Friday, October 23, 2009 Midday

This is Mike Huckabee with The Huckabee Report.

You’re probably aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But you might not be aware that the disease can strike men, too. Peter Criss, the original drummer for the rock group KISS, just revealed that he was shocked to discover he had breast cancer. He was treated in 2008, but he told CNN that he kept it secret because he was embarrassed about what the tabloids would say. But he finally decided that if he went public, and it helped even one or two other men get diagnosed, then it would be a bigger achievement than a gold record. So a salute today to Peter Criss for his candor and his courage.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It might be hard to find a dose of swine flu vaccine, but don’t let that make you a target for con men. The FDA warned yesterday that the Internet is overflowing with scammers preying on swine flu fears. You can buy anything from fake Tamiflu to supplements, face masks, air sterilizers and even shampoos that claim to ward off swine flu. But the only germs you’ll be getting rid of are the ones that were riding on your money.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Democrats in the Senate are looking for some fast and politically palatable way to sneak past an increase in the national debt limit to over $13 trillion. The most likely method will be to quietly attach it to a defense funding bill, so that anyone who votes against it can be labeled unpatriotic. I don’t know why we even bother having a debt limit when Congress can just keep raising it. It’s like giving a shopaholic a credit card and warning him that if he maxes that out, he’ll be given another credit card.

Speaking of debt, some rich Germans have launched an online petition to bring back the wealth tax. They say it would help out the German government, and they’re just tripping over all this money they don’t need.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Want to get away from it all? The European Space Agency is looking for six European volunteers to simulate a 520-day round trip to Mars, to see how humans stand up to such a long-distance space flight. The crew will actually be locked together in a small isolation facility in Moscow. It will be like a round of the TV show, “Big Brother,” only it will last a year and a half. I hope they all survive.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Finally, a Proctor, Minnesota, man pleaded guilty to drunk driving in a La-Z-Boy recliner. He’d mounted his chair on a converted lawnmower chassis, and added a stereo and cup holders. After drinking eight or nine beers in a bar, he set off for home in his rolling recliner and crashed it into a parked car. No injuries, of course. He did learn a valuable lesson: recliners are made for guys who like to drink beer and have no place in particular to go.