A Question

Obama aides have long argued that their candidate offers hope while McCain offers fear. Judging by the balance of messages both candidates are giving voters before Election Day, it’s hard to disagree.  

Question: You take the money that government generates and you spread that money equally among all of the citizens. Is that: the former Soviet Republic? … or Alaska? 

    

Abuse of Power to Ethics Violations

Amazing what you can do in your first 20 months.  So this is the “executive experience” that Sarah brings? 

• Abuse of power (guilty),
• Ethics violations (probe in progress)
• $17,000 in per diem tax dollars for sleeping in her own bed
• Airline tickets and hotels for the family to watch Todd in a snowmobile race… 

After being found guilty of abusing her power as governor in the so-called “troopergate” scandal over the firing of her ex-brother-in-law, Palin now faces a second probe over whether she violated ethics rules in the affair.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081023/ts_alt_afp/usvoterepublicanpalin;_ylt=AjHwJaaTvU1BFlwxM6rTMFus0NUE

Obama Deadline

Final decisions about our ground operation will be based on the financial resources we have on hand.

We’re too close to the finish line to fall short, and we can’t afford to look back and wish that we had done more.

Make a donation of $10 or more to own a piece of this movement before the final deadline.

You can also choose to receive an Obama-Biden T-shirt with a donation of $30 or more:

https://donate.barackobama.com/deadlinetshirt

The race is tight, and we simply can’t slow down.

We need to keep fighting right up until the end, and your donation today will strengthen this campaign in the final push.

Thanks so much,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Another Downturn – Foreclosures up 70%

WASHINGTON – The number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to data released Thursday. 

By the end of the year, RealtyTrac expects more than a million bank-owned properties to have piled up on the market, representing around a third of all properties for sale in the U.S.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27329406

 

Palin’s Shopping Sprees & Maintenance

GOP spends $150,000 for Palin’s wardrobe in September

Most of it (over 75%) was spent in 2 massive shopping sprees: The expenses include $75,062 spent at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis Minn., and $41,850 in St. Louis in early September. (That’s $117,000 in 2 shopping trips – that’s the cost of a house).

The GOP spent $4,700 for her makeup and hair styling (just in September).  I wonder if her donors knew they were supporting her makeup requirements when they wrote their checks. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27320899

Living with Wolves

I saw this National Geographic special on Ellis and wolves and it was fantastic.  By studying their howls closely, he developed a system that uses the appropriate type of howl to warn other packs to stay away.  The system can be used by ranchers to keep wolves away – instead of shooting them from planes. 

Shaun’s method allows for co-existence and is much cheaper.

The show is called Living With the Wolfman and it premieres this week on Animal Planet (APL – Direct Tv 282). 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/165028?GT1=43002 
Perhaps you’ve heard of Shaun Ellis before. For 21 years, the British wolf expert has been living among wolves—howling, licking and snarling as one of them, both in the wild and in captivity, in the name of research. He spent seven years on an Indian reservation near Yellowstone National Park studying their distinctive howls, and ultimately publishing a book on the topic, “The Wolf Talk.” Later, he was the subject of a National Geographictelevision special, which documented his experience of raising a trio of cubs abandoned at birth, teaching them how to howl and hunt, and ultimately integrating them into a local pack.

Defining Marriage

Palin said she believed traditional marriage is the foundation for strong families.

And:  9 out of 10 bible-thumping divorcees agreed.

Conservative Newspapers Publish Endorsements

Today 5 major papers from 5 major US markets announced endorsements for the presidential race.  The papers were from New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.  The Chicago and DC papers are nationally known as “Conservative” papers. I think you can see where this is going:

Knowledge, Learnedness, Insight

The idea of “leadership” must include knowledge, learnedness and insight.
Let’s look at the educational background of your two options:

Obama:
Occidental College – Two years.
Columbia University – B.A. Political Science with a specialization in International Relations.
Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
(J.D. is a doctor of law, the legal counterpart to M.D.)

Biden:
University of Delaware – B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy – Class rank 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University – 1 semester
North Idaho College – 2 semesters – general study
University of Idaho – 2 semesters – journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College – 1 semester
University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

Cowboys woes

Well, the Cowboys no longer have to worry about winning with ’style points’, as was the case 2 weeks ago against the Bengals.  After that win, the fans and media complained that while the Cowboys won…they didn’t win “good enough”.  For the foreseeable future, it will be back as it should be: A win is a win. 

This week the Cowboys suffered injuries to: Tony Romo/QB/Broken finger (throwing hand) – 4 weeks  Mat McBriar/P/Broken Foot - 8 weeks (most likely I.R., out for season), Felix Jones/RB/Hamstring – Unknown, Sam Hurd/WR/Ankle surgery – Unknown, Terrence Newman/CB/Sports Hernia – 4 weeks.  In addition, Adam Jones was in an incident and may face a short suspension. 

Newman and Hurd injuries weren’t new, but the decision to have surgery came down this week. 

So now any win the Cowboys can muster up is a good win.  The Cowboys have 3 games in the next 4 weeks: St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and New York (Giants).  The 4th week is their bye week.  They need to pull it together and win 1 of these 3.  If they can pull off 2 out of those 3, it would be magnificent. 

How do they do it?  When Bledsoe was playing he was getting hit every time he dropped back.  Brad Johnnson is probably less mobile and definitely doesn’t have the arm that Drew had.  When Tony got back there, that line started looking a lot better – Tony made things happen.  No longer can the defense have the mindset that they always have Tony back their to bail them out.  The Cowboys defense, which has had so many high draft picks, needs to play. 

So here’s the thought – Hey Defense, how about you win 1 of these games?  If the D can go out there and crush one of those offenses (presumably the Rams), then we win 10 to 6.   If the D can stand strong and the offense can step it up, then we might be able to get one of the other games, 17-14. 

This assumes that the Special Teams fixes its issues. 

As for Adam Jones, if any of us received a final ultimatum and deal for millions of dollars, and basically the only stipulation was “don’t go to bars/clubs/etc. during the football season”, we could pull it off.  Turn your phone off and work – you’ll live.  I don’t really get it, but I can see how you don’t do it for the love of the game, for your team, for your fans, for your boss who gave you the second chance…but why not at least do it for yourself?  Great players would do it for the love of the game and for their team, so at best Adam Jones is a “good” player.  Hopefully he won’t get suspended but if he does, I won’t be surprised.