Best of Facebook: Go Left

Go Left has two slogans:

1. When nothing goes right… go left!

2. I love it when I wake up in the morning and Barack Obama is president!

And their latest post made me laugh

 

 

OZ Radio Show Host Suspended for Inappropriate Remarks About the Prime Minister…

In Australia you can go to jail for inciting hate on the airways, whether that’s through television or radio. You can also get suspended or lose your job altogether if your public comments are deemed inappropriate. Kyle Sandilands, one of the most popular radio DJs downunder has been suspended more than once for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and has had expulsion from the airways loom over his head on a few occasions.

Today we have this article [click to enlarge] from 7News in Queensland:

As I read this article and thought about all the consequences Kyle and other DJs have faced since I’ve been in Australia, my thoughts turned to Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and FNC commentators. Now we get Fox here because it is our one and only cable channel. And I’m pretty sure the Australian regulations regarding hate speech don’t apply to them for many reasons – not actually being in this country and talking about our pollies being the major one.

But it doesn’t slip past many over here just how derogatory these people are and it’s been mentioned several times that had Sarah Palin made any of her spiteful comments about President Obama while on Australian soil, she could well have faced legal consequences including immediate deportation.

And I’m pretty sure Rush Limbaugh would be sucking down prison porridge instead of Mimosas for breakfast.

Where does freedom of speech end and slander begin? When did free speech mean the absence of basic humanity?

How long do we let public figures get away with lying through their teeth just to win an election?

 

Dear Mr. M. Joseph Sheppard

Dear Mr. M. Joseph Sheppard

Thank you for commenting on my blog. I just have a couple of questions…

On July 3, 2009 Sarah Heath Palin, in a dramatic announcement on her back lawn, quit her job as governor of Alaska because, she said, her presence was a distraction to the state and she would be able to do more for Alaskans and the country out of office than stuck in a lame duck term. With the help of a ghost-writer, Sarah Palin finished and subsequently had published her autobiography called Going Rogue and was on a whirlwind book-signing tour by November.

Her PAC continued to rake in the same big bucks as it did while she was the VP candidate on John McCain’s 2008 ticket. She personally rakes in $1mil per year working part-time for Fox News Channel. What I want to know is this:

What is it – specifically – that Sarah Heath Palin has done for Alaska and the country with this new-found wealth of time and money?

Has she founded any groups to help underprivileged children be better fed or educated?

Has she funded any drives to help native Alaskans in rural communities supplement their critically low food and heating supplies, issues they face yearly along with flooding that now comes from eroding coastal shores?

Has she donated her time and made sizable  donations to promote Down Syndrome awareness?

Has her PAC fully financed Republican candidates for the 2010 and 2012 election cycles?

Since walking out on her role as governor of Alaska to purportedly ‘do good’ for state and country, Sarah has had three winters to make her mark as charity leader for multiple causes for her state and six opportunities to enroll in university semesters that would extend her political resume and broaden her education. Has she?

The unfortunate answer to each of these questions is nup, nup and nup. In fact I see nothing that even remotely resembles sacrifice on her part in either time or money to promote any of the issues she told us emphatically were close to her heart. She didn’t personally pay for her scant trips abroad.  Because she refused to come out of her hotel room and mingle with the people, India and Israel media treated her like a rock star rather than a travelling dignitary. And what her PAC didn’t pay for on her overseas junkets, Evangelist groups like Samaritan’s Purse, did.

On behalf of Sarah Palin (the now millionairess) SarahPAC made a one-time contribution of $1,000 to Down Syndrome Assoc.(Sarah Heath Palin charges $100k + for each speech she makes on anyone’s behalf, while enjoying first class accommodations wherever she travels at the expense of the group who hired her to speak. Sarah and Todd could easily have made this donation themselves.)

You can count on less than ten fingers the number of campaign contributions SarahPAC has made to Republican candidates since its founding. (Even though, it’s interesting to note, the entire point of a PAC is for a popular politician to elicit funds and publicity for the lesser known candidates they wish to support, SarahPAC seems always more eager to pay extraordinarily large salaries to a handful of staff, picking up the tab for Sarah’s airfares and hotel accommodations while she travels to make her $100k speeches and – oddly enough – the massive postage needs of three ladies in Wasilla. Oh and let’s not omit the huge monthly retainer fee to her flavour of the month attorney.)

Sarah Heath Palin banked in excess of $7 – 10 million dollars by 2010 and has, by virtue of public records, donated nothing to any of her purported pet causes. Not time, not money, nothing. She’s not formed a single fund-raising drive for native Alaskans in danger of losing their homes and livelihoods to the growing negative effects of global warming on their villages. She’s not run one ad campaign to save Alaskan fishing sites from big oil or mining companies attempting to destroy the Alaskan waterways in the name of profits.

In fact, for someone who grew up in America’s last frontier and helped eke out a living by fishing its shores, Sarah’s not done anything at all to promote environmental preservation. (At least nothing that personally cost her a single penny.)

Show me what Sarah has accomplished for Alaska and her country since the summer of 2009 without citing speeches one must purchase a ticket to attend and don’t use the stale  ‘well she’s busy taking care of Trig’ because (a.) we know that’s not entirely true and (b.) she assured all of us, way back in September of 2008, that raising a child with DS would not come between her and her political duties, that she was a hockey mom with a servant’s heart and could do both with ease.

Since July 2009 Sarah has published 2 lucrative books, built a new home in Alaska, purchased another home in Arizona, made a self-serving television program and flown back and forth between Alaska, Arizona and California to supervise home improvements and appear on DWTS with her daughter, Bristol, (take a breath) but I hardly see these events as being beneficial to state or country. – and no proceeds were ever donated to charities.

She did make a 2011 pre-campaign-campaign tour of a few north-eastern US states (telling Piper they and her accompanying parents were on a family vacation) in a fully outfitted bus-length RV wrapped in $14k worth of PAC donation-paid political propaganda – all the while charging her PAC for hired limos and first-class hotel rooms and meals.

And so, Mr. M. Joseph Sheppard, you see we’re not just ‘catty’ over here on the left. We actually do our homework, get our facts straight and are not opposed to listening to the other guy’s point of view.

Show me how Alaska and the country have benefited from Sarah Heath Palin having quit her governorship. Show me where she’s shared her good fortune with those less fortunate. Show me.

Respectfully yours,
OzMud

P.S. I am a copywriter by trade, fully employed and it’s no secret that as I have the luxury of working from my home, most of my typing is done in bunny slippers and pj’s.

 

 

WTH Has Sarah Got on Her Feet? *UPDATE*

I swear these look like ice skates to me…

Not my photo – the original photos are here and the C4P story is here.

In a nutshell, the nutcase from AK got paid big bucks to spout her ‘we are the daughters of God’ dribble to an infatuated crowd of women at a religious convention over the weekend. I could care less. Well, except that every time she gets paid for spewing this crap some poor young, innocent woman gets sucked into the vortex.

There is something interesting going on though I thought in these recent speeches of hers… Sarah is actually instructing women to stand up for themselves. And the hidden problem with this for her is that in teaching women to stand up for themselves – they eventually, actually – will

Oops.

============  UPDATE  ============

FOUND ‘EM!!!
Irishgirl’s comment section piqued my interest even more so I thought what the heck – Google Images! And sure enough… there they were… FOR SALE!

And the BEST part is (drumroll please…) the shoes are called

H O B A K

That’s them, right?

Please make my day and tell me Sarah (you lil’ ho, you) wore shoes named after ‘the world’s oldest profession’  to a religious convention!

Talk about biblical!

BTW – shoes can be found here. This pair are sold out but the other HOBAK shoes seem to all be around $150-$200 each.

 

“Sarah Palin: You Betcha!” Lands in Sydney Australia (and if I read it right, the critics like neither Nick nor Sarah)

This morning, having a cuppa with cousin Margaret, she told me Sarah Palin was going to be on television this evening. She saw the ad on TV and couldn’t wait to give me the news! Margaret loves to tell me things she’s heard about the Palins because she says I’m very entertaining when I get all riled up and animated.

Margaret has recently been moved into a residential care facility where spouse and I now go every Sunday morning to have morning tea, bring her treats and try to make her transition more bearable. And I secretly overdo my reactions to her Palin comments – just to see her laugh.  On top of loving this woman to bits, it’s part of my job as Yank to be a silly one.

**Notice**  I hate hot key shortcuts. Especially when (A) you don’t know what they are and (B) they surprise you by posting your unfinished article in the middle of a sentence… grrr  (if you got here to find only part of this post up – sorry!)

When arriving back home I looked it up and sure enough, Nick Broomfield’s documentary finally hit Australia. I did screenshots of the TV Guide and Sydney Herald write-up in case just giving you this link didn’t work.

[Click each image to enlarge]

If I read this correctly, the Sydney Herald Staff writer wasn’t too keen on the results of Broomfield’s effort to track down the ‘real’  Sarah Palin – but neither was he complimentary about the Grizzled Mama herself. While referring to her in one sentence as one of the greatest political stories of the decade, he appears verbally stressed over the fact that the documentary makes her appear sympathetic.

Or maybe, even after 15 years of living on this island, I still don’t quite speak fluent Australian. (LOL).

Anyway, have a read and you tell me what the writer was thinking…

Here’s the Sydney Herald TV Guide version of the promo:

 

Queen Sarah’s Today Show Crown a Little Tarnished (after all)

From the Washington Post:

NEW YORK — ABC’s “Good Morning America” is claiming a one-day victory in viewership over longtime champ “Today” on NBC.

 On Wednesday, “GMA” was watched by 5.236 million viewers, while 5.149 million viewers tuned into “Today,” according to the Nielsen Co.

Wow. Can we let that sink in for a moment?

On the day before, Tuesday, the day Sarah Palin supposedly walloped Katie Couric by attracting 4.5 million viewers to Katie’s .5 million viewers, Palin fans were quick to do the ‘landslide victory lap’ with their queen.  But then on Wednesday, Ryan Seacrest drew one million more viewers (ratings reported viewers at 5.5  million) than had tuned in to see Sarah on Tuesday and as it turns out, The Today Show N O R M A L L Y enjoys an audience of between 4 and 5 million daily.

So in reality, Sarah’s appearance had little effect on the show’s average, daily ratings.

Her actual ratings bump was in the mere thousands, compared to Seacrest who bumped the numbers by exactly one million. Hardly worth the effort of polishing the crown…

 

“Sorry Sarah, Katie’s The Queen” – says The Daily Beast

The video is here and these are my favourite spots:

John Avlon, Rebecca Dana and Louise Roug had just finished discussing bin Laden’s rather luxurious life in hiding. Time to change topics and my first ‘spit coffee all over my desk moment’ comes at the 1:15 mark:

“Well, speaking of taking disasters and putting them on television…” (referring to Sarah’s appearance on the Today Show.)

and again at 2:03:

“If Sarah Palin is your ‘big guns’ isn’t that essentially admitting defeat?” Oh Ouch! That had to hurt!

So whatever the numbers turn out to be, at least we can pretty much tell that the real lamestream media has Sarah’s number and while they’re willing to let her play in their sandbox this week, none of them will be any too happy to have to share their real jobs with her

I actually would love to see Sarah Palin succeed as a talk-show host. Let her compete with actual television personalities where she’s only accountable to her ratings polls and get her the Hell out of politics!

 

Working Link to the movie Game Change (from Sarah Palin has a Serpent’s Heart)

From Sarah Palin has a Serpent’s Heart – a link to the movie Game Change usable in Australia. Enjoy!

Thanks so much!!!

 

Palin Supporters Find Hidden Meanings in the Strangest Places

Armed only with caffeine and special decoder rings, Conservatives 4 Palin bloggers spend hours pouring through Palin’s public addresses looking for hidden meanings and private instructions.  This time though I fear their leaders have deciphered themselves straight into a code of insanity. Have a peek at this:

THE MATH IS THE MATH…

“As Governor Palin alluded to last night with Justice Jeanine Pirro, she wants all candidates to go forward and doesn’t want the primary process to be over with.

Before being cut off last night, she began to make the point of “the math is the math.”  In doing so, combined with her plea to “Rage against the Machine, Vote Newt,” Sarah Palin’s message was clear.

In order to give all the non-Romney candidates the push to go forward, “the math” has to be accepted as we are two days away from the Florida primary.

What some seem to be missing is that this was no call for the rest of us to pit the Non-Romney candidates against one another.  “The math is the math” and right now, Newt Gingrich is the closest candidate who can carve out a modest win in Florida if the entire tea party and grassroots would coalesce behind him.  It’s a strategy and not a campaign for one person for the remainder of the primary season.

So yes, as Palin supporters, out of respect of Governor Palin, our mission and immediate call to action has been sounded.  This means that leading up to Florida’s primary, our collective support should be to do whatever we can to get Newt Gingrich as many votes as we can before Tuesday’s primary.

“The math is the math.”  It doesn’t matter if we personally prefer Ron Paul.

It doesn’t matter if we personally prefer Rick Santorum.”

Full article here

In a nutty nutshell, the author believes not only does Palin send her supporters secret messages in her speeches, but she is now telling them who to vote for, regardless of who they may want to vote for…

“As Palin supporters, I implore all to set their personal preferences aside and to do what we can to follow her strategic lead… Governor Palin’s political instincts are top notch…  this website is focused on… being behind her 100% regardless of our personal feelings.” – Steve Flesher

Yeah, don’t bother casting your ballot for the guy you trust, vote for Newt because Sarah sent us a message instructing us how to vote! Go America!

I swear I can smell the faintest whiff of election tampering.

 

The EarthQuakers – What did they Sacrifice?

As the Iowa Caucus draws to a close and the maintenance crew sweeps up the last of the burst balloon bits, torn posters and fast food debris I can’t help but wonder what personal sacrifices the Palin supporters made to write their Queen onto the 2012 ballot – and now that it’s obvious the gesture didn’t work will they recognize their movement to draft Sarah has made them tragic earthquake victims or  will they still keep opening their wallets?

I do know that people who don’t have a lot of money to begin with have to make personal sacrifices in order to pay $100 for a DVD or coffee mug because money for donations has to come from somewhere. Are these Palin supporters doing without extras and necessities in order to play the SarahPAC donation game?

I once lived in San Francisco next door to a family from Hot Springs Arkansas. The houses on our block were all three story Victorian homes.  Some were single family dwellings while others were divided into flats which then accommodated multiple families. This particular family lived in a flat – two parents and two children. One Christmas the mother announced she was taking a retail job and they would not be exchanging presents or chipping into pot luck festivities because they had decided to save for a home. Everyone on the block was supportive. My mom and dad gave the kids presents anyway and included them in our holiday plans regardless.

But I put this out there because I remember so clearly from that Christmas forward my friend (their daughter) not having any sweets in her school lunchbox, never being able to buy an ice cream with the rest of us after school, skipping class field trips and my dad paying for her to accompany me on occasional weekend activities like Saturday afternoon matinees or swimming parties.

Her ice skating lessons came to a halt and for several semesters she wore hand-me-down clothing her mom found at church rummage sales. I can still hear her mother making the worn-out comment “no, you can’t have that, we’re saving for a house remember?”

To further save money an out-of-work uncle was called upon to watch my friend and her much younger brother on evenings when both parents worked overtime hours. The uncle babysitting lasted until my friend told her mother that the uncle was forcing himself on her sexually (we were about aged 10-12 at the time). I remember how horrified my parents were and that while the uncle was sent far, far away, my friend got the belt for not outing him sooner – and my dad was so outraged at her punishment he never spoke to my friend’s dad again.

The thing is, money has to come from somewhere. In many ways the commitment made by this family to save enough money to buy a first home is commendable. But on another level, the severity of sacrifice made by the two small kids was beyond harsh. For more than one or two holiday seasons there was no Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny and little fuss made over birthdays while all around them their friends had presents to open, candles to blow out and parties to plan. (And of course the obvious observation needs to be made – if the parents hadn’t been so keen on getting a free babysitter would they have left their daughter in the care of the uncle?)

The parents desire to become home-owners was so strong it excluded their children from much of the socialization that happens in grade school. No trips or money to buy treats at bake sales or joining in with others for parties or after school activities. And I can’t even begin to describe the humiliation my friend surely must have felt by having to purchase her first bra at a church charity sale surrounded by a group of women who all knew her uncle had molested her.

And when I think of all the not-so-well-off people who have made similar familial sacrifices in order to afford sending donations to SarahPAC the irony makes my blood boil.

The Republicans behind Sarah Palin running for president all believe that government handouts are wrong – that people out of work should just suck it up and find jobs – that free medical treatment or food stamps go against the grain of people standing up on their own two feet – that the elderly and infirm should just figure it out…

…and yet all their heroes (not just Sarah Palin) run political campaigns forged on the collection of public donations. You know – that darned ol’ *gasp* free money thing they so adamantly scream at Pres. Obama about.

At least at the end of the day my friend and her family were able to move into a lovely house in the avenues. What are the Palin supporters getting for their sacrifices? I mean besides a packet of lies and a boxful of empty promises.

*          *          *

O/T – my follow-up posts on the SLRC race and the Childrens Hour are still forthcoming – it’s just that I’ve stepped into this weird dimension I like to call the hurrier I go the behinder I get… so your patience is much appreciated

 

What to Get that Special C4P Pal for Xmas

Stuck with a relative who’s still into Sarah?

Get paired up at work with a Palinbot for the office Silent-Santa gift exchange and don’t know what to get?

Well even if all you want to do is give a liberal a laff, I found THE PERFECT gift for Palin fans at this website.

Welcome to Holiday Hell…

ITEM DETAILS

Tacky Sarah Palin Christmas sweater! On this sweater, Sarah Palin is wearing her own tacky sweater, complete with decorations. She’s got happy jazz hands, wearing her winter gloves. Bust = 42″ Length = 25″. Sleeves are 12″ half-length.

 

You might even want this one for yourself! You know – to prove to the world that while you might be a liberal, you’re also too fair and balanced!

ITEM DETAILS

T-neck red Tacky Sarah Palin Christmas Sweater! Sweater has a rear zipper at the neck for easy on-off. This sweater is 2-sided! The front has Sarah wearing a pair of festive antlers. On the back of the sweater, Sarah Palin is wearing her own tacky sweater, mittens, and a santa hat! Decorative accents include beads, pom poms, bows, and trim. This festive sweater is a winner! Bust=34″. Length= 22″.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL! Each of these lovely creations is not only a steal at $64.95, they are also too pre-owned which means you’d be helping other lucky gift recipients to recycle!

WOW!

I don’t know about you guys but I sure know where I’m going shopping for my stocking stuffers this year!!!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Dot Com – where have you been all my life!!! (omg I am so into the sweaters with twinkle lights!)

 

 

The Reason Behind Sharing the Photo… *Update*

What a delightful, lively group you are! Thank you to everyone who contributed to the last post – and I hope this post will answer the big question ultimately hanging over my head like an annoying thought bubble… what in the Sam Hill were you getting at lady? (Which is, actually, a common question posed by my spouse almost daily for numerous subjects!)

When cliveden posted a link and a question in another comments section, I casually strolled across the web to have a sticky beak (that means take a look for you mainlanders). I found the photo, captured it and reposted it here to get all your opinions. The next day I went back to the site and began perusing the other entries. By the third one I was sitting straight up in my seat, alarmed and uncomfortable.

I immediately removed the link from my comments and sent cliveden an email explaining my reasons. I asked her to please not post it anywhere else until I’d had a chance to show it to a professional, get his opinion, and capture certain information that might otherwise disappear (like some myspace accounts) should the quiet blog suddenly be the recipient of heavy traffic.

To be perfectly honest, my initial impression of the photo was that it had been photo-shopped by the blog author. The post read like a quiet occasion shared by two close friends. But in reading further it began to feel more like the long, melancholy letter one would write to a lover at sea, referring to one of the Palin women as ‘my sweetness’ and reading the posts felt like such an intrusion of privacy I had to stop. On the advice of a friend and professional, I’ve sent the link to Alaska authorities. On the advice of a friend and a blogger, I’m not going to release the link here and sincerely hope that any of you who might be privy to the web address will not make it public, either.

We have a responsibility – all of us – on all sides of the political aisle – to ensure we have a place to conduct deeply passionate, heated discussions about our policies, our elected officials, our elected-wannabes and in these rooms we share some pretty adamant, unyielding and differing opinions of people. But one thing we need to always agree on and that is we mean no one actual physical harm. I am genuinely concerned that the author of the blog I read is troubled, pathologically focused on the Palin family and neither I nor any of my readers need to be the catalyst for putting this poor soul over the edge.

And then I had an email exchange with Gryphen from tIM in which he not only confirmed my reactions but had this profound statement to add as well:

As things with the Palins start to die down there are a few VERY unhinged people, on both sides of the spectrum, who seem to be having an especially hard time letting things go.  Just recently  Shawn Christy decided to plead guilty (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/sarah-palins-stalker-plead-guilty) which is good because he was another one who was becoming increasingly scary.

Sarah and Todd Palin may very well be genuine phonies who grifted their way to fame and fortune, cheating the general public out of millions of dollars – but as disingenuous as they might be, stalkers are very real. And unfortunately we can’t always know who they are because – well, for one thing, they don’t wear name tags. So for now, at least, I’m taking the high road and not releasing the blog link.

But that said… a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. Commenter Carolyn stepped forward to identify the photo in question and if nothing else, her knowledge of the event convinced me that the melancholy blogger is not responsible for any alterations which may have befallen our wedding mystery photo of Sarah & Todd – so that event and this photo are – in my humble opinion – up for grabs, topic wise. The link is off limits, but the photo is still in play.

A short tutorial in photo-shopping:

Behold the following photo of Todd Palin taken by a professional photographer with a high quality resolution of 300 pixels (dots) per inch (.dpi). When you lighten or enlarge this photo, the image (in particular the shadow on his cheek) doesn’t lose integrity. That’s because at 300 dpi there are enough pixels (dots) in each square inch to maintain the original image as it stretches. The image is left with clean, undistorted lines.

(Click image to enlarge)

Now we have a photo of Todd taken with a lesser quality camera and uploaded to youtube. The end result is an image resolution of 72 dpi – which is normally suitable for most images but the conversion to a youtube format added another process called compression. I found this answer on a forum to be the most comprehensive:

Image compression, like what is used for JPEG files, does just what it sounds like it does: it takes all of the data recorded by the sensor … and eliminates redundancies to create a smaller file size. In practice, this process takes the form of reducing the number of recorded colors to those specifically found in the image, and combining data from closely-colored pixels sitting near each other. The more heavily you apply this process the smaller the file will be, but the more details will be lost.

(Click to enlarge)

Simple shadows taken at a low resolution and then compressed lend a gritty look to normal shadows. In the case  of the August 17 youtube clip, the normal shadow on Tod’s cheeks appear darker than in the original image. When that same image is subsequently sharpened to pull it back into focus, a shadow can appear so gritty it gives the appearance of being a creeping beard.

The image of Todd in the wedding photo – to me – looks like a compressed photo that’s been shopped into a bigger picture. The image has been changed probably in size and then had a sharpening tool applied to compensate for the small distortions left behind. Interestingly enough, someone commented earlier on Todd missing his right ear. As you can see in the above image, compression and/or alteration can leave rough-looking, jagged edges which then need to be erased to hide or painted over to blend into the parent image. In either case, Todd is looking ‘almost’ straight on into the camera and – imho – at least a portion of his right ear should have been visible.

I can’t imagine this is a genuine photo of Sarah & Todd, even though I told Carolyn I would bow to her knowledge of this event – so I will bow out of this now with just one final observation…

What on earth did Todd do to ‘chubby up’ so dramatically in only 8 days?

 

============   UPDATE   ============

I am truly sorry the original conversation of the last two posts got derailed but will attempt to respond to a couple of things here. I am remiss in not having been more clear to begin with so allow me to backtrack:

A commenter sent me a photo and asked if I thought it was shopped or not. I had no stake in an outcome either way. My initial reaction was that yes, I thought it had been, although for what purpose I had no clue. Then I revisited the site of origin and became alarmed at the intimacy of the writing. It felt as if I’d opened a door to a room where I had no business being. Like a kid who accidentally walks in on his parents having sex – even though there were no parents here and no sex – just a style of writing that went well past a sense of correctness in blogging from a simple ‘fan’ in my opinion. So I pulled back and sought professional advice.

In the meantime Carolyn came on board and offered to share the original of this photo, knew the event it represented, some of the people involved and her knowledge answered a few of our questions. I have no evidence to support the suspicion that she lied when telling us the photo was genuine – but I also have no evidence which might support her claim of its authenticity, either. A couple of people dug around and located flickr accounts of this wedding event but not a single photo of Sarah & Todd appear in either of the flickr slideshows of the ceremony and reception, or in the newspaper account of the event which got a decent sized write-up in a local paper. Carolyn did provide a photo of Willow and Trig that I was delighted to receive because many of us have been disappointed by the lack of public photos of Trig growing up. But supporting photos of Sarah and Todd at this event? Not one.

I am not obsessed with this photo – I’ve just tried to be thorough. And the reason to even go down this avenue at all is because of the preponderance of evidence that has surfaced over the past three years showing how Sarahs initial quest for political power was riddled with false scenarios deliberately set up to make her appear more than she is. The release of emails alone showed Sarah to be rather deceptive and conniving inasmuch as she actually stooped to writing her own letters of praise and then had staff sign and submit them to local newspapers as if they represented the voice of the average Alaskan citizen . It was also discovered through these emails that Sarah had to locate and borrow a jogging stroller so she could be photographed with it in a national magazine ‘as if’ running with Trig in tow was a part of her normal routine. So in that vein, if this wedding photo is yet another phoney ploy concocted by the Palins for whatever reason, then we have every right to persue those facts.

Turning to my blog – it’s time I think to make a public commitment to all you reading my blog, whether you feel I’m one of the unhinged or not… everyone is welcome at Oz Mudflats. I have never and will never chastize a commenter or delete a comment because it is critical of my writing, my opinion or the subject of the post. A very wise professor once told my class - If we were each the same – one of us would be unnecessary. We need to praise and correct each other and be willing to take both as well. We need debate and differing opinions and opposing viewpoints to create and maintain a healthy balance in society and I do not preach what I do not practice. You may not get me to bend to your point of view but you’re welcome to try and I may do handstands to get you to see my side of an issue. I may clean up some of the more colourful language from time to time in the comments if I feel the cussing is overdone and could offend one of our more gentle readers but I will not ever delete the contribution itself or in any way attempt to humiliate the person behind it. In three years I’ve shown only one person the door and not for the thought behind the comment but because of the harsh language used to deliver it – but even that comment was left up after editing out a few of the fucks and suggesting he didn’t know me well enough to call me a slut.

This of course doesn’t mean I won’t challenge anyone who waves a red flag under my nose. I am half Irish after all. And I proudly voted for President Obama. It just means everyone is welcome here. No one of you will ever get a post, comment or email from me, belittling you, calling you rude or telling you to go away.

-Oz

 

Is This Shot of Sarah & Todd Real or Fake? *Update*

I know, I know, I haven’t posted the final-final summary page of the half marathon fiasco yet – but I actually wrote and tossed so many drafts I needed to step away from it to regain my perspective. And then Herb Cain came along and – well if you know me you know Side-Track is my middle name. Will get it finished soon though I promise

However – while my focus on the running post is resetting (so the piece can be as succinct and perfect as possible), let me share a photo just submitted by our friend cliveden. This came with a link that I’m choosing to withhold until other items on the site can be verified. The photo questioned, however, is priceless.

So without benefit of seeing what the author has written, tell me your first impressions – both about the photo itself and the author behind it:

For me, the torso on the male figure is just – wrong. I don’t even know where to begin. The shirt is pulling at an odd angle across his belly – the collar looks to be for a dress shirt (notice the under-the-collar button indicating it’s meant to be worn with a tie and yet there’s no shirt edge or buttons down the front)  and the waistline is out of proportion to the neck and shoulders.

To my eye, Sarah looks like she’s leaning against something that isn’t there and Todds head is way too small. Todd’s neck? He’s an Alaskan – not a giraffe. And I can’t for the life of me work out why anyone would have photo-shopped Todd’s face over another person’s body and seated next to Sarah (if she’s even there at all). It’s all rather bizarre.

Compare this photo to other headshots of the pair:

And this should offer more realistic proportions of Todd’s actual head and neck:

Let me see your first impressions and then I’ll post a sample of the writing. Oh and many thanks again cliveden!

PLEASE NOTE: In case you happen to know the site this photo represents, please do not post the link here. All will be revealed in due time – Thanks – Oz

============  UPDATE  ============

Appreciate all the input and I have to say I agree with almost everyone who says this is just the most unnatural photo… That said, our friend Carolyn has claimed it to be a genuine photo, identified the event as a cousin’s wedding held 09 August 2010 and submitted the full photo from which our selection had been cropped. Carolyn has blocked the faces of the relatives who do not normally appear in the Palin spotlight and I support her decision.

Carolyn also sent me two other pictures taken at this event, one I’ve inserted into the larger one showing Sarah feeding Trig at the table. The other was taken outdoors and I’m really only posting it because – well because in the middle of all the skepticism and doubts we endure from the adult Palin deceptions – we don’t often get to share the sweet side of these bubs and it just struck me as the most adorable photo of Trig I’ve ever seen.

From Carolyn (click to enlarge):
I am still bothered by the 5 o’clock shadow that goes all the way up one side of Todd’s face – it’s not a shadow cast by Sarah’s head but is indicative of how a shadow would appear had it been reduced in size from another photo (one of poor quality). The neck and torso continue to strike me as completely out of proportion – and Sarah really does look like she’s falling off his lap. If this photo sent to me by cliveden was altered, it’s possible this is the version of the photo that had the alteration done. If it’s genuine, as Carolyn claims, than it’s a truly bad photo of Sarah and Todd in a group where everyone else appears rather normal.

So even though I’m still troubled by certain details, I will bow to Carolyn’s knowledge of this event, her access to these Wasillans and chalk this poor photo up to one of life’s little mysteries.

And here’s the icing on the cake – how cute is this little guy, eh? And how happy!
Trig one year ago – age 2 and 1/2

Carolyn – you may find us still poking at the group photo – but I am grateful to you for taking the time to send these photos and for adding your input in the comments – OzMud

 

hOlp! Need a few links and a bit of info

G’day!

I am on the downhill side of the summary mountain and need just a few odds and ends to tie things up with a nice pink bow.

Links:

A copy of the email in which Sarah discusses borrowing a jogging stroller for the Runner’s World 2009 photo shoot AND a link to whoever was the first blogger to post about it.

Info:

Sarah’s schedule for the summer of 2005 from snow thaw through the weeks prior to the Humpy’s race in Anchorage. And by this I mean was she working and if so where – how old was the youngest and who was the carer is not Sarah – where was Todd – what where the older kids up to, etc.

If anyone has her book and can look up her version of activities during these months (March to August 2005) that would be great.

As usual when writing about our Sarah, more questions crop up than are answered in the process… I know there’s more for me to ask you guys – so I’ll be back!

-Oz

 

Running With Sarah: Did she or Didn’t she? (Summary Part 5)

Part 4 is here

While drafting the closing part to this summary piece, a few loose ends struck me as needing a separate post. Especially in light of a runner in the UK having recently been caught cheating and subsequently stripped of his bronze medal. So I ask that you bear with me through one more post before closing arguments begin.

First up – our very own Brian swam through a big bowl of piping hot conservative soup over on Facebook to ask the $64,000 question of the good people at the Storm Lake Running Club: How can you be sure  Sarah ran the entire race…

So I wrote a couple of things down.

Cathy Otto (1) remembers Sarah starting next to her, not because she knew it was Sarah Palin, but because she saw a woman struggling to remove a top shirt that had been pinned by the numbers bib. Cathy Otto placed ninth in her age group (40-49) in the mixed 5k run with  a time of 55:58.85 It is entirely possible she saw Sarah at the very start of the race but it’s odd to note that while Sarah was seen ‘struggling’ with the shirt, she ended up keeping it on – as a later photo will confirm. And really, all this does is reinforce the knowledge that Sarah was with the wrong pack, on the wrong side of the meridian at the start of the race.

Becca Danielle (2) who has just gone out of her way to explain why Palin might not have been noticed by the other runners, makes an odd response to a comment by someone named Jean. It’s odd because no comment by anyone named Jean appears in the thread. I’m guessing whoever it was made a remark the club didn’t like and the comment was then removed. We may never know. But we can make educated guesses.

Storm Lake Running Club (3) finally comments on the queries made by those wanting information regarding Sarah’s alleged run. It’s piss-weak however and doesn’t actually address the concerns. To say that a member of the club’s planning committee (a friend of Sarah’s perhaps?) who participated in the half marathon relay claims to have been neck and neck with Sarah throughout the first half of the race doesn’t even begin to resolve the issues presented by the photos.

Did this relay runner also begin at the back of the 5k runners on the wrong side of the meridian at the beginning? What defines the first half of the race? Half the distance of said runner’s leg of the race would be 3.5 miles – or did he or she mean neck and neck until the 7 mile mark where the runner hands off the baton? The biggest problem with this statement is the photo of Sarah still with the 5k runners after the other runners have clearly pulled ahead leaving her with the slower 5k runners – yet still running fast enough to take a silver medal at the end. Are there photos of Sarah running with this relay runner? Are there photos of the relay runner? They would be telling.

The Storm Lake club has a lot to lose by having a cheat exposed on their watch. Just look what this poor club had to deal with in the UK:

Full story here.
Follow up story here with sat nav proof of fraud.

(Editor’s note: Though we both caught this news at the same time I’m happy to give the h/t to  the very nice reader who took the time to post a link about this in the comments just as soon as he or she drops me a note telling me who he or she is because I’ve totally flaked on trying to find  the right set of comments and now I feel really awful!)

And to the naysayers who keep saying ‘nobody cheats in these races’ and that I’m barking up the wrong tree all I  can say is – bite me.

Finally, this has bothered me. I  can’t know the time distance between photos because none are time-stamped. But. We can place the Gretawire photo at the very onset of the race and at the back end of the curving meridian which separates the 5k racers from the half marathon runners – because in the Gretawire photo Sarah is just now jutting ahead of the pack of walkers – who cannot possibly keep pace with the runners anywhere else in the race.

So when we agree this photo is done at the very beginning, the changing curb in the background which should be a solid concrete curve edging what looks to be a meridian filled with redwood chips, makes no sense at all.

And somewhere beyond this meridian – the meridian where the camera captures Sarah along with our beloved Beard Dude and Red Bandana Guy – somewhere beyond the meridian and some 19-20 photos later Sarah (who ran fast enough to win the silver medal) is – well – have a look for yourself:

Sarah will be on the 5k side of the meridian which is definitely curved. She will not come from behind the walker pack for another 5 to 10 photos. In the meantime the following is taken by an as-yet-to-be-named photographer and submitted to Gretawire at Fox News:

Sarah juts ahead of the walkers and is seen flanking the nice man we named Beard Dude (grey beard, white shirt with side stripe, dark shorts) on the opposite side of the street). They are seen in this same almost-parallel positioning in this next shot, (although camera angle notwithstanding, she appears to be pulling slightly ahead of Beard Dude here) taken just 9-10 photos after the club photo (#2469 above):

And the point of this is now apparent in this next shot – another 10 photos or so later – when even though we’ve seen Sarah jutting ahead of the walkers and slower 5k runners and leaving Beard Dude and Red Bandana Guy (he’s in the photo just ahead of this one #2476) behind – and still wearing the red jumper over the grey tee and wide white headband, how should we explain what the camera saw in #2488?

And now you really have to ask yourself two questions:

1- If sarah spent so much time at the back of the 5k pack with the slower runners, how did she manage to clock 13 consecutive 8 min miles to win second place in her age group and…

2- If Sarah is still wearing the red jumper after pulling away from the opening starting area – how on earth did Todd know where to retrieve it on the track so he could be holding it for her at the finish line? Because Sarah doesn’t have it when she crosses the finish line and he’s photographed near the chute holding it all neatly rolled up – like the scam they just pulled off.

Storm Lake Running Club photos are for sale here.

To all my sleuthers – thank you all so much!

 

Work on the Summary page needs your input…

Started to post this in comments but realised it needed to be here instead…

For the first time in a very, very long time I seem to be short on words. This final page of summary on the SLRC half marathon race is important – and getting it right has become a bit of a challenge.

There are three things about the Gretawire photo I want to stress above all else – Beard dude’s missing torso and leg, Red bandana guy’s not-his-ponytail and how a solid curb could change it’s basic architectural structure four times in about 3 meters. I have all the graphics done – and most of the middle written but I’m finding it difficult to know what the introduction should address and then what the ‘last word’ should be.

My gut feeling is to end on the point about the medal – that she took it without earning it. I’m not above making an actual accusation – but I do want to do it ‘right’.  Any input would be greatly appreciated. What stands out as ‘the most important parts’ to you guys?

 

Palin: Unhinged in South Korea

Has this insipid woman gone completely and utterly mad?????

THE KOREA TIMES

10-11-2011 18:39

 Palin ‘looks forward to NK regime change’

By Philip Iglauer

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she “looks forward to regime change” in North Korea while calling on South Korea to help the North when its regime is finally ousted.

 “Being under the thumb of a dictator, the first victims of his regime are his own people,” said Palin during a keynote address at the 12th World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Tuesday.

 Palin, who was the vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 2008, made the comment in a Q&A session with Ritz Kahn of Al Jazeera English immediately after her speech.

 The theme of this year’s forum is “The New Economic Crisis: Reforming Global Leadership & Asia’s Challenge.”

 Regarding Palin’s remark, the Seoul government showed a cautious response.

 Jo Byoung-jae, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said flatly “regime change is not a policy goal or the objective of this government.”

 He said he is not criticizing Palin or her statement, but just stating as clearly as possible what the North Korea policy of Seoul is, adding, “I think it is safe to say that it is also not the policy goal of the U.S. government either.”

 Palin’s statement drew attention as it came at a particularly precarious time for South and North Korean relations amid lingering tension on the Korean Peninsula.

 Kim Tae-hyo, Cheong Wa Dae’s deputy national security advisor, said Friday that North Korea could conduct a long-range missile or third nuclear test if ongoing preliminary talks with South Korea and the United States fail to restart the long-stalled six party talks.

[Click link at top to read entire article]

So let me get this straight… Palin goes to South Korea as a guest to speak about global economy and ends up encouraging the people at this conference to overthrow the neighbouring countries’ government because she doesn’t happen to like dictatorships. This same ‘dictatorship’ has nuclear weapons poised at most western democracies and it’s taken many acts of diplomacy among several high-ranking world leaders to draw the North Korean leaders away from discharging those weapons and into constructive peace talks – which she in a span of about 20 minutes may have dangerously undermined… Did I leave anything out?

Is she freaking insane????

 

Running With Sarah: Did she or Didn’t she? (Summary Part 4)

I’ve been asked recently why I pursue the dissection of a photo (which I claim is a fake) in light of others’ easy dismissal. Here’s two reasons…

‘Twas the week before Christmas in December ’09

[click image to enlarge - its natural size is 1400 x 760 dpi - the width of a 19" screen]

In order for Sarah to have run the full half marathon race on 04 September 2011 -and win a silver medal for time clocked – she would have needed to devote a healthy amount of time during the past 20 months to stretching, running and training and we know from following her busy schedule around the country and the world – that nary a whisper of her needing to stop anywhere along the way and train was ever spoken.

And correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure that after these photos were published Sarah has never worn shorts in public again.

There are 184 more reasons in the comment section

 

Running With Sarah: Did she or Didn’t she? (Summary part 5 – conclusion – to follow)

[Back to Summary Part 3]

 

Running With Sarah: Did she or Didn’t she? (Summary Part 2)

Brenda… McVinua was working as a volunteer in the “chute” near the finish line, and was impressed with the former vice-presidential candidate’s form. “She wasn’t even breathing hard. You could tell she’s an athlete. If you didn’t know better you would have thought she’d just run around the block once or twice.” – Storm Lake Pilot Tribune

Photo posted on Gretawire 04 Sept 2011

Because this photo struck some of us as odd, 184 commenters joined me in actively pouring over all the available photographs chronicling the events of 04 September 2011 in Storm Lake Iowa. This is what I (we) believe really happened at the SLRC Jump Right In & Run Half Marathon on 04 September 2011 and why.

What we know w/comments in italics:

Sarah Palin had been under scrutiny in the blogs for more than a month for her increasingly gaunt physical appearance. Rumours surfaced from an anonymous commenter at The Immoral Minority claiming to be linked to Sarah’s inner circle of loyalists and claiming that he/she had personal knowledge of Sarah being so obsessed with her weight and appearance that she was binging and purging food and taking non-prescribed diet pills. (For the purpose of this narrative, it matters not that these rumours prove true or false, only that Sarah knew the rumours were circulating. It is Sarah’s personal writer Rebecca Mansour who unwittingly outed Sarah as keeping up with the Alaska, anti-palin blogs.)

Sarah was registered to run in the SLRC race before her trip to Iowa on 02 September 2011. She was registered under her maiden name, Sarah Heath. Running in the event was not something she or Todd could have arranged at the last minute, it was scheduled in advance. How far in advance, we don’t know, but SLRC rules did not allow for impromptu entries. This provided ample opportunity to survey the course and grounds.

Sarah and Todd stayed at the Kings Pointe Hotel (see yellow #1 in the map below) the night before. They would not have needed to check out until after the race, meaning they would have had access to the room during the race.

Todd picked up her running packet early. Sarah would not join the other runners until closer to the 7:30am race time, but we know she was recognised as a gentleman identifying himself as Teledude later wrote on his pro-palin blog that his wife, a participant in the race, recognised Sarah at 7am and called him from the course on her cell to urge him to drive out to get a glimpse of Sarah and Todd. He was instructed to not say anything to others as Sarah didn’t want it known she was there. The race was personal she’d purportedly whispered to the woman, thus assuring her silence.

Three races were run simultaneously that day. The half marathon, a half marathon relay and a 5k run/walk. The half marathon runners lined up on one side of a grassy meridian while the 5k runners/walkers lined up on the other side. All the races began at the same time, the centre meridian dividing the half marathon racers from the 5k racers for several metres.

Hours after the end of the Jump Right In & Run half marathon race, after winners had been determined and medals handed out, the photo at the top of this post was published on Gretawire, a blog belonging to Greta Van Susteran of Fox News Channel and offered as a news release that Sarah Palin had in fact, earlier in the day, run in the SLRC race and even took second place in her age group. It was noted that Sarah had fooled everyone by registering under her maiden name (Sarah Heath) and not even the race officials recognised her until after she crossed the finish line. Her official time of 1:46 (13 consecutive 8 min miles) would be published the following day in the official .pdf results posted on the SLRC website.

On Monday this photo emerged of Sarah walking across the finish line

The red jumper and white headband were gone. For five days these would be the only photos posted anywhere online showing Sarah as an active participant of the race. Privately taken photos of Sarah and Todd after the race (the 2nd place medal strangely looped over her arm) showing Sarah posing with race organisers and participants surfaced by Monday night on the flickr account of one of the organisers. By now Teledude had posted his one photo of Sarah standing with him and his wife with the chute in the background.

The official photographs posted for view and sale on the SLRC website appeared five days later. There were two photos taken of Sarah placing her, in both shots, with the 5k pack, and both appear to have been taken at the beginning and early leg of the race. There are no photos of her at any of the water stops or anywhere else along the route even though there was more than one official photographer taking photos that day, that the number of registered runners was relatively small and that most other runners can be found in multiple photos, throughout the entire half marathon course.

There are photos taken that show Todd behind the finish line, beside the chute. He’s holding a rolled-up bright red fabric, the same colour as Sarah’s red jumper. It was reported that Todd ran interference, hurrying Sarah through the candid photos taken after the race with other runners and locals, ostensibly to get her aboard an awaiting plane.

This is the (7 mile long) map showing all three race courses:

What we think we know w/comments in italics:

I (we) believe the initial photo posted on Gretawire is a composite of different photos taken by Todd at the beginning of the race and emailed directly to someone in the Palin camp to be merged into a single image showing Sarah pulling away from the back of the 5k pack, presumably to show her darting ahead and join the other half marathon runners. Todd was seen, recognised and spoken to in the starting area of the race and he could have stood in one spot and clicked different views of the 5/k runners as they went by. (No one ever stepped forward to claim photo rights to the only photo shown round the world of the famous Sarah Palin running a 13 mile race – and no exif info was ever retrieved from the image.)

On the map above, the half marathon course is shown in blue, the relay in dark red and the 5k in bright red. Sarah could easily have stayed on the 5k course, unnoticed, wearing the red jumper and wide headband as she bobbed in between the runners who had already seen her wearing them at the start. She could have ducked into the toilet (green T near yellow #3) and removed her visor, headband, numbered bib and red jumper, waited for Todd, strolled back to the hotel or blended in with other bystanders, confidant that none of the 5k runners or walkers or any passers-by would have taken any notice of her without the identifiable running togs.

She might have even stuck it out long enough to run the first half of the 5k course, ducking into the hotel as she passed by the parking lot.

I’ve not said this before because it sounds so James Bond-ish it’s almost embarrassing – on the other hand, this is Sarah, for whom nothing is too outrageous, so forgive the slight melodrama but here’s a thought… It is possible the wide headband had a purpose. The compression-bandage sized width and thickness would have covered and held in place a Bluetooth earpiece by which Todd could have helped her leave the course without being seen. Sarah could have let him know when she was approaching a pre-arranged spot and waited for him to tell her no one was looking. An earpiece – admittedly a far-fetched idea on my part- would allow any number of scenarios, each rife with an opportunity to cheat.

But even without fancy gadgetry, Todd and Sarah had ample time the night before to walk the track and make a plan. They had plenty of time to select areas that would seem convenient to slip out of and back into the race. If they didn’t communicate via electronics, Todd could have planned to meet Sarah at a predetermined point. He could have given her his big blue jacket and shielded her from sight until it was time to walk back to a point near the end of the race where she could just slip back in. No longer in the red jumper and headband, no one would have paid any attention. Todd could have dumped water on her shoulders to hide the fact she wasn’t over-heated and sweating. Then Sarah could have run a short distance to clock-in at the finish line in just under two hours – exactly one-half the time of her record run back in ’05 for exactly one-half the distance.

According to the article in the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune linked above: Sarah reportedly said “Boy that was fun!” as she crossed the finish line. And according to their eye-witness, Brenda McVinua, she wasn’t even out of breath.

Wow. What a great image for a mother of five and White House aspirant!

Food for thought: If Sarah’s record-breaking run in a 2005 marathon of 3:59:36 (26 consecutive 9 minute miles) was legitimate, she might have assumed she could go half the distance six years later, with little or no training. (If it wasn’t legitimate, she might have used the false time as a measure for how fast she needed to finish half the distance to appear legitimate.)

Whether she and Todd Googled half marathon schedules or called in favours, she was registered to run in the SLRC race before her trip to Iowa on the 2nd. In a small race, in a small town and registered under her maiden name her presence would not have been expected, allowing her to blend in with the other racers until she was ready to reveal her identity.

Appearing in a half marathon would conveniently dispel the rumours of Sarah being unfit physically. The irony of running a race in the month of September would certainly not be lost on her and would probably signal renewed hope and energy to those supporters she’d just disappointed less than 24 hours previously by not announcing a 2012 candidacy.

I’m sure some of you are going to make me wear the Bluetooth comment. No worries. I learned a long time ago that in order to get to one truly good idea you have to wade through about a hundred really bad ones. But before you start the head-shaking and mocking, humour me for a few seconds more. Go back and take another look at the half marathon course. While you’re looking, mull over the fact that Todd is photographed in the finish line/chute area holding the red jumper which Sarah is neither wearing nor holding as she crosses the finish line. If Sarah ran the full half marathon, how did Todd know where – in 13 miles of track over 7 miles of ground – to pick up the red jumper and headband? If they pre-arranged a pick-up, how did Sarah know – before the race – when she would need to take it off?

I didn’t know this before the SLRC race but according to real marathoners who commented on my early questions, runners routinely use disposable clothing specifically so they can pitch layers as they warm up and not worry about losing items of value. Why didn’t Sarah just toss her red jumper? She’s a millionaire after all. She could have tossed her jumper and bought a dozen more in the hotel gift shop an hour later.

And why was Todd holding the jumper, all bunched up in a wad to begin with? Why would he walk around with this in his hands for 30 minutes to an hour – or more? Why not just put it in their room or leave it in the car? Either would have been conveniently close by. It crossed my mind that perhaps Sarah didn’t toss the red jumper during the race because if she’s not a real runner – like me – she might not have known that’s what other runners do. It’s more likely that in an effort to fake participation, she would have deliberately given Todd her jumper to purposefully hold onto the ten or fifteen minutes before re-entering the race so no one would question where it went….

Running With Sarah: Did she or didn’t she? (Summary Part 3 to follow)

[Back to Summary Part 1]

 

Running With Sarah: Did she or Didn’t she? (Summary, Part 1))

I have to run… Sweat is my sanity. A great frustration I had during the campaign was when the McCain staff wouldn’t carve out time for me to go for a run. The days never went as well if I couldn’t get out there and sweat. – Sarah Palin  Runners World Aug 2009

It’s a bit back to front I admit, but after the dust settled on the week-long photo-opsy of the Gretawire picture and while putting together a summary of sorts to close the book on the subject, yet another puzzling observation surfaced, this time popping out at me from *a comment previously overlooked in my endeavour to deal with just the photographic evidence on hand. But I believe the train of thought evoked by this comment belongs at the front of this piece rather than at the end as it speaks directly to the validity of Sarah Palin’s public record as a runner, and I think it would benefit anyone reading the summary to be aware of these facts – and they are documented facts – while digging through the preponderance of anomalies discovered in photographs the Palins offered as proof positive that Sarah earned her silver medal at the Storm Lake Running Club on 04 September 2011.

For the record – there is no public record of Sarah Palin being an avid, dedicated runner capable of setting records and winning top medals.

Among Alaskans, Sarah’s name is associated with a marathon remembered as Running with the Devil but the remembered date varies between 2001 and 2003. I’ve performed searches on archived run results from 2000 to 2004 and neither her married nor maiden name appears in official results of archive searches associated with this event.

The name Sarah Palin surfaces in running circles for the first time in the 2nd Annual Curtis C. Menard II Memorial 5k/10k run in 2003 held in Wasilla AK. Sarah ran with Todd, Bristol and Willow in the 5k run.

Their recorded ages and times were:

Sarah Palin, 39, 23:50.30
Bristol Palin, 12, 39:19:40
Willow Palin, 8, 43:53:30
Todd Palin, 38, 55:28:50

Sarah’s name next appears in 2005 where her recorded time of 3:59.36 set a record in the Humpy’s Marathon. There is no public record of her training for this race, nor have any anecdotes of her training in private ever emerged (that we can find) in Alaska newspapers (not even in Wasilla where she had been mayor for several years).

In 2009 Sarah publicly announced her intent to run in two separate charity events, both of which she exited in the early laps claiming both times the press she’d attracted threatened to ruin the integrity of the race for the other runners. (It’s fair to note that both of these charity runs would have been photographed anyway, with or without her presence.)

Save a single episode in high school where her participation in a basketball game earned her the nickname Sarah the Barracuda, no college, university, high school, private gymnasium, community sports club or local joggers ever came forward during the 2008 campaign with photos or anecdotes of Sarah as an athlete, much less a dedicated, top-notch runner. Surely the McCain campaign would have jumped at the chance to pony up such a story…

Other than these four events (a 5k run in 2003, marathon in 2005 and two incomplete charity runs in 2009) there are no photo-based stories backing her (many) claims of being a serious runner who for her entire adult life has run “at least 3 miles” per day (whenever she can). She has, however, been paid handsomely for more than one photo op-ed which touts her as such.

To maintain a body so disciplined one can – on a moment’s notice – step into a race without the usual physical preparation, even 15 and 20 years after high school, and after having birthed 4 or 5 children to set record times and rake in top medals – one must surely be a profoundly superior athlete. But those of us who have followed Sarah for the past three years just find this explanation – odd.

And if that thought isn‘t curious enough on its own, some of us also find it odd that there is no documentation of Sarah’s lifelong journey as an avid runner. None. No team photos from her days in college, no community runs organised as mayor of Wasilla or even as governor of Alaska. In Sarah’s own words I have to run… Sweat is my sanity.

This is the age of IPOD. Where’s the candid footage of Sarah doing all this running?

Raw talent only goes so far. Athletes who excel in their sport make certain commitments to train, practice and participate in local, state and national events. There is evidence Sarah Palin may indeed have the raw talent but there’s not one shred of evidence she’s made the commitment or puts in the time necessary to turn that talent into record-breaking, medal-winning athletics.

Not without cheating.

*From AKShutterbug (whose comment below made us look beyond one race and into the entire history of Sarah Palin the runner. I have not been able to confirm the validity of this comment – but after looking through Sarah’s sparsely documented public record I have no reason to doubt it.)

 ”Actually she faked the run in ’05 too. A few years ago when I was looking into the “Humpy’s” race in Anchorage she supposedly ran, I noticed something very interesting in the results. A very good friend of mine (who has been running marathons for years and spends a tremendous amount of time training) was listed as having finished one spot ahead of her. So I called her up and asked her if she knew that she had finished just ahead of Sarah Palin and her response to me was just laughter. She said that Sarah was never in that race.

 Sarah has some weird obsession with making people think she is a runner. When she came here to Valdez in ’07 to announce what that years PFD was going to be, Sarah stepped off the plane with spandex and running shoes on. Her handlers kept insisting that she wanted to go running with our HS cross county team but it was only 10am and the kids were in school. Her handlers kept berating the Mayor until he finally called the school and managed to get most of the team excused from 8th period so she could go “running” with them. They all met out on the track, Sarah posed for a few pictures with them and then left. She didn’t lift a shoe and after making everyone jump through hoops for her, it ended up being nothing more than another photo op. She’s a complete and total fraud”

[To Summary Part 2]

 

Last Minute Head-Scratchers *Update

[Click following images to enlarge then use view/zoom or [ctrl+] to enlarge more]

Palin, Red Bandana Guy and Beard Dude seem to be almost in the same horizontal row of runners.

So – why were there not more of these runners in the Gretawire photo?

Also too and… note the style of curb on the meridian. This is the same meridian that is the backdrop for the Gretawire photo and yet – in that photo the curb changes from  beveled to dirt edge to squared to beveled – purportedly on this same stretch of center raised meridian in a distance of what appears to be no more than two or three metres.

And now that Irishgirl has pointed out where Red Bandana Guy and Beard Dude are in relation to Palin in this early leg of the race it humbles me to see how agile Red Bandana Guy must be to have literally run sideways in order to leave the middle of the pack to get into this shot with Our Lady of The Divine Sneakers.

Don’t forget boys and girls – This photo had to be taken first – because it shows Sarah just as she pulls ahead of the little old lady walkers – which means not only does it look like Red Bandana Guy had to suddenly run sideways, but also too backwards just a skootch… and I’m guessing a time machine was somehow involved.

Mr. Sulu – get us out of here! Warp Speed!

 

================== Update! ==================

Thought I’d shift this from comments as it may be that others also too had difficulty understanding the significance of these photos or seeing what Irishgirl saw in them:

 

Hey Sarah! About that Marathon… (the agony of d’feet…) Update: a theory 2nd Update: huh?

Wasn’t going to post this for another day but since the photos are now up at Storm Lake Running Club and no one seems to be able to find Sarah anywhere but running past the 5k walkers at the starting line and once more at the finish line I thought I might risk being labeled disrespectful in order to share my discoveries.

So… once more with feeling.

[click each image to enlarge - see also view/zoom feature on browser toolbar]

This is the image that has had us all bewitched, bothered and bewildered for a week now. We’ve dissected, lightened, darkened, enhanced and flipped our way around the image until most of us have simply gone batty.

A lot of details we thought might be bogus turned out to not be so bogus in the end:  The changing size of the runner’s bib, for example, can be explained by how runners check into the finish line and have bottom strips removed for either time confirmation or receipt of participant goodies. The red shirt and white headband so prominent in this photo yet gone in the finishing line photo can be chalked up to disposable clothing. And so it goes, one by one most of my original misgivings have been satisfactorily explained away.

Wait. Not so fast there buster. Like all things Sarah,  answering one question only seems to open the door onto a dozen more.  So here is the above photo, spliced and copies laid side-by-side  for all of you good people out there with younger eyes (than mine) to help me work out which feet belong to which runner and please – where have some of these runners legs and upper bodies gone?

Let’s look at the last half first…

The Case of Too Many Shoes and Not Enough Legs:

The first bit actually hurt my head. (Insert on left, blue outline on right.) Is this a single shoe with either a big sock or leg warmer folded down to cover the entire top of the shoe? Wouldn’t it drag on the ground and possibly catch on something if it were? And if it is one shoe why is it pointing more toward the camera than the direction in which the runner is facing? I tried to duplicate this shoe angle and almost fell over in the process. It just isn’t natural.

So what if it’s more than one shoe? If that’s not a sock turned down at the ankle, then its quite possibly a second foot (insert on left, pink outline on right) – one that doesn’t seem to belong to anyone in the photo, but will cause this runner to fall flat on his face if he keeps going forward and steps on it.

Then, of course, as some of you have already pointed out this poor man’s upper thighs appear to be well – missing with no sign of a right leg upon which to balance his left leg which happens to be very committed in  a forward stride. The angle of the leg/ankle/shoe suggests it is more straight than bent but if that’s the case we should be looking at a portion of his right, upper, inner leg under his ever-so-petite buttocks instead of the curb and wheel of a bike or wheelchair. Very curious.

I apologize to the poor man whose foot I removed (yellow outline on left) to demonstrate where I thought his missing foot should be. It is, of course, entirely possible that this foot is completely hidden by the  runner-in-red-sweatband’s leg. But not all that probable for nary an inch of it to be peeking through at the crux of the other runner’s bent knee. (Wine anyone?)

The lady we’ve come to know as the bunny hop lady could be running in place, like people do when they’re warming up but what I truly find odd is out of all these people she is the only one looking straight at the camera.

Now we come to The Case of the Extra Toes (pun not my fault – my mother made us watch Perry Mason every week):

This is the image I worked on for a couple of days and I noticed in comments that more of you picked up on this while I was off trying to enhance it. Sadly, my graphics program is simply not capable of enlarging an image to 200%+ and retain its integrity. That’s a problem of a generalized usage of 72 dots per inch – you can only advance so many generations before pixelation makes it impossible to see the image. However, I did try to alter the resolution, in spite of the fact that I don’t have the equipment to do a proper job.

In this case however and even just lo0king at the lower resolution I feel there is a compelling case for the white left shoe of the tall runner peeking between the black pants legs to belong to someone else entirely.

At first glance, the toe of the white shoe appears to belong to the extended left leg of the runner in the white sweatshirt and khaki shorts, to the right and behind the red-shirted runner we politely refer to as ‘Sarah’. Upon enlarging however, there appears to be a second ‘toe’. If it is a second toe that changes everything.

If this is a pair of white shoes rather than one left white shoe and a (truly odd) shadow, then the person who owns them is standing perfectly still, completely hidden between the tall runner in white sweatshirt and khaki shorts and the red-shirted runner.

How would that even be possible? (Maybe a tall vodka tonic…)

And now we come to the observation which I was slow to find but which most of you have already nailed as The Case of the Not-so-Hidden Seam. What are the odds a natural seam in a photo would run almost the entire length, perfectly straight – not one pixel out of line? Have a really good look at the disproportions of objects on the right of the seam compared to objects on the left.

On either side of this seam I found a missing shoulder, breast, knee, leg and curb. I also found either a foot way too big for it’s owner or a leg missing it’s foot above a curb taller than the one to the left of it. There is the sole of a grey running shoe that is perfectly straight, not one curve, not one pixel length difference  between the sole, the heel, the arch… Follow this line up into the trees in the first photo and then look carefully at the black-hoodie – why is this the only image in the entire photo with no facial features whatsoever? It’s not the farthest-most image. It’s directly in the center of the camera lens. Even the tall runner further behind has a distinguishable brow line and eye sockets. Why is this runner, with the oddly-shaped leg in blue shorts and misshapen shoe, the only runner with no face at all?

Okay that’s it – scotch, neat please. And make it a double.

One final note.

The story from the Palin camp is that Todd whisked Sarah quickly off to an awaiting plane after the race – this was the official explanation as to why there was only time for a few folks to have their photos taken with Sarah once it became known she had run the race. And we’ve seen where the toilets were along the route. Where and when did she clean her face adding the fresh make-up we see here?

Because Laura Novak is absolutely correct – face and eye make-up do not survive 13 consecutive 8-minute miles.

Oh Hell, just leave the bottle…

Anyone remember when Sarah made a public fuss over how she didn’t believe Pres. Obama had fairly earned his 2009 Nobel  Peace Prize?

Back at ya babe.

============  Update  ============

Hey everyone -After having written these posts, reading all your comments and digging through SLRC photos and then hearing comments from folks like Greta Van Susteran (et al) I think I may have actually formed a theory. It starts with some remarks  made by a few commenters regarding photos of Sarah just published on the Storm Lake Running Club website and grows to this question:

If running-with-scissors-sarah got one of the top run times, besting most of the runners even those half her age, why is she seen ONLY running at the back of the pack of 5k runners/walkers?

Maybe that’s the whole point of the photo-shopped picture. Maybe Sarah actually tried to run this race but either she or Todd realized early on that she was not going to be able to complete it. They would have little to no control over the hundreds of candid and pro shots that would inevitably be published, eventually showing how far she would fall behind. But they could create a diversion…

The visual of a full sprint Sarah running around the 5k pack into the heart of the half marathon pack would take our attention off her actual placement in the race and focus on the illusion that she runs so fast she could easily pull ahead any time she wanted to not only complete the course but to subsequently win the day.

Now any photos published of her with the 5k runners is of no consequence. The photo released by Greta Van Susteran on Fox tv is now sold as proof positive Sarah ran the entire half marathon. And the frosting on the cake? The photo-that-wasn’t was strategically placed to show the public that she is physically fit and therefore capable of jumping in at the last minute to win a race and run a country.

Except, of course, that’s a lie.

(Ok, who’s hording the cheap Inglenook?)

============  Update 2  ============

H/T to CO & kat:

Take a really really good look:

wait for it…

Well? Where’s the rest of the pony-tailed runner?

 

Hey Sarah! About that marathon… (debate is a good thing) Update! The bib head-scratcher…

Have not had a chance to go through all the comments yet but I’ve skimmed and just want all of you to know I really appreciate the civil discussion between so many people with completely opposing views. That’s what debate is supposed to be all about isn’t it?

I’ve had to install a new browser – very traumatic as I hate giving up stuff to which I’ve grown accustomed – like IE – it’s like having someone else clean up your office and for days you have no clue where anything is! So please bear with me while I fumble around – however I’m hoping this will have fixed my links problem. We’re about to find out.

Way back on the post of 06 September 2011 which began this bruhaha I mentioned a blog post by a man named Teledude who stated that his wife had run in the Jump In & Run race at Storm Lake Runners , Iowa on 04 September. According to his blog on that day, people knew as early as 7am that Sarah was running in the half marathon as his wife had called him to say get out here so you can meet her!

It stands to reason that if one person knew she was there and called her husband that other people would have done the same thing.  But Teledude’s post goes on to tell the tale of how she was there incognito and nobody knew she was there until the race was over.

(If you’ve followed Sarah Palin at all since 2008, you’d know that she doesn’t do anything incognito – nor does she do anything that doesn’t pay her substantially, upstage another politician or garner free publicity. I’m pretty sure having cameras in her face is how she breathes.)

This comment went virtually unnoticed on my first post on this subject so I’m putting a screenie of it here. You can decide for yourself whether it’s genuine or not:

This remark is pretty consistent with speculations made by other runners in the comments who are leary of the two groups all in the same shot (5k walkers and half marathon runners).

Plus – after almost a full week, no other observer has come forward on any of the Pro-Palin sites to make similar claims and add similar photos. (Please note Teledude got instant recognition as his story and photo with Sarah were subsequently published in an L.A. paper – so why wouldn’t another person have coughed up their photo? Are all Republican/tea Partiers modest?)

The Storm Lake Runner’s club photos have still not been posted. However, I’ve looked back at last year’s photos of the same event and noticed that all the race images posted on their site are for sale, so maybe the photographer needs time to code and crop. My only experience with club photos is with members each submitting their candid shots and all are uploaded to a page where everyone can then browse through to find themselves – none for sale, just a form of community involvement.

I do have more to add today but software troubles have put me behind with work (the nice lady who puts money in my bank account is looking over my shoulder with a raised eyebrow – wave to the nice lady for me!)

But before I go I’d like to say something about photo-shopping:

These are Christmas cards I made some years ago. The grevillea blossoms are about ten ft over my head in the backyard. The bow and ornaments are sewn together and adorn a floral arrangement.

Photo-shopping is easy.  But to do it right and without a lot of excess pixelation takes patience and practice. So I put Sarah’s running photo to you this way:

Before the race Todd grabs a shot of Sarah (or whoever this is) running. It could have been done any time actually. At the start of the race he takes candid shots of the runners and walkers and emails them off to someone who then merges images together and submits one to Greta Van Susteran. but whoever did the photo-shop was either quite rushed or not that experienced and got a few odd details wrong.

Following the wrong line, cutting off a portion of the image, not smoothing out edges after having trimmed off too many pixels, and getting image proportions a bit off are common mistakes. Not erasing properly around a removed image (we called it cleaning in my day) will leave puddles of odd pixels that look completely different from that pixelation which occurs when an image is enlarged or enhanced.

To my eye the image of the red runner at the start of the race looks like a rushed photo-shop job by someone who wasn’t actually there and had no reason to not put the walkers, the runners and the lady in red all in the same shot.

Then again – I can be completely wrong. It can turn out to be just a really bad photo taken with a really good camera

Back later – Oz

PS. by the way I hit publish by mistake earlier -sorry if you came into this with only half the post showing …

============  Update  ============

This probably means nothing at all but… it is a head-scratcher:

A & B are almost identical except A is missing the word Jump above and to the left of the #63

C on the other hand is totally different, offering a taller #63, shorter distance between the number and the bottom of the bib and a completely different font for the lettering.

Was there more than one #63 bib? Did they have two or three different sets of bibs?

Curioser and curioser.

(When my boss asks me if the next article is done I’ll say no – and it’s all FEDUP’s fault for distracting me because it was checking that thing that made me notice the bibs

 

Hey Sarah! About that Marathon… (editorial) Update! (2nd update inside comment #69)

The things pounded home in both Geoffrey Dunn’s book The Lies of Sarah Palin and Frank Bailey’s book Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin are simple.

1. It’s easier for Sarah to lie than it is to tell the truth.
2. No lie is too outrageous.
3. Her preoccupation with her public image will be her downfall.

[Click image to enlarge]

Over the past few days I have zealously instigated and contributed to an almost forensic examination of Sarah’s claim to being not just a runner – but a runner so amazingly skilled she didn’t need to prepare her body for a hearty race the way other athletes and runners would need to prepare. Sarah (who hasn’t had a recorded, successful run since 2005) had no need for special muscle-building diets or daily training on outdoor courses. She didn’t need a routine of going to bed early during the week before to guarantee she’d be rested and fresh for the September 4 event. She didn’t need a regime of daily exercises and leg stretches to tone her 47 year old muscles and tendons.

And sans all the preparation routinely performed by other runners, Sarah leisurely walked across the finish line, claimed completion of the 13.1 mile race in 1 hour and 46 minutes,(besting, by the way, all the runners – half her age) and snagged herself a second place medal.

Show me all the photographic evidence you like – I will not believe Sarah actually ran 13 consecutive miles at a time of 8 minutes each without stopping or cheating or somehow rorting the system. My gut is with those who say the course was around a lake – the pack broke up and people ran alone – all too easy to run a mile then slip off to the side and not re-enter until an appropriate appearance was called for – and then again towards the end. At best, I would concede she ran half the distance. Maybe. If forced.

No lie is too outrageous.

One month ago Sarah Palin faked a visit to a Kentucky museum. (Correction: Kansas WWI museum.) And she might have gotten away with it except a local newspaper outed her.

Two months ago she faked a family vacation. We know this because her youngest daughter Piper outed her.

Two years ago Sarah claimed the new healthcare proposal presented by the Obama Administration to guarantee no child would ever be denied health insurance due to a pre-existing ailment was based on death panels and people should be afraid. By the time she was called out – too many people already believed her and the new plan was picked apart like vultures had descended on a corpse.

No lie is too outrageous.

I began my post a couple of days back by saying I didn’t give a crap if Sarah ran this race or not. I still don’t. What I do care about is if she didn’t run this race, somebody needs to call her on it.

This is a woman who because of her image alone influences the way some American voters think and feel and spend their money. If her image is bogus – those people deserve to know.

This is a woman who projects herself as a representative of the American people then steps onto foreign soil and tells the world our president is a terrorist with terrorist ties.

And she’s about to take her Obama is a louse circus act to South Korea.

To those who think this photography-sleuthing of the Storm Lake Half Marathon was all just a silly, childish exercise I might remind you that had there been a few more outrageous souls in the Alaska press when Sarah first announced her amazing 2 month pregnancy, there may have been more photographic evidence saved, fewer computers and MySpace accounts scrubbed and more people in the know willing to come forward with the truth. It would have saved us all a horrendous headache.

So from now on no matter how trivial, we seriously need to hold every photo, every speech, every claim made by Sarah up to a light and say hey, does that look right to you? and not be afraid to be wrong . Otherwise we’ll never find the truth.

At the very least, if Sarah didn’t honestly run this race someone was cheated out of a medal they’d earned. Someone’s daughter, mother or wife. It may have been the very key to lifting this person’s level of confidence. It may have been the boost someone needed to jump an emotional hurdle.

Sarah – I hope you won this medal honestly. I do. You’ve just never given me a single reason to believe you.

======================== UPDATE ========================

Ok I know many of you are thinking Crapola woman nOw what! Well you’re not alone. The voices in my head are pretty much on the same rant – (only some of them are off-key and it’s really annoying) but here’s the thing.

See that haloed image above? The one of the first photo presented on foX as living proof Sarah was in the race? Something is still inherently wrong with that photo. In the previous posts we’ve talked about the raised sleeve, the missing word jump (which should have been visible ahead of the number 63) and the floating, pixelated feet. We’ve covered how nobody seems to see her coming, not even the woman she’s apparently about to run into when she trips over the curb she doesn’t seem to see… we’ve solved the issues of the crazy shoes and disposable clothing. But.  Something.

So when I went looking for a graphic to post here (because now a post without a graphic just seems – naked) I found myself playing with all my enhancing gadgets and liked the haloed neon effect given above – so there ya go. Graphic selected and post finished.

I grab a sandwich because I haven’t eaten all day, bring it back to my desk and start to close down my graphic program. On closing, one of the images grows really big because I’ve leaned on the enlarge tool by mistake and oh my good gosh look what stares me right  in the face!

You guys see the same thing I do?

How does a woman at least two feet behind and three feet to the left manage to get her foot OVER the image of Sarah’s bum? The pair of running pants Sarah is wearing are clearly, heavily outlined all the way around her legs and torso – but not so at the point of this woman’s shoe.

I removed the neon and enhanced it again, this time using the lead pencil tool. This does not distort an image. It makes objects sharper but does not change their shape or position in a photo. Look:

(This one you’ll need to click to enlarge)

That has got to be a sign it was photoshopped no? The runner number cloth is also now clearly cut into the bottom of the sleeve (as one commenter mentioned) and over the bottom hem in front of the red shirt that I mentioned and umm got scolded at for (pfft! Like I’ve never been scolded before…)

I just can’t seem to lose the word bogus when I look at these photos. And honestly, I really don’t mind being wrong about something – I just really hate feeling like someone’s out there thinking I’m so stupid they could pull this kind of shill and I wouldn’t notice.

Ok I’m ready… let the bashing begin!

 

Hey Sarah! About That Marathon! (not to beat a dead horse but…)

I may have gotten some details wrong in my assessment of Sarah Palin’s marathon photos in yesterday’s post, but I was happy to add the corrections that could be proven. And I appreciated all the comments by all the commenters, even those who adamantly disagreed with me or thought my post would make things worse for our cause.

Two things – nobody who matters in the media is paying the slightest bit of attention to our cause. I hardly see how anything we  do out here can make that worse. And for the record, energetic discussion and accidental discovery is good for the soul even if not everyone agrees with us or what we find is not what we were originally looking for. At least some of us aren’t afraid to keep looking (/Oz winks at Gryphen) even if the only thing we find is that we were wrong  (/Oz winks at Mel)

Next – for those who keep saying it doesn’t matter if Sarah ran this marathon or not – I beg to differ. It most certainly does matter. Sarah accepted the second place medal. If she didn’t genuinely earn it, she’s stolen it from the runner who did.  Athletes have medals stripped from them for cheating and reporters go out of their way to get the stories. Usually, anyway.

I’ve only known Sarah to run in two other races during the past three years. Each time there were cameras along the routes and in each she found a way to not complete them. Weird for such an avid runner huh?

And I don’t know about any of you but I find it terribly odd that there are no photos of Sarah during this race – only a single photo at the start, again at the end – and both seem odd in and of themselves. (Just like the photos during her faked pregnancy with Trig.)

But here’s a thought - Sarah’s entrance into the half-marathon is being reported as the concept of her PR group. To not have set up staff or fan-based volunteers with cell phones taking action shots of her along the route is just crazy. Those shots would have been money in the bank and votes at the ballot box. If you were her PR man how would you have set this up for maximum return?

But hey anything’s possible right?  So… not to keep beating the poor dead horse here but…

These are the top running times as posted by the Storm Lake Running Club for the Jump In & Run half-marathon, 04. Sept 2011:

(Please Note: I freely admit to not having permission to use the shot of runner #43 below and would be happy to reasonably compensate the owner.)

This is a photo of the woman posted online as the winner of the race overall - alongside Sarah who took second in her class:

[click images to enlarge]

If someone would be so kind as to demonstrate to me how the earth could possibly have rotated around the sun fast enough to create this humongous difference between the shadows of the first place runner crossing the finish line and Sarah crossing the same finish line exactly 8 minutes later without tossing some of us off the planet entirely- I’m certainly willing to listen.

Hmm… the earth suddenly rotating too fast would definitely explain where all the flags went

(editor’s note:  Yes, I originally said 12 minutes – serves me right for trying to do basic math before 6 am!)

 

Hey Sarah! About that marathon… this is the Stuff that makes us go – huh? (Updated corrections made on the fly)

Sarah-

So a couple of photos proving you ran in the half marathon at Storm Lake Iowa on 04 September have flittered about the blogosphere. One made some of us shake our heads, quite sure it had been photoshopped. One made us go oops she really did run it huh?

And I must be painfully honest with you Sarah, I really don’t give a crap whether you did or didn’t, do or don’t run at all. I’m quite sure you ran as a young woman and that you enjoyed it and even possibly used running to trim down after each of your pregnancies. (I was a dancer. I danced away all the pregnancy fat after each of mine.) I don’t, however, believe for a second that you run every day now because you’re Sarah Palin. Cameras follow you everywhere you go and not one inch of celluloid showing you running on a remote road (other than those pre-planned runs for photoshoots) has surfaced in almost three years.

And I would be quite happy to drop the whole issue except for this nagging feeling in my gut – and a closer look at the photos proffered as evidence of your almost 2 hour run on 04 September 2011.

Let’s look at them together shall we?

Well I must admit these certianly do look like beginning and ending shots of a runner. Wait. What the… Huh?

Can we zoom in a bit please? Aww thanks…

[click each image to enlarge]

Well sure, I suppose at some point during the 1.46 race time the weather shifted and you shed some layers – like the headband and top red shirt. No worries. I also guess that it’s possible the grey collar is just the top band of your tee-shirt pulled up for some reason. Ok. I’m fine with that. But umm…

Why is the sleeve on a shirt that visually only comes to your waist so giant-like huge? It’s literally two or three sizes bigger than your arm and is so long it covers your hand completely. Ok maybe you grabbed someone else’s red shirt and it just doesn’t fit. But then why roll up the hem? Hmmm…

And doesn’t this picture show the race number as being attached to the top of the red shirt in the front? If it is, how on earth did you manage to slip it off during the race? Lifting it over your head would have pulled the grey tee with it no?

And where did the word Jump disappear to? It should be partially visible above the number 6. Shadows? Wait – no shadows… it’s 7:30 am and overcast.

Uh-oh – looks like you bumped into some wet paint and stained your nice black pants. What a shame!. They look great on you!

But wait a minute… how did the paint stain shift from one leg to the other during the race? (Update: According to comments, there’s a white smudge on both legs  – but even blown up I can’t find it. I am, however, willing to concede to younger eyes than mine!) (H/T to Andrea)

Surely you didn’t stop during the race and take them off and then put them back on back to front did you? No wait that wouldn’t work. If you’d put them on backwards the paint stain would shift to the back of your leg. Well that’s certainly a head-scratcher!

Ok Sarah now I know you’re just messing with us. Where (during the race) did you get the snazzy timing gear? Doesn’t that type have a wire that runs up your arm, through your sleeve, down your back to come out and then run down to your shoe? Did you attach this when you took off the red shirt and white headband?  UPDATE: Correction – that thing that looks like a cable is in fact a sidewalk crack – what a terrific illusion! (H/T the problem child)

And if you did this during the race, how would it give you an accurate time at the end?

You’re really a Houdini at heart aren’t you!

Now Sarah, I know you hate science but…

…did you know one can tell the time of day a photo was taken by the shadow the images cast?  You need to know the city and state, the height of the image and the ratio between the shadow and the image height.

Well Sarah, according to Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness, someone your size between 9:30 and 10am on 04, Sept 2011, at Storm lake Iowa would have cast a shadow 12 inches (or more) longer than the one you seem to be casting here. The length of your shadow actually seems to more accurately portray a photo taken at either 11am or 1pm. Of course – I can be wrong but still…

And I guess I’m also a bit befuddled at the whole lack of people in this second photo. I’m sure you have a reasonable explanation but really Sarah… where are all the folks who drove, flew, trained, biked and bussed themselves in to see you at this shindig? One would think that fans willing to spend several hours on freezing nights in shopping mall parking lots just to get a glimpse of you and a signed copy of your book would surely be patient enough to wait one hour and forty-six minutes for you to run a race and be there at the finish line to cheer you on?

But there’s no one. Just the nice man waving you across the finish line. That is what he’s doing with his arms, right? Waving you over the line? Well no, that would be silly because you’re just walking calmly checking your time. He would surely have relaxed his arms by now, wouldn’t he?

Especially since you’re checking your time against a device you only wore in part during the race? Hmm…

Ok Sarah I’m signing off now. Can’t wait to hear all the explanations come out of the woodwork. You need to know though Sarah, that if you actually did run the whole race and in one hour and forty-six minutes, that these badly staged, after-thought photos injected to ensure we all see what you want us to see rather than just showing us the naked truth from the beginning are just the kind of thing that make most of us disbelieve you in the end.

When I see video footage of you running through an entire race, then I will happily concede. Until then – for me – this was just another phoney image you dreamed up to give yourself a legitimacy you didn’t earn just to fill your wallet.

-OzMud

PS – Don’t know how I could have missed this earlier but Sarah? How can a person sweat so profusely on their neck and shoulders while staying perfectly bone dry under their arms? You continue to amaze…

 

RepublicanTeaParty Ticket 2020

Michelle & Sarah 2020
(Republicans: Behold your future!)

My Dearest Readers,

There is a perfect photo of Sarah I’d hoped to purchase for a cute little idea I had for redoing the lyrics to an old song to fit Sarah (and this particular photo). With your help I tracked down the owner-photographer and mentioned I was willing to pay real money for the shot. However, upon reading my offer the photographer asked for what purpose the photo would be used. I told the truth. That was two weeks ago. The photographer has not replied. Seems not all Alaskans share my sense of humour. Pity.

I hope the above photos will keep you smiling until I can regroup and find another suitable shot to use.

I’m tired of writing serious articles about these ridiculous women. They’re clowns, both of them and should not be treated by the media as anyhthing more.

Sincerely,
OzMud

PS. My sincerest apologies to Ann Morgan Guilbert, an actress I have adored since the  Dick Van Dyke show appeared in black and white on television (though I’m guessing she would applaud the satirical slap-in-the-face the photo offers Bachman).

 

Palin isn’t just thin-skinned – She’s dangerously thin-skinned

A few weeks ago Laura Novak wrote a piece about how emaciated Sarah Palin appears in her Iowa promotional video. (Promotion of what many of us still don’t quite uderstand but that’s off-topic here.) I too watched the  clip and thought wow Sarah’s lost considerable weight.

Today I visited Palin’s Q & A and read this piece about how the conservative pundits (undoubtedly spurred on by Karl Rove’s latest sparring match with the Queen of Caribous) are becoming quite vocal in sharing their opinions concerning Sarah’s announcing her candidacy for 2012 or not. It’s become a genuine (sorry) shit or get off the pot moment in Sarah’s political career.

In the piece are links to conservative posts on the subject and while all were worth the read, one in particular found me leaning on the [print screen] button.

Because of age differences, only two of my daughters were ever teenagers at the same time. Anorexia and Bulimia came of age, making their public debut, in the middle and it turned into quite the family conversation as one of my teen daughters had a friend she suspected of being anorexic. Our family physician was also a family friend and I turned to him for consult.  He gave me this rather old-fashioned bit of advice for spotting malnutrition in a civilized society:

If a person wears a necklace that doesn’t actually rest on the skin but is elevated away from the skin by the bone, there might be a problem. Actually many healthy women will have the necklace slightly raised by the clavical. If you know the person well enough slide a finger underneath. If you can do this without moving the chain, the odds increase that there’s a problem.

Again, if you know the person well enough, put your index finger on one side of the clavical and your thumb on the other – if you can touch your thumb to your finger with nothing but skin between them, call a doctor.

 I’ve pulled two photos from the AP video, leaving one of each untouched and enlarging the neckline on a second set. I used the smooth skin option only to soften the harsh lines which occur with pixelation.

There is not an ounce of body fat between the clavical and upper portion of the scapula. Her necklace not only isn’t resting on skin it’s elevated enough to cast a shadow. Sarah Palin is not just thin-skinned emotionally – she’s thin skinned period. How can she possibly be healthy enough for a job as physically demanding as the presidency?

To whomever it is that owns Sarah – you might want to feed her!

 

Lizard Skin – Polka-dot Toes

Well if no one else is going to say it I will… Polka-dot painted toes is an adorable idea – for a teenager. Or maybe even a young mother in her thirties. Or – ok – maybe even an over-the-hill gramma in her late forties who’s young at heart and just trying to keep up with the young people of today but…

…this is NOT what I EVER want to see in public on the feet of my president!

The paint job may be cute as Hell but Sarah’s skin is not. It’s dry, flaking, peeling, reddened and leather-like.  The person who gave her this pedicure and told her it would be ok to go out in public and show off her bare, crusted toes should be sent to bed without supper.

And for the record, in case anyone out there is thinking I’m being too hard on poor Sarah – see the angry redness and flaking in the upper left corner of the big toe? That’s pretty much what my toe looked like just before learning I had a fungal infection that required three months of medicine and the nail removed.

I’m just grateful her pants are too long and cover the rest of her toes.

There’s a common restaurant sign that should apply to places and events where all presidential wannabes congregate:

 

 

 

Ozzies Who Share Palin’s Values End Up in Hospital

A WA restaurant is dishing up a “Fatboy” burger loaded with *1.3kg of mince meat patties, while its “world’s hottest” chilli burger has hospitalised two diners.

They are among a raft of killer food challenges being promoted at WA restaurants, sparking a warning from health professionals.

One man nearly choked while eating a giant steak at Outback Jack’s in Fremantle. And at least two men were taken to hospital with internal burns after eating a hamburger garnished with the world’s hottest chilli pepper, the bhut jolokia an Indian chilli more than 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.

The Red Face and Runny Nose burger is on the menu at Novembar’s Burgers in Dianella, where the $30 bill is waived if the diner eats the lot in less than 10 minutes and is able to pass an egg from one bowl to another using chopsticks.

Owner Minh Vinh, who said only 15 of 135 challengers since 2009 had finished it, said he added the popular Man vs Fatboy burger challenge three months ago, using 1.3kg of minced beef in seven meat patties, making it seven times the size of a normal burger. He advertises this whopper with the slogan “the faster you eat, the less you pay”.

The record holder, Scott Rumbolt, finished his in six minutes and 37 seconds. The longest diner took just over an hour.

Perth dietitian Denise Griffiths said she found the gorging hard to digest, warning monster munchers were risking heart disease, choking and weight gain.

“That style of eating should not be encouraged and we’re talking about a lot of kilojoules and a lot of salt,” she said.

At Outback Jacks in Fremantle and Rockingham, owner Mick Egan is used to cleaning the tables when diners aiming to finish lkg of rump in half an hour can’t hold their meat down.

The meal comes with 500g of potato wedges and 500g of steamed vegetables.

Full story at Perth Now

For those unfamiliar with metrics, 1.3 kilograms is equal to 2 lbs, 14 oz. That’s a lot of greasy beef. Especially when one is expected to eat ALMOST THREE POUNDS OF GROUND MEAT PLUS CHEESE, BREAD, ONE POUND OF GREASY POTATOES AND MORE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

The riduculous stance taken by Sarah Palin in national and international news sound-bytes to mock Michelle Obama’s attempts to teach young Americans to adopt healthier eating habits is worse than ridiculous – it’s downright dangerous. It encourages harmful marketing ploys like the one in the above article and sends a message to everyone – young, old, middle-aged alike – people in top physical condition, people who are not and those who just want to make a dollar off a goofy idea - that there’s nothing wrong with eating whatever you want, whenever you want. It’s all just good fun.

I am reminded of two incidents that took place more than 15 years ago (but less than 30), the first in Texas: A young man was taken by family and friends to a local pub to celebrate his 21st birthday.

The young man had never had a drop of alcohol. Seriously. His uncle proudly ordered a shot of tequila with a beer chaser for himself and his nephew. He showed the lad how to down the shot and chug the beer and the lad followed suit.

An hour later the young man was dead. Turned out he had a severe allergy to whatever process it is that creates alcohol. The newspaper article I read ended with a saddened realization which I took to be pointed directly at the ‘down home boys’ attitude of Texas men. I remember it as something like:  In hindsight,  perhaps giving someone who had never had alcohol before a nice glass of wine would have been the smarter and less fatal introduction to booze.

The second incident occured in California. A toddler tried to imitate his older brothers busily engaged in a mock eating contest. No one noticed, in all the commotion that the 5 year old tried to swallow a hot dog whole until it was too late.

I realize that we can’t possibly be responsible for all the stupid things people do in life and of course there are unpreventable accidents. But I do feel that something as visible as political fame should come with a responsibility clause – just like star athletes who sign morality clauses on contracts before they get to spend their $10 million salary.

Words matter. Behaviour matters. Our politicians should be held to a much higher standard than the adolescent I can do whatever I want sound-bytes spewing forth from the Twinkie Queen herself.

 

If You Believe Clap Your Hands! Hurry! Clap!

 

Is it me or does she look like she’s hitchhiking?
Captions encouraged

I’m so going to Hell for this…

 

Fifty (50) Days and counting… *Update*

 

UPDATE:

Evidently I got the date wrong – I’d used Sarah’s FB note as a timeline, thinking she had written this declaration of ‘nothing to see here – move on ppl’ just days after the close of the bus tour/family vacation.

What’s even odder to me now is the fact it took her about 15 days to respond to the media’s noticing her bus tour had stopped, citing cancellations of appearances in midwestern states as evidence of the tour ending.

And I realize this bus tour was a farce from start to finish but – since Sarah made such a big deal out of calling the media out on their ‘making things up’ why is no one in the media defending themselves by pointing out that SARAH SAID WE WERE IDIOTS FOR SAYING SHE’D CANCELLED HER BUS TOUR – THAT THE SUMMER WAS LONG AND SHE HAD A LOT OF TIME TO RESUME THE TOUR – BUT AUGUST IS NOW HALF OVER AND THERE’S STILL NO BUS IN SIGHT ON ANY ROAD…

So really Sarah, who exactly is the idiot making stuff up, huh? Here let me help – hold this mirror…

h/t to vinnie F for correcting the date – thanks

 

Sarah Doesn’t Blink. Oh Wait. Maybe She Does.

In yesterday’s comments, bluepress26 reminded us of Sarah Palin’s original campaign mantra ‘you can’t blink’ and how this year’s journos seem to have conveniently forgotten about how Sarah Palin taught us all about Alaskans and how when you grow up in Alaska you learn to make decisions on the fly, without blinking. 

Excellent point bluepress26 -

After all, when your name is Sarah Palin you can’t be expected to wait around for the dead fish to follow the flow…

11 SEPTEMBER 2008

In the above interview produced for television at the beginning of the John McCain 2008 campaign, journalist Charles Gibson asked candidate Sarah Palin about her willingness and preparedness in becoming vice president should she and John McCain win the 2008 election. This clip addresses his question of how she reacted to McCain’s asking her to be his running mate – he wanted to know if she thought she was ready – if she even once hesitated when asked… this is the part that would become important today, in July of 2011:

Gibson
…Governor, can you look the country in the eye and say “I have the experience and I have the ability to be not just vice president but perhaps president of the United States of America…”

Palin
…you can’t blink. You have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country, and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

Weeks later and only six days before the 2008 election eve, Sarah Palin was asked if she would run again should she and John McCain not win this election. Her direct answer shocked not only the interviewer but the McCain camp itself:

There are numerous snippets in interviews throughout the 2008 campaign in which Sarah repeats her mantra of – you can’t blink – giving the appearance she knows exactly what she’s doing and with a seemingly seamless effort, she removes all doubt of her ability/inability to make quick, informed decisions. A trait her supporters latched onto with pride and continue to defend with righteous indignation

But once the campaign was over she began meditating to a different chant and…

On Oprah in 2009:

…she blinked

On Greta Van Susteran in spring 2011

…and blinked

On Hannity that same day:

…and blinked

Newsweek Interview 10 July 2011

… If Palin doesn’t end up running, the reason will be simple, she said. “Family. If it came down to the family just saying, ‘Please, Mom, don’t do this,’ then that would be the deal-killer for me, because your family’s gotta be in it with you.”

One doesn’t need to hail from Alaska to understand the principle behind hesitation in a contest. Any schoolkid knows when you’re staring at your friend across the lunch table the loser is the one who blinks.

Sarah’s been blinking all over the place and yet not one journalist seems to have noticed. So the same woman who claimed to have not even told her family she was accepting the life-changing offer by John McCain but just took it because in Alaska one doesn’t blink – now claims she can’t tell the public if she’s going to run in 2012 or not because she hasn’t mulled it over with her family yet –  (even though Bristol stated on camera her mom told them all her decision) -

- yeah, I’m with the commenters in yesterday’s post who want to know why the media hasn’t nailed Sarah on her brazen hypocrisy.

 

The Curious Disappearance of the Curious Bus Tour Curiously Still Collecting Donations

The Bus To Nowhere

It’s been roughly 18 days (if I got the dates right) since Sarah Palin abruptly ended her One Nation Owes Me Money  bus tour ostensibly to recoup and regroup and then do a little jury duty before getting back on the road to showcase Real America for those of us who may not understand where Real America umm – is.

Granted it’s only just getting into mid-July and as Sarah put it when questioned about stopping the tour well it’s a summer tour and summer is long… so okay – fair enough. Summer in the USA is not actually over for another six weeks.

So what’s the plan? There is a plan, right? Well there must be because SarahPAC is still actively collecting donations for bankrolling the bus tour. Surely they wouldn’t still be advertising the tour and asking for donations unless there actually WAS such a tour, right? Right? I mean - they wouldn’t actually be so smug as to collect money for an event that was already finished would they?

Well, let’s visit SarahPAC  and see, shall we? Looks norm-wait – what’s this?

A popup banner as you enter the site… [click thumbnail to enlarge] 
And a top-corner ad on one of the pages… [see below]

I find this whole thing terribly curious.  First inasmuch as a Political Action Committee accepts donations for strictly political purposes but then is free to spend those collected funds on anything from jacked-up salaries for friends and co-horts to unnecessary attorney fees to inflated PR needs, all under the guise of overhead costs, and then for family vacations or paying one’s mortgage as long as one is not actively running for office oneself - I find it all curious and curiouser.

Sarah Palin the millionairess – still collecting $5. donations from people who can barely feed their families in today’s financial clime – and this time for a road trip that in all probability is finito, having shot itself in the foot many times over causing it to limp to a premature halt. Well, as governor Sarah accepted $500k for a bridge to nowhere – only stands to reason she would want to collect an equal amount for a bustrip to nowhere now that her political career is kaput.

(Close your eyes Keri!)

Silly Poofs!

 

Keri Slams the Old Man who Nailed the Palin Women

From the comments on the previous post:

@Keri,

Perhaps the man was from New Zealand where the world dictionary defines ‘poof/poofter’ as a ‘contemptible person’ which – sorry – fits quite accurately into my personal definition of the Palin money-grubbing clan.

I don’t know where you live in Australia but I can tell you that I live in southeastern Qld where the term gay-bashing is used to identify actual gay-bashers and the term ‘poof’ is not taken very seriously at all. In fact, the word poof is freely used in front of small children (where using the word bloody will catch a glare and an elbow in the ribs); is used in the same context as Deborah who mutters the word idiot to refer to her husband, Ray Barone when he’s well, being one - and is commonly tossed about among my gay friends as a term of affection. If it has roots in the homosexual community the same way nigger has roots in the black community, I think it has outgrown those roots where I live.

But I do humbly apologize for my whimsical offence if it did, indeed, offend a member of the gay community. I meant no disrespect to gays, blacks or anyone. Honest.

That said, relax a bit Keri. The meanings of words become diluted over time and can actually mean entirely different things in different locations. In England for example, a fag is just a cigarette. In Los Angeles California, ho-ho-ho is apparently a collection of prostitutes while in most other places it’s just what Santa says while cllimbing down the chimney. 

I’m pretty sure when the Christmas carole lyric of “don we now our gay apparel” was written the author didn’t envision a parade of homosexuals prancing about in sequined dresses. I’m pretty sure the lyricist meant party clothes – which is what gay apparel would have been in the sixteenth century when the song Deck The Halls was written. Putting on one’s gay clothing meant it was time to stop working and celebrate. It didn’t mean a man was a cross-dresser.

Fruitcake is a good one. Originally intended to liven up a party during the holidays, it somehow morphed into an insult meaning someone was crazy. However it evolved, the brandy-soaked holiday dessert somewhere along the way became associated with people acting nutty. There is a sort of reasoning one can follow in that.  However, how it made the leap from crazy to becoming a derogatory expression meant to degrade homosexuals in the mid 1900′s I have no idea – but leap it did and as a teenager who lived in San Francisco, I grew up knowing most fruitcakes lived on Castro St. (Haha sorry Tom!)

For the record, too also, you can say fruitcake in front of small children without fear of anyone gasping for breath. And that’s kind of been my measuring stick for knowing what is appropriate or not while living in a different country from that of  my birth. If no one scolds me for saying something in front of the littlies, then it must be okay to say in public, in mixed company.

I stand by my usage of the word poof and apparently so does a very big dictionary. But Keri, I am genuinely sorry if my reference to the Palin women of ‘Silly Poofs’ offends you or any of my readers. You obviously share a history with the word that I do not. And while I can respect your history, I expect the same respect in return.

If only Sarah were equally open to offering apologies, perhaps we would stop thinking of her as quite so big an idiot.

Or not.

 

An Old Man Nails the Palin Women

Had occasion to be at my local Newstand this arvo and while looking over the new arrival display, casually asked the clerk if they would be getting Bristol Palin’s book Not Afraid of Life.

The clerk looked up from the register and said “who?” so I explained that Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, aged 20 had just published her memoirs and I wondered if we would be getting copies. She fiddled for a moment on the computer then left to ask the manager. A rather matronly woman standing next to me said (to no one in particular) “How does one write their memoirs at age 20?” Then she answered her own question by cocking her head and snickering “Yankee arrogance!”

The clerk returned to say there were no plans to have the book available in the shop but I could order it online, probably. Then she said “Isn’t Mrs. Palin the one who ran for president and lost?” But before I could answer, the snickerer beside me chimed in with a hearty ” Yes, she’s the one who demanded an audience with Margaret and was put in her proper place. And now her daughter’s written her memoirs at age 20!” The sarcasm in her voice dripped onto my shirt. I stepped aside.

An old man in a beanie and flannel jacket, flipping through the newspaper he was waiting in line to buy chortled “Silly poofs!” and I thought – I’d never heard a more appropriate description of Sarah and Bristol Palin than that… Silly Poofs!

In Australia, the term ’poof’ began as slang for a gay man. It has evolved through the years to mean more like a man behaving unmanly, and is in general used among mates to tease each other. Like when a bloke loses a bet and has to wear his wife’s skirt in public. I’ve heard the term often while living downunder and I can’t recall a single time when it was meant to be derogatory.

Except! (And there’s always that exception) when it’s meant to imply someone’s complete idiocy. An old man calling two women ‘poofs’ is definitely meant to convey to the listener “pfft – idiots!”

I’ve pinched the phrase and intend to use it a lot from now on so Sarah? Bristol? Let the trademark wars begin!

I wonder how many ghost-writers will get thrown under the Silly Poof bus before Harper-Collins figures out there’s no more money to be made from these two monumental frauds.

Oh and speaking of idiots, this made me giggle:

 

Sarah’s Emails – (search word: Walt)

Having only sifted through a dozen or three of these emails so far (posted on Crevilla West) I have two initial observations.

First, it appears a fair portion of Walt Monegan’s job description (Chief of Police/Public Safety Commission) was to spend copious amounts of time monitoring newspaper Letters to the Editor sections for any complaints made against Sarah’s administration and to write rebuttals before they posed a problem for the governor’s image. I can think of a lot of things I’d be wanting my Police Chief to be focusing on – somehow my personal image isn’t among them. But that’s just me.

Click links to view emails:

03AUG2007-Sarah tracks letters to editors

Well you know the old saying – crooks  can afford the best cars – I’m for law enforcement having even  better cars so the Espalade in the fleet doesn’t really bother me. But that really isn’t the issue here. The issue should be… why was this even on Sarah’s desk? If you’re the governor of a state don’t you have hired hands to take care of this kind of small stuff so you are free to handle oh I dunno bigger issues like – governing?

If she does officially run for president her next bus slogan should read:

Sarah Palin – It’s All About Me Me Me!

Then – on her watch, a state trooper is sued for excessive force. The police stand behind the trooper, but the plaintiff (ultimately) prevails and is awarded $1,000,000. The following email shows what most concerned the governor about the matter…

27SEPT2007-Sarah vs Spitzer

Palin Put the ME in Meme!

Sarah Palin’s emails – what’s left of them after 2.5 years of an entire state administration redacting them and turning them into expensive paper copies - thanks to Crevilla West -  are now back in a searchable, electronic format and open to the public so anyone can search through them using any word or term for the serarch.

Click here to access Palins emails on Crevilla West 

Thanks Crevilla West!

Go!  Sift!  Discover!

 

Ask SarahPAC #3

 

 

OzMud Freeware: Copy & Paste at will

Edit: Changed tips to snacks after being reminded that (1) Sarah doesn’t tip (h/t to Karen) and remembering things such as ice creams, chocolates, Red Bulls & coffees had been omitted.

 

Ask SarahPAC #2

 

OzMud’s Freeware: Copy & paste at will

 

Ask SarahPAC

Freeware: Copy and paste at will

 

The Not-a-Family Not-a-Vacation Not-a Campaign (something-something) Tour *pic added* *UPDATE*

I don’t mean to sound old-fashioned and I certainly don’t want to appear all nitpicky and semantical (if Sarah can make up words so can I) but – if Sarah wants to keep calling this bogus bus tour a family vacation wouldn’t it be prudent to actually include – oh I dunno – the family?

Ok Track’s a newlywed but in most big families just getting hitched wouldn’t be an acceptable excuse for not showing up for the big family road trip. The newlywedded (don’t bother spell-checking that one either) son would just be expected to bring along the newlywedded Mrs. So what gives?

Willow’s in schoo- no? uh yeah Sarah took Willow out of school so she could personally home tutor her. Umm how do you personally tutor a kid who is back in Alaska while you’re on vacation in New York?  And wouldn’t this ‘family vacation’ where the family is ‘tooling around educating folks on stuff like the constitution and liberty bell and statute statue of liberty and the Paul Revere ride to warn the British with bells and whistles’ be the perfect tutorial for your teenage tutoree? No, huh?

Bristol is worki – oh wait. Bristol isn’t working. Unless the filming of her new bogus reality show has started there’s actually no reason why she and her son couldn’t have gone on this family vacation with the rest of her siblings. Tripp would have been a great brother cousin uncle companion for Trig – wait – where’s Trig again? Not on the bus?

Well it can’t be that he’s too young because Sarah carted the poor kid around on her hip like a football just about 18 months ago during her book signing tour on that very same bus! So we know that can’t be the reason. Hmm…

Well Todd – wait – where’s Todd anyway? Wasn’t he there at the beginning of this trip? Sure he was we saw pictures of him and Piper riding a motorcycle at that pesky invite-me  invite-me-not Memorial Day rally. So where’d he go? He’s not out on the family fishing boat like he is every other year in June. He’s not on the slopes working a mine – where’s  dad? How do you have a family vacation without dad?

So the primary family unit of two parents and four five kids and two one grandsons plus new daughter-in-law and Sarah’s parents who by the way could easily all fit into this titanic-sized motorhome has dwindled down to Sarah, Piper, Grandma and Gramps?

Wow. A family vacation with only one of your five kids, no grandkids and only a cameo appearance by your husband. Doesn’t sound to me like the Palin clan got the memo about family values and sticking together. No wonder little Piper’s nose is so out of joint. All the fun people abandoned ship!

 Sarah – you might have at least let her bring a friend along, There’s no one on this bus her own age with whom to interact? That’s just really bad planning, bad parenting and I hope your peers in Alaska call you out on it. -Oz

============  UPDATE  ============

Sarah took a detour on Friday and landed in Arizona to ‘thaw out and regroup’. Watch video here.  (H/T to tm68 for the link.)

Sure because everybody takes a break from a family vacation less than a week in the making… must be nice to have that much money eh? Transporting the family bus from Alaska to Washington DC – then flying the family from Alaska to the bus – then flying people back to Alaska – then flying yourself, your daughter and parents to Arizona – in the middle of the vacation…

Oh wait – Sarah’s not paying for all this transportation her devoted fans are! You remember them – the people who donate to her PAC thinking they are contributing to making America better! Turns out they’re really just paying for room service and airfare.

Idiots.

 

Piper Negotiates a Better Deal

I’m really beginning to like this kid. She just may turn out to be the brightest colour in the Palin paint set. And she’s going to need an edge in life as I’ve just learned this poor child’s entire Christian name. Ready? Piper Indi Grace Palin. P.I.G. P.

Really Sarah? Todd? What on earth were you thinking! Are you trying to get her beat up at recess? At least give the kid a break and make it Grace Indi. For proponents of good ‘ol common sense idills, you two sure do keep smacking your heads against the idiot tree.

Good grief.

Well , in true Palin style, Sarah elected to pretend an embarrassing moment never happened (even though it did) and performed a surgically-altered do-over of Piper’s failed press apology.

On their way to the Statue of Liberty Piper – on camera – refused to apologize to the press for her cattle-dog-herding behaviour of the day before, having shoved a perfectly polite reporter aside in what looked like the 10 year old’s perceived role as mum’s bodyguard.

Not to be criticized for her inept parenting skills, Sarah stages a second chance for Piper to endear herself to the crowd of reporters (again) outside the Hyatt. Again Sarah holds two flowers (big chrysanthemums?) but this time Piper walks right up to the cameras and smiles big, allowing the nice journos to ask her questions which she politely answers without hesitation or visible anomosity, giggling all the way. I’m not sure the apology was ever given, but she was charming and seemingly good-natured and won them over. All’s well that ends well.

My spouse looked at the clip and said, walking out of the room “Ah! She negotiated a better deal! Wonder how much it’s going to cost Sarah?” I don’t know! But some of the shots from the clip seem to lend credence to his take on the matter…

Piper [whispering]: Remember mother – when this is over I get to go to FAO Schwarz and pick out anything I want, right?
Sarah [under her breath]: Um-hmm.

Piper [whispering]: And I get to stay as long as I want and play on the Big Piano and I get two desserts with dinner for the rest of this stupid trip, right?
Sarah [under her breath]: Uh-huh

Aww I was only kidding this morning, I really like you guys

I don’t know if any of you were convinced or not – but I can’t get this picture out of my head now…

Have fun Piper! I’m rooting for ya!

 

The Ungovernor Unapologizes On the Uncampaign Trail

I am stunned. Flummoxed. Spent. Sarah’s parenting skllls just keep sinking lower and lower. What was she thinking, dragging her 10 year old whom she obviously has little to no control over, out and into the harsh glare of public scrutiny?

Behold the woman who would negotiate trillion dollar oil deals, elicit major environmental controls and peace treaties with entire countries and hostile governments – yet can’t get her own daughter to offer a flower in apology for shoving a reporter the day before… and weep with me:

We can’t just ask Piper to turn around we have to physically turn her.

Piper can’t take her hand away from her mouth because she’s too busy trying to hide the fact that she’s laughing her bum off at the lunacy of this whole fake apology thing. Well get used to it Piper, your mum fakes a lot of stuff!

How embarrassing is this! Not only is Sarah literally begging her 10 year old to cough up an apology, she’s doing it on national television, in front of strangers with cameras – and she’s losing! I’m guessing the flowers weren’t exactly Piper’s idea either, eh mum?

This has got to be truly one of the most humiliating moments of Sarah’s political career – caught on camera – and a valid reason why she should never ever make a serious play for the presidency (there would only be more and more footage of these little image-crushing tete-a-tetes made public).  Her 10 yr old daughter refuses to go along with her mother’s contrived apology and is so unintimidated by Sarah’s authorityshe refuses the flowers and shuns her mother, boldlywalking away in a perfect exit:  stage left.

…and as the sun sets on Jersey City, Mother Sarah is left to apologize for her daughter’s behaviour and hands the not-sorry-flowers over to some reporter who isn’t even the same reporter who required the apology in the first place.

I am stunned. Flummoxed. Spent.

FYI Sarah – a decent media manager would have arranged for the shoved reporter to meet with you and Piper privately, where she could have a one-on-one conversation with the man and maybe apologize sincerely and make friends with him. Piper would have learned a valuable lesson and the reporter might have been moved to write a heart-warming little human interest piece on the two of you.

And a mother in touch with her child would have bent over and whispered in her daughter’s ear what she expected to happen next with perhaps a gentle reminder of what might happen should the daughter be less than agreeable. But not on camera – not where a microphone might pick up the conversastion – and certainly not in a way as to add further humiliation to an already embarrassing situation. It’s not too late to take some parenting classes. I’m just saying…

Please America, please do not give this woman the launch codes. At least not while Piper is the one in control.

 

Palin Flunks Parenting 101

During Sarah Palin’s UNcampaign-campaign road trip some raw footage was shot, posted online and has since gone viral. In fact, I’ve seen the clip on so many sites I can’t figure out who to ht/.

The clip is of Sarah and Piper on the street, stopped by a small handful of reporters. Sarah actually approaches one of the reporters, a gesture I’m sure she meant as an  ’Ok I’ll talk to you guys now’ invitation to chat. Unfortunately, it seems her youngest daughter Piper didn’t get the memo as she becomes physically aggressive towards a man extending a microphone to her mother, literally pushing her own body against his protectively herding him away from Sarah like a trained cattle dog.

In response, the reporter(s) try to move in closer, even as Sarah herself moves towards them, trapping Piper a circle of big people who inadvertantly crowd Piper as a result.

I have many comments to make here. Just as soon as my blood stops boiling and I can focus without seeing red…

Parenting comes with a unique set of basic instincts that helps us protect our children while they’re infants.  More often than not those instincts continue to grow as we grow into our roles as parents and our children grow into adults. But some parenting skills need to be learned. Beyond the  traditional skills of cooking, nesting and earning a living, there are social skills that we as parents need to learn ourselves in order to instill in our children. Good habits and manners must be learned before they can be passed along. Parents need to learn communication skills to guard against sending our kids mixed or wrong messages. But when the parent is overly wrapped up in his or her own life or work or drama…

Piper’s behaviour in this video clip is clearly learned. She has obviously overheard her mother and father and their friends and security teams and advisors discuss the evils of the media and how important it is for Sarah not to be shanghied by reporters asking questions that would unravel Sarah’s political chances in her uncampaign-campaign for president.

Piper proves this by deliberately interjecting herself into what any other child would perceive as just another adult conversation. In a gesture designed to protect her mother from the evil reporter asking his evil questions, Piper rushes to the rescue. Piper would have no motive to display hostility towards these reporters without being taught by an adult. Clearly she is responding to attitudes learned in the home.

First and foremost, look at the beginning of the clip:

You’re in an unfamiliar town on a crowded street. Put clothes on your kid. It was not appropriate for Piper to be in a crowd of mostly male reporters with hotpants-styled short-shorts. Longer shorts that covered the thighs – perhaps. But if the tee-shirt was meant to set the theme, designer jeans would have been more age-appropriate for this predictable scenario. This wasn’t the desert. You weren’t at the beach. This was a public crowd on a city street which promised to only get bigger as more people identified you as Sarah Palin. Did you really mean for your young daughter to be bare-legged in a crowd full of strangers, mostly male?

Please note in the above still that Sarah was the one to approach the reporter – not the other way around. Sarah crossed in front of Piper to get to the reporter and offer a handshake.

It could be argued that Piper moved in between her mother and the reporter to attract attention but – look how she’s already pushed his right arm against his chest with her shoulder.

And now she’s literally using her whole body to push him away from Sarah - who, by the way, continues to move forward, speaking throughout (and not missing a single talking point) yet clearly overlooking her daughter’s actions, ignoring her presence entirely.

And while Sarah moves closer to the blocked-by-Piper reporter, other reporters are also moving closer and Piper begins to whine. Sarah appears oblivious to her daughter’s unpleasant predicament and just keeps talking.

And here’s the still that almost got lost in the commotion. Sarah’s chatting away, the reporter who is personally blocked by Piper desperately reaches over Pipers head with his microphone while attempting all the while to not crowd Piper in the process, as evidenced by his careful posture and the fact that he placed his other arm between Pipers head and his chest. But the parent in the room is the gentleman reporter on the left…

…that’s what a parent does to protect his child from falling, from being hit, from being crowded. A parent extends his arm to keep the child safe – from walking or falling in harm’s way.

Piper is now whinging, crying out “leave me alone!” and Sarah just keeps talking.

My feeling – and while it’s my own it’s not an uneducated or inexperienced observation –  is that Piper has been growing up for the past three years in an atmosphere of adults complaining about how bad reporters are and how much they hurt her mother. Children have their own built-in instincts and Piper is just at the beginning of the age where kids dream of being the hero.

I don’t for a moment believe Piper has been vying for attention in this or any of the road-trip-from-Hell photos taken of her restless, apparently rude behaviour. I believe she thinks she’s coming to her mother’s rescue.  Putting herself betwen her mother and the enemy would be a brave thing to do.

And if you’d lived in a home where the media was constantly portrayed as evil, vile, lame and ‘out-to-get-you’ – you’d probably think it was brave, too.

 

How Can The Press Keep Getting This Wrong?

Dear American Press,

Sarah Palin’s campaign for the office of POTUS began on 6 March 2008 when she announced to a handful of your ADN peers that she was seven months pregnant. That’s the announcement that launched her head and shoulders above the other candidates John McCain had on his VP short list. How does this relate to a presidential run? Easy. Nobody ever risked simultaneously faking a pregnancy and making a lifetime commitment to raising a child only to aspire to second place.

And for Sarah Heath Palin, the office of Vice President would be just that: Second place. She said it herself in an interview in Isreal. When asked why she thought she and John McCain lost the 2008 election without hesitation her glib and inappropriate reply was because I wasn’t on the top of the ticket!

For all you political geniuses out there who believe she’s not touring the upper east coast collecting campaign money and bagging votes well – in my 60+ years of life shared on two continents under two governments, you’re the most naive bunch of journos I have ever seen.

Stop scratching your heads wondering if she’s running in 2012 or not. You can’t see it because you keep trying to fit her White House bid into a reasonable set of protocols. Stop it. There’s nothing reasonable about Sarah.

Stop chasing after her and hold still. Take a deep breath. Now - open your eyes and look at what’s right in front of you: Nobody takes a family holiday in an oversized bus decorated with campaign slogans and Republican memes, prominently plugging a PAC donation website unless they’re running for something. And for our Sarah, the only office worth the effort is the top one.

Sarah’s running for president. Count on it. She’s been running  for three years and she’s gambled everything on winning. You people just haven’t been paying attention.

So stop trying to cover your journalistic inadequacies with phrases like America is too smart to put Sarah Palin in the White House and go after the real story: Is America just stupid enough to put her there?

Sincerely,
OzMud

 

Sarah Palin Hijacks Australian Pauline Hanson’s Trademarked Party Name “One Nation”

Sarah Palin isn’t the breath of fresh air her followers portray her to be. In fact, her entire political story has been done before, by a redheaded fish & chips shop owner in 1996 who tired of her Australian government conducting ‘business as usual’ and decided to take on the ‘big boys’, single-handedly. She may not have faked a pregnancy or paraded her children in front of news cameras, but she did drape herself in the flag, complain about her government in a loud, screechy voice and bilk a lot of donations from fellow countrymen.

The following excerpt is from a dynamic summary of Pauline Hanson’s rise to fame. It reads just like a page out of Sarah Palin’s playbook. I encourage every American to read it before deciding whether to politically support Sarah Palin or not.
[Click here to read the entire post ]

The Perils of Pauline: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Delivers A Dangerous Wake Up Call To Australia’s Left
ANDREW HAMMER & JERI STANTON

The story of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

In 1996, Pauline Hanson, the operator of a small fish and chip shop, decided to run for the Australian parliament. She made this decision after becoming fed up with politics-as-usual, and feeling that the existing parties just didn’t represent the interests of Australia’s hard working masses. At least that’s the story as she tells it.

The real story is a bit more revealing…

Photos and links to Pauline Hanson and One Nation:

Launch of One Nation 1997

One Nation (the voice of the people) is a trademarked brand name. Considering Sarah Palin has applied for a trademark on her own name claiming it as a brand name, I find it odd that she would impinge the rights of someone else’s trademark. Oh wait. No I don’t. This is Sarah.

Pauline Hanson draped herself in the Australian flag a good ten years before Palin. And felt just as entitled.

 Australian Gays treated Pauline with the same irreverance as American Gays treat Sarah. Coincidence?

Simon Hunt is a media critic and faculty member at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He’s also a gay man and a music producer. When Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party launched a racist campaign for parliament devoted to stopping Asian immigration, denying rights to aboriginals, subsidizing medical care for whites and ceasing foreign aid, Hunt was inflamed. He did what he knew best– used some a PC to cut together a satirical song called “I’m a Backdoor Man.” The highly danceable track was a cut-up of samples of Pauline Hanson’s voice, and put back together in a way that mocked her agenda. Hunt released it under a drag pseudonym, Pauline Pantsdown.

In 2007 Hanson shifts her focus from Aboriginals to Muslims, re-energizing her base with warnings of Islamic immigrants taking over and smothering out the Christian Right whom she claims naturally belongs here – while the immigrants do not – and begins chastizing the government for not adopting stricter immigration laws. Sound familiar?

Herald Sun 17 March 2007
PAULINE Hanson will urge major political parties to stop the flow of Muslim immigrants into Australia when she launches her bid to become a senator this year.

She didn’t get to be Senator in 2007 however as that’s the election that landed Ms. Hanson in jail for voter fraud. It seems more people voted than actually lived in certain communities – a fascinating story in and of itself complete with intrigue and backstabbing. About a year into her jail time however, certain evidence came to light which showed Ms. Hanson was innocent of the charges and she was subsequently released, all charges dropped. A trusted benefactor was to blame. Ms. Hanson faded into the background and reappeared last year to make a final, failed bid for re-election but the public just really isn’t into her that much any more. First because a lot of people feel while proven innocent, she should have been more aware of what was going on inside her own party. Second because some people feel that when you are the captain of a team and the team screws up – you belong in the penalty box with your mates.

And third – and perhaps more importantly, Pauline Hanson wasn’t re-elected this time because there just aren’t as many bigots around these days as there once were. The world is growing up. Thank goodness.

I found this 1999 political cartoon in an old Australian government archive:

It’s a cartoon of Pauline Hanson staring down an Aboriginal woman, making her stand on who does and who does not belong in her-defined Australia, absolutely clear. Scarey, no? I have the feeling, though, if and when Ms. Hanson realizes Sarah has hijacked her “One Nation” campaign a second cartoon will emerge looking more like this:

My sincere apologies to both artists – Alan Charles and Brent Noel for the merging of their cartoons. but it was for a good cause, right?

Please, please, please take a few minutes to read the first link in this post. This one. The opening paragraphs are critically important because while we may spend a lot of time laughing at these insane women – we can’t afford to ignore them.

 

Is Sarah’s Freudian Slip Showing?

Many bloggers including those at Palin’s Q&A, Joe McGinniss and The Immoral Minority (links to the right) have weighed in on Sarah Palin’s latest slip of the tongue when, in answering a question during a Fox interview said (regarding how presidential candidates should be treated):

“There’s gotta be the preparation on all the candidates’ parts for those gotchas. That’s what the lamestream media is known for nowadays is the gotcha, trip-up questions, and I just have to be prepared for it and overcome it.”

The slip, of course is in having included herself among the candidates by saying “I” instead of ‘they’ and it’s made a lot of skeptics rethink their opinion of whether or not Ms. Palin will be tossing her bumpit into the 2012 ring.

I would like to add my opinion – if I may.

Sarah Palin has been running for President since she first stepped onto the national political stage as John McCain’s running mate in the fall of 2008. And she hasn’t stopped, not for a minute. In her mind she is not just a viable candidate but America’s only choice. She has fantasized and lived over and over again her acceptance speech, inauguration address, what she’ll wear, how her hair will look – the expressions on all of her children’s faces as they stare adoringly back at her from the sidelines…

Sarah Palin has no actual clue what running for president of a country means in terms of what she needs to know socially, economically or professionally (but you can bet she practiced the Queen’s wave to perfection). It is of absolutely no consequence to her that she is – among those who have sought this office before and now - the most ill-prepared woman of all times. To Sarah, preparing to run for the highest office in the land means making a list of all-purpose comebacks for those darned ‘gotcha’ questions. It’s 2011 and she still thinks and speaks in talking points. (Sadly, we can thank McCain’s staff for teaching her that little trick…)

Sarah said “I” because deep inside that disturbingly childish mind of hers she has already chosen new drapes for the oval office, counted the number of servants who will be at her beck and call, made one list of people she wants jailed for daring to cross her and another for people to whom she can crow “I told ya so” with self-righteous, vengeful glee.

I know in my heart that Sarah believes she’s running. She’s thought about nothing else since that first spotlight shone down upon her and she felt the warmth of a cheering audience. She quit her job so she would be free to make enough money to travel the country and stand in spotlight after spotlight after spotlight. To Sarah, this is how to prepare for an election ergo, she is prepared.

But when it finally sinks into Sarah’s hubristic head that in the real world people are going to ask her questions she does not want to answer,  that her one-liner talking point comebacks will not stave off an aggressive reporter and that her children won’t be allowed to provide a distraction, she’ll cut and run like a small fishing boat being chased by an enormous whale.

Sarah is her biggest doting fan. She’s fallen for her own talking points and believes her own bull. Of course she’s running.  She’s just not running for long.

Especially if this is true:
-Oz

BTW – Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the more power Sarah perceives she has the more ill-mannered she becomes? I’ve noticed she’s begun cutting people off in mid-sentence, seems less careful about veiling her insults and speaks progressively louder when she thinks the person listening isn’t getting what she’s saying?

Wouldn’t a temper tantrum on camera be just lovely right about now?

PS – Geoffrey Dunn’s book is like having found a security blanket. It’s so comforting to see in print what some of us have been out here suspecting and feeling for over two years. His insights are thoughtful and spot on. Although I’m not done yet (Dunn yet? *chuckle*) I highly recommend the read

 

While I’m off reading a book…

… try to wrap your head around this photo. This was the photo that did it for me. A lot of focus of late has been on the pink scarf flat stomach shot but back in November of 2008 we didn’t all have access to the same photos, most of the governors website photos were being scrubbed faster than the rest of us could record them with screenshots - and this was the one remaining photo that convinced me beyond doubt that Sarah Palin had faked her pregnancy.

From Oz Mudflats November 2008:

I defy anyone, anywhere, to have a pregnant woman duplicate this pose at 30 weeks. Sarah is clearly bending where a 30 week fetus should have made bending impossible. Her slim winter coat is fully zipped around her midsection. You can tell by the cut that it is not a maternity coat. It is a normal coat. Her knees are bent forward, she’s reaching with one arm fully extended and she’s not falling over.

For the record – I could not have stood like this in my second trimester – any of them – and this is 30 weeks - or 4 weeks into a third trimester. I could not button or zip any of my normal winter coats past the first trimester. I could not have bent at the knees, reached down and bent forward at the same time. And I was a dancer with extremely disciplined muscles.

Here – let me lighten this photo for you:

There is some misinformation in my older blog posts, but this isn’t it. In the early days we got the timeline wrong on her flights and travel from Texas to Wasilla. It took several months and many discussions with people who actually live in Alaska to sort the facts from rumours and misinformation. This is about none of that. This is about physics. Period.

This pose of Sarah’s was simply not possible. A 30-week fetus doesn’t just disappear because mom decides to bend over and pet a dog.

I’m off to read Geoffrey Dunn’s new book now… can you smell the popcorn?

 

Is Donald Trump Secretly Making Book on His Political Play?

I’m not saying he is… then again I’m not saying he isn’t, either…

An article in USA Today looked at the prospect of The Donald running for president in 2012 or not by analysing some bookmaking odds. The bottom line in the article refers to The Donald’s chances of not running being more of a sure bet than running. According to the author: Bookmaker.com says there’s a 48% chance Trump will run for president, compared with a 65% likelihood he won’t.

It got me thinking. In Australia, most betting is legal, whether it’s on a sporting event, international events or political elections. This sort of betting action is legal in many countries, as opposed to the US where not all states allow gambling.

But wherever you live – we’ve come a long way baby – and today bookies are alive and well and living on the internet. There are literally hundreds of online betting facilities (including Bookmaker.com above) that allow one to place real time bets on the rational and irrational alike across the globe. EasySportsBetting4u.com will take bets on American Idol results, crab-racing, frog jumping and whether or not your favourite Hollywood couple will stay together, break up and how many kids they might eventually have together. Silly but true!

And we all know The Donald is listed as sole owner of a casino or two on his resume. So what’s to prevent him from making this huge national spectacle of himself in a massive effort to gain enough attention to bump up the odds that he is a serious contender – and when the odds are ripe for the picking drop out with a pre-paid booking slip in one hand and a pre-planned excuse that makes him look honourable, above board and with only the best of intentions for his party and country in the other – only to walk away with an incredible windfall that ‘he’ created by falsely riding a presidential run for office?

I mean Sarah Palin’s been taking full financial advantage of insinuating but not clearly announcing her intentions to run in 2012 for over a year now – so why wouldn’t The Donald, who has the knowledge of and access to high-stakes gambling institutions step into the third quarter of this ballgame and grab his share of the loot? It’s not like quarterbacks never take a planned hit…

Does no one audit the players anymore?

 

Woot!

Found this little gem in my email this morning!

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We thought you’d like to know that we shipped your items, and that this completes your order.  Your order is being shipped and cannot be changed by you or by our customer service department.  

    1  The Lies of Sarah Palin: T… 
Shipped via DHL International

                          Item Subtotal:     $14.66
                 Shipping  and handling:     $29.98
                    Pre-order Guarantee:      $0.00
                                  Total:     $44.64
                     Paid by xxxxxxxxxx:     $44.64

Some of us really really want this book!