Verbal Kamasutra

Finding a good, reliable dog toy isn't always easy. You could wind up spending an arm and a leg, and your dog might not even like it. More importantly, dog owners have to make sure that the dog toy is safe, meaning our dog won't swallow it and choke.

I've made a list of some of the best dog toys on the market to help those looking for that perfect toy or just looking to save some cash.

#1 BEST TOY: Extreme KONG Dog Toy

I put the Extreme version of the KONG toy atop this list because it is quite frankly the perfect toy. Dogs love trying to get at whatever treat you decide to put inside the KONG. It's the best toy for chewers and dogs suffering separation anxiety because it virtually indestructible (yes, even the original KONG can be ripped apart). And did I mention it can double as a fetch ball? I recommend putting peanut butter (Trader Joe's organic peanut butter is my choice) in the KONG before leaving for work.

#2 Air KONG - $2

The Air KONG is great because it's a toy that most dogs love (tennis ball), built with the extra durability of all KONG products. It also squeaks, an added bonus for small dogs and terriers who love to chase squeaky objects. You just can't beat the Air KONG at around two bucks.

So now Dr. Dre is suing Death Row Records for unpaid royalties from The Chronic. You remember The Chronic, right? If that album seems like decades ago to you, it's because it was. And while the doctor has long chastised fans who "Forgot About Dre", the question remains, can you really blame us?

It seems like Dre has been doing everything but work on his highly-anticipated album Detox. Sue Death Row Records, check. Do a Dr. Pepper commercial, check. Buff up and get on "swoll status"? Check.


For those that hoped this new found energy and motivation would translate into a studio album, think again. It's now 2010, six years after the original release date of 2004. That is far too long to make fans wait for any album, especially when fellow "perfectionists" like Jay-Z and Kayne West are putting out new albums every year.

Even if I do decide to give Dre the benefit of the doubt (he's earned it), does it even matter? Most of the artists I would have liked to see appear on the album are much past their prime. With all due respect, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Kurupt and yes, even Eminem are shells of their former selves. The Game and 50 Cent are still relevant, but then again, who cares? West Coast rap has lost it's edge. One can even argue that the lack of a studio album by Dre in the last decade has been a major factor in the decline of West Coast Rap that is still apparent today.

If West Coast Rap has any chance of making a comeback, it's not going to be because of Dr. Dre. Leave it to another N.W.A. founder, Ice Cube, to put California on his back in attempt to revive that gangsta shit we all know and love. Cube has announced that he is in fact bringing back "West Coast Gangsta Shit" with his latest album, I am the West. Who knows, maybe Dre will make a guest appearance on the album. We know he's got nothing better to do.

You know the old adage: If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. Even if you have to wait 30 days.

It seems like a growing trend in the NBA: teams include a player in a major trade, wait 30 days, then re-sign him after he's cleared waivers. And while this practice is technically "legal", it's a known fact that its frowned upon by the league office.

The latest team guilty of this "trade loophole" is the Cleveland Cavaliers, who recently pulled off a blockbuster trade for Washington Wizards all-star Antawn Jamison. In this trade they sent hometown favorite Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Washington , only to re-sign him 30 days later.

A couple of years prior to this, the Dallas Mavericks were actually banned from sending Jerry Stackhouse to New Jersey in the Jason Kidd deal because it was leaked that Stackhouse had a pre-arranged deal to re-sign with Dallas once the Nets waived him. Around this same period in the league, the Minnesota T-Wolves re-signed Brian Cardinal using this same trade method, as did the San Antonio Spurs with Brent Barry.

Unfortunately trades are becoming more and more lopsided as teams trade away All-Star talent in pure salary dumps. The players union should take a stand and stop this problem sooner than later, else we're in for a league where the same four or five elite teams vie for the NBA Championship every year.

So close, or so far away?

The shot missed 'round the world has been the topic of discussion following Game 2 0f the 2009 NBA Finals. By most accounts, Magic rookie guard Courtney Lee blew an easy lay-in. For the past 24 hours I've heard everything from "he rushed it" to "Gasol intimidated him causing him to alter the shot". While these statements may or may not be true, I for one tend to believe that the shot he missed was in fact quite difficult.

Anybody who has played basketball and gone up for an alley-oop at full speed knows how tough that shot is. Watch the replay again. Lee is basically under the backboard when he throws up the shot. I can almost guarantee Kobe and LeBron would have trouble converting that shot too.



So let's stop all of the "Magic should have won that game" talk and give kudos to Lee for even getting a shot off (and kudos to Ron Jeremy for drawing up the play). Courtney Lee has shown a lot of guts this postseason and should be a nice player for the Magic for years to come.

It could have been magical.

Imagine walking into Pauley Pavillion and hearing the following starting lineup for the 2008-2009 UCLA Bruins Men's basketball team: Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Russell Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Kevin Love.

I'm getting (West)wood just thinking about it.

That lineup would have wreaked havoc in the NCAA Tournament. The defense, the athleticism. Not to mention guys like Shipp, Aboya and Roll off the bench. There's absolutely no chance that team doesn't win it all. Ah, if only star student athletes stayed in school!

What could have been great unfortunately never came to fruition. Love and Westbrook left early, and nobody can really blame them. They both went top 5 in the 2008 Draft and had stellar rookie seasons. Luc Richard was a 2nd-round steal in his own right.

What remained for Ben Howland was a young, inexperienced but"highly touted freshman class" who hoped to follow in the footsteps of legends like Baron Davis and Jordan Farmar. Jrue Holiday led the pack, but the Bruins never meshed together and had their first disappointing season in a while. Holiday looked as though he'd need another year at UCLA to develop his game, but like prize recruits before him (Ariza, Farmar, Afflalo, Mbah a Moute, Westbrook, Love), Holiday declared early for the 2009 NBA Draft.

What first seemed like a "test the waters" declaration is now looking like an all-out bolt from Bruinland. Holiday is climbing up the draft boards, meaning he's as good as gone and the Bruins are going to be left with a skeleton crew. Granted they have some nice freshmen coming in, but the Bruins aren't getting all of the top recruits in the Los Angeles area anymore. USC has now signed Top 5 Nationally players the last 3 years, further hurting UCLA's recruiting. With Holiday gone, it's going to be a long season for the Bruins.

Remember that Josh Shipp, Alfred Aboya and Michael Roll are all graduating too. Can you say "middle of the pack"? Bruins fan should get used to the Bruins being one of two teams for the next couple of years:
1) That not so good Bruins team that struggles to get into the NCAA tournament and annually finishes around .500.
2) That over-achieving Steve Lavin-like Bruins team that gets a #9 or #10 seed in the tournament and somehow makes it to the Sweet 16 every year but never advances beyond that.


Thanks Holiday. You were the Bruins only hope and now you're leaving us only you're clearly one year away from being NBA-ready. Based on potential, I'm sure you'll be a mid-to-late 1st Round pick but is that what you really want? You could have led the Bruins to another title run and possibly worked your way back into Top-10 draft status. I guess it was too good to be Jrue.

The NBA's version of the Final Four is finally set with Orlando and L.A. dusting off their respective opponents in dominant Game 7 performances this past weekend. Game 1 vs. Denver is tonight at Staples Center, giving us a short turnaround to discuss potential series story lines. Here's the low low in La La land:

• How will the Lakers respond in Game 1? Houston came out swinging in the opening game of last series, but I think having no layoff favors the Lakers this time around. Denver has been resting for almost a week and I believe they will come out sluggish.

• All four potential Lakers home games have start times of either 6:00pm or 5:30pm, instead of the usual 7:30pm tip. While I don't think this will affect the Lakers much, I do think it will make an impact on the Laker faithful. Let's be honest, L.A. fans aren't exactly the Megan Fox of sports fans. Combine that with rush hour traffic and
  

• Will there be any lingering emotions surrounding Kenyon Martin's spat with Mavs owner Mark Cuban? Granted Staples Center represents a classier fan base than the Dallas crowd, but all it takes is one drunk fan to call Kenyon (or his mama) a thug or worse and dude might flip out and charge the stands. Can you say Artest Fest II? Best case scenario, Sasha Vujacic winds up with a broken nose and ruptured spleen.

6:00pm tip time, and you've got a recipe for disaster. OK, maybe not disaster, but it could alter the energy in the building.

Ugh. Thank Jebus that ugly Houston series is over. Maybe Lakers fans did want Portland after all. Imagine how much of total stud Andrew Bynum would look when you put him next to Greg Oden. Maybe next year. Looking forward to the Denver series, my primary concern with the Lakers centers around Derek Fisher and the PG match up. Don't get me wrong, I love me some D-Fish & Chips, but he just got schooled by the younger, quicker Aaron Brooks of Houston last round.

Compare the starting PG scoring statistics for games in which Fisher played (All games except Game 3), and it's not even close.

Derek Fisher / Aaron Brooks

I can't help it. Every time I hear the word "recycling", I think of a man. A blue man with a green mullet actually. Call me crazy, but the association between Captain Planet and recycling is etched in my brain until the end of days. He's telling me to recycle. He's singing that jingle, you know the one: "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse". That's not even his song. Get out of my head Captain Planet, you blue bastard! Okay, I need a chill pill. The real point of this blog is put some positive light on Recycling, not to player hate on C-Planet.

So why not look at the glass half full? Help the environment. Go green while making some green. Become BFFs with Mother Nature. Below you will find a guide to help you figure out what is and what isn't recyclable, as well as what you'll get paid for. I've made it easy for you, so now you don't have any more excuses.

Tin (Cans) & Aluminum – Food containers made from either tin or aluminum are recyclable, just rinse them out and remove any labels. Foil trays and tin/aluminum foil are also recyclable items, as are jar lids made of tin. And of course, recycle your tin and aluminum cans! You’ll likely get 5 cents a can. Hell, you could probably even recycle the tin man.


Glass – If you’re looking to make some extra dough while giving back to the planet, save your glass. Beer, wine and soda bottles are all fair game and will get you some major coinage (between 5 and 15 cents) depending on where you live. Things like glass jars and dressing containers also fall into this category, just remember to rinse them out first. The only glass items you probably want to leave at home are bongs...need I explain?

Plastic – Plastic bags and containers are both recyclable, as long as they aren’t still filled with whatever it is that was in them (i.e. - dog poop). Again, please rinse if necessary. In addition, plastic items with recycle codes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are eligible as well. Plastics with code #1 well get you paid, remember. Here are examples of each:

• Code #1: Soft drink bottles, water bottles, etc.

• Code #2: Milk jugs, plastic Orange Juice containers

• Code #4: Plastic grocery bags

• Code #5: Margarine containers, yogurt containers, etc.

Paper Products & Some Cardboard – Although you won't get paid for recycling these, it is still extremely important to recycle paper. With deforestation already a growing problem, the more trees we can conserve, the better. Shipping boxes and cereal boxes can be recycled, as well as following paper products: bonds, brochures, catalogues, colored paper, copy paper, envelopes, flyers, greeting cards, labels, letters, magazines, mail, newspapers, paperback books & phone books. Paperclips and staples need not be removed, making it even easier to recycle paper. So even if it’s a love letter from your high school sweetheart or a dirty magazine, do Mother Earth a solid and please recycle it. Oh, and do us all a favor and don’t recycle used toilet paper. That’s just gross.

Those pesky scientists, they really outdid themselves this time. As if cloning Michael Keaton wasn't bad enough, now they went and cloned Snoopy. Score one for smart guys in glasses but if you ask me, they're barking up the wrong tree.

Pet cloning is no doubt just the first step in a series of steps leading to the eventual cloning of humans. That is what I'm really afraid of, but more on that later. While I recognize the magnitude of a scientific achievement this large

The world's first cloned dog is quite a scientific achievement, this much is apparent. But isn't it also a little dark? Think about it; man's best friend...forever! Wasn't this the plot to Pet Cemetery?


Look, I realize that pet cloning isn't that serious. If wealthy families like the Ottos want to pay a cool $155,000 to clone a dog, that's there prerogative. Their rover do-over doesn't affect me personally. What does affect me (and everyone else for that matter) is what comes next: Human Cloning.

Human cloning is basically Pet Cemetery gone wrong. When you try to bring back your cute little blond son from the dead, don't be surprised when he slices your achillies with a scalpel. Could you imagine a world in which humans were permitted to clone dead relatives?

Human cloning is an eerie thought. I can think of 10 scenarios right now signify why human cloning is a path we shouldn't go downin no way affects me personally. But What scares me is what comes next: Cloning.

The company performing the

Human

While the historic scientific achievement of the world's first cloned dog is quite incredible, the feat also brings up a lot of interesting ethical questions. There is something inherently dark about cloning humans or animals in my opinion.

to me about cloning.

I went back and looked at articles from previous years and found a few interesting things of note. One article, from 2005,

My fellow Americans, I've got a novel idea...hear me out. Starting with the 2010 midterm elections, all political campaigns will be decided by a medieval fencing match, or perhaps a duel of pistolas to the death. That's right, I'd rather see an actual bloodbath than endure another year of dirty Republican Karl Roveian tactics that seek to divide our nation. As dirty as John McCain and Sarah Palin have been been during this Presidential race, they pale in comparison to some of their GOP congressional counterparts.

Many moons and miles from Alaska and Arizona lies North Carolina, a traditionally red state flirting with turning blue this year. Central to this potential transformation is the bitter senate race going on between freshman Republican senator Elizabeth Dole and Democratic challenger Kay Hagan. The wife of former Presidential candidate Bob Dole was thought to be a shoe in for re-election, but Hagan has gradually built support to the tune of a 9-point lead (according to the latest CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll) heading into Election Day weekend.

Dirty South
Like many of her desperate Republican colleagues, Dole is now employing despicable lie-and-smear tactics in hopes of shaking up the race. Her latest ad is called "Godless Americans", an ad in which she claims that Hagan is an atheist because she supposedly attended an event hosted by the Godless Americans PAC (Political Action Committee). But that's not even the dirty part. Dole goes as far as to fabricate Hagan's voice saying "there is no God". On a side note, I wonder how this sort of thing is even legal. Perhaps it is not legal, because Hagan has filed a lawsuit in response to the factually inaccurate ad.

Here are the facts:
1) Kay Hagan is a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, where she frequently volunteers and teaches Sunday School.
2) That is NOT Hagan's voice saying "there is no God" on the ad.
3) The event in question was not hosted by the Godless Americans PAC, but rather a gentleman who happened to be a member of that group. Hagan attended a meeting with him, as well as many other people, to discuss completely unrelated issues.

We all know that politics is a dirty business, but even elections have a line you shouldn't cross. Dole has a history of crossing the line with no regard for the truth. It's no wonder she resembles a sly fox, an opportunistic carnivore intent on eating your babies:

Look, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Democrats don't lie or use smear-tactics as well. They do. But the amount of lies, negative ads and divisiveness between the two parties is like night and day. While Democrats talk more about the issues, Republicans smear their opponent saying anything that will fire up their base. What's worse, when FactCheck.org discredits a statement or a political commentator interviews that Republican candidate, they simply say, "The ad is true and I stand by it." It's like the truth doesn't mean anything anymore. They figure there are enough ignorant and naive people out there who will believe whatever they are told. With two wars being waged, an economy in shambles, and health care in this country laughable, the American people are not buying it anymore, as evidenced by the polls for both the Presidential Election and senate races such as this one between Dole and Hagan. Keep this up Republican Party, and there may be no Republican Party in 20 years.

The latest round of negative attacks from the McCain campaign center around Bill Ayers, a man infamous for his involvement with the radical "Weather Underground" anti-war organization that protested against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s. Ayers and the Weather Underground engaged in anti-war activism that included aggressive and violent behavior toward various U.S. government buildings, most notably the Pentagon.

The Republican ticket is suggesting that Barack Obama is somehow connected to terrorism because of his extremely loose ties to Ayers. In fact, they're out there telling the American people he associates with known terrorists. That's not a term you can just throw around. After 9/11, the American people don't take the word terrorist lightly, as they shouldn't. But there's a huge difference between known terrorists, and anti-war Counterculture hippies who made some really stupid decisions 40+ years ago.

Just to be clear, I'm not condoning what Bill Ayers did. I believe in our right to protest our government's actions but also believe that protests should always be peaceful. What he did was wrong, and he'll be the first to admit that. Regardless of where you stand on the matter, here are the facts:


- Ayers participated in numerous anti-war bombings, including those on New York City Police Headquarters, the U.S. Capitol building and The Pentagon.
- Nobody was ever killed as a result of any of the bombings. In fact, the only people ever killed were some of the bomb-makers themselves.
- Ayers has repeatedly condemned acts of terrorism, including the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
- Ayers and Obama barely know each other. They both served on the Board of Directors of an anti-poverty group called the Woods Fund of Chicago. That is the extent of their relationship.
- They have said that because they live within a few blocks of each other in Chicago, they have seen each other in passing and said hello a few times. Additionally, Ayers contributed a mere $200 to Obama's 2001 Illinois State Senate re-election fund.
- Obama has gone on the record to condemn the acts of both Ayers and the Weather Underground.
- Obama was 8 years old when Ayers and the Weather Underground were engaging in protests and setting off bombs.

Those are the facts, plain and simple. I'm sure John McCain and his Republican colleagues who say that Obama is palling around with terrorists know this too. But this is not the same Republican Party of Ronald Reagan, the man almost every prominent Republican politician claims as their hero. The current Republican Party is all about winning elections at the cost of truth, integrity and decency. They know that calling a candidate a terrorist, especially one who many people falsely believe is Muslim (another lie perpetrated by Republicans), will tarnish his image in the eyes of some.

As it turns out, the opposite seems to be happening this election season. More and more Americans are informing themselves and as a result, are rejecting these sort of lie-and-smear tactics. Yes, there are those ignorant people out there who only believe what they hear on Fox News or Rush Limbaugh's radio show, but this number seems to be shrinking. And with it, so are John McCain's poll numbers.

First of all, this facade of McCain's supposed campaign suspension is a joke. During this so-called "suspension", both McCain and Sarah Palin continued to conduct interviews with the media. McCain's campaign continued to run negative campaign ads across the airwaves and his campaign offices remained open. McCain's surrogates even continued to stump for him. On what planet is this a suspension of a campaign? Oh that's right, on Planet Reptune (clever eh?), where the rules that govern our universe magically don't apply to Republicans.

So no Mr. President, this suspension (or lack thereof) was NOT done in good faith. It was purely a political move devised in hopes of driving up McCain's poll numbers. Bill, you're way too intelligent to not see this move for what it is. Clinton then went on to praise John McCain's leadership in regards to climate change, prompting many to wonder whether Clinton is in fact a surrogate for McCain. This isn't Willie's only offense, either:

• This same week, Clinton was hesitant to call Obama a "great man" when interviewed, but called John McCain a great man just a week prior. Look, I'm not here to qualify Obama's greatness, and neither should Bill. But don't go and praise the greatness of Obama's Presidential rival. What's next Bill, calling George Bush our greatest President ever?


• And we all remember the plethora of false statements about Obama from Bill Clinton during the primary season. I won't specifically list those here since I'm not here to bring up the past, but you get my point.
  

Bill, you gave a great speech at the Democratic National Convention. You definitively made a compelling case for supporting Barack Obama when our divided party needed it most. But chillax, man. Put a cigar or even an erect nipple (on second thought, please don't) in those loose lips of yours. Hilary, I'm calling you out: Control your man and please for the love of God, put your Willie away!

In a special Presidential blog, I have decided to introduce you to one of John McCain's campaign managers/top advisers, a man who has shaped many of John McCain's economy policies. I'm talking of course about McCain's campaign co-chair and senior economic adviser Phil Gramm, the man many economists believe helped create the "anything goes" environment of non-regulation for the financial industry that has led to our current economic crisis. Without further ado, it's time to meet the fuckers.

Name: Phil Gramm
Nicknames: "Foreclosure Phil"
Time in Congress: 24 years (1978-2002)
Current Positions: McCain Presidential Campaign, Co-Chair; Senior Economic Adviser
Other Prominent Positions: UBS Bank employee, beneficiary and lobbyist
Probable Position in a McCain Administration: Secretary of the Treasury
Infamous Quotes: Explaining that our country is not in a recession, Gramm said, "This is a mental recession. We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining..."
Prominent Legislation:
1) The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999: A piece of legislation spearheaded by Gramm aimed at deregulating the financial industries. Banks, brokerages and insurances companies licked their lips in anticipation of this act being passed, allowing them to consolidate all financial services without much oversight. Translation: Banks, lenders, insurance companies and the like could merge together and consolidate services. The Financial Industry could now try their hat at commercial banking, investing banking, mortgage lending, insurance, etc. with little regulation from the government. Many prominent economists attribute the 2007 sub prime mortgage meltdown and subsequent financial crisis we currently find ourselves in to this act that Gramm sponsored.
2) The Commodity Futures and Modernization Act of 2000 & "The Enron Loophole": Gramm co-sponsored this bill, which involves a dispute between two government agencies, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Both agencies wanted jurisdiction over financial instruments called "single stock futures contracts". These instruments were banned for a while because of the dispute, but were allowed to be traded after the passing of this Act. Embedded into this legislation was something called the "Enron loophole", a term coined because it was drafted by Enron lobbyists working with Phil Gramm. The result: energy trading was exempt from regulatory oversight. With this, Enron Corporation was able to game the system, wreck the California electricity market and...well, you know the rest.

This is just the tip of the iceberg with a man many believe is directly, or indirectly responsible for the recession that is surely upon us. For an in-depth look into the shady, conflict of interest-ridden mess that is Phil Gramm, please check out the following article: Foreclosure Phil

I'm Eric Bustamante and I approve this message:

For those of you who hadn't noticed, this election is without question the most important of our lifetime. After the last 8 years of war, a failing economy, astronomical gas prices and an administration that has constantly abused its power while continually lying to the American people, something has got to change. We can no longer let corrupt politicians with a thirst for money and power lie, cheat and steal from us. Furthermore, we cannot afford to decide elections based on sensationalized garbage spewed from the media, whose primary goal is to drive ratings and in the case of Fox News, feed the public biased and misleading information. Here, I intend to discuss Politics honestly and informatively, presenting the online community with as much factual and hard-to-find information as possible. I will use quotes, dig up pictures, cite sources and provide links when necessary...all the while putting things in perspective for the less-informed citizens of our country.

Who am I you ask? Just a guy who is passionate about politics. But don't be fooled, I know my stuff. I've put in the work, done the reading and conducted the research. I know what you're thinking, it doesn't take a genius to uncover the lies and failed policies of the last 8 years, but trust me, it never hurts to double-check. I guess you can call me a Political Bookworm of sorts.

Along with politics, various other topics will be touched upon in this blog, including Sports, Sex, Film, Philosophy, Astrology, Healing & Herbology, Religion and Psychology. But rest assure, the vast majority of essays and articles posted will focus on Politics. I use the terms "essays" and "articles" because the majority of my pieces will be lengthier than your typical blog entry. This is because I believe that the American people deserve to know as much of the truth as possible and also because, to be honest, I just love writing. This blog is about stripping down the bullcrap we're consistently fed (by both the media and dishonest politicians, primarily from the right) and getting down to the sometimes unpleasant truth. I encourage readers to get involved in the discussion as you read my posts. This is your forum, so please, e-mail me, post comments, read up on the issues, follow the links, and most importantly, pass this information along to friends and loved ones. Together we CAN make a difference in this election and future elections, while hopefully changing the world for the better.

Now that I've thoroughly titillated your virtua-political mind, body and soul, let's get started...