Cyber Bullies, Stupid Bills and Just How Long Has This Presidential Campaign Been Going

Cyber bullying isn't just posting gossip on Juicy Campus, it can also involve blowhard lawyers threatening the little guy.

• How to close down a blogger -- The local version of the flipside to cyber bullying. We would mention names, but not sure how strong Google fights lame DMCA threats.
• How to talk to a blogger -- John McCain earns raves for his straight talk with bloggers.
• How long has the Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton battle gone on? -- How about before there was the iPhone, when gas was just $2.20 a gallon, Elliot Spitzer was the man and, yes, even before both Manning brothers won Super Bowls. Yikes.
• Stupid Bills and California -- They do kind of go together don't they. This one, which would require caterers to have a system in place to donate all unused food , mercifully was tabled.

Ron Paul and the Nevada Republican Convention Fiasco

Traditionally, Nevada's political conventions have been a relatively staid and sparsely attended affair. Since the results are usually a formality, as the nominee is almost always anointed by the time the Silver State comes together, these meetings are mainly for the party faithful who do the heavy lifting during the year. In other words, a small minority.

But whenever you have the combination of low attendance and a rabid base, funny things can happen. That's what occurred Saturday in Reno with the Nevada GOP convention when Ron Paul supporters swamped the Peppermill and forced a a vote that gave them a chance to snare a good number of national delegates. In the end, though, the convention was cancelled before the final selection of delegates was completed.

Here's a wrap up of what actually happened from a variety of local sources, including the much-maligned, at least in some circles, Bob Beers:

• Chaos Over Paul Cuts Short Gathering -- Reno Gazette Journal's Anjeanette Damon's in-print account of the day. A good story, but for the real blow-by-blow scoop see next.
• Inside Nevada Politics -- Damon's political blog has 14 entries on what happened.
• NEVADA POLITICS: GOP Convention Cut Short "Some supporters of Ron Paul riled after time runs out at state party event." -- Molly Ball with the Las Vegas Review-Journal weighs in.
• Ron Paul Supporters Make Mark -- Carson City's Nevada Appeal's account, including threats made towards convention chairman, and state senator, Beers.
• Ron Paul Backers Outmaneuver Nevada GOP Establishment -- Reno's KOLO-8's coverage, including video.
• GOP State Convention -- Beers own account of what happened. And for the Paul supporters gunning for him in some conspiracy theory, let me just say two things. 1) Beers was a Fred Thompson supporter, not a McCain one. 2) If there is one straight-shooter in Nevada's legislature who isn't afraid of answering a tough question or talking (twice) to a lowly blogger (as well as run one himself) it is Beers.

And some non-Nevadan impressions:

• Wacky Paultards Ruin Nevada GOP Convention -- The Wonkette's take.
• Blue Moon or the day I sided with the Paulites -- Liberal in support of Paul's fans.
• Just got off the phone with Bob Beers... -- Daily Paul blogger interviews Beers and actually seems respectful.
• (BREAKING NEWS) Robert Mugabe hires Bob Beers as election Chair in Zimbabwe -- Perhaps more representative of Daily Paul posters (i.e., an out-of-state wanker who helps continue the "fringe" tag that surrounds Paul.)

The Big MacChicken

Granted, this has nothing to do with politics, unless you want to try and use it as a metaphor for a candidate pandering to two distinct constituencies (in this case, the great chicken vs. beef debate).

But, in reality, we just wanted to draw attention to this monstrosity and the man who not only created it, but actually attempted to eat the Big MacChicken.

Take three McDonald's McChickens, one Big Mac, ditch the bread and prepare for a saturated fat (but low carb!) assault on your digestive tract.

But how did it taste? We'll let him describe the experience.

With the first bite I found myself going through a crunchy/juicy layer after layer and the texture was to die for. Everything just worked. Clouds split as a bright ray of sunshine beamed down to my table. The elderly couple a few tables over started playing a harp as a unicorn walked by during my second bite. I was in heaven for a few seconds then the guilt hit me. Was I really doing this? 4 sandwiches at once? I had to stop. There was no way I could finish this monster.

Of course, 35 minutes later there was this reaction:

Thoughts of running to the restroom to vomit are racing through my head ... Is it really my stomach that is aching or am I psychologically telling myself to vomit. All I know is that my mind is telling me that the sandwich was absolutely delicious but my body is rejecting it.

Ron Paul Rally and Convention Speech

Will Ron Paul devotees manage to successfully crash Nevada's GOP convention this weekend?

A combination of a Paul visit, his hyper-enthusiastic base and the fact that caucus-winner Mitt Romney is no more, could make for some surprises this Saturday at the Peppermill in Reno. Especially since Paul supporters seem to be the only ones actually planning for the event.

Besides a scheduled convention speech by the Texas congressman, the lone presidential candidate slated to appear, Paul also will attend a pre-convention rally/party Friday night at Wooster High.

Ken Layne and Blogads Take Over Wonkette

Gawker Media dumped a trio of underperforming, at least ad revenue wise, blogs with the Wonkette topping the list.

Current editor, and former Renoite, Ken Layne is the new owner along with Blogads. Layne is hoping the political site will do better in the online ad market with Blogads handling the sales end.

Here's hoping they do better for him then they did us.

Obama Girl, Elton John and Legal Bullies

Sexy videos, tax cheats, sleazy lawyers and a cussing Elton John.

• YouTube videos and the presidential campaign. Yes, the ubiquitous and busty Obama Girl is featured.
• Can Obama fever change the usual red state/blue state political map? The Politico doesn't think so.
• If shaming hookers' johns work, why not tax cheats asks USA Today.
• Elton John on Hillary-haters, "to hell with them." Adds $2.5 million to Clinton coffers.
• And in honor of Mr. Jerz's battle, John Stossel on "legal bullies."

Banks Collapse As DM Cashes In Campaign Ad Booty

With the predicted gold rush of online campaign Blogads cash coming to an apparent close, the accountants at Dullard Mush rolled up their sleeves, broke out their spreadsheets and prepared for a long night of number crunching.

30 seconds later, they were done.

The bank-busting haul? After Blogads' 30% commission, a whopping $10.50.

Even sadder than the actual figure, was when it was earned. It wasn't in the throes of Nevada's January caucus. Instead it was last March. Yes, 2007!

When that Hillary Clinton spot crossed our transom over a year ago, visions of fistfuls of cash (or, at least, the possibility of easily passing the $75 threshold needed for actual payment) danced in our heads. If they were buying spots this early imagine what will happen as we get even closer to an actual caucus we thought. But, alas, that "Dump Gonzales" banner not only was the highpoint of the advertising season, but the lone point.

So when Blogads did their annual sweeping of accounts that earned a tad more than squat, Dullard Mush sadly qualified. Even sadder, was the sight of our CFO shuffling off into the early evening vowing to use the ATM as he was too embarrassed to face an actual bank teller.

Roger Stone Does It Again and Again

The dapper don of dirty deeds, Roger Stone, has been a busy bee of late. Besides founding one of the more creatively named 527s, Stone has also been credited by some as having tipped off authorities to Eliot Spitzer's hankering for prostitutes (and the Governor's preference to keep his socks on) last year.

But now comes word he was the one behind the recent controversy surrounding Clinton pollster Mark Penn. Apparently Stone was the source for the leak on Penn's Colombian deal and his firm's alleged kiting of polling bills.

Political Origami, Headbangers and Redneck Innovation

We were thinking about tying the following up with a clever intro paragraph, but with a headline like the above is it really necessary? So in keeping with our namesake, here is some miscellaneous mush.

• Headbangers like John McCain. A survey of rock radio listeners found "classic rock" aficionados opted for McCain. Alternative rockers? Democrats.
• Make like a big money special interest and have a presidential candidate in your pocket -- literally. Thanks to FoldUSCandidate.com you can make and pocket your very own McCain, Obama and Clinton.
• New American flag to debut, Hillary-style, at Democratic National Convention. Or so they promise.
• Although our UCLA/North Carolina finale prediction fell a tad short, we did, however, outscore McCain 95-79 in his bracket contest, we thought we'd help others learn the Bill James mathematical secret to knowing when a basketball team has safely put the game away. No word on if James is working on a Democratic presidential nomination model.
• And, finally, for no other reason than some of these pics (three and 11, especially) are damn funny, we present 11 Examples of Redneck Improvisation.

Washoe County An Evangelical Epicenter?

When The Christian Science Monitor debuted their online Patchwork Nation Map we were kind of curious as to which of the 11 demographic profiles Reno fell in. Service Worker Centers and, perhaps optimistically, Boom Towns topped our choices.

But, alas, Washoe County was one of 564 counties deemed an Evangelical Epicenter, a group with "a relatively high percentage of young families and score(s) fairly high in the proportion of evangelical adherents." About 10% of America falls into this category.

The only Silver State counties not considered Evangelical were Clark, a Boom Town, and Service Worker Centers White Pine (Ely) and Mineral (Hawthorne).

Stone's "W" Script, Mamet's Conversion and the $53 Trillion Asteroid

Well, that and a couple more political tidbits bookmarked over the last few days.

• A quick look at Oliver Stone's "W" script reveals a party-loving, revenge-loving guy with father issues. Oh, and a foul mouth. Big question though is when will Stone have it in theaters?
• David Mamet is no longer a "brain-dead liberal." Thomas Sowell and Milton Friedman helped show him the light.
• Glenn Beck addresses the biggest, scariest elephant in the room -- the $53 trillion promise of future Social Security and Medicare benefits. Or, for a better handle on that figure, "an IOU of around $455,000 per American household." And, of course, nobody in Washington is doing a damn thing about that or the current budget deficit.
• Having trouble paying for promises has also afflicted the Hillary Clinton campaign as records show she was two months behind in staff health insurance premiums.
• Blog prints rumor first. Then checks facts second. Could it have been because the target was the big, bad John McCain?
• Carnival of Politics launched its first edition Monday (our piece on campaign gimmicks was included). The blog carnival is currently looking for contributors and hosts.

Google Pranks and The 100 Best April Fools Jokes

It's become a tradition for Google to launch April Fools' pranks, witness last year's toilet-based wireless internet and Gmail paper, and this year is no different.

First there is their ambitious Virgle program, where Google and Virgin team up to colonize Mars starting in 2014. Includes video from Richard Branson and a 15-question application to be a Virgle Pioneer.

Gmail also launched it's new "Custom Time" app that allows you to never be late with an email or answer again. But how does it work, you might ask? "Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (see Grandfather Paradox). "

But what about the best April Fools' jokes of all time. The Museum of Hoaxes has 100 of them, with the classic Sid Finch story number #2. They also have compiled the 10 Worst of all time (number #4 especially).