On Chris Brown.

Remember this?

Kanye West gave a performance that will never be forgotten at the MTV Video Music Awards, but unfortunately for him, it had nothing to do with his music. 

The rapper stormed on stage to unleash an astonishing rant during an acceptance speech by country starlet Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards last night. 

The 19-year-old singer, who was collecting Best Female Video for You Belong To Me, was left humiliated as West snatched the microphone from her hands.

In an outlier to her authentic-as-astroturf albums, Swift had this to say:

I was standing on stage and I was really excited because I'd just won the award and then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage. And then I wasn't excited anymore after that.

Romantic sacrifice.

CBS/Turner signs 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with the NCAA for exclusive rights to the men's basketball tournament after the NCAA opts out of the final three years of an 11-year, $6 billion dollar contract.

ESPN signs 12-year, $1.86 billion deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference for exclusive rights to broadcast conference football and men's basketball games.

CBS signs 15-year, $800 million deal with the Southeastern Conference for football and basketball rights.

ESPN also signs 15-year, $2.25 billion deal with the SEC for sport broadcast rights — ultimately more than 5,500 televised events, including football games not already on CBS.

ESPN signs 20-year, $300 million deal with the University of Texas for sport broadcast rights, including at least one football game per year.

ESPN signs $125 million-a-year deal with the Bowl Championship Series for exclusive rights to the four most prestigious post season NCAA Division I Football post-season games and the "BCS National Championship Game".

Big Ten schools earn $22 million-a-year from television contracts, football bowl games and NCAA licensing.

The University of Georgia generated $52.5 million in football profits from 1 July, 2009 to 30 June, 2010.

A.J. Green, former Georgia football player and projected first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, wore the number '8' on his jersey. Price of an "Authentic" Georgia football jersey, from the official NCAA merchandise store, adorned with the number '8': $150.00.  Green's name, hysterically, is not across the back of the jersey because the NCAA believes that itself and schools should not profit off the name of amateur athletes.  That even though they market them, that even though they sign billion-dollar contracts to showcase them on television where they are repeatedly called by name, they won't sell a jersey with an athlete's name on it in the name of keeping the sport 'pure'.  In the name of upholding 'amateurism'.

So, on 8 September, 2010, in the name of maintaining the purity of collegiate athletics, the NCAA suspended Georgia football player A.J. Green four games for selling a game-worn bowl jersey for $1000.

Scott Fitzgerald actually said this stuff.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald had a few things to say:

Today, the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin are going to pat themselves on the back and smile for the cameras.

I know the Bucks have wildly underperformed their expectations this season, but is that enough to call their players 'shameful'?  Shouldn't we — as fans, as people — withhold such rhetoric until a higher threshold of shame is crossed?  Hell, Andrew Bogut rushed back from a catastrophic elbow injury just for a fast-becoming apathetic fanbase.  Shameful is a low blow, Senator.  

Subtracting Redd from the usual 15-man roster, however, is hysterical.  Touché, salesman.

They're going to pretend they're heroes for taking a three week vacation.

Oh.  He's talking about the Senate Democrats who left the state in an attempt to stop a totalitarian regime from ramming a bill through.  Great.

Straight Rights Watch: Indiana

This week, on 'Adventures in Sexcrime'...

What are you up to, Indiana?

"The vast majority of both the Senate and House are pro-life legislators, and I think we truly represent Hoosier constituents," said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion, who authored House Bill 1210, the bill that would make abortions illegal after 20 weeks. Current state law bans it after the fetus is viable, which a doctor determines, generally around 24 weeks

That... hmm. That certainly doesn't justify an hour of programming on Lifetime. False alarm, thanks for reading, be sure to-

Oh. There's more?

Jeff Fitzgerald: 2 + 2 = 5

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald today:

We ran on this.  We were going to get the fiscal house in order. This is how we ran in our election. This is how we picked up 14 seats from you guys.  The public spoke (in the elections).  They said, ‘no more, no more. We want you to go to Madison and do what you say you’re going to do.’

Says PolitiFact: 

But Walker, who offered many specific proposals during the campaign, did not go public with even the bare-bones of his multi-faceted plans to sharply curb collective bargaining rights. He could not point to any statements where he did. We could find none either.

"This is a violation of law!"

The Wisconsin State Senate passed a stripped-down version of Governor Scott Walker's "budget-repair bill" earlier tonight. Having had all budget-related elements expunged from the bill in an earlier, makeshift committee with only one Democrat present — Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca — the nineteen Senate Republicans were able to vote on Walker's bill as a non-budgetary action in the Senate does not require a successful quorum — what the Senate Democrats had been blocking with their escape from state troopers to Illinois.

And it wasn't even legal. Wisconsin law requires a twenty-four hour notice before a public body — like the aforementioned makeshift committee — can meet and only two hours were given. This breach of conduct weighed not on the Republican's minds for a second nor did the incredulous protests of Barca. "This is a violation of law! It's not a rule!"

Michigan thinks Walker isn't extreme enough.

Let's see what Michigan is up to.

Legislation that would allow emergency financial managers to throw out union contracts and overrule elected officials in financially distressed municipalities and school districts was approved in the Senate today.

Remember how Obama was being lambasted for using 'czars'? Even though they had no power? And were just glorified advisors that took his positions in meetings and would report back with status updates and their own views? Remember that? And the outrage from Republicans? There's no way any Senate Republicans from Michigan voted for this measure. No way. That would be hypocritical beyond hysterics.