is, Hiltzik is back.

Read the story of Hiltzik’s return at Patterico’s blog.

Read our full library of posts on Hiltzik here.

From this angle it’s a little tough to see but I’m right in the middle.

This is from Sports Illustrated’s best pictures round up. These are the guys that invented the swim suit edition. They are geniuses.

Is it me or does it look like the girl on the left is ripping off someone’s clothes?

Oh yeah.

Pretty much every media outlet lauds Sean Penn for his performance in “Milk” while scrupulously avoiding to ask him any tough questions about the public love he continues to shower upon dictators Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Raul Castro. Shouldn’t someone in the media take the time to at least ask him why he thinks these thugs are such great guys and whether their track record of human rights abuses is at odds with his claim as a protector of such rights? Well, someone finally has, The Advocate.

The same week that Milk premiered in theaters, The Nation published a cover story by Penn based on interviews he conducted recently with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro, the dictators of Venezuela and Cuba respectively. The article is a love letter to the two men, defending them against all manner of Western “propaganda.” It hearkens back to the notorious dispatches penned by Westerners fresh from the Soviet Union who reported on the amazing progress of the workers’ paradise. These worshipful epistles, often published in The Nation, neglected to mention anything about the gulag, the “disappearance” of political dissidents, the Ukrainian famine, or any other such inconvenient truths about communism. Lenin termed the individuals who delivered these apologetics “useful idiots,” and Penn and his enablers are nothing if not that.

Not surprisingly, not everyone in the gay community sees as clearly as the writer of this piece, but it’s a start and perhaps a few people in the mainstream media (as Patrick Goldstein did in his column) might consider following suit.

h/t: Patrick Goldstein, LA Times

True.

Did Jesse Jackson Jr. tell the FBI when he was solicited for a bribe? And if not, why not? Isn’t the auction of a U. S. Senate seat obviously illegal, even to a Chicagoan?

Brides, it is your day and if you want to be remembered by your friends, parents, their friends, and your extended families as a desperate slut then it is your right to do so. That said, here are a few of the poorest wedding day fashion choices to cross the Independent Sources editorial desk over the past year:

The Drunken Spring Break Coed Look:

The Navy Port Ho: Look:

The Put a Dollar in My Belt and I’ll Dance For You Look:

The Does This Dress Make My Tits Look Fat? Look:

The How Long Until You Notice This Thing on My Head? Look:

The Say I Do Look:

The WFT Look:

The Let’s Raise Our Glasses for the Happy Couple Look:

The I Got Knocked Up Before I Could Get Hitched Look:

And let’s not forget the bridesmaids:

Source: Email Submission from Hagar (well played Hagar, well played)

Looks like she wants the “other” white meat

Source: Email submission from William TN

According to the Spanish-language daily, Hoy, the former mistress of LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa done got herself all knocked up. What’s more, she done found herself a man to do it and he’s not even a famous or powerful politician. Who says people can’t change?

When it comes to Independent Sources, it is clear that you expect more of this:

However periodically we need to get other types of things off our chest. Here’s what’s on my mind. What’s on yours?

1. Battle of Stars.

Does anyone other than us just find this funny? North Beverly Park residents are being sued by the South Beverly Park residents over access rights. This is not your typical home owners association brawl as the South Beverly Park plaintiffs include Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson and movie producer Richard Zanuck and his wife, Lili while the North Beverly Park defendants include Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Reba McEntire, Sylvester Stallone, Barry Bonds and media moguls Haim Saban and Sumner Redstone. Anyone want to guess the legal fees of this egofest?

2. eHarmony forced to offer same sex service

No matter how you feel about Prop 8 in California, forcing a dating site to market to a group (any group) is simply wrong. It is not discrimination if you choose to market your products to a particular demographic–it’s called capitalism. If you type “gay dating” into Google it is clear that there are no shortage of sites servicing marketing to gays. Does JDate need to open up to Palestinians or ArabLounge.com to…? Anyway, you get the idea. The pity is that no judge had the balls to toss this out where it belonged and let the free market do its job.

3. Jerry Yang Stepping Down at Yahoo CEO

Good riddance. Besides the billions of shareholder equity lost during his misguided reign think of the hundreds and hundreds of millions (billions?) of lost stock options lost by his employees. Please tell me what was so bad about the Microsoft offer anyway, Jerry? Was it that employees would lose job? Wait, they did anyway the only difference is that you fired the–not Microsoft. Oh yeah, one other difference. If Microsoft had laid them off they’d be cashing in options worth $31 or more versus them leaving now with zippo since how many employees have grants dating back to the days of below zero (and even if they did who feels good about $20/share disappearing?).

4. India Navy Foils Pirates

At least India has some balls. We’ve got the biggest navy in the world and yet we can’t even sink a few Somalian pirate boats. Give me a break. India showed what you do when you come across these lawless losers. I know why we are pussies with Iran and North Korea. They have nukes. Last I saw the pirates in Somalia don’t. So what’s stopping us? We’re pussies, that’s what.

That’s it. Back to hotties.

Due to an ill-timed restraining order we had to back off our 7/24 coverage of Melissa Theuriau. Fortunately said restrictions did not apply to our friends at Moonage Daydream who discovered that the smokin’ hot newscaster is pregnant (Not safe for work or for those who can’t handle a topless smoking hot pregnant newscaster)!

Photo Source: Bills Zone

Below is the complete email conversation that Australian man David Thorne claims he had with a utility company chasing payment of an overdue bill. This was published by Nine News Australia and sent to us by Dr. Hoist.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,

Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,

Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,

You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

Yes please.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane,

Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th. David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95. Please make this payment as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me. I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

Regards, David.

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David,

As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding. We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definately make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

Kids are so cute when they have that “eyes wide open” gawk as they see something that amazes them. Sometimes it is seeing an airplane in flight, other times it is seeing a deer in the wild, and others (as is the case in the photos below) is when they see a huge rack up close for the first time.

First basketball game, first boobs, and it appears his first beer too.

“Wow, they’re even better up close!”

The universal language.

An adult in a boy’s body.

it’s takes a Super Dad to take his kid to Hooters.

I’d like to see his face when he gets to see what the front looks like too.

Super Dad!

And finally, talk about starting young:

Sources: Viral emails over the last 3 years and Take a Report

The irony between Ms. Williamson’s attitude toward the construction noise and her smoking while pregnant is obvious (and somewhat painful). According to a follow up article in the Roanoke Times “Smoking is estimated to account for 20 percent to 30 percent of low birth-weight babies, up to 14 percent of preterm deliveries and 10 percent of all infant deaths. Asthma is twice as likely in children whose mothers smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day.”

More on Ms. Williamson:

She didn’t finish high school. She hasn’t seen her father since she was 13. She has worked in fast food, but doesn’t have a job. She’s heard of the Internet but says that she’s never used it. Oh yeah, her husband, the father, also smokes.

Source: SteakandCheese.com