TGIF/Weekend edition - September 12-14, 2008

Wizard of Whimsy

"Because of Sarah Palin, people are now asking the question: is she ready to be president? Is Sarah Palin ready to be president? If, God forbid, something happens to John McCain, is Sarah Palin ready to be president? I don't think we need to worry about that, because Bush has lowered the bar so tremendously." --David Letterman

The-World-Is-A-Safer-Place-Without Saddam

• US military deaths in Iraq war at 4155 The Associated Press

• US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 519 AP

• Suspected US missile kills 12 in Pakistan: official AFP

• 3 killed in Iraq shrine bombings CNN International

• Iraq reports cholera outbreak CNN

• Iraq Rejects No-Bid Contracts Washington Post

• Iraq's parliament to pick new flag in November The Associated Press 

• Venezuela: Hugo Chávez expels US ambassador amid claims of coup plot guardian.co.uk

How Are Those Negotiations With North Korea Going?

North Korea has quietly built a long-range missile base that is larger and more capable than an older and well-known launch pad for intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to independent analysts relying on new satellite images of the site and other data. Analysts provided images of the previously secret site to The Associated Press

Many Fundamentalists have minds like concrete – all mixed up and firmly set. - J. Stephen Conn, ordained Protestant minister and author of  “Growing up Pentecostal.”

www.buckfush.com

Russia and Venezuela

Two Russian strategic bombers landed in Venezuela on Wednesday as part of military maneuvers, the government said, announcing an unprecedented deployment to the territory of a new ally at a time of increasingly tense relations with the U.S.

Disturbing News

• Haiti city hit by storms needs clean water, food Reuters

• Ike strands freighter in Gulf; Houston braces The Associated Press

• Weather service warns of 'certain death' in face of Ike CNN International 

• Climate change could devastate Philippines: NASA scientist AFP

MOOSES

Graphic courtesy of http://www.zazzle.com/fatlemon

Hillary Takes The High Road

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Assistant Director Peter A. Brown said the Obama campaign is fooling itself if it discounts the importance of the problem. “This isn’t about Hillary; it’s about Obama’s problem with white women voters,” he said. “Hillary won about 10 million votes from women voters in the Democratic primaries - there are 52 million women voting in the general election.”

Clinton has said she’ll hit the road for Obama, but her team says she refuses to be an anti-Palin “attack dog.” Further complicating matters for Obama...

It’s official now. All senate pork going to Alaska will be earmarked with lipstick. - LaughLines

Republican-Shenanigans News

• A Tangled Story of Addiction - Cindy McCain Washington Post

• Palin Speaks At Son's Iraq Deployment Ceremony ABC News

• GOP campaign downplays Palin book-banning inquiry AP

• Officials: Bush OK'd US raids inside ally Pakistan AP

• Analysis: McCain's claims skirt facts, test voters AP

• Chertoff: Aviation still vulnerable to terror AP

• Montana governor's election comments draw fire AP

• McCain takes slim lead over Obama The Associated Press

"I guess there are some problems" with Palin, though. Have "you heard about this 'Troopergate' scandal?" Palin "allegedly...used her power as governor to pressure officials to fire her former brother-in-law from his state trooper job. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't that an episode of 'Dukes of Hazzard?'"- Jay Leno
 

Obama's VP

It was a gift that the McCain campaign could not resist pouncing on. Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, admitted in an unguarded moment that Hillary Clinton may be more qualified to be vice-president than he is.
 

Rock-The-Voter News

• In one mutual moment of peace, John McCain and Barack Obama mark 9/11 Los Angeles Times

• Obama Doubles Down on Change Message Washington Post 

• HRC defends Obama on 'lipstick' MSNBC 

• Obama, Bill Clinton meet up in Harlem Newsday

• Barack Obama dominates in new poll -- of folks who can't vote here Los Angeles Times

• Robbers raid ancestral Obama home in Kenya Reuters

Obama Mocks McCain

John McCain is mocked as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate in a television commercial out Friday from Barack Obama as the Democrat begins his sharpest barrage yet on McCain's long Washington career.

Well, more good news this week for John McCain. It seems he is now matching Barack Obama ’s fundraising numbers. But he does have a slight advantage. See, for every dollar McCain raises, Medicare matches it. - Jay Leno

Democratic Chairwoman Makes Dumb Comment - Then Apologies

South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler sharply attacked Sarah Palin today, saying John McCain had chosen a running mate "whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”
 

Biz-Tech News

• Oil rises in Asia as Ike bears down on Texas coast The Associated Press

• Chevron caught up in oil agency scandal San Francisco Chronicle 

• Foreclosure filings increase, but at slower rate AP

• Lehman Racing to Find Buyer for Beleaguered Firm ABC News

• Va. court strikes down anti-spam law AP

• Avoid Chinese-made baby formula: FDA Reuters
   

Capitalism and Religion Collide

Meat processor JBS Swift & Co. has fired 130 Muslim workers after they refused to return to work in a dispute with the company over Ramadan fasting and meal breaks, company and union officials said on Thursday.
 

Even President Bush now has been drawn into this controversy. But again, you see, I don’t think President Bush really understands the issue. Like he said, “What people do in private is their business, as long as they don’t marry the pig.” - Jay Leno

Bush-Prison-Torture News

• Documents criticize Canadian's care at Guantanamo International Herald Tribune

Houston, We Have A Problem

As a gigantic Hurricane Ike steamed through the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coast, officials in America's fourth-largest city made a bold decision: Instead of fleeing, residents here would stare down the storm.
 

"Well, the Wall Street Journal said today Democrats are sending an army of lawyers and investigators up to Alaska to look into the background of Sarah Palin. And of course, John McCain is furious. He said, 'Hey, if I didn't look into her background, there's no reason you should be looking into her background.'" --Jay Leno
 

Go-F**k-Yourself News

• Is Palin foe of big oil or a new Cheney? Reuters

"Oprah's mother, Vernita Lee, allegedly owes a Wisconsin clothing store more than $155,000. Who knew Oprah had a mother?! How is it that we've met her trainers, her doctor, her friends, her personal chef, her interior decorator -- and not her mother?"- Jimmy Kimmel

Stop the Swiftpigging!

Offline Donation - Lisa Casey - PO Box 88 - Ashford, AL 36312

Email All Hat No Cattle

Odd News

• Pamela Anderson tells Sarah Palin to 'suck it ' - VIDEO Monsters and Critics.com 

• Judge swears in all-white jury for O.J. trial AP

• Lewd vandal leaves greasy imprints on Neb. town AP

• Japan's centenarian population soars over 36,000 Reuters

• Miami residents are most attractive in U.S.: poll Reuters

• Man accused of firing gun in dispute over plants AP

• Woman fends off burglars with musical instrument AP

• Hallucinogenic chocolates doom Berlin sweet shop Reuters

Ashes of deceased pets are stored, in Buddhist style, at a Tokyo pet cemetery. Saying a final goodbye to pets at a funeral is a special moment for owners, but the monks involved must still cough up money in taxes, Japan's top court ruled Friday.
Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi

Peace.