THE BESTIES 2010!!!

Presenting the 2010 Punchinnaface Press Besties Awards!

Also known as "Stuff Johnny likes"!

It might be a bit silly to have a "Best of" award after only a few months of writing this thing but what the hell? I don't have to be at work.

I hope you like them!

Bestie for Civil Liberties: The award goes to... "Abandon Hope". "Abandon Hope" concerns the administrations assertion that it can target American citizens for execution without congressional or judicial oversight, an enormous expansion of executive authority to say the least.

Bestie for Economics: The award goes to... "Your Government at Work, Give Until it Hurts Them Edition". It details some of the ways that excessive charity have severely undermined Haitian reconstruction.

Bestie for Education: The award goes to... "I'm Educational Programming". In this particular case, I'm educating you on the proper method of fire eating. Please kids, try at home!

Bestie for Foreign Policy: The award goes to... "Zombie Alert". The smart, smart people over at Foreign Policy magazine were kind enough to dedicate a bit of their brain power to analyzing different responses to the inevitable break out of the Walking Dead.

Bestie for Fun: The award goes to... "Hey Sarah! I Can See Your House from Here!" In which we examine the myriad joys provided by really, really powerful zoom lenses.

Bestie for International: The award goes to... "Mike Bait". I don't think ululating has ever been so funny.

Bestie for Law: The award goes to... "Ivy League Thieves". Since Kelo vs. New London, eminent domain abuse has been legalized. The fact that homes and businesses were seized in order to directly benefit a for-profit institution, regardless of whether or not it's a university is scandalous.

Bestie for Media: The award goes to... "Glenn Beck is an Idiot". I don't know that I really need to say much more. However, this post concerns an utterly fabricated claim he made this year. Specifically: What percentage of Muslims are terrorists.

Bestie for Music: The award goes to... "Music". This was a tough one as there was some pretty serious competition. In the end, Bob Log III won out based on his pure, unbridled fun. However I have to maintain: that woman in the purple dress is a wet blanket.

Bestie for News: The award goes to... "The New Celebrity Accessory". An accessory is a generally useless thing bestowing no practical value. A celebrity given a UN Commission is different because...hmm...Not sure.

Bestie for Personal: The award goes to... "My Big, Fat Seattle Trip". Pictures! Silly stories! A jerk seagull! Huzzah!

Bestie for Poetry: The award goes to... "Poem for the Week". Specifically, it goes to "Field Mice" by Daniel Bailey.

Bestie for Politics: The award goes to... "On Voting". This post considers the idea of voting as a duty. Essentially it asks if a greater duty, when presented with bad choices, is to abstain, inasmuch as voting for either choice grants support to bad policy.

Bestie for Puppy vs. X: The award goes to... "Puppy vs. Wall". Probably the most enjoyable category to judge. Let's face it: puppies.

Bestie for Religion: The award goes to... "Wowzers". I am pretty much default set to "criticize religion". However, I will concede that religion has produced some startling art. This post contains a link to an extraordinary look at the Sistine Chapel. I'd suggest pairing it with your look at this years Bestie for Fun.

Bestie for Science: The award goes to... "Genetically Engineered Awesome". Science has of course, produced remarkable things. In this case, it's produced what could be a breakthrough for materials.

Bestie for Security: The award goes to... "Kafkaesque". Responses to Wikileaks vary across the political spectrum (I myself would be "mixed"). However, responses by the military to secret up the secrets have been in many cases, simply surreal.

Bestie for Sports: The award goes to... "Football!". Frankly, "Sports" is a very small category on this blog. I considered dropping it from consideration and it may not appear next year. However, this post does contain video showing the remarkable athleticism of Steelers safety, Troy Polamalu. So it wins!

Bestie for The Daily Horror: The award goes to... "The Daily Horror". WARNING: Not for the claustrophobic.

Bestie for The Dead: The award goes to... "The Dead". Here you can learn about Romain Gary, an amazing man you probably never heard of.

Bestie for The Periodic Nice: The award goes to...Oh wow! A tie! First, we'll hand the award to "The Periodic Nice", George Takei edition and then follow it up with "The Periodic Nice", fuzzy tummy edition! Congratulations to both of them!

Bestie for Video: The award goes to... "Your Daily Wow". A tough choice to say the least. However, I just find this video to be astonishing. Please watch in full screen.

And finally...

Bestie for Weird: The award goes to... "Some Cow". Makes me a little hungry.