The Past Week: Recaps and Random Thoughts, August 31-September 6 (A REAL Political Pregnancy Scandal; Free Don Siegelman; Don’t Show Off, Obama!, Canadian Election, GREEN CHILE!)

Wow, what a week! The Palin selection and the outrageous response from the media and Obama sycophants took up most of our attention…Here are some other things which caught my eye.

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I got an email early in the week from “Free Don Siegelman” which is sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman. In case you don’t remember, Siegelman was targeted in the infamous “fired attorneys scandal” engineered by then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove.  Siegelman, then governor of Alabama, was targeted for 5 years and then imprisoned for 9 months on a conviction of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud in a case that raised serious questions about the politicization of the the Justice Department.  Now out of prison and on appeal, Siegelman is trying to raise money for his legal defense fund. I’ll be writing more about this next week. In the meantime, check out his site and find out how Karl Rove has blown off a subpoena and could get away scott free if the full House doesn’t vote on the contempt citation passed by the House Judiciary Committee before this Congressional session is over.  And guess who might let him get away?  The Democratic leadership…Siegelman was at the Democratic Convention, trying to rally House members for a vote this fall and politely NAILED the leadership.

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With all the crap in the media and the stuff coming from the Obamacrats about Sarah Palin, you might have missed this tidbit:

Palin’s hubby and son not Republicans

Democrats may be blasting Sarah Palin as a doctrinaire conservative, and Republicans may be embracing her for the same reason, but her husband and oldest son are independents.

Or, more precisely, their party affiliation is listed as “undeclared” on voter registration records retrieved from the Alaska Division of Elections.

Todd Palin, husband of the Alaska governor, hasn’t been affiliated with a party since he first registered to vote while he was in his early 20s, in 1989 — the year after he married Sarah Palin. And Track Palin, their 19-year-old son, registered as undeclared when he became eligible to vote last year.

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Not sure when the media and the Obama crew will move off Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter onto the next “scandal,” but in the meantime, here’s something they can sink their teeth into:

French minister’s pregnancy scandal

AFP Video – Friday, September 5, 2008 at 9:01 EDT

High profile justice minister Rachida Dati confirmed she is expecting but refused to reveal the name of the father.  Video report here.

The 42-year old, Muslim-born minister, who is single, hasn’t named the father, but the rumor is that he is the former prime minister of Spain, Jose Aznar.  Now, THERE’s a scandal!

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I saw this great video called “Don’t Show Off Before the Fight” which may be a perfect visual for how the arrogant Obama might overplay his hand.  Enjoy!

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It looks like Canada might be having its own election only a couple of weeks before our own. The Toronto Star has reported that the election may be called for October 14.

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In local news:

The Toad Rescue resumed this week after a very heavy night of rain.  First, I rescued a baby toad, and the next day a big, fat one, swimming wildly in the water bowl. I was really surprised to seem them…most are underground…didn’t hear any chorus of mating toads this time.  This week I’ve seen the latest addition to the squirrel colony on the other side of the wall. An adorable baby…who knows how many there are!

In the garden, the peppers, tomatoes, and lima beans are going nuts.  The pimiento peppers are getting huge, but the eggplant are slowing down a bit. I should be planting my fall crops, but with so much still producing, I hate to pull everything up!

Tomorrow I pick up 25 lbs. of fresh roasted, organic green chile, so it will be a long day in the kitchen as I clean and seed them and then pack them away in the freezer!

LAST WEEK’S POSTS

*Posted by kenosha Marge

*From Family Fun to Family Feud: Obama Crashes the Dinner Party…

If You Don’t Take Care of Women in Your Party (and Don’t Respect Those in the Other Party), How Can You Be Trusted with Issues Affecting Women–Or Anything Else, For That Matter? (It’s the Loss of Credibility, Stupid!)

OK, So Let’s Talk Religion…Palin and God (Crossposted from Texas Hill Country)

A Short Comment about Sarah Palin’s Speech…Anyone Who Can Erase Guiliani from Memory Must be Good…

“What Makes Obama Run?” from The Chicago Reader, December 1995

The Direction of This Blog in the Wake of the Democratic Party’s Fiasco

What’s Wrong with This Story?–WSJ: Obama Says Palin’s Family is “Off Limits”

Help the Animals in New Orleans and Mississippi ….Info Here (UPDATE 1X–”Hurricane Safe” Mail Address for Donations)

My Interview with The Pakistani Spectator…

THE PAST WEEK: Recaps & Rambling Thoughts–August 24-30 (Steny Hoyer Parties on Behalf of CHANGE; The ORANGE Site Spreads Unfounded Rumors re: A Palin Pregnancy; Obama & The New Black Panther Party; My Interview with The Pakistani Spectator; “Holy Smoke”; Animator vs. Animation)

My Interview with The Pakistani Spectator…

Last week I completed an interview for The Pakistan Spectator, which is an extremely interesting blog and news site dealing with Pakistan and international news.  I’ve included it my  International Press Library.

Interview with Blogger GRL

By The Pakistani Spectator • Aug 19th, 2008 • Category: Interviews

THE PAST WEEK: Recaps & Rambling Thoughts–August 24-30 (Steny Hoyer Parties on Behalf of CHANGE; The ORANGE Site Spreads Unfounded Rumors re: A Palin Pregnancy; Obama & The New Black Panther Party; My Interview with The Pakistani Spectator; “Holy Smoke”; Animator vs. Animation)

Well, this roller coast of a week is finally over but with Labor Day, the real onslaught of the political season will be going into full throttle.  It’s been a disappointing few weeks, culminating in the sham Democratic Convention.  The misogyny has been in full swing, fueled by McCain’s VP pick, Sarah Palin.

I’m tired but here’s taste of what went  on at the Obama festivities, which mark the great CHANGE:

While the Democrats pose as the party of the people, they sure weren’t acting like it when many of them accepted the hospitality of ATT & T:

AT&T Throws ‘Exclusive Party’ For Blue Dog Democrats Who Helped Pass Retroactive Immunity»

The telecommunications giant AT&T is “virtually everywhere” at the Democratic convention this week, “wining and feeding delegates and members of Congress with a relentless schedule of luncheons and evening celebrations.” The Texas-based company threw a special party outside the Mile High Station for its biggest supporters:

On Monday, AT&T threw an exclusive party for the Blue Dogs, the House’s moderate and conservative Democrats, at the historic Mile High Station in downtown Denver. Among the guests was House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who in June led Blue Dogs in crafting a compromise bill that shielded telecommunications companies from lawsuits arising from the government’s terrorism-era warrantless eavesdropping.

Hoyer spokeswoman Stacey Bernards said Hoyer was not aware of any connection between the party and his work on the legislation. “I’m sure Mr. Hoyer didn’t even know who the sponsor was,” she said.

Leading the Blue Dog Democrats, Hoyer was “the point man” in negotiations over the new FISA law that Congress passed and Bush signed last month. He helped secure retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies (including AT&T), thereby condoning their participation in Bush’s illegal spying program.

The president paid “special tribute” to Hoyer for his work in passing the legislation. While Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) called the legislation “one of the greatest assaults on the Constitution…in the history of our country,” Hoyer heralded it as a “significant victory.” And he has earned the telecommunication companies’ special thanks this week at the DNC convention.

(MORE)

Please understand that Hoyer had NO CLUE that who was sponsoring this party, no clue at all.  Nope, didn’t know ‘nuthin’…in spite of the fact that the party was announced and attendance was by invitation…

Can’t you just feel all the CHANGE in the air??

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I haven’t gone to the ORANGE site in months, but was compelled to see for myself the post questioning whether Sarah Palin as the mother of her Down’s Syndrome baby or whether it belongs to one of her teen-age daughters.

Classy.  No matter that someone has provided a picture of Palin while pregnant (scroll down).  The original post still sits there.

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Logistics Monster has a little ditty up on Obama and the New Black Panthers, which have a link on the Obama website.  I love the part with the two guys standing at attention with guns…reminds me of when I was at Cornell and the student union was taken over by rifle-wielding black students.  It made the naitonal headlines then…why not this now?  I trust the GOP will do the job, the question is when?  They’ll be accused of “playing the race card,” of course.

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I was interviewed by The Pakistani Spectator, which is a great source of new and views from Pakistan.  This site is now listed in my International Press Library.

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Ever see the movie “Holy Smoke” (1999) with Kate Winslet? It was on Encore last night….It’s about a young woman who becomes hooked by a religious guru, and how her parent hire a deprogrammer (Harvey Keitel) in an effort to get her back. Seems very appropriate these days…(“satiric yet disturbing,” according to the blurb)

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Take a break and see how this line drawing battles its animator:

http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/art/Animator-vs-Animation-34244097

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Out in the garden, the eggplant are getting smaller. The lima beans are at their peak production, while the peppers and tomatoes are still going strong. It’s hard to rip out producing plants to replace them with a fall crop of veggies, but I’m facing this dilemma soon. I have two small raised beds which produce year round, but it’s hard to rotate crops and wish I had a third bed!

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Have a good Labor Day, everybody!

THE PAST WEEK

*Posted by kenosha Marge

My Interview with The Pakistani Spectator…

*How Dare He Do That?

Putting Clinton, PUMAs and Palin in Their Place–The Pundits Don’t Skip a Beat

McCain and the Possible VP Pick–Putting a BOMB under Obama?? (UPDATE 1X–BOMB PLACED–It’s Palin) UPDATE 2X–ONE HELLUVA SPEECH BY PALIN; UPDATE 3X–Palin on Choice/Gays

FLASHBACK: Democratic Messages–Does Obama Cut It? (With an Aside about Obama’s Organizing & Connection to One of the ‘04 Candidates)

The GOP Toolbar…the Latest Thing in Their Arsenal…

How Many at Invesco Field Will Be There Because They’ve Been Coerced?? Here’s a true example….

MOVE TO GET HILLARY ON TICKET AS VP??? (Just reported on FOX…)

Some Pictures to Get You in the Mood for Tonight…Update: Invesco Field being “Reconsidered”? (Rumor?)

Democratic Delegates Should See Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” (1964) Before They Make Their HUGE MISTAKE Tonight…

*Pooped on by the Party (Fall in Line? I Ain’t Gonna Do That…)

Pundits, Pollsters and Should We Be Getting Ready for the Next Play of the Race Card? (Clues in the latest Zogby survey I received?) (Updated 1X)

THE PAST WEEK: Recaps & Rambling Thoughts–August 17-23 (Memories of Anita Hill; Timing of Rezko Sentencing; ACORN; Meet Emily; and Lima Beans!)

THE PAST WEEK:Recaps and Rambling Thoughts–August 3-August 9, 2008 (Highlights: A Great Post by Soldier4Hillary on the Fall of the Democratic Party; Rocky Mtn. News Reports O’s “Dual Citizenship” and Much More! (Update 1X)

The most important thing this week, of course, is the fact that the little toad came back for a day after a big rain.  There he was, in the water bowl, and I rescued him again.  He went under the bowl after basking in the sun for a few moments.  I’ve seen him do that before, so I’m presuming he lives under the bowl!

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At the top of the week I came across this fantastic post by Soldier4Hillary on “The Fall of the Democratic Party: Losing the Women’s Vote.”  Check it out. It’s definitely worth a read!

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Did you know that Obama holds dual citizenship in the US and Kenya? With all the controversy about his birth certificate and what he may be hiding, I found this interesting that a part of the mainstream media (and in Denver, no less!) decided to cough up some facts about the Chosen One.

Hat tip to Count Us Out, which posted the story from the Rocky Mountain News on August 8.  The story was called “Things You Might Not Know About Barack Obama.”

UPDATE

Late last night on a thread at No Quarter, Texas Hill Country reported that he had talked to the RMN reporter who said the info about Obama holding dual citizenship wasn’t “well-sourced.”  Which made me wonder, “Why was the info included in the article if the reporter knew it wasn’t ‘well-sourced?'”  “Who made sure it got into the piece?” In other words, what’s up at the Rocky Mountain News?

Texas Hill Country responded by saying he thought the reporter thought the report was accurate, but “realized maybe it should be checked.”

Sigh.  Either we have to be paranoid about the motives of the press these days or we are just being confronted with reporters who don’t do thorough fact checks or who writing things without indicating that there are questions about what they are reporting. We really can’t win these days!!!

So here goes…a link to a press release way back in February, 2007 by Andy Martin about his upcoming “blockbuster Chicago news conference” on the matter.  I can’t tell if this is the earliest reference to Obama’s citizenship questions or not, but it’s pretty early on.  By the way, Andy Martin is still blogging at Contrarian Commentary if you want to take a look.  As recently as early July he’s been on the top of citizenship America’s media critic Andy Martin slams the New York Times for anti-McCain bias.  Who is Andy Martin? A “An Illinois Corruption fighter” who wanted to run for the Senate (bio here) against Durbin as a Republican. He was defeated in the primary by Steve Sauerberg.

DISCLAIMER: DO I KNOW IF MARTIN IS REALLY LEGIT OR HAS REAL INFO? NO, I DON’T…so be warned!  There, I’ve just done what “professional reporters” fail to do….

Whatever. The mystery is STILL ongoing and hopefully, Larry Johnson at No Quarter and others are close to figuring it all out! (I don’t mean to slight “others” but you’ll find a lot of their info collected in the recent threads at NQ.)

By the way, if you would like to read about Texas Hill Country’s amazing background, check out the interview with THC in The Pakistani Spectator–A Candid Blog.

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In case you missed it, I did a piece on Pelosi’s new book.  Here’s a short recap:

Pelosi’s book, Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters,  looks like a DUD! (See original post on the USA Weekend interview pushing it and Pelosi’s comments about Hillary Clinton…)

UPDATE Thursday, August 7, 2008

Hate to report anything from Drudge, but he quotes the Nielsen Bookscan as reporting that Pelosi’s book has sold 2,737 copies during its first week and this after the USA Weekend push.

By contrast, the anti-Obama title, OBAMA NATION, has sold 21,466, according to a Drudge “insider.”

Looks like the people are speaking!!

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With the disaster in Georgia unfolding, I want to direct you to the International Press Library at this blog for some great sources of information on the region and the problems between Russia and Georgia.  I followed this story for a long while when I was doing the World Media Watch at that other site and the sources I used are really useful!  In addition to those that deal specifically with the area, I can also recommend Asia Times Online, one of  my absolute favorite sites for analysis of U.S. foreign policy and other key international news. You’ll find the links to news on Georgia in section titled NEWS SOURCES BY COUNTRY/REGION: RUSSIA; CENTRAL ASIA .  Asia Times Online is listed under several regions.

This conflict is about energy and security, not just about a breakaway province…

Note: As of this morning (Sunday, August 10), links to The Georgian Times do not seem to be working/are down.

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So, Putin (gone as President, but now Prime Minister and still running the show) and Bush are supposed to talk about Georgia while at the Olympics.  I sure hope Bush can muster up some dignity.  As I was watching the opening ceremonies last night, I kept seeing Bush in his shirtsleeves draped over his seat with his mouth curled up and his legs spread apart like a good ‘ole boy! I instantly thought of Obama’s “crotch shot” on the plane.  Putin took off his jacket, too, but I didn’t strike that sort of pose.  Sarkozy stayed buttoned up as did the President of China and the head of the Olympic Committee. Bush was a real embarrassment, as usual.

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Speaking of the Olympics, I was totally BLOWN AWAY by what the Chinese did!  It was simply magnificent! My least favorite part was Sarah Brightman on that globe, although I loved the dancers running around the surface!  And how the heck did they erect that torch so quietly??

As a shortwave radio listener, I love tuning in to Radio China International’s “Listener’s Garden” on a Saturday morning. Last year I entered a Q & A contest for a trip to panda country, then forgot all about it.  A few months later a package arrived with a “1st Prize” certificate for the “2007 Sichuan, the Beautiful Land of the Panda” Knowledge Contest and a gorgeous, embroidered linen tablecloth!

I’m planning to write to my friends at the “Listener’s Garden” to tell them how much I enjoyed the wonderful program I saw last night. It truly was incredible!!  Check out CRI for the latest news, weather, streaming local radio and archives of all programs in English! It’s a fantastic site!!

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I’ll end this week’s roundup with a quote from one of my favorite sources of wisdom–Charlie Chan!

“If befriend donkey, expect to be kicked.’

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THE WEEK’S POSTS

*posted by kenoshaMarge

The Past Week…Random Thoughts July 27–August 2, 2008 (Special “Toad Rescue Edition” w/Pic)

*PARTY DOLLS…

Nancy Pelosi Talks about Hillary during an Interview about Her New Book “Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters” (Ironic Title, Isn’t It?) (UPDATE 1X)

I Write to an Aussie Talk Show Host About Obama, He Gets “Inspired,” Writes a Column in “The Australian” (Mentioning Me), and Then…

Let’s Strip Donna Brazile’s Super Delegate Status!

BREAKING!! Tom Vilsack says Obama Will Get the Support of Clinton Supporters!

*W.O.M.A.N. (with comments by GRL)

Don’t Let the Edwards Story Let This Get By You…Next Week, “The Atlantic” is Possibly Publishing “Leaked Clinton Campaign Memos” on the Internet (Updated 3X)