Bombardier Can -Am Spyder nifty 3 wheeler

First of all, how do you pronounce Bombardier?

Is it bombar-deer, bombar-dee-aye or is it bomb-bar-yay?

Once you get past the pronunciation hurdle, the rest looks like fun.



Don’t expect to see this machine lined up on the streets of Sturgis in August.

Actually, at a cost of between $15,000 and $20,000, you may not find very many of them lined up anywhere.

Labeled a Sport Roadster, this cute little ATV looks and acts like is was originally meant to be a jet-ski or a snowmobile.

A review of the Can-Am Spyder can be found here.

The moose hunter who could be vice president

Sarah Palin (pictured) has only been governor of Alaska for 18 months. Before that she was the mayor of Wasilla, a suburb of Anchorage with a population of less than 10,000.

Will the Obama camp go after Palin for her lack of experience or will they fear a backlash because of Barack’s lack of experience?

Scott Johnson of Power Line says:

Obama's endless parade of ignorant gaffes are walled off by a bodyguard of media fans. Governor Palin will have no such margin for error.

You can bet that less than one hour after McCain introduced Palin as his running mate there were at least two private jets taking of for Alaska with investigators on board intent on digging up dirt on the VP pick.

ABC is gleefully reporting that Gov. Palin is already under investigation in Alaska. The ABC article at the link below is proudly boasting that she could be deposed.

It’s the same ABC that, along with most of the other news networks, gloss over or ignore the Rezko Obama connection.

Link

Learn how to sign with this Deaf School sign

This sign at the School for the Deaf, on East 23rd Street between Second and Third avenues in New York City, gives a lesson in American Sign Language.

(click on picture to enlarge)

A very cool sign - bullet holes and all. The New York City Department of Transportation deserves a thumbs up.

Link

Come look Gerturde! I told you flying saucers were real!

A British company is developing a unique form of hovering aircraft.

Called the the “Fenstar 50” this unmanned saucer should be ready in about one year.



It will be the first saucer by the company to use an internal combustion engine.

Previous craft have been electrically powered, and have suffered from very short endurance.

Hmm … wonder how long the extension cord had to be … oops, sorry.

More information here.

Will Sarah Palin be another Geraldine Ferraro?

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (pictured) is the surprise choice by Senator McCain for his running mate.

Since the announcement this morning, the Internet has been full of questions like the title to this post, will Sarah Palin be another Geraldine Ferraro?

The question assumes that Ferraro kept Walter Mondale from becoming president. Actually, Mondale kept himself from becoming president - not Ferraro.

Will Sarah Palin prevent John McCain from becoming president? No, not at all.

Even after a lavish world tour culminating in a rock concert and a fiery speech in Berlin, Obama came back home to a virtual tie in the polls with McCain.

Obama got an 8 point bump in the polls after the DNC finished last night but the bump should have been at least 15 points.

After Sen. McCain became the presumptive GOP candidate for president, the race was his to lose. Gov. Palin will not lose the race for him.

Sarah Palin will be an asset to the ticket in 2008 just as Ferraro was an asset to the Mondale - Ferraro ticket in 1984.

Link

Gallup: Obama up by 8

Barack Obama got his Democratic National Convention bounce. The Gallup daily tracking poll has him up by 8 points.

His bounce should have actually been more than 15 points after the elaborate set preparation and his rousing speech from the ‘Barackopolis’ at Invesco Field in front of over 80,000 people which was followed by drooling adulation from the main stream media.

The only mystery at MSNBC was which of the partisan anchors would soil their clothes first - Chris Matthews or Keith Olbermann. Hope they stocked up on Depends before the convention so they could swoon over Obama as much as they wanted.

Link here for the latest Gallup results.

Amtrak train ran out of fuel - really

Have you ever heard of a train running out of fuel? Me neither, but it happened to an Amtrak train running from Los Angeles to San Diego.

We realize you just can’t pull a train into the nearest 7-Eleven for fuel, but don’t they have fuel gauges on Amtrak trains?

It happened on Sunday night.

By Monday morning Amtrak officials were investigating to see just what went wrong.

By Monday night some of the train crew were probably on Monster.com looking for new jobs.

Link

Anchor fights go live at unruly MSNBC

Cable channel MSNBC has always relied on contention to get viewers. Now it may be getting out of hand.

Coverage of the Democratic National Convention has brought out the worst in some MSNBC hosts, including Chris Matthews (upper picture) and Keith Olbermann (center picture).

In an uncomfortable moment Tuesday night, an exhausted-looking "Hardball" host Chris Matthews shouted at a producer ("I'll wrap in a second!") before a stilted exchange with "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann, in which the two argued about who was talking out of turn.

Mr. Olbermann made a flapping-lips hand gesture, and Mr. Matthews took umbrage. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sat quietly on-screen, waiting to be interviewed.

That incident followed a seven-minute back-and-forth Tuesday afternoon between "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough (lower picture) and network correspondent David Shuster.

Mr. Scarborough, a former Republican representative from Florida, accused Mr. Shuster, a registered independent, of taking a "cheap shot" by mentioning his party affiliation.

Mr. Scarborough sarcastically added: "I feel so comforted by the fact that you're an independent. I bet everyone at MSNBC has 'independent' on their voting cards."

Olbermann, Matthews and Abrams make no attempt at partiality and wear their staunch liberal views “on their sleeves.”

Link to the MSNBC anchor squabble story here.

Speech analysis: mostly attacks - few details

A report at the link below analyses the acceptance speech:

Barack Obama (pictured), whose campaign theme is "change we can believe in," promised Thursday to "spell out exactly what that change would mean."

But instead of dwelling on specifics, he laced the crowning speech of his long campaign with the type of rhetorical flourishes that Republicans mock and the attacks on John McCain that Democrats cheer.

He made little attempt to assure voters that he actually is able to lead the most powerful country in the free world. Surely his speechwriters could have thought of something he could say that would speak to any experience that would help him be a better president than his opponent.

Link to more of the story here.

Remembering past Democratic conventions

Hubert Humphrey candidate for President 1968



Thomas Eagleton candidate for Vice President and George McGovern candidate for President in 1972



Ted Kennedy in 1980 (he lost to Jimmy Carter)



Geraldine Ferraro Candidate for vice President in 1984



Michael Dukakis candidate for President in 1988

A close-up photo of the Denver ‘Barackopolis’

(click on picture to enlarge)

Maybe it should be a toga party with Democratic nominee Barack Obama showing up in a Greek god's classical robes and laurel wreath for tonight's nomination acceptance speech.

His foes love it and the mocking may not end until November.

About that faux Greek/Roman temple for Obama’s speech

In the words of Dr. Charles Krauthammer at the link below: Has he lost his mind?

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.

Nearly 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president.



He will stride out to a raised platform to a podium that can be raised from beneath the floor.

Maybe he will crown himself as Napoleon did in 1804 in front of Pope Pius VII

Obviously there won’t be a Pope in attendance but Mr. Obama could crown himself in front of 80,000 of his loyal subjects.

Or maybe he will just appear in a toga amid the columns with a laurel wreath on his head.

These comments are ‘over the top’ but so is the “Temple of Obama” where he will deliver his speech.

This seems to be the worst possible imagery for trying to connect with the average American voter.

Will this spectacle become Obama’s Dukakis in a tank?

Link

ABC reporter arrested in Denver as Democrats crack down

Denver police arrested an ABC News producer earlier today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk by the Brown Palace Hotel.

Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers the charges against the producer, Asa Eslocker, who works with the ABC News investigative unit.

A cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant, accompanied by a team of five other officers, first put his hands on Eslocker's neck, then twisted the producers arm behind him to put on handcuffs.

Eslocker was put in handcuffs and loaded in the back of a police van which headed for a nearby police station.

Video taken at the scene shows a man, wearing the uniform of a Boulder County sheriff, ordering Eslocker off the sidewalk in front of the hotel, to the side of the entrance.

The photos below are from the video:

The last photo shows Mr. Eslocker in a strangle hold while other policemen have his arms locked.

The arrest was based on a complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel, a central location for Democratic officials.

Eslocker and his ABC News colleagues are spending the week investigating the role of corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors at the convention for a series of Money Trail reports on ABC World News with Charles Gibson.

The Democrats didn’t want ABC to photograph Democratic Senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.

Link

Lisa Marie Presley off-guard pic

(Limelight Pictures)

Liberated Hillary supporter

(click on picture to enlarge)

Biden speaks … and speaks … his own mind

One thing about Obama’s chosen running mate - he loves to speak.

According to a report at the link below:

Joe Biden's tendency to speak his own mind—and speak and speak—is entwined in his DNA.

In Washington, Biden (pictured) is known as a collegial figure even when he's competitive—one who can spin flowery praise one moment and biting fulmination the next.

We will no doubt hear a lot of his speak - speak and more speak in the next two months.

Link

Paper or plastic … make that paper or paper

In California the plastic grocery bag may go the way of the dodo bird.

The plastic grocery bag is fighting for its crinkly life.



From the city of San Francisco to Los Angeles County, more than a dozen local governments around the state have proposed or passed plastic-bag restrictions, ranging from recycling mandates to outright bans.

Opponents say many people recycle the free supermarket plastic bags for garbage and trash as well as a many other uses and when they do away with plastic bags they will have to buy commercial plastic bags for these purposes.

They further claim that we will have gained nothing because the same number of bags will end up in the landfill.

Link

Hotels use wood key cards during DNC

Biodegradable hotel key cards are being used in Denver during the Democratic National Convention.

The cards will be a coveted souvenir of the 2008 DNC. They have the Denver 2008 Host Committee logo and are made of wood.

No reports of the cards giving hotel patrons slivers.

Bill Clinton undercuts Obama - again

Former president Bill Clinton (pictured) is making the Obama campaign increasingly nervous as the DNC moves along.

The former president, speaking in Denver, posed a hypothetical question in which he seemed to suggest that that the Democratic Party was making a mistake in choosing Obama as its presidential nominee.

He said: "Suppose you're a voter, and you've got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don't think that candidate can deliver on anything at all.

Candidate Y you agree with on about half the issues, but he can deliver. Which candidate are you going to vote for?"

As if to cover his backside, Clinton added "This has nothing to do with what's going on now."

The controversial comments came just hours before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the former first lady and principal rival to Obama, was due to speak from the convention podium.

In a convention that continues to be racked with stories and questions about how unified the Democratic Party truly is, Clinton's appearance Wednesday — and his tendency to go off the teleprompter — has some Democrats very nervous.

Link

Just who’s convention is it anyway?

(click on picture to enlarge)

Hmm…yes, you’re right! That is Mr. Obama behind Bill and Hillary lurking in the background.

The Obamaisms never end …

Obama announced to the world, via a live satellite speech shown at the Democratic National Convention, that he was “here in St. Louis.”

Only problem is -- he was in Kansas City!

If he isn’t reading a scripted speech in front of a teleprompter he is prone to say anything!

Link

Roar of ailing liberal lion energizes Denver DNC

The ailing Senator Ted Kennedy spoke at the convention Monday night.



There was not a dry eye in the audience as he received thunderous applause during his speech.

Kennedy, 76, was dressed in a dark suit and smiled broadly, his voice booming throughout the packed Pepsi Center as he said: “I pledge to you that I will be with you in January on the floor of the Senate when we begin the great battle.”

The last of the Kennedy brothers shook off the effects of his treatments for brain cancer to address the convention.

Link

Police pepper spray protesters during mass arrests near DNC

The photo shows police in riot gear dispersing protestors with pepper spray Monday night.



There was a crowd of about 300 disrupting traffic about a mile from the convention.

About 50 people were taken into custody charged with disobeying a lawful order and interference with police.

Link

Obama-Clinton putting on unity face as tensions boil

Any unity at the convention shown by the Clinton’s and by Hillary supporters probably won’t be genuine.

As Democrats arrived here Sunday for a convention intended to promote party unity, mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Behind the public face of unity, tensions are boiling and both sides are trading not-for-attribution barbs.

One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is “Securing America’s Future.”

Bill would much rather talk about the 1990’s and Democratic views instead of national security. Don’t be surprised if he strays from his assigned topic.

Hillary’s backers feel snubbed and even cheated by the Obama campaign. Will the wounds heal before the convention is over is anybody’s guess.

Link

Gov Rendell unhinged - called Obama coverage embarrassing

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (pictured) strayed from the “script” Sunday afternoon.

He was supposed to give “closing remarks” during Sunday afternoon’s panel discussion with moderators - Tom Brokaw of NBC, George Stephanopoulous of ABC and Bob Schieffer of CBS.

Instead, he opened up a can of worms about bias in 2008 election coverage.

"Ladies and gentleman, the coverage of Barack Obama was embarrassing,"
said Rendell, in the ballroom at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel. "It was
embarrassing."

Rendell, an ardent Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter during the primaries, now backs Obama in the general election.

Brokaw and Rendell began debating campaign coverage, including the on-air comments by Lee
Cowan, and when MSNBC came up, Rendell went after the cable network.

“MSNBC was the official network of the Obama campaign," Rendell said, who called their coverage "absolutely embarrassing."

Chris Matthews, Rendell said, "loses his impartiality when he talks about the Clintons.”

Actually, Matthews and others on MSNBC lost their impartiality long ago.

Link

Say that again - a little slower this time

Go to father she said

When I asked her to wed.

She knew that I knew that father was dead.

She knew that I knew what a life he had lead.

She knew that I knew what she meant when she said,

Go to father.

Back to school … yawn

It’s back to school after the summer break.

Is she bored or sleep deprived?

Probably the latter -- the alarm does ring early once school starts.

Man with weapons arrested at Denver hotel - Pelosi evacuated

A 29-year-old Pinedale, Wyoming man was arrested at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Denver.

Police officers at the hotel noticed him carrying a rifle-type case while checking in. He was found to have two hunting rifles and two pistols.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other guests were briefly evacuated from the hotel as a precaution.

Police did not release details of the arrest.

Link

A new Cadillac every year since 1955

It’s safe to assume that 84-year-old Joseph Macko of Flint, Michigan likes Cadillac automobiles. He just took home his 53rd brand new Cadillac.

Why does he do it?

"You only live one time. Money is to spend," Macko said. "I spend it once I get it."

Joseph Macko used to buy the cars, but a couple years ago started leasing them -- including the black 2009 Cadillac DTS he took home on Thursday.

Link

‘The Donald’ has a bad hair day

Donald Trump having trouble with his ‘comb-over’ hairdo.
(Andrew Milligan, PA Wire/AP Photo)