1. Utter stupidity and vacuousness 101 - John Rocker
John Rocker, long retired from being a minorly-infamous MLB pitcher and source of a significant number of comments about others that seemed to come from a source of half-baked adolescent wankery, has (for reasons that are a mystery to me, but perhaps the money was good) written an article for WorldNet Daily.
Ken over at Popehat, who, as a badass lawyer, can spot verbal nonsense a couple of miles away, analyzes the article...and, well, to say that he finds it wanting is a bit of an understatement.

2. The Mitt Romney European Tour of 2012
Every so often I am asked by fellow Americans who are off to visit or vacation in Europe for some words of advice about what to do, places to visit, what to expect etc. I try to help them (but as you know, some humans are better listeners than others).
One of the things that the really smart ones ask me (not as often as I would like) is: any advice on how to behave?
I like that question, because it allows me to try and explain the phenomenon of The Ugly American, why the stereotype exists, and what they can do to ensure that they do not live down to it. IMPORTANT NOTE - Nobody ever lives up to a stereotype.
Sadly, nobody from Mitt Romney's campaign called me before Mitt set off across the pond on his Impress The Hell Out Of Prospective Voters And Look Presidential 2012 Europe Tour (with special diversion To The Middle East). If they had, I would have given them the same advice that I always give my fellow Americans:

1. Listen, and ask questions if you don't understand why something is the way it is
2. Before you open your mouth, ask yourself if you are about to complain about something. If you are, ask yourself if you are about to complain simply because it is not the same way as in the USA. If the answer to that question is Yes, Don't Say A Word. This is a cultural difference, and complaining about it will immediately mark you as an Ugly American.

It is obvious that Mitt Romney did not absorb anything approaching sensible advice before he set off to Europe.
Now, before I say anything else, I should add that when I lived in Europe, we grew wearily used to seeing politicians or candidates arriving in the UK on a whistle-stop tour of Europe. They would usually say some nice things about the UK, then they would jet off to Ireland or Scotland or some far-flung locale to look for their roots, or engage in a similar activity allowing for some variation of the "man of the people" photo-op. They would also utter nonsensical claptrap along the way that we rapidly realized was intended only for domestic USA consumption. Thus, Irish American politicians would make some ludicrous statements about how the IRA were really not that bad a bunch of chappies and the UK should stop oppressing the people of Northern Ireland (or some such guff). This was all intended for the good old boys in Boston and other Irish enclaves in the USA. I think it's called pandering to your base.
I have no idea why Mitt Romney thought that visiting Europe was a good idea at all in this election cycle. He has no foreign policy experience whatsoever, and has never shown any interest in it as a discpline (not that he had to in any of his previous roles). Unlike (say) George H W Bush, who had accumulated a lot of understanding of the rest of the world because of his role in the CIA and being an ambassador, Romney was starting from ground zero with this trip. Given the legendary lack of interest by most of Middle America towards The Rest Of The World, unless Americans are in peril or bringing back sporting trophies or cheap oil, I have to ask; who the hell thought this was a good idea? I can only assume that the Desire To Look Presidential outweighed all other cautionary thoughts.
So off Mitt goes to Europe, where, from every published account, he basically put his foot in it every other time he opened his mouth,starting in London. When the Mayor of London essentially mocks a US Presidential candidate in public, you know you have probably fucked up in PR terms with your hosts.
The amazing thing is that having committed one faux pas, one would think that Romney would have the good sense to, you know, shut up and focus on listening instead of talking. But no, he goes and makes more inflammatory comments, this time in Israel, which the last time I looked, was regarded as an important US ally in the Middle East. The low point in courtesy terms may have been an abrasive encounter between Romney PR hacks and the media at a Polish holy site, where a Romney advisor told several media representatives to "kiss my ass". That, ladies and gentlemen, is no shining example of positive international relations.
Now...bearing in mind what I said earlier, there is a good argument that none of the European reaction matters. Romney was just talking to the electorate back in the USA, therefore, so the theory goes, the only thing that matters is their reaction.
However, we have to consider what the fallout will be if Romney is elected in November. He will be starting from a perception in Europe that he is a buffoon. This will be worse than the position that George W. Bush started from in 2001 after 9/11 when he began to assemble the Coalition Of The Willing. Bush Jr. was regarded as a lightweight in Europe, but polite skepticism swiftly turned to hostility as his key lieutenants like Donald Rumsfeld (the "Old Europe" jibe) and John Bolton proceeded to open their mouths and say utterly uneffingbelievably stupid things that reduced the willingness of Europe to help in the invasion of Iraq. The final coalition was a lot smaller than it could have been.
Quite simply, being smart and nice pays off, being a bunch of boorish twits does not.
Mitt Romney might regard the trip as a success, but Europe was not impressed, and that will have its own medium term consequences. This, by the way, is one reason why I am not even remotely considering voting for Mitt Romney in the November election. The guy demonstrated on this tour that (a) he is out of his depth, and (b) he does not think ahead. Those are key skills deficits for a prospective US President.