Palin’s eyeglasses causing quite a stir

The first question many ask: does she really need glasses or are they fake? Does she wear glasses just to look glamorous?

Are they designer glasses or just cheap knock-off’s?

First of all, Sarah Palin didn’t get her glasses at Wal-Mart nor did she buy them on eBay.

She wears glasses by Japanese designer Kazuo Kawasaki made by italee. The frames are made from titanium and mounted via a screwless tension system.

Are they fake? No, she is nearsighted and has slight astigmatism but does not wear bifocal lenses.

Needless to say the optical business is thrilled.

The Palin frame — minus the lenses — starts at a suggested $375. Depending on the type of lenses, the total package can run to $700.

It's been awhile since the optical business has been as charged by celebrity specs as it has by the rimless pair the vice presidential nominee wears most of the time.

If she wins, it could rock the vision-care market, which totals $26.6 billion a year, says tracker Jobson Optical Research.

"She's what's new, and consumers want what's new," says Dr. Joyce Brothers, the consumer psychologist. "But if she loses, you won't see many people in those glasses."

That still gives the eyeglass maker through Nov. 4 to cash in.

If Palin becomes vice-president, whatever glasses she wears will be in high demand.

Link

Thoughts on the Gibson-Palin interviews

Charlie Gibson treated Sarah Palin with a condescending attitude. His non verbal rudeness was glaring as he sat back looking down at her through glasses perched low on his nose like a middle school principal ready to scold an errant student.



Intended as an obvious "gotcha"€ question, Mr. Gibson asked her to describe the Bush doctrine. Only problem was - Gibson was wrong. The Bush doctrine had changed three times as the fluidity of the situation in the Middle East changed after 9/11.

The most recent National Security Strategy compiled by the National Security Council (Bush doctrine) can be found here.



Mr. Gibson did not do his homework because he obviously thought the first National Security Strategy after 9/11 was '€˜cast in stone'€™ and was never altered. He did no€™t know it had been changed to match the ever-changing situation in the Middle East.

The Gibson interview probably wasn't the first time Sarah Palin had been talked down to by a condescending man trying to intimidate her while showing his superiority.



As the interview progressed, Mr. Gibson looked more uneasy than Sarah Palin. One reason may have been his annoyance at the way Palin kept calling him Charlie - almost as if she were scolding a child for not cleaning his room.

Another reason for Gibson appearing ill as ease may have been the pressure on him by ABC to make Palin look like a naïve moose hunter and his inability to get the job done.

Anyway, Palin's intelligence and grace-under-fire during a "gotcha"€ interview won over many that were angered by her treatment.

More on how Charlie Gibson "got it wrong"€ is here in a report by Dr. Charles Krauthammer from the Washington Post.

Indiana city can’t find time capsule buried 50 years ago

A city committee voted recently to open a time capsule buried in 1958, when the city was celebrating its centennial. The plan was to display the items, then add modern ones and rebury it until 2058.

Trouble is, no one seems to know exactly where the capsule is.

One resident who remembers the celebration 50 years ago and said the capsule may be buried on the corner of Main and High streets.

If it's there, it may not be dug up any time soon because that stretch of sidewalk was recently replaced as part of a streetscaping project.

They are planning another time capsule which. It’s a good bet the location of this one will be well documented.

Link

Democrat SWAT team rushed to Alaska

A Wall Street Journal report at the link below outlines plans by the Democrats to discredit Sarah Palin (pictured).

They know that Sarah Palin is a formidable political force who is rapidly derailing the Obama victory train.

‘Palin Power’ has rapidly lifted the McCain ticket above Obama and what’s-his-name ... oh, yes ... Joe Biden. I had nearly forgotten.

Palin has put Biden so far in the background people forget who the Democrat vice-presidential candidate is.

Two weeks ago the McCain campaign lacked life. It was about as exciting as leftover oatmeal.

Sarah Palin has changed all that.

The latest Washington Post/ABC Poll shows John McCain taking a 12-point lead over Barack Obama among white women, a reversal of Mr. Obama's eight-point lead last month.

A Gallup poll (at the second link below) shows McCain is up by 15 points among white women.

It's no surprise, then, that Democrats have airdropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers into Anchorage, the state capital Juneau and Mrs. Palin's hometown of Wasilla to dig into her record and background.

The witch hunt is on. The Democrats must discredit Palin before she has a chance to destroy Obama in the polls and possibly the election.

Link here and here.

RIM just flipped the BlackBerry Pearl smart phone

The Blackberry Pearl smart phone just got a makeover.

PIM (Research In Motion) unveiled their new Blackberry Pearl 8220 (pictured).

According to Blackberry, "one quick flip of the handset opens up a world of possibilities with the industry's leading mobile messaging solution and a wide range of impressive Internet and multimedia capabilities, all in one powerful yet approachable smart phone."

More information here.

Democrats worried that Obama is ‘blowing it’

Democratic Party leaders are beginning to worry about losing the presidential election.

After the Democratic National Convention, they though Obama (pictured) could order monogrammed sheets for the White House most any time.

Polls showing John McCain tied or even ahead of Barack Obama are stirring angst and second-guessing among some of the Democratic Party’s most experienced operatives, who worry that Obama squandered opportunities over the summer and may still be underestimating his challenges this fall.

It’s more than an increased anxiety … it’s a palpable frustration. Deep-seated unease in the sense that the message has gotten away from them.

Another worried that the Obama campaign was slow to recognize how the selection of Governor Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate would change the dynamic of the race.

They were slow to adjust from Hillary Clinton to John McCain and Sarah Palin.

A major Democratic fundraiser described it a good bit more starkly after digesting the polls of recent days: “I’m so depressed. It’s happening again. It’s a nightmare.”

More or the story here.

ABC and CNN plan Palin TV specials

While Senator Obama is issuing playground insults about lipstick on a pig, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (pictured) is becoming a hot TV commodity.

The Fox News Channel documentary, "Governor Palin: An American Woman" last Saturday was the highest-rated prime-time documentary in the network's history, with 2.7 million viewers.

Gibson is traveling to Fairbanks and Wasilla, Alaska, for the first TV interviews with Palin since she was selected as John McCain's running mate. The first excerpts of the talks will be shown on "World News" Thursday.

Gibson is having three separate interviews with Palin, ABC said. Parts of the interviews will be spread around other ABC news programs, including "Nightline" and "Good Morning America."

The Charles Gibson's interviews with Sarah Palin will form the basis of a special prime-time edition of "20/20" Friday.

The prime-time special, at 10 p.m. EDT, will also include a bio of Palin by ABC's Kate Snow and a round-table discussion on the presidential race moderated by George Stephanopoulos.

The Alaska Republican has proven to be a ratings-grabber during her short time on the national political scene. Her speech to the GOP national convention last week was seen by more than 40 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Link here and here.

Remembering 9/11

This is the seven-year anniversary of the attacks that killed almost 3,000 of our fellow Americans.

A time to remember the heroes as well as the victims and their families.

Obama and his allies intensify personal attacks on Palin

Barack Obama and his Democrat allies are intensifying their attacks on Sarah Palin, as her sustained and surprising central role in this race is upending Obama’s strategy.

Joe Biden ripped into Palin’s record and punctuated it with this snarky jab. “There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.”

Barack Obama and Joe Biden

Obama used a variation of the lipstick line, though he was clearly talking about the McCain-Palin reform rhetoric. "You can put lipstick on a pig," he said. "It's still a pig."

Obama hit Palin in nearly a dozen different press releases — one day after drawing laughs at a campaign stop by calling her a “moose shooter.”

And this from the same Senator Obama who promised no personal attacks during the campaign.

From the Lucianne comment section about these personal attacks by the Obama campaign:

Everyone in the Obama campaign is angry about the Palin effect.

They are angry because so many women can relate to her.

They are angry because the conservative base is energized for the first time in a long while.

They are angry because she and her daughter chose life instead of abortion.

They are angry because she is a strong, successful conservative woman.

They are angry because Barack chose Biden instead of Clinton.

They are angry because she is much more of a phenomenon that Barack Hussein Obama.

They are angry because they shouldn’t scoff at Palin’s religion because of the monster pastor Obama was associated with for over 20 years. Oh, wait a minute - they will scoff at Palin’s religion anyway.

They are angry because they don't know how to be happy in this once great world they claim George W. Bush destroyed.

But most of all they are angry because they fear Sarah Palin will be as much of a charismatic vote getter as Ronald Reagan was and if she is successful, could lock up the next three or four presidential elections.

The more angry they get the more they lash out.

Link to personal attack story here.

Obama ‘lipstick on pig’ comment came home to roost

Michael Ramirez cartoon from Investors Business Daily

Mexicans fleeing bloody drug war move to El Paso

Drug wars in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico have caused a near complete collapse in law and order.

There have been 12 homicides in El Paso, Texas this year. Compare that to some 900 murders in Ciudad Juarez which is just a short walk across the border.

Ciudad Juarez is where Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the most wanted man in Mexico, is battling local drug baron Vicente Carrillo Fuentes for U.S. smuggling routes.

As a result, hundreds of middle class Mexicans are fleeing across the border into El Paso and buying homes helping keep the Texan city's property market afloat despite the worst U.S. housing crisis in decades.

More of the story here.

Cops kick in door when bird cries help

This strange story comes from Trenton, New Jersey:

Cries for help inside a home turned out to be for the birds.

Neighbors called police after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house.

Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue.

But instead of a damsel in distress, officers found a caged cockatoo with a convincing call.

The 10-year-old bird named Luna learned much of her ever-growing vocabulary from watching television, in both English and Spanish.

Link

Reason for selecting Sarah palin

(click on picture to enlarge)

McCain collected $5M Monday in Obama’s back yard

Republican John McCain raised about $5 million in Chicago at a Monday night fundraiser.

It worked out to be about $1 million for each hour he spent in Democrat Barack Obama's hometown.

Like every Republican presidential nominee since 1984, McCain appears to regard campaigning in heavily Democratic Illinois a waste of time.

This time it was different as McCain took away an astounding $5 million.

Several dozen of the biggest contributors who had dinner with him told CBS 2 McCain's elated by new voter opinion surveys showing that, for the first time, he's ahead of Obama.

Illinois Republicans at Monday night's fundraiser were more energized than ever about this presidential contest.

Link

Boston cabbies crabby about green taxi rule

A new Boston ‘green taxi’ rule decrees that all cab drivers and operators must convert their fleets to hybrids by 2015.

Boston's cabbies are a crabby crew even on the best of days, but they're especially ticked off lately.


Taxi drivers are hacked about the financial ramifications of the rule. Most drive Crown Vics that can be had used for $6,000 to $7,500, while a new Prius [shown above] from Boston auto dealer giant Herb Chambers goes for $24,585

That's a lot of scratch for a cab driver who, thanks to out-of-control gas prices, is already having trouble making ends meet.

It doesn't help that the eco-friendlier cars cost more to insure, have tiny trunks and, in the cabbies' opinions, aren't tough enough to do the job.

Raising cab fares would seem to be the simple solution except that Boston's cab rates are already higher than those in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago or Miami.

More of the story here.

MSNBC removes Olbermann and Matthews from live political events

MSNBC dropped Chris Matthews (upper picture) and Keith Olbermann (lower picture) from anchoring future live political events on the network.

The action was the result of growing criticism that Olbermann and Matthews are too opinionated to be seen as neutral in the heat of a presidential campaign.

Chris Matthews described how he was inspired by Obama's speeches and made disparaging remarks about Hillary Clinton.

After a speech by Obama, Matthews said he experienced a thrill going up his leg. Wait a minute, did I get that right? Yup, checked it again. He really did say Obama gave him a thrill up his leg!

By removing Olbermann and Matthews, MSNBC is trying to improve their image in an effort to gain ground on the other cable news networks. MSNBC ranks a solid third behind FOX and CNN in the cable news viewership race.

Link

Your volume of spam may depend on your name

A report at the link below says refers to a recent study showing the the volume of span received could depend on the first letter of your e-mail address.

Those of us with unusual [e-mail] names tend to draw more chuckles and raised eyebrows than our more commonly named counterparts.

But it turns out that there is at least one thing that the Johns and Janes of the world seem to attract more of than we do.

Spam.

A recent study shows that the amount of spam you receive could depend not only how common your first name is but how common the first letter of your e-mail address is.

The study found that e-mail addresses starting with heavily used letters like J, M, R and P, 40 percent of the e-mail received was spam.

Addresses beginning with less frequently used letters, such as Q, X and Z, only 20 percent of the e-mails were spam.

The discrepancies have to do with the way that spammers compile their lists of e-mail addresses.

One common method is called the dictionary attack. Spammers go through the alphabet and if, for example, they know that a john@example.com exists, they'll try sending an e-mail to john@another.com.

Does this mean if we don’t have real names like Phinneas or Ebenezer, we should use e-mail addresses like goofynoofy or smartypants? Goofynoofy indeed!

How many of us would rather tolerate a little more spam than use e-mail addresses like goofynoofy or smartypants?

Link

Rare genetic condition - no fingerprints

Think how hard it would be to get a security clearance without fingerprints.

Imagine touching glass and not leaving a mark -- virtually no trace of the complex lines and ridges that make up each individual fingerprint.

Most of us take these identifying traits for granted. After all, everyone has fingerprints, right?

Wrong.

People with DPR, or dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis, do not have fingerprints. They are also unable to sweat.

This condition may not seem life-threatening, but it can actually be extremely hazardous.

The inability to sweat turns every hot day or active play into a potential for heatstroke.

More of the story here.

Sarah Palin and the New York Times

At the link below is a New York Times article called, Drawing a Bead on the Press.

The best line in the article:

Ms. Palin (pictured), a woman who clearly understands the power of words, had a way of pronouncing media — “MEE-de-ah” — that made it sound like something legless and slithering.

The second best line:

She’s not an alien to modern media. She’s one of its archetypes: a Rachael Ray with a 4x4, who can not only make a meal in under 30 minutes but hunt and kill the main course.

Repeating Sarah Palin’s comment to him at the Republican National Convention, Mr. Carr writes: “Conservatives have a bad history with The New York Times,” she said, looking at my press ID, still smiling and still very friendly. “How can I be sure that you won’t take my words and twist them to suit some agenda that you already have?”

The article is a bit condescending - well, OK, the article is a whole lot condescending. But how else could a liberal writer, penning an article for a liberal publication, treat Sarah Palin with any amount of civility without incurring the wrath of his editor as well as his peers in the liberal MEE-de-ah?

Another notable quote from the article:

In the press galleries at the convention, journalists wrinkled their noses in disgust when Piper, Ms. Palin’s youngest daughter, was filmed kitty-licking her baby brother’s hair into place. But to many Americans — including some I talked to in the convention hall — that looked like a family in church, evidence of good breeding and sibling regard.

I think Mr. Carr really does get it. I get it. Middle America gets it.

More on Piper Palin ‘kitty-licking’ her baby brother’s hair into place can be found in the next posting.

Link

Endearing video of Sara Palin’s daughter Piper

(click on picture to see video)

This is the most precious and endearing video we have seen in a long time!

How long before we see “Vote for Piper Palin’s mom” signs?

Now that’s a heavy beard

A news announcement read:

“Authorities said the robber was a 6 foot tall white male with a beard weighing about 220 pounds."

Obama said “my Muslim faith” - but was it really a slip?

Barack Hussein Obama (pictured) was talking to ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" yesterday trying to criticize the quiet smear campaign suggesting he is a Muslim.

Adding fuel to suggestions that he is a Muslim, Obama said, "my Muslim faith."

But was it really a verbal slip? It probably was but Obama detractors will be hard to convince.

It's no wonder his advisors tremble when he talks without a teleprompter.

Link

Bloody summer in Chicago

Twice as many people were shot dead in Chicago during the summer as there were US troop deaths in Iraq.

An estimated 125 people were shot and killed in Chicago over the summer which is nearly double the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq over the same time period.

In May, cbs2chicago.com began tracking city shootings and posting them on Google maps.

Information compiled from reporters, wire service reports and the Chicago Police Major Incidents log indicated that 125 people were shot and killed throughout the city between the start of Memorial Day weekend on May 26, and the end of Labor Day on Sept. 1.

According to the Defense Department, 65 U.S. soldiers were killed in combat in Iraq. About the same number were killed in Afghanistan over that same period.

In the same time period, an estimated 247 people were shot and wounded in the city.

Link

About that faked Sarah Palin pic with rifle and bikini

The link below shows a photo of an unknown girl wearing a bikini and holding a rifle.

Also shown is the same photo after Sarah Palin’s face was ‘photoshopped’ onto the original picture.

Link here to the fake photo and how it was made.

The Governator wearing a speedo

Speaking of poltics - here is a look at the Governor of California.

Makes you want to grab grandma and the kids and head for home early.