Extra leg in photo of Nicolas Sarkozy and Pope Benedict

There is an extra leg in the photo below of Pope Benedict XVI and President of France Nicolas Sarkozy.





Was the picture ‘photoshopped’ in an effort to remove a man behind Sarkozy? If so, they forgot to remove a leg and foot … or maybe it’s the leg and foot of a midget walking behind Mr. Sarkozy.

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Troubling video of Obama youth group

(click on picture to see video)

What’s going on here? This video begins with youth in military uniforms chanting Alpha, omega...alpha, omega.

Are the young men in this video brainwashed like the Hitler Youth of the 1920’s and 1930’s?

The best adjectives I can think of to describe this paramilitary group is troubling and creepy.

And what about their chant Alpha, omega...alpha, omega?

This is from the Bible (Revelation 1:8) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord.

Have the people surrounding Barack Obama become ‘handlers’ rather than advisors and do they perceive Obama as the Anti-Christ?

Obama connection to terrorist sympathizer Rashid Khalidi

First, who is Rashid Khalidi? Khalidi (pictured) is a former professor at the University of Illinois and a Palestinian supporter. He is a fervent opponent of Israel.

Rashid Khalidi is now a professor at Columbia University. Khalidi seems to be a good fit at Columbia where the Middle East Studies Department has been criticized for hiring outspoken opponents of American and Israeli policy.

At a farewell dinner for Khalidi before he took the Columbia job, Obama 's speech was filled with glowing praise for his friend, including references to the many meals they had shared.

During documented speeches and public events, Khalidi has called Israel an “apartheid system in creation” and a destructive “racist” state.

Khalidi has multiple times expressed support for Palestinian terror, calling suicide bombings response to "Israeli aggression." He dedicated his 1986 book, Under Siege to “those who gave their lives ... in defense of the cause of Palestine and independence of Lebanon.”

Critics assailed the book as excusing Palestinian terrorism.

As if that wasn’t enough connection between Obama and Khalidi this is even more binding:

Khalidi's wife Mona ran the Chicago area charity, the Arab American Action Network, that received substantial assistance from the Woods Fund, a left wing foundation that Obama and unreconstructed terrorist Bill Ayers were Board members. The AAAN was notorious for its pro-Palestianian sympathies.

Link here and here.

= = = = = U P D A T E = = = = =

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes will discuss the close relationship between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi on a special broadcast of “Hannity's America” which will air tomorrow night (Sunday) at 9:00 PM eastern time.

OJ Simpson guilty - led off to jail

Former football star O.J. Simpson (pictured) has been found guilty of robbery and kidnapping.

The ruling came 13 years to the day after Simpson was acquitted of brutally murdering his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman.

After a three-week trial, a Las Vegas jury deliberated for more than 13 hours on Friday on charges against Simpson and a friend arising from an incident at the Palace Station casino in September last year.

Simpson showed no emotion as he and co-defendant Clarence Stewart were found guilty on all charges, which could see both men facing a maximum life sentence.

Shortly after the verdicts were read out just before 11:00 pm (0600 GMT) local time, Judge Jackie Glass denied a request for Simpson to be released on bail and he was led away in handcuffs.

The 61-year-old former American football hero was accused of storming into a hotel room with a gang of gun-toting cohorts and seizing sports memorabilia from two dealers worth thousands of dollars.

He will sentenced on December 5.

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Source of the current housing and financial crisis

This video answers the question just what happened?

(click on Barney Frank photo to see video)

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Have you hugged a cop today? Iowa man did and got arrested

A 21-year-old Iowa City, Iowa man ran up to an officer and stuck out his arms.

The officer told him to "get away," but the man didn't take the hint and embraced the officer.

When the officer told the man to put his hands behind his head, he refused. He was then handcuffed.

The young man now faces several charges including assault on a peace officer and public intoxication.

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She bought house on eBay for $1.75: now what?

It began when Joanne Smith, 30, a Kennedy King College student who lives on the South Side of Chicago, was pricing PlayStations online.

When she saw an alert about the house sale she placed a bid.

Her eBay bid was a winner. The house was hers for $1.75. A combo meal a McDonald’s would have cost more.





After buying the house for $1.75, what's next?

The house is condemned, and it's in Saginaw, Michigan, a long commute from Chicago.

Saginaw, Michigan is overburdened with unsold houses.

A notice on the door of the home says a foreclosure hearing is pending.

She owes $850 in back taxes and a couple of hundred more in cleanup fees.

Did her $1.75 bid really turn our to be a bargain?

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Sarah Palin - it was her night to shine

I wasn’t able to watch the debate live last night. I did, however, see a recording of the first half of the debate later in the evening.

The local news report gave Palin a B+ and Biden a C-

I would agree based on the portion I was able to see.





Attorney John Hinderaker of Power Line said Governor Palin hit a Grand Slam during the first half-hour of the debate.

He further reports:

There were a number of good moments. One of my favorites was her “shout out” to her sister's third grade class back in Alaska, who got extra credit for watching the debate.

This was one of many reminders that, to the average television viewer, Palin is one of “us” and not one of “them.”

Mr. Hinderaker thought that, given Governor Palin's performance, Biden had an impossible assignment.

Biden made things worse with his inappropriate grins and grimaces while Palin was speaking, much like Al Gore in 2000, only worse.

Palin, in contrast, kept a steady demeanor while Biden was taking shots at her. Throughout, she commanded the stage and displayed more poise and confidence than her opponent.

For the first time on national prime time TV Sarah Palin was questioned in a setting that did not include “gotcha” questions to make her look bad and then edited later to make her look even worse.

It will be interesting to see how the main stream media will spin the debate to show that Biden was a big winner.

Media has political party affiliation amnesia when reporting corrupt Dems

An Associated Press report appeared yesterday titled: Former La. judge gets 10 years for corruption.

The brief report of only 115 words makes no mention that former Judge Michael Walker is a Democrat.

In part, the report says:

Former Caddo District Judge Michael Walker was sentenced Thursday in federal court.

He and Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Claville were convicted of racketeering in June after an FBI investigation dubbed Broken Gavel.

There is no mention that both of the corrupt judges are Democrats.

The main stream media has amnesia when it comes to naming political party affiliation when reporting corruption by Democrats.

Link here and here.

Debate moderator Ifill is big Obama booster

Gwen Ifill (pictured) will be the debate moderator tonight when Governor Palin and Senator Biden meet in St. Louis.

Ifill insists she is impartial, yet here are the facts:

1. She wrote a book titled: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.This pro-Obama book will be released for sale in January. If Obama becomes president, her book sales will increase dramatically giving her a vested interest in an Obama - Biden win in November.

2. She wrote a ‘puff piece’ about Barack Obama and his family.

3. She has faced criticism in the past for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.

4. She did not inform the Commission on Presidential Debates about her pro-Obama book or the pro-Obama article.

Ifill may as well wear an Obama button to the debate.

More on her partiality here and here. The Ifill Obama article is here.

Copy of Will Rogers WWI draft registration card

(click on draft card to enlarge)

Will Rogers (pictured) gave his occupation as actor and his employer was Florenz Ziegfeld and his place of employment was the Amsterdam Theater on 42nd St. New York, New York.

Florenz (Flo) Ziegfeld, Jr. put on a series of theatrical revues called the Ziegfeld Follies.

The draft card was signed in 1918 and gives Rogers age as 39.

New lead in the Steve Fossett disappearance mystery?

Adventurer Steve Fossett (pictured) has been missing since September 2007.

Fossett was last seen taking off in a blue-and-white Citabria Super Decathlon from the Flying M Ranch in rural western Nevada. Below is a 3-view of a Super Decathlon.

Fossett, 63, has not been seen or heard from since departing from the Flying M Ranch more than one year ago. He was on a short recreational flight and was to return by noon so he and his wife Peggy could leave Nevada on a private jet.



The Flying M Ranch is an exclusive retreat owned by hotel magnate William Barron Hilton.

Suspecting that Fossett had crashed his plane a massive search ensued. Several aircraft were involved in the search.

Fossett was never found and has been declared dead.

Why was it so hard to find the possible wreck of Fossett’s plane?

An ABC report in September, 2007 said:

Northwestern Nevada is a desert full of stuff — mining junk, old cars, bullet-riddled refrigerators, everything that you can possibly imagine. When you're looking, it's hard to determine from 1,000 feet what it is you're looking at. Fossett's plane could easily be hidden by trees in some remote valley.

The Citabria Decathlon has a range of 563 miles.

= = = = = U P D A T E = = = = =

Items possibly belonging to missing aviator Steve Fossett have been found by hikers in a remote area of California more than one year after his mysterious disappearance.

A hiker in a rugged part of eastern California found a pilot's license and other items possibly belonging to Steve Fossett, the adventurer who vanished on a solo flight in a borrowed plane more than a year ago, authorities said Wednesday.

The number on the pilot license in a photograph sent to the Federal Aviation Administration matches the number on the pilot certificate the agency has on file for Fossett, spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The hiker, Preston Morrow, said he found an FAA identity card, a pilot's license, a third ID and $1,005 in cash tangled in a bush off a trail just west of the town of Mammoth Lakes on Monday. He said he turned the items over to local police Wednesday after unsuccessful attempts to contact Fossett's family.

More information here.

Debate moderator has vested interest in Obama win

Gwen Ifill (pictured) is the debate moderator for the Thursday meeting between Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden.

Her program Washington Week appears on PBS.

She has faced criticism in the past for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.

Now it is learned that she has a vested interest in a Barack Obama - Joe Biden win at the polls in November.

She wrote a book titled: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. This pro-Obama book will be released for sale in January. If Obama becomes president, her book sales will increase dramatically giving her a vested interest in an Obama - Biden win in November.

Should she withdraw as debate moderator? Yes.

Will she withdraw as debate moderator? No.

Link

= = = = = U P D A T E = = = = =

Gwen Ifill broke her ankle Monday night falling down the stairs in her home while carrying "research related to her moderating duties at Thursday's Vice Presidential debate in St. Louis."

According to TV Newser, despite the injury, Ms. Ifill will still moderate Thursday's debate.

Odd coincidence: When Sarah Palin was in high school she prevailed in a pivotal basketball game despite having to play on a broken ankle.

Link

Thinking cap will unlock extraordinary skills

Too bad my third grade teacher isn’t able to read about this thinking cap that should be able to unlock extraordinary skills.

I got rather tired of hearing her say, “alright now children, it’s time to put on your thinking caps.” As a third grader, I realized I was a child but resented being talked “down to” and I further disliked her reference to “thinking caps.”

In my literal world, a thinking cap was in the same mythical realm as Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

The thinking caps she metaphorically spoke of couldn’t possibly have given us extraordinary skills, or anything else for that matter.

However, there is a report at the link below telling of a thinking cap being developed by scientists that can unlock ones hidden genius.

The device works by switching on and off certain sections of the brain and so unlocking its hidden potential.

The hairnet-like cap uses tiny magnetic pulses to change the way the brain works and has led to improved artistic ability, mathematical ability and proof-reading skills.

If the technique is perfected, the device could be marketed as a cap slipped on to boost creativity and intellectual capacity.

The technique is based on research into savants, like the Dustin Hoffman character in the film Rainman, who have extraordinary abilities as well as severe mental disability.

Link

UK police investigate eBay sale of spy camera

Last year, a civil service worker in the UK lost computer discs containing sensitive information on 25 million people last year.

In January, the Ministry of Defense said it had lost a laptop containing personal data on 600,000 recruits.

Now there is another security breach.

Britain's MI6 intelligence service is investigating how a camera holding sensitive information about al Qaeda suspects came to be lost by one of its agents, police said on Tuesday.

Media reports said the Nikon digital camera was put up for sale on Internet trading site eBay and sold for just 17 pounds ($30.64).

Its memory had names of al Qaeda members, fingerprints and suspects' academic records as well as pictures of rocket launchers and missiles, the Sun newspaper reported.

Link

Biden prepares for debate: claims underdog status

A New York Times blog entry at the link below is titled, Biden’s Debate Prep.

Senator Biden spent Monday in a hotel suite in Wilmington preparing for Thursday night’s debate with Governor Sarah Palin (upper picture).

As practice sessions unfolded behind closed doors, top aides tried, not terribly convincingly, to suggest that Mr. Biden (lower picture) - a two-time presidential candidate, 35-year veteran of the Senate and chairman of its foreign affairs committee - is the debate underdog to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“He’s going in here to debate a leviathan of forensics,” Mr. Biden’s spokesman, David Wade, said with an almost straight face, “who has debated five times and she’s undefeated.”

Mr. Biden’s spokesman was making fun of Palin of course.

In the same vein, David Axelrod, Senator Barack Obama’s top political strategist, also tried to play down expectations for Mr. Biden and to highlight Ms. Palin’s skills as a debater.

They must be taking Governor Palin seriously, however because they have a host of helpers.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Democrat of Michigan, joined the debate preparation team in the role of Ms. Palin. Ms. Granholm flew to Wilmington with Mr. Biden on Sunday night after the Democratic candidates made an appearance in Detroit earlier in the day and was expected to stay for a day or two of mock combat.

Also on the Biden debate team were Ron Klain, a former top aide to Biden in the Senate who has been helping Mr. Obama prepare for debates; Ricki Seidman, another former Biden Senate aide who is now a senior campaign adviser; Anthony Blinken, Mr. Biden’s chief foreign policy aide; and Valerie Biden Owens, Mr. Biden’s sister, political adviser and close confidante.

That’s an army of aides on Biden’s debate team.

Actually, the most important rule he needs to take to the debate with him is:

Step 1. Open mouth.

Step 2. Remove foot.

Step 3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 as often as necessary.

There will probably be one or two people on the Sarah Palin debate team.

One sure thing will be the media reaction as soon as the debate is finished. The media will declare Biden the winner no matter what happens during the debate.

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Hospital informs grandfather he is pregnant

Curry General Hospital in Gold Beach, Oregon informed a 71-year-old grandfather that he is pregnant.

John Grady Pippen, a retired mechanic and logger, was being treated for abdominal pain.

The hospital administrator said an errant keystroke caused the hospital's computer to print out the wrong discharge instructions.

Mr. Pippen was probably relieved to learn he wasn’t pregnant after all.

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Congress lives up to its 10% approval rating

George W. Bush has low approval ratings - right down there with Jimmy Carter - they both sank to 28%. Nixon’s approval rating was at 24% at the time of his resignation and Harry Truman left the presidency with an approval rating of only 23%.

With that background, it is easier to comprehend just how low the 10% approval rating of congress actually is. And now congress is living up to that rating!

Failure to act on an emergency financial bailout plan may push the rating down solidly into the single digit range!

Monday's crash and burn of the Paulson plan on Capitol Hill reveals a Washington elite that has earned every bit of the disdain that Americans have for it. This crowd can't even make sausage.

The 228-205 defeat reflects badly on all concerned, starting with the Democrats who run the House. The majority party is responsible for assembling a majority vote, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (pictured) failed in that fundamental task.

Her scathing partisan speech blaming Republicans and the “failed Bush administration” was not a reason for Republican house members to vote no.

But it is indicative of the way she has governed for the past two years -- like Tom DeLay without the charm.

The cynics are saying Ms. Pelosi deliberately tanked the bill by giving 95 Democrats a pass, knowing failure would hurt John McCain, and given her track record we can see why people would believe it.

Barney Frank blamed the Republicans for failure to pass the bill. Congressman Frank needs to lay the blame squarely at the feet of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for failure to lead. It could have passed comfortably if she could have convinced one fourth of the 95 dissenting Democrats to vote for the bill.

What next? One option is that Democrats will tell Mr. Paulson that they can pass his plan with more liberal votes, but that their price has gone up.

This would mean more of the tax, spend and regulate provisions that House GOP leaders stripped out before their rank-and-file headed for the exits.

These would only raise the price for taxpayers of the Treasury rescue and, if the equity provisions were too onerous, make the Paulson plan far less workable.

Now one wonders what failed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will do to bungle the next bailout try and will there be a stock market left to save by then.

Link

Blaming Barney Frank for financial crisis

A Boston Herald report at the link below says an instant poll, conducted by the newspaper, put blame on Barney Frank (pictured).

Rep. Frank (D-Mass) is considered the engineer of the “financial train wreck.”

Barney Frank is chairman of the House Financial Services panel. In the poll he received more blame than anyone else including President Bush or former fed chief Alan Greenspan.

Some [Boston Herald] readers argue all you have to do is click over to YouTube and listen to Frank, in the fall of 2003, swear “Fannie and Freddie (are) not in a crisis!” and are “fundamentally sound financially.”

The second link below shows a September 2003 report:

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee.

Baney Frank’s reply in 2003 was, The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.

As we are finding out now, problem was not exaggerated!

At the third link below is a report saying that Barney Frank was accused of ‘cooking the books’ for his gay lover Herb Moses. At the time Moses was a Fannie Mae executive!

Link here, here and here.

Pelosi: down in flames, her house in disorder

The $700 Billion Financial-Rescue Plan went down in flames 228 to 205.

Vote results:
Democrats 140 for 95 against
Republicans 65 for 133 against

The Democrats had the votes to pass the bailout package. So why didn’t they? Why did more than 40% of them go against Pelosi and vote against the bill? This was a big failure for Pelosi (pictured)

Did they want to wait until enough Republicans were on board so they could share the blame for passing such an unpopular piece of legislation?

House Republicans blamed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech. They said she had been too partisan in a floor speech prior to the vote.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said that Pelosi’s speech “poisoned” the Republican caucus and “caused a number of members we thought we could get to go south.”

Not surprising since she put the entire blame on “the failed Bush policies,” which is not the best way to try to get Republican House members to vote with her.

The real reason the bailout failed to pass in the House is because many members, both Democrat and Republican, are facing tough re-elections.

House members are reporting that e-mails and phone calls to their offices were about running 800 to 1 against the bailout bill.

Democrats voted 140 to 95 in favor of the legislation, while just 65 Republicans backed the bill and 133 opposed it.

A bailout is needed very soon. Will Pelosi get her House in order in time for the next one to pass?

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German town boasts the largest jigsaw puzzle

Puzzle maker Ravensburger AG claims that the world’s largest puzzle was put together yesterday in only five hours in the southern German town of Ravensburg.
.
The puzzle is said to have 1,141,800 pieces and is 6,500 square-foot in size nearly covering the town square.

The participants assembled more-than 4,000 smaller jigsaw puzzles, each with 252 pieces and standard puzzle motifs like animals, maps and landscapes.

The rectangles were then taken to the nearby town square and put together into the single massive 20-meter by 30-meter puzzle.





Upper photo shows the puzzle in Ravensburg town square. Lower photo shows participants standing on the puzzle.

A notary has submitted the result to the Guinness Book of World Records. Organizers say it is significantly bigger than the current record -- a 212,000-piece puzzle put together in Singapore in 2002.

We have put together several hundred puzzles but never a Ravensburg puzzle. Maybe it’s time for us to try one.

Link

Blame FDR, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton

It’s time for a game of pin the tail on the donkey. What is usually a fun kid’s game is, in this case, an exercise in pinning the blame on the Democrats who caused our sub-prime mortgage mess.

But first, a quick word about our main-stream media: they relished telling us week after week how bad the Enron scandal was and now refuses to give us the true reasons behind the sub-prime mortgage scandal.

It is indeed sad that it is up to foreign media to do the fair and balanced reporting job that the U.S. media should be doing.

A report at the link below has the real story from a source not committed to trashing conservative views.

Some milestones in the prehistory of the crisis:

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

1933 - As part of the New Deal, investment banks are stopped from also acting as commercial banks (which would have given them bank deposits and more stability).

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

1938 - As part of the New Deal, president (Franklin D.) Roosevelt creates Fannie Mae and in 1970 Congress creates Freddie Mac. With their implicit government guarantees they can offer cheaper loans and expand until they dominate the American mortgage market.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

1989 - The American government step(s) in and pay(s) for the savings and loan crisis, which sets a precedent.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

1995 - The Community Reinvestment Act is revised so that banks and thrifts are forced to give home loans to low and moderate-income households as well. In return they are allowed to repackage and sell those sub-prime risks to others, which Bear Stearns pioneers in 1997.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

2001-03 - Instead of letting the market get rid of bad businesses and loans after the dotcom bubble and 9/11, the (Federal Reserve) reduces its rate from 6.5 per cent to 1 per cent (with) a dramatic expansion of the money supply, which creates a real estate bubble.

Mae and Mac ran leverage ratios that exceeded 60 to one (cheered on by the Democrats) to keep giving loans to people who could not really afford it. It only took more traditional interest rates for the bubble to burst.

The independent investment banks that did not have access to bank deposits collapsed and almost brought the whole system down.

All those who now think that the solution is to give more powers to politicians, authorities and central banks should look at what they did with the powers they already had.

Link

Fake player at Dodger Stadium faces 4 years in prison

A 47-year-old man faces 4 years in prison for burglary and trespassing charges for stealing and posing in a Dodger baseball uniform.

He was arrested after a security guard found him walking on the field in a Dodgers uniform and holding a glove with two baseballs. He allegedly identified himself as a Dodgers player, but the guard recognized him from an earlier incident and called police.

Even if he could hit a curve ball, we doubt if manager Joe Torre will put him in his lineup for the playoffs.

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Converted 747 hotel to open in Stockholm

An unusual hotel will be ready for ‘take-off’ at the Stockholm-Arlanda airport in December, 2008.



It is a Boeing 747 that has been converted into the 25-room Jumbo Hostel.

The idea is the brainchild of Swedish businessman and entrepreneur Oscar Dios, who has been running hostels in Uppsala, Sweden for the past five years.

It was in 2006 that Dios first heard about the Boeing 747, which was for sale. Formerly flown by the now defunct Transjet Airways, the plane was wasting away in a hangar at Arlanda airport and hadn't flown since 2002.

The Jumbo Hostel can accommodate up to 85 guests.

Prices will range from €110 ($150) to €500 ($700) per night.

Link

Burglary suspect tied up like in old cowboy movies

The 26-year-old man went to the wrong house to steal a lawn mower.

The homeowner and friends overpowered him and tied him up with a rope like they did in the old cowboy movies.

Tom Mix would have been proud.

Link

Sarah Palin meets foreign leaders in New York

Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Sarah Palin.


Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sarah Palin.


Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Sarah Palin.


Left to right, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Sarah Palin, John McCain and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.


Sarah Palin and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.


Sarah Palin meets with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

Robber fled when teller asked “are you serious?”

A tellers sarcasm averts a bank robbery.

Police said a bank teller in suburban New York had a simple question for a would-be robber: Are you serious?

Police said that was enough to spook the female suspect, who fled the Roslyn Savings Bank in Centereach, New York.

The woman left without ever showing a gun.

Link

Will Missouri choose winning candidate again this year?

Missouri has a century-long reputation as a bellwether state. The “show-me state” has voted for the winning presidential candidate in every election since 1904 except for 1956 when it Missouri went for Adlai Stevenson who lost to Dwight Eisenhower.

If you want to know who will win the White House in November, don’t worry about any of the other states. Just focus you crystal ball on Missouri and hope history repeats itself.

Link

Just a few Barack Obama gaffes

The gaffes Barack Obama (pictured) has committed would have crushed a Republican politician. But the reporters who can't get over Dan Quayle's misspelling of “potato” are silent about Obama’s gaffes.

Following are a few Obama-isms:

1. During a news conference in Israel Obama declared, “just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran.”

Obama’s committee? Obama isn't even a member of the Banking Committee, let alone its chairman. Why would he make such an arrogant, far-fetched boast?

2. He once said he'd visited 57 states, not including Alaska and Hawaii, and still had “one left to go.”

This may not have been a gaffe. He may have been referring to the 57 states of Islam.

3. He confused Sioux Falls, South Dakota with Sioux City, Iowa.

4. Said Arkansas is closer to Kentucky than to Illinois.

5. He claimed Iran doesn't “pose a serious threat to us,” then somehow recalled the next day that he has indeed “made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”

6. In 2007 he announced that tornadoes had killed 10,000 people in Greensburg, Kansas even though the real number was 12.

7. On the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Ala., he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement saying, “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.”

Actually, Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965.

8. In Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Obama showed off his lack of knowledge of the war in Afghanistan by commenting on a lack of translators. He said “We only have a certain number of them, and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.”

The real reason it’s harder to use translators in Afghanistan is that Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish. The Afghanis speak Pashto, Farsi, or other non-Arabic languages.

Barack Obama’s gaffes are mostly ignored or covered up by the media.

English Channel crossing using a jetwing

In 1909, French aviator Louis Bleriot became the first person to fly across the English Channel in an aircraft.

Now a Swiss adventurer flew from England to France Friday propelled by a jetpack strapped to his back following the route taken by Bleriot nearly 100 years ago.



Yves Rossy, an airline pilot, crossed the 22 miles between Calais and Dover at speeds of up to 120 mph in 13 minutes.

When the white cliffs of Dover came into view, he opened a blue and yellow parachute and drifted down in light winds to land in a British field where he was mobbed by well-wishers.



“Everything was perfect,” he said afterwards. “I showed that it is possible to fly a little bit like a bird.”

The Swiss pilot was propelled by four kerosene-burning jet turbines attached to a wing on his back. He ignited the jets inside a plane before jumping out more than 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) above ground.

Link

First debate - the old man was up to it

A report at the link below is titled, The Mack is back.One thing about presidential debates is that they seldom change minds of voters.

John McCain … gave one of his strongest debate performances ever.

McCain not only found a central theme but hit on it repeatedly. Obama is inexperienced, naive, and just doesn’t understand things, McCain said.

He [McCain] stood behind a lectern for 90 minutes without a break — you try that when you are 72 — and he not only gave as good as he got, he seemed to relish it.

At least twice after sharp attacks by McCain, Obama seemed to look to moderator Jim Lehrer for help, saying to Lehrer, “Let’s move on.”

Yes, the old man was up to it.

Link

Story of successful China space launch posted on web before launch occurred

A news story describing the successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission appeared on the web. It including detailed dialogue between astronauts.

Only one problem -- the story appeared hours before the rocket had even left the ground.

The country's official news agency Xinhua posted the article on its Web site Thursday, and remained there for much of the day before it was taken down.

A staffer from the Xinhuanet.com Web site who answered the phone Thursday said the posting of the article was a "technical error" by a technician. The staffer refused to give his name as is common among Chinese officials.

The story including “detailed dialogue between astronauts” on the internet before the launch was a “technical error?”

Link

Phillies mascot brings bomb squad to ballpark

Three suspicious packages were found just outside Citizens Bank Park.

Police were called and a Philadelphia Police Department bomb squad detonated all three packages.

Police said the packages simply contained hot dogs.
“It appears they're the same hot dogs the Phanatic uses to shoot into the crowd.” One investigator said.
It was unclear how the packages ended up outside the stadium.

The Phanatic (pictured) is the Philadelphia Phillies mascot.

Link

Sports teams chased off field by fire ants

The Rialto High School football and baseball teams find their new main rival is … venomous fire ants!

Rialto is located in southern California near San Bernardino.

Discovered by a groundskeeper last week, the venomous red pests have set up several mound-like colonies on the football and baseball fields.

The school canceled a freshman football game, moved practices and called the state Department of Agriculture.

"They're from South America," said Syeda Jafri, spokeswoman for the Rialto Unified School District. "How they got here, we have no idea."

The infestation is not to be taken lightly, said Les Greenberg, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside.

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Self flying helicopter

A four-foot-long helicopter equipped with an artificial intelligence system flew itself over the Stanford University campus.

The autonomous helicopter performed flips, rolls, pirouettes, stall-turns, knife-edges, and an inverted hover over a field.



The helicopter is equipped with an artificial intelligence system developed by computer scientists at Stanford and taught itself to fly by watching the aerobatics of a radio-controlled helicopter flown by a human.

Each helicopter costs approximately $4,000 and is outfitted with an accelerometer, gyroscope and a magnetometer to determine its orientation and acceleration, and a GPS or two ground-based cameras to determine its location.

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Pollster Zogby predicts landslide McCain win?

Zogby is right when he says no one knows Barack Obama. As long as the media shields him by keeping quiet about his background, no one will know him on election day.

He has not authored legislation in Illinois or in Washington. However, he has written two books - both autobiographies (what kind of person writes two autobiographies before the age 47?).

When it comes down to the proverbial nitty-gritty, how many voters will turn their backs on the mostly unknown Barack Hussein Obama and pull the lever for the “old shoe” that everyone knows.

Joe Biden won’t be able to save Obama even in a tight race. Who cares about Biden outside of Pennsylvania and Delaware?

And then there is the Sarah Palin effect. The more the media tries to trash her, the more people will rally around her and the McCain - Palin ticket.

Landslide? Who knows, maybe Zogby is right.

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Bill Clinton not eager to campaign for Obama

Mr. Clinton is using Jewish Holidays as a reason/excuse for not campaigning for Obama.

On a previously recorded interview to air on CNN's "Larry King Live" former President Bill Clinton (pictured) says he will wait until after Thursday, Oct. 9, before he will start campaigning for Sen. Barack Obama.

What's the significance of Oct. 9?

Why, it's the Jewish Day of Atonement, of course.

And though the Southern Baptist former president isn't known for being a particularly devout Jew who observes the High Holy Days, apparently he's decided to wait until after Yom Kippur and the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, before he starts campaigning for his wife's former rival, for whom many Democrats suspect the Clintons aren't exactly rooting enthusiastically.

“Not enthusiastically” is surely an understatement.

During the Larry King Live appearance, King asked, “Are you kind of feeling Jewish that you're waiting until after the Jewish holidays?”

Clinton replied:

“No. But I think it would be -- if we're trying to win in Florida, it may be that," Clinton began, before discussing his real Florida target: “You know, they think that, because of who I am and where my politic[al] base has traditionally been, they may want me to go sort of hustle up what Lawton Chiles used to call the ‘cracker vote’ there.”

If you ever want to follow the footsteps of Bill Clinton as he campaigns for Barack Obama this fall, just follow his heel marks - he will be dragging his feet all the way.

Hmm … after the Jewish holidays, he could always wait until after corn picking time …

If Barack Obama loses, it will be Hillary in 2012. If he wins, Hillary will be stuck with her Senate seat.

Nothing else.

No cabinet post.

Nothing.

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13-year-old boy is over 7 feet tall

An inverted chromosome has caused 13-year-old Brenden Adams to stand over 7-feet tall.



He has an abnormality of the 12th chromosome that's caused his bones, teeth and organs to grow at a phenomenal pace.

Only 2 percent of the population has what geneticists call a balanced chromosomal inversion — that is, they have the right amount of genetic material but some of it gets rearranged when cells divide during the earliest stages of development.

Brenden sleeps on a10-foot-long bed. His orthopedic shoes cost $800 and his custom-made blue jeans cost $150 a pair.

Because Brenden can't easily bend his knees or ankles, the local fire department donated a lift chair, the kind that electronically powers him into a sitting or standing position.

While Brenden's physical comfort is improving, his medical prognosis remains uncertain. Last year, he had a dozen molars pulled and underwent an experimental treatment to speed up puberty, fuse his growth plates together and stop him from getting any taller.

It seems to have worked. But while his bones might have stopped growing, it's unclear whether his internal organs have followed suit.

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MIT Professor reveals the corrupted science of Al Gore

A report at the link below is titled, Corrupted science revealed. It is an important insight into the global warming fiasco.

Outsiders familiar with the proper workings of science have long known that modern Climate Science is dysfunctional. Now a prominent insider, MIT Meteorology Professor Richard S. Lindzen, confirms how Al Gore (pictured) and his minions used Stalinist tactics to subvert, suborn and corrupt a whole branch of science, citing chapter and verse in his report entitled ''Climate Science: Is it currently designed to answer questions?'' His answer: A resounding ''NO!''

One surprising revelation from the article:

The primary spokesman for the American Meteorological Society in Washington is Anthony Socci who is neither an elected official of the AMS nor a contributor to climate science. Rather, he is a former staffer for Al Gore.

The writer is optimistic, however, and adds this:

Fortunately, in science "truth will out". The long term faith of the American public in science, a trust built up since WWI is at stake. Next it will be important to see whether a prominent scientific journal publishes this revelation.

No matter which side of the climate science debate you are on, further study is important. This article is a great start.

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The Donald endorsed McCain on Larry King Live

New York real estate magnate Donald Trump (pictured) endorsed John McCain on the Larry King show.

Trump was a supporter of Hillary Clinton and was critical of Barack Obama for not selecting her as his vice presidential running mate.

”I know John McCain, and John McCain's a great guy, a tremendous guy,” Trump told King.

“I've known him for a long time. And I'm with him, and I'm with him based on the fact that I have great knowledge of John McCain. Also, this is not the right time for tax increases. And Obama wants to increase your taxes drastically.”

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Bush summons Obama to Washington

How are the presidential candidates helping with the financial crisis?

John McCain

Has been working to help solve the crisis.

McCain suspended his campaign because the “bail-out” was more important. He even cancelled all political advertising to focus on working with congress and the president to find a solution to the crisis.

Barack Obama

Had to be summoned to Washington by the president.

He was studying for the Friday night debate with Senator McCain. It seems that his performance at the debates superceded solving a very grave national financial crisis.

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Four billion mobile subscribers by end of 2008

A report at the link below predicts there will be 4 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, by the end of this year.

If the prediction is true, it will have taken just five full quarters to acquire the last billion additions!

Global mobile penetration - the number of mobile subscriptions worldwide - reached 50 percent in November of last year.

A large number of more mature markets worldwide already have in excess of 100 per cent mobile penetration, as users sign up for more than one subscription.

But emerging markets are the engine for much of the rapid growth, with tremendous consumer demand seen in developing countries like China and India, which each delivered more than 50 million new mobile subscriptions in the last six months alone.

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Obama takes Biden to the woodshed

There is a New York Post report at the link below titled, Joe gets taken to the woodshed. The article begins:

A civil war broke out on the Democratic ticket yesterday, as Barack Obama slapped down a comment by running mate Joe Biden (pictured) just a day after Biden ripped a sarcastic Obama campaign ad about John McCain.

After slamming McCain for flip-flopping on whether to bail out insurance giant AIG, Obama was asked yesterday by the "Today" show's Matt Lauer about his running mate's own view that the federal government shouldn't have rescued the firm.

"And I think that, in that situation - I think Joe should have waited, as well," Obama said.

After further pressing by Lauer, Obama became even more defensive.

Last Monday Joe Biden slammed his own campaign for running a commercial about McCain's inability to use a computer.

They seem to be bickering with each other and, in the case of Biden, bickering with his own campaign.

If they can’t get along, they maybe should at least stop airing their soiled laundry in public.

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Immigration makes England the most crowded country in Europe

Official figures show that England has become the most crowded major country in Europe.

The number of people crammed in has overtaken those in Holland, long the most densely-populated major nation on the continent.

A count released to MPs showed England now has 395 people per square kilometer.

Crowding has increased because of high immigration into England while the Dutch population has fallen or remained steady.

If England can’t stop the rampant flood of immigrants, the United Kingdom may be known as he United Arab Kingdom.

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Poll: most voters say debate moderators biased

There are so many polls during a presidential election they get a little tiresome.

There is one poll, however, that is quite interesting.

Three out of four U.S. voters (74%) say they are Very Likely to watch the upcoming presidential debates, but over half (56%) think debate moderators are biased in their questioning.

In the first debate this Friday evening, 22% believe the moderator, veteran PBS newsman Jim Lehrer, will try to help Barack Obama.

Forty-three percent (43%) say Lehrer will play a neutral role to help voters make an informed choice.

Only six percent (6%) think he will try to help John McCain.

How will Mr. Obama do without his teleprompter? He has even been known to use a teleprompter at a few of his small town hall meetings.

Mr. Obama was without a prompter during the forum at televangelist Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California when this dialog took place:

Pastor Warren: At what point does a baby have human rights?

McCain: A baby’s human rights begin at the moment of conception … I have a 25-year pro-life record.

Obama: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.

Above his pay grade indeed.

There were no teleprompters used at Saddleback and it showed.

He may make a slip like he did when he announced that he had campaigned in all 57 states and only had a few more to go.

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Joe Biden rewrites history

In a CBS “Behind the scenes with Joe Biden” article at the link below, Katie Couric interviews democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Biden (pictured) complained to Couric, “I know the Republicans are going to take anything I say, no matter what it would be or anybody, and take it out of context.”

About the rocky week on Wall Street, Biden had this to say:

“Part of what being a leader does is to instill confidence is to demonstrate what he or she knows what they are talking about and to communicating to people ... this is how we can fix this,” Biden said. “When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed.”

Fact checking Biden’s comments we find:

Franklin Roosevelt was not president during the 1929 stock market crash.

Herbert Hoover was president when the stock market crashed.

Franklin Roosevelt was Governor of New York in 1929. He was elected president in November, 1932 and took office on March 4, 1933.

Commercial television was not generally available until the late 1930’s and television sets were not found in the average household until the late 1940’s.

Will he complain that these comments will be taken out of context?

It’s no wonder there is talk of replacing Biden and putting someone else on the Obama ticket (possibly Hillary - if she will accept).

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Lighten up! Your child’s backpack may be too heavy

Heavy Backpacks can be a weighty problem for many children.

Are you sending your child off to school with a backpack that is too heavy?

When buying one, make sure it is the right size for a child. Keep in mind, proportion.

Look for padded shoulders and different pockets to separate the weight.

The American Physical Therapy Association recommends a backpack should be 10 to 15 percent of a child's weight.

A backpack that is too heavy can injure a child.

The most common injuries occur in the shoulder because heavy straps can tear the tendons in the area.

If the child is leaning forward, that's a sign the backpack is too heavy.

More of the story here.

Palin draws crowd of 60,000 in Florida

A wildly cheering crowd of 60,000 greeted Sarah Palin (pictured) in the Villages (near Orlando).

That’s only about 15,000 less than Obama drew in Denver for his acceptance speech - and she didn’t need a band or an elaborate “Barackapolis” to do it.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told wildly cheering, flag-waving, chanting supporters that John McCain is "the only great man in this race"

“He won't say this, so I'll say it for him," the Alaska governor said in an almost confidential tone at the close of her first Florida stump speech.

"There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. John McCain wore the uniform of his country for 22 years -- talk about tough."

Recent polls have given the McCain-Palin ticket a single-digit edge but Florida is clearly up for grabs.

McCain, who led the Jan. 29 state primary with a big boost from popular Gov. Charlie Crist, has strong support in the vital I-4 corridor and across North Florida, where conservative southerners tend to register as Democrats but vote Republican in statewide races.

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The Associated Press report said the crows was “tens of thousands” and downplayed the event by saying, “Palin's first Florida campaign stop a safe one.” Safe one indeed. Obama drew a much smaller crowd at the same location.

The AP report went on to make a very revealing Palin - Biden comparison:

Some people [attending the Palin rally] had to wait in line about 90 minutes just to park their cars. Biden's largest crowd during a visit earlier this month was about 2,000.

Not surprising since Biden has regularly been holding rally’s at High School gymnasiums attracting modest crowds.

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Poll: race may cost Obama 6% points on election day

A report at the link below gives the results of a poll showing that Barack Obama (pictured) could lose six percentage points on election day for being black.

That disturbing calculation was found in a groundbreaking new Associated Press-Yahoo News poll conducted with Stanford University which probes the effect of the Democratic presidential candidate's race on his historic campaign.

The percentage could easily be higher when election day finally arrives.

Many people responding to a poll would not want to seem racist. However, in the privacy of the voting booth, any fear of appearing racist would be gone.

More here.

Gen. Chuck Yeager at Sarah Palin rally

Gen. Chuck Yeager at a recent Sarah Palin rally in Nevada. Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.

Bacon wins Idaho hog-calling title

Jolee Bacon, a northern Idaho woman took first place in the hog-calling competition at the Nez Perce County Fair in Lewiston.

Her hog call began with a few loud snorts and a long, drawn-out "sooey." Must have been music to the ears!

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The Charlie Rangel tax scandal

Republicans are all over the latest Charlie Rangel tax scandal.

Democratic congressman Charles Rangel (pictured) is trying to make things right with his constituents and the IRS.

He is also claiming that he was being targeted as part of a "guerrilla war" waged by the GOP.

Republicans defend their charges and their call for Rangel to be stripped of his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

They say that a tax cheat should not be the chairman of the committee that writes American tax policy.

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The AP wonders how Obama will do in debates

An Associated Press writer wonders Which Obama will show up for presidential debates?

It could be the tone-deaf debater who condescendingly told Hillary Rodham Clinton during a Democratic debate that she was "likable enough."



Or perhaps the confident candidate who absorbed a jab from Clinton about using her husband's former advisers and responded with a devastating one-liner of his own: "Hillary, I'm looking forward to you advising me as well."

For a man known as a powerful speaker, Obama has rarely wowed people in political debates. He can come across as lifeless, aloof and windy.

It make a big difference when Obama can’t use a teleprompter.

One thing we do know is that the media will print positive reports on the performance of Obama and the same negative reports on McCain as they did for Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary campaign.

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California bans cell use by train operators

California state regulators issued an emergency order Thursday banning train operators from using cell phones on duty.

The Public Utilities Commission's unanimous decision to pass the temporary order came a day after investigators confirmed that the engineer of the Metrolink commuter train was text-messaging while on duty on the day the train ran a red light and collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train.



Last week's wreck in Los Angeles killed 25 people, including the engineer, and injured more than 130.

Metrolink prohibits operators from using cell phones on the job, but the rules are widely ignored.

Under the new order the board approved in San Francisco, violators could be fined up to $20,000 per violation or have their operations shut down.

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Now it’s Couric’s turn to ‘Gibson’ Sarah Palin

CBS News has announced that Katie Couric (pictured) will get a shot at interviewing Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Katie Couric will spend two days traveling on the campaign trail with Governor Sarah Palin on Sunday, September 28 and Monday, September 29.

The interviews may not be completely fair and balanced. After all, CBS is the network that allowed Dan Rather to keep his job for several months after his infamous attempt to smear George W. Bush with his “fake but accurate” National Guard fiasco in 2004.

However, don’t expect Couric to attempt a “gotcha” Charlie Gibson style interview.

The Sara Palin appearances with Katie Couric should be very interesting and should high viewer ratings.

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This little piggy went to prison

A Wisconsin man was convicted of sneaking into a 2-year-old girl's bedroom and stealing $20 from a piggy bank while she slept.

Four-time convicted burglar Ryan Mueller, 31, was convicted Thursday after a two-day jury trial of felony burglary as a repeat offender.

He was sentenced to six years in prison.

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