Palin does it again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100629/pl_ynews/ynews_pl2928

Following in others' grand tradition of demonstrating gaps in knowledge while addressing a university, Sarah Palin told a crowd at a fundraiser at California State University in Stanislaus last weekend that Ronald Reagan, personal hero and inspiration, was a California college graduate. She told the cheering crowd: "This is Reagan country, and perhaps it was destiny that the man who went to California's Eureka College would become so woven within and interlinked to the Golden State."

There's just one problem here: Reagan went to Eureka College in Illinois from 1928 to 1932, the Alaska Dispatch reports. He didn't move to California until five years after his graduation. There's no Eureka College in California (though there's a town of Eureka that has a College of the Redwoods nearby).

[From Obama to Bush: Worst political gaffes]

Immediately after her speech, a live microphone caught voices in the press area trashing the former Alaska governor, Mediate reported. "The dumbness doesn't just come from soundbites," one complained. The Fox affiliate owned the microphone but says their reporters did not make the comments.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports on a more serious recent mistake of Palin's political organization. Administrators for her legal defense fund accidentally sent out a rough draft of an email to thousands of supporters that falsely claimed she faced "millions of dollars" in legal fees because of "frivolous" ethics suits against her. The corrected version of the email said the fees numbered in the hundreds of thousands, not millions.

[PHOTOS: View a slideshow of Sarah Palin]

Critics say several more claims in the email were not true. The email said 26 of 27 ethics violations against Palin were dismissed outright, which is false: Three moved into the investigative phase. One inquiry resulted in a cash settlement; another found that ethics had been abridged but declined to recommend legal proceedings because the charge involved the dismissal of the head of the Alaska state trooper force, who was an at-will employee of the governor.

The email also alleged that the Democratic National Committee created a website whose goal is to keep Palin out of public office — a charge that the organization says is untrue.

Last week, the earlier incarnation of Palin's defense fund was ruled illegal because it used the word "official." The decision forced the fund's administrators to pay back the $400,000 in donations they raised, and to launch the newer version of the fund.

Laughing so hard, I'm Speechless, lol

http://www.book22.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=ABOU&Store_Code=Book22

 Im not even gonna make jokes,
and i dont even necessarily want or expect, opinions, tho they are always welcome.

 just seems to me to be so typical of someone who envisions themselves as "good" christians
apology upfront to anyone offended by my sense of humor
 
file this under "wtf"?????? lol.

$30, and a Lie Costs Fishermen $1,000,000

A cautionary moral to this story could be that id you take a person at their word, you may be in for a sad reality later.

If a person gets caught fishing without a license, in most cases, it results in a fine of perhaps a few hundred dollars.

For those aboard Citation, however, the infraction represents a setback of nearly $1 million

The fushermen had been participating in the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament,  off North Carolina. Andy Thomossan landed what was by far the biggest fish: an 883-pound marlin, a tournament record.

The team on Saturday was declared winner of the prestigious competition, and there was plenty of celebration.

However, there also was a post-event lie-detector test, after which it was revealed that one of the hired crew did not possess a valid fishing license, available in North Carolina for only $15, or $30 for non-residents.

That was a violation of tournament rules and after lengthy deliberation, , tournament officials late Tuesday disqualified the catch and and denied the Citation team the winning purse.


Full story here

Obese and Pregnant = Danger

New statistics suggest that poverty and an obesity epidemic are contributing to stubborn mortality rates among pregnant women in New York City.

The Health Department reported yesterday that half the 161 women who died because of a problem with their pregnancy between 2001 and 2005 were obese. It says a disproportionate number lacked health insurance.

The city's rate of 23.1 pregnancy deaths per 100,000 births is twice the national average.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/obese_preg_woe_for_city_EsruHUvGiaDUADGJ8hzQBK?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

Isnt it Time We Took Elections Seriously

I mean lately it seems some of the worst are getting into office. Other times, complete unknowns. Here is the latest one, a man in South Carolina wins a Senatorial primary, with absolutely no experience, no campaign, no money, and a questionable background.
Well ok the questionable background, can be discounted because who in politics doesnt these days.  And as far as money and experience goes, i guess we could discount them also since its obvious neither of those qualifications have meant much to the nation lately either.
 But just who is  Alvin Greene , and how did he win election the South Carolinas Senate primary?
     As recently as Memorial Day, Alvin Greene was an unemployed 32-year-old, 13-year military veteran who had been involuntarily discharged from both the Army and the Air Force and was facing an obscenity charge for allegedly showing a teenage stranger online pornography in a college campus computer lab
What he became after winning 59% of the vote in the June 8 Democratic primary is now in dispute

 full story here

GOP Rep. of Texas APOLOGIZES to BP for Obama 'shakedown'

GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Texas — the ranking member on the House Energy Committee — made a decisive splash in his opening remarks. A staunch conservative who has a long record of backing oil industry interests, Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the "shakedown"  the Obama White House pulled on the company. (Barton has received more than $1.5 million in campaign donations from the oil industry, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan watchdog group.) You can watch the video here—the apology occurs at the 1:45 mark:

I dont know but it seems GOP, Texas, and big business, especially as related to the oil industry are all in bed with one another.One big happy family.Can anyone say Corruption?? , conflict of interest????.

Unemployed Less Likely to be Hired????

Talk about a no win situation

Employment experts say they believe companies are increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job.

Some job postings include restrictions such as "unemployed candidates will not be considered" or "must be currently employed." Those explicit limitations have occasionally been removed from listings when an employer or recruiter is questioned by the media though
But even if companies don't spell out in a job listing that they won't consider someone who currently doesn't have a job, experts said that unemployed applicants are typically ruled out right off the bat.

"Most executive recruiters won't look at a candidate unless they have a job, even if they don't like to admit to it," said Lisa Chenofsky Singer, a human resources consultant from Millburn, NJ, specializing in media and publishing jobs.

She said when she proposes candidates for openings, the first question she is often asked by a recruiter is if they currently have a job. If the answer is no, she's typically told the unemployed candidate won't be interviewed.

"They think you must have been laid off for performance issues," she said, adding that this is a "myth" in a time of high unemployment.

It is not against the law for companies to exclude the unemployed when trying to fill positions, said Judy Conti, a lobbyist for the National Employment Law Project

Full story HERE

Asian Congressman to BP exec: Commit hara-kiri

Criticism of BP PLC reached a new level Tuesday when a U.S. Congressman from Louisiana suggested the company's executives might consider killing themselves in the wake of the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, The Washington Post reported.

At a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, Rep Joseph Cao (R-La.) said he wouldn't merely be satisfied by resignations, noting that in the past, responsible parties would have faced a worse fate.

"In the Asian culture we do things differently," Cao said to BP America CEO Lamar McKay, according to the Post.

"During the Samurai days, we'd just give you a knife and ask you to commit hara-kiri," he said, referring to Japanese ritual suicide.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/congressman_to_bp_exec_kill_yourself_yUCwVzkNDDogADYJwAfybJ?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

Republicans Bush-whacked

A few weeks ago its Laura bush, G.W>'s wife who came out in favor of in favor of abortion rights and gay marriage
Now it daughter Barbara Bush, coming out in favor of Obama's helth care bill, saying "I guess I'm glad the bill was passed."

And as a little extra
Laura Bush was asked to comment on Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court.and she said "I think it's great,"

Full story and video here

just shows that when you really try and be open, and fair minded, you too will see the light, but first remove the plank from your eyes, let him who eyes see and him who has blah, blah, blah.. you get the point



Let me end with a sadly funny insight about the last president, and his terms in office.
 it went something like this
 "you should have known it couldnt be good when the "smart" brother has a name like Jeb"

U.S. Policy: Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.

I have said it many times before and now with yet a new "partner" infested with fleas, it bears repeating.  The U.S. has always bought it friends. They gave few if any real friends.  Trouble is, that even then, when the U.S. is done using them, or when "they" stop doing our bidding,  the U.S.discards them like yesterdays news.

Its no secret, i hope, that the U.S. has in the past gotten in bed with the likes of Saddam Hussein, and  Osama Bin Laden, supplying both with arms,  training and money to fight enemies of the U.S.  of course once the relationship soured, as it always does. they too became our enemies

 The newest member on our naughty list is Pakistan.

the U.S., which has provided billions of dollars in military assistance to Islamabad since 2001 to help fight the Taliban.  But a recent report stated, the country's powerful Inter Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, continues to work closely with the Taliban and is even represented on the group's leadership council.

Many analysts have suggested in the past that current or former ISI officials have maintained links to the Taliban. But the report offers one of the strongest cases that assistance to the group is official ISI policy, and even extends to the highest levels of the Pakistani government.

"Pakistan's apparent involvement in a double-game of this scale could have major geopolitical implications and could even provoke U.S. countermeasures," said the report, which was written by Matt Waldman, a fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

U.S. countermeasures???  Ha, thats a joke. Pakistan is a nyclear power and as such, there is nothing we can do to intimidate them physically. Sure we could wipe them out, but at what Global cost?  Sure we could again ally ourselves with our old friend India.  She is all too willing to do our bidding against Pakistan. BUT both are nuclear powers, and arguably unstable powers at best.  So that risk makes it a no-go.

Our only recourse is one that i have always maintained is the perfect solution to all greedy nations,including and especially the U.S.

  Hurt them in their pockets, financially. With Pakistan, remove all monetary support.  trouble with this is that the government would no doubt collapse and then we risk NUKES falling into even more radical, unstable hands. But we can at least threaten them with withdrawal of monetary support and see where that goes

But with the U.S. there is little risk. We already had the most unstable government the previous 8 years, and the world, tho less well off is still intact.  as long as we dont elect our own religious extremists (christian evangelicals)  we will remain mostly stable.  unfortunately tho, that is exactly the plan for the next presidential election in the U.S.

But computers run the world today. Dont attack innocent people as so often happens in a traditional war. Instead, go after the computers that run everything.

knock out computers, knock out satellites, knock out communication, knock out power grids,  knock out financial services.  With not one shot fired at a human being, you can destroy the world as we know it. or at least destroy that part of the world affected by these measures..

 Why do you think we want to put weapons capable of destroying anti-satellite weapons in poland? and why do you think Russia is so opposed?  and why do yo think China is developing the technology to destroy satellites? because satellites are our eyes and ears,  the brains of our current world

Arizona 'Attempts Another Illegal Immigrant Law

Its being called the Anchor Baby Law, because it will attempt to deny birth certificates and thus automatic citizenship to babies born on American soil, but to illegal immigrant parents.
 
trouble is, it is no doubt completely unconstitutional.

the constitution explicitly states automatic citizenship to anyone born on american soil. Ironically this law was an attempt to correct a wrong done from slavery and is now coming back to bite us in the ass. which is exactly what the country deserves for having been so self serving and lazt in inventing slavery in the first place.  Something akin to sins of our fathers, etc.  Most of us, of all colors,  are still slaves today to one thing or another. Ah but i digress. that is a story for another day

 Im no lawyer but i would think the only way to make this Baby Law law work would be to liken it to a criminal making a profit on a legal enterprise, but with ill gotten gains.  All would be subject to forfeiture. So should be the case of babies born here to illegal immigrant parents.  you either

• accept a birth certificate stating "illegal" on it, and thus not eligible for citizenship,

or

• you forfeit your child

and in in either you are immediately deported .

I'll call this bill "China Lite" after the law in China prohibiting more than one child.  And obviously i dont even like option 2 simply because the last thing we need in this country is more kids dependant upon government to raise them.

Full story on the proposed law here

God Help our Kids ....... and Us ........ and the Future

It would be laughable if it wasnt so sad and scary. here are actual guidelines for scoring on nys math tests.  and dont get all cocky, your state is no better and possibly worse: and home schooling?  well thats a tragedy all in itself.   Its like releasing someone into the REAL world after 12 years in a closet.  
Anyway here's  some details

scoring guides  reveal that kids get half-credit or more for showing fragments of work related to the problem -- even if they screw up the calculations or leave the answer blank.

Examples in the fourth-grade scoring guide include:

* A kid who answers that a 2-foot-long skateboard is 48 inches long gets half-credit for adding 24 and 24 instead of the correct 12 plus 12.

* A miscalculation that 28 divided by 14 equals 4 instead of 2 is "partially correct" if the student uses the right method to verify the wrong answer.

* Setting up a division problem to find one-fifth of $400, but not solving the problem -- and leaving the answer blank -- gets half-credit.

* A kid who subtracts 57 cents from three quarters for the right change and comes up with 15 cents instead of 18 cents still gets half-credit.

* A student who figures the numbers of books in 35 boxes of 10 gets half-credit despite messed-up multiplication that yields the wrong answer, 150 instead of 350.

These questions ask students to show their work. The scoring guidelines, called "holistic rubrics," require that points be given if a kid's attempt at an answer reflects a "partial understanding" of the math concept, "addresses some element of the task correctly," or uses the "appropriate process" to arrive at a wrong solution. Despite flubbing the answer, students can get 1 point on a 2-point problem and 1 or 2 points on a 3-pointer. 

Full story here

---------

Future presidents may actually make Bush appear to have been intelligent. Heck, the way Palin is going , SHE is making Bush look intelligent. And yes Obama is doing almost everything wrong too, but make no mistake,  he iS intelligent.  His problem is he is an ideologue who if SO focused on HIS view of how the world should be, and to hell with EVERYONE else. But remember IF bush wasnt SO BAD, obama never would have gotten in.  It was simply a classic example of the worst overcorrection in my lifetime.

Blockade Disaster

Warring jews at it again. when we they finally be labeled terrorists?
 A conroversial 3 year old blockade, preventing supplies from getting toan already impoverished nation,  turned deadly yesterday.

And if you live in the U.S., know this before you say anything about how the Jews have the right to protect their land,
the land claimed and occupied by the Jews, is no more Jewish or Israeli than your house , where you currently live is native American.
  Yes thats right, foreign interlopers, our ancestors,  STOLE America from the Indians (native americans).then lied to, cheated and massacred them. 
So unless you are willing to admit that where you live belongs to the native americans, and unless your willing to relinquish your house back to the native americans, you have nothing to say in defense of the jews preventing aid to PALESTINE.
Palestine ceased belonging to the jews over 1200 years ago.  america ceased belonging to the native americans just over a few hundred years ago.
Thats it cut and dried.
If you arent willing to correct a more recent wrong, then dont speak about one so ancient

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100601/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians