Mad About Sarah

Now, I’m not suggesting that Palin has the qualifications of vice presidential candidates like Dick Cheney or George H.W. Bush. But if you look at her work in Alaska, you have to — at least, I think you have to — come away with the conclusion that she is a real political talent.

She really did take on the Republican political establishment in her state. She really did take on the Democrats. She really did take on the oil companies. She really does have a sky-high approval rating. And she did it all by starting as a concerned citizen without any connections. It’s quite a story.

[but that's not the 'mad' the title refers to - Recommended > ]

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About that 'experience'

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On the night of Thursday, October 2nd, first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will face off against six-term U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware in their only scheduled debate of this campaign season.

The conventional wisdom says that Biden must simply display the fruits of his 35 years of experience in Washington to hold his own. But as is so often the case, conventional wisdom fails to take into account how wrong

Biden has been on almost everything over the years...

[truly amazing list - Recommended > ]

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In this war, troops get a rousing welcome home

The young soldier hadn't slept in 48 hours or bathed in 72. Now that he was finally back from Iraq, all Pfc. Justin Gindhart wanted was a hot shower and a soft bed.

To his surprise, there was a troop of motorcycle-riding Vietnam vets to greet him at the airport; a police-escorted motorcade, past blocked-off intersections and highway entrances, that backed up traffic for miles; an appearance at a support-the-troops rally; a gathering of neighbors and friends, alerted by fire and ambulance sirens, outside his family's house. And the biggest shock of all — a reunion with a disabled comrade whose life he'd helped save in Iraq... [snip]

For many communities, nothing is too good when it comes to showing support for returning troops.

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Terror groups developing 'dirty bomb', say security chiefs

Islamist terrorists have stepped up their efforts to develop a 'dirty' bomb for use against Western targets, senior Western security sources have told The Daily Telegraph. They are exploiting the political chaos in Pakistan in a bid to acquire nuclear material for a 'spectacular' attack. At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistani-based terrorists planning to use nuclear material against a major European target.

[GWOT]

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Karzai backs U.S. on Pakistan

Islamabad - Afghan President Hamid Karzai backed a proposed U.S. strategy on Thursday to hit al Qaeda and Taliban militants in neighbouring Pakistan, but NATO said it would not join any cross-border U.S. raids.

(Snip) ''Change of strategy is essential,'' Karzai said. ''It means that we go to those areas which are the training bases and havens of (terrorists) and we jointly go there and remove and destroy them.''

[our 'alliance']

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Are we mad?

[UK]
Every organ of the state now seems intent on protecting those who would destroy us.

The picture on today's Mail Online website says it all. Abu Qatada, wanted by Jordan for involvement in terrorist attacks, strolls down a London street, carrying groceries paid for by the British taxpayer.

Beside him, on a mobile phone, apparently acting as a go-between, is Yasser Al-Sirri, wanted by Egypt for aiding an assassination attempt in 1993 of the then Prime Minister with a car bomb, which instead killed a young girl.

Both these men despise the country that is sheltering them. To Qatada, it is the duty of Muslims to kill non-Muslims. Al-Sirri refers to the 'impotence and criminal nature' of the British government. [snip]

The saddest aspect of the scandal of the British approach to foreign terrorists is that it is the very decency of this country that people like Qatada use against it. People who advocate murder flourish in a 'human rights culture'...

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Young Jewish Boy Savagely Beaten in Paris

(Snip) a visibly Jewish, kipah-wearing 17 year-old, Rudy Haddad, walking in a Jewish quarter, was set upon by 15-30 “African immigrants.”

No one is saying whether they are Muslims or not.

Alright, Martians from Africa beat Haddad with iron bars and fractured his skull...

[why not? possibly offensive or 'insensitive' to Muslims? And the Jewish boy's 'sensitivities'? How can we begin solving this complex but growing problem if our first step is to ignore it?]

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Russia warns West against Georgia support

MOSCOW — Russia warned the West today against supporting Georgia's leadership and called for an arms embargo against the ex-Soviet republic nation until a different government is in place. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks are likely to anger the United States and Europe and enrage Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. He made it clear Moscow wants Saakashvili out of power in Georgia.

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Latest UN News Is No News

[HT:WP]
The U.N. chief delivered a hard-hitting critique of lethargy in the ranks of the world body during a retreat for senior U.N. officials in Turin, Italy, late last month. He said that on assuming his job at the beginning of last year he discovered that

"there is bureaucracy ... and then there is the U.N. We waste incredible amounts of time on largely meaningless matters."

Several U.N. staff members told Reuters they found Ban's comments surprising, since they appeared on the surface to be an admission that he lacked authority as a leader.

The United Nations employs some 70,000 people worldwide.

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Green activists 'are keeping Africa poor'

Western do-gooders are impoverishing Africa by promoting traditional farming at the expense of modern scientific agriculture, according to Britain's former chief scientist.

Anti-science attitudes among aid agencies, poverty campaigners and green activists are denying the continent access to technology that could improve millions of lives, Professor Sir David King will say today.

[calm down, we're only talking about people here - they're not endangered...]

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The Power of Brainwashing

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday.

In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage. Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a ''lawful excuse'' to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change.

[from the nation that gave us the rule of law]

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Pelosi promises to protect Fla. from oil drilling

[HT:MD]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is promising Florida House members that she will not allow an energy bill to get through her chamber if it includes oil drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast.

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Pension Time Bomb

California

VALLEJO, Calif. -- Mayor Osby Davis, who has lived in this waterfront city across San Pablo Bay from San Francisco for 60 of his 62 years, says: "If you have a can that's leaking two ounces a minute and you put an ounce a minute in it, it's going to get empty." He is describing his city's coffers.

Joseph Tanner, who became city manager after this municipality of 120,000 souls was mismanaged to the brink of bankruptcy, stands at a whiteboard to explain the simple arithmetic that has pushed Vallejo over the brink. Its crisis -- a cash flow insufficient to cover contractual obligations -- came about because (to use fiscal 2007 figures) each of the 100 firefighters paid $230 a month in union dues and each of the 140 police officers paid $254 a month, giving their unions enormous sums to purchase a compliant city council.

So a police captain receives $306,000 a year in pay and benefits, a lieutenant receives $247,644, and the average for firefighters -- 21 of them earn more than $200,000, including overtime -- is $171,000. Police and firefighters can store up unused vacation and leave time over their careers and walk away, as one of the more than 20 who recently retired did, with a $370,000 check. Last year, 292 city employees made more than $100,000. And after just five years, all police and firefighters are guaranteed lifetime health benefits.

Nice work if you can get it, and you can get it in many places:

San Francisco recently reported that 184 of its employees made at least $30,000 apiece in overtime in the first half of this year. A nurse at the county jail made $128,000 in overtime, putting him on track to top his total 2007 compensation of about $350,000...

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Media Call Obama's 'Economic Disaster' Exaggeration a 'Sharpened Attack'

The word "disaster" can invoke images of the aftermath of hurricanes, tornados or tsunamis. But, on the campaign trail where there are political points to be scored - it's one quarter of a slight economic contraction followed up by two quarters of shallow economic growth, according to Obama.

At a town hall meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., Obama said an "economic disaster is happening right now." The media ignored the exaggeration. Instead, journalists across the board credited Obama with "sharpening his message."

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Island fourth grader suspended for using broken pencil sharpener

A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.

The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway. A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what was obviously the blade commonly found in a child's small, plastic pencil sharpener, the deputy noted.

The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal. He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action. [?!]

District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district's zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense...

[is this America? Where the adults we entrust our children to (and those we allow to carry guns around) don't have the collective I.Q. of a cabbage? How do we fix this? One idea: fire every adult involved in this that didn't stop it. Better idea: universal vouchers.]

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Some States Seek Integration Path for Illegal* Immigrants

Behind the national debate over illegal* immigration, a handful of Democratic governors are mounting a quiet offensive to integrate, rather than repel, illegal* newcomers.

The governors of Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Washington have signed orders that make illegal* immigrant integration a priority for their states, focusing on language, job and citizenship training as well as access to services, such as health care and public safety, for illegal* immigrants.

[* = I've inserted 'illegal' prior to every mention of 'immigrant(s)', because the piece eventually states these measures are for "particularly those here illegally" - yet other than that one sentence, omits this all-important distinction throughout {including the headline}.

2) When individual citizens defy laws while not hurting anyone, it's civil disobedience - a long honored and often required {to show harm which gives 'standing' in a court} tradition. When public municipalities {think: SF supervisors} or Governors do so, all of whom have sworn oaths to uphold the constitution, it's insurrection, and charges need be filed. Alas, our Rule Of Law has evidently become 'more of a guideline'.

Not Recommended, as the whole piece portrays these efforts in complete ignorance of the above facts, but...]

HERE IF INTERESTED

The Palin Rape Kit Myth

“Palin’s Town Used to Bill Victims for Rape Kits” was headline on a Thursday USA Today news story.

Reporters Ken Dilanian and Matt Kelley used a 2000 quote from former Wasilla Police Chief to blame Palin for an outdated, now illegal policy she never supported.

“In the past, we’ve charged the cost of exams to victim’s insurance companies when possible,”

former chief Charlie Fannon told the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in 2000 as then-Democratic Governor Tony Knowles was signing legislation to make local police branches cover the costs of the kits.

“I just don’t want to see any more burden on the taxpayer,” Fannon said at the time, which was reprinted in the USA Today. Fannon went on to say that he believed the criminal should be held responsible for the costs.

USA Today did not reprint those quotes from the interview.

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Muslim cabbies lose round in court

St. Paul, Minnesota - Muslim cab drivers whose religious beliefs go against driving passengers who carry alcohol have lost another round in court. The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday against the cab drivers' attempt to block penalties for refusing service.

An ordinance adopted by the Metropolitan Airports Commission last year revokes a cab driver's license for 30 days for refusing a fare (Snip) A second refusal brings a two-year revocation.

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Asian soot, smog may boost global warming in US

Associated Press, by Seth Borenstein Original Article

[the good news is, evidently the global warming isn't effecting the rest of the, well, globe]
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