Happy Halloween

Picking up a copy of Dracula and not knowing it is about a vampire from Transylvania would be about as unlikely as watching the movie Titanic and being surprised when the ship sinks. Trying to revive sales of the classics and W.W. Norton & Co. have started publishing a series of annotated books Alice In Wonderland, Sherlock Homes and now in time for Halloween "The New Annotated Dracula".

The new edition comes with bonus material including an alternative ending. The new material is based on documents of Bram Stoker recently discovered in a barn in the other "vania" Pennsylvania and purchased by a Microsoft founder Paul Allen. From "What A Tax Lawyer Dug Up On "Dracula".

Leave it to a Brit to phrase things so eloquently:

"You have to pinch yourself - a Marxist radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshiped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. And apparently it's considered impolite to say so."

- Melanie Philips, The Spectator (UK) 10/14/08

Not a Brit but Reagan wasn't bad at turning a phrase.

“Freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp. Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor’s fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can’t socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he’ll eat you last.” —Ronald Reagan

Halloween Fun For All Ages

Carve a virtual pumpkin a lot less messier.

Female Only Parking Lot

With the high rate of attacks on women in secluded parking lots, especially during evening hours, the Minneapolis City Council has established a 'Women Only' parking lot at the Mall of America Even the parking lot attendants are exclusively female so that a comfortable and safe environment is created for patrons.

First Picture of the world-first women-only parking lot in Minnesota..

Ask Your Gov't Doctor Is The New Muerta Right For You

There have been some questions on how Obama would pay for his health plan. Digital records, preventive maintenance. price controls and central health management will never save real money and if history is a judge lower the availability while increasing the demant. Supply and demand still rules regardless of the President. One way to lower the demand would be to have sick people permanently leave the system.

People that are members of the Oregon State Insurance company are already enjoying cost savings. Their insurance company denied a dying 64 year old woman $4,000/month treatment but did offer to pay the $50.00 drug cost for a physician assisted death. Since Oregon is the first state rolling down that slippery slope it is a legal cost saving measure.

Ohio's inspector general is investigating why a state agency director approved checking the state child-support computer system for information on "Joe the Plumber."

Exhibit A Press

The Sarah Wannabe

She offered to have her daughter babysit my kid.

True Love Is For 2..5684931 Years

The average couple gives up on romance just two years, six months and 25 days into a marriage, according to research.

They always want the remote on the 26th day of the sixth month of the second year. Surprised they didn't specify at what time.

Good Economic News

At least one section of the economy can raise their prices and still have a thriving business.

As the economy walloped their finances, students and families saw little relief this fall from rising college costs, which jumped 6.4 percent at state universities, according to new figures out Wednesday.

Next year is already looking bad, too. More state budget cuts to higher education are virtually certain, and schools in at least two states—Michigan and Rhode Island—will take the unusual step of raising prices midyear.

"At a time of flattening wages, widespread job losses and shrinking home values, the last thing parents need is another big increase in the cost of college," said James Boyle, president of the group College Parents of America.

But that's what they got. More

Why the high cost you would think they could hire a bunch of commie professors for next to nothing, since they hate money? Now if the government supplied more money to parents to help with the cost that would keep the price down.

Another Way To Receive Extra Credit

Bringing in pet food would be a lot easier and a lot safer.

An Israeli teenager has been arrested after he donned a mask and prowled the streets of his town with a big rucksack and toy gun for a school project.

The boy, 15, was seized by police in the southern town of Ashdod suspecting he was a Palestinian militant.

The student was quoted as saying he was researching police reactions in the town and "just wanted to get an A+". More

Turn In Your Racist Parents And Win A Wii

Political cynicism at its finest.

Do’s & Don’ts

Do share your personal reasons for voting for Barack Obama;

Do have confidence — your opinion matters to people who care about you;

Do read up on Barack’s positions on the issues you know matter to them;

Do find a good time when both you and they will be open to a conversation;

Do talk to them in person if you live nearby, or on the phone if you don’t;

Do ask your friends to talk to their parents and grandparents as well;

Don’t worry about knowing everything about policy positions before you have this conversation;

Don’t feel defensive. Stay calm, cool and collected;

Don’t wait until the last minute — it might take a few conversations for you to convince them, so start as early as possible;

Don’t catch them at a bad time — make sure you have their attention and enough time to have a conversation.

Ideas to Get the Conversation Started

Approaching your parents about who they are voting for can be intimidating if you’ve never talked about politics with them before. But this campaign has been built by supporters sharing their stories about what inspires them and why they want to see change in this country. Here are some ideas for ways you can talk to your parents about why you support Barack:

Call or ask in person if they saw the debate and what they thought about it.Tell them why you are voting for Obama and why it’s important to you

Print out for them information on some issues you know are important.

Share Barack’s speech from the Democratic National Convention or Meet Barack, a video about who Barack Obama is, where he comes from, and what his values are.

Email them and tell them why it’s important to you that they vote for Obama.

Think about their perspective. If they are Republican, or are concerned about Barack’s policies, think about where they are coming from and what makes them think the way that they do.

Really nice towards the end if you can't change grandparents minds then just refuse to help them with Tivo or texting.

The Other Talk

Talking about the new family budget realities with your offspring.

Biden And Murtha Speak At Johnston On SNL

Western Pennsylvania was featured in the Saturday Night Live opening. If they elect Murtha again must be true what he is saying he saying about them. As far Biden who knew that Botox affects the brain.

Unleasing The Fred

Where was Fred during the primaries? He just can't fit into a 30 second spot.

McCain should have called in a relief debater.

Further confirmation on the stock market going south as Barry's poll number rise at U.S. News

More Women Traders Needed

A neuro-economist believes market bubbles and the resulting crashes are a result of the predominance of young male traders.

Dr John Coates, a former Wall Street trader, has revealed that testosterone and cortisol - associated with high stress levels - can cloud the judgment of the men paid to make big-money deals. Dr Coates said the traders he tested in the City of London were caught in 'feedback loops' where levels of the chemicals rose so high they affected their judgment. Saliva swabs taken from traders showed that at some point the levels reached a point where men became over-confident and took bad risks. He first noticed the effects and differences between genders while caught up in the dotcom bubble of soaring technology stock prices in the Nineties.

Markets vs.Monopolies in Education

"Over the years, Americans have heard a lot of 'tired rhetoric' about education, including "endless excuses" for the failures of some public schools. When a public system fails, repeatedly, to meet … minimal objectives, parents ask only for a choice in the education of their children. Some parents may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private school. Many will choose a charter school. No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity." - Senator John McCain

“if there was any argument for vouchers it was ‘Let’s see if the experiment works.’ And if it does, whatever my preconception, you do what’s best for kids.” Senator Barrack Obama

"Now, I understand that Sen. McCain is going to be coming here in a couple of days and talking about education, and I'm glad to hear it. But the fact is, what he's offering amounts to little more than the same tired rhetoric about vouchers." - Senator Obama later at the NAACP convention

Examining the lagging achievement of US students against world standards Senator Obama has called for more federal spending like President Eisenhower did after the Soviets launched Sputnik. The National Defense Education Act was a huge expensive failure but do results really matter as long as you are doing something with other people's money. Maybe we just didn't believe enough.

A recent study Markets vs Monopolies - A Global Review of the Evidence concludes:

Across time, countries, and outcome measures,
private provision of education outshines
public provision according to the overwhelming
majority of econometric studies. Findings
of a statistically significant advantage for private
schooling outnumber findings of a significant
advantage for public schooling by a ratio
of nearly 8 to 1, and the statistically significant
advantage for private schools outnumbers by a
ratio of 5 to 1 statistically insignificant findings.
However, since the funding and regulatory
structures of “public” and“private” schools vary
widely, this breakdown of the research is insufficiently
detailed to be of real use to policymakers.
If we want to ascertain the merits of real
market reforming education, we must compare
genuinely market-like private school systems
(which are minimally regulated and are funded,
at least in part, directly by parents) with state
school monopolies protected from significant
market competition (such as the typical U.S.
public school system). When we assess the evidence
using these more specific criteria, the
results are more stark: There are 35 statistically significant
findings of market-like education systems outperforming
government monopoly schooling, and
only two findings of the reverse, for a ratio of more than
17 to 1 in favor of free education markets. There is
but a single statistically insignificant finding

These results discredit the notion, prevalent
in both conservative and liberal political
circles, that the content of schooling must be
overseen by the state in order for schools to
achieve optimum performance. It is in fact
the least regulated market school systems
that show the greatest margin of superiority
over state schooling.

In order to better serve families, policymakers
should thus endeavor to provide universal
access to minimally regulated education markets
in which parents, whenever possible,
directly pay at least some of the cost of their
children’s education. Education tax credit programs
capable of accomplishing that objective
have already been proposed elsewhere, and partial,
scaled-down versions of such programs are
already operating in several U.S. states.

Patrotic America

Once again the bimbo Palin is proven correct and the all knowing Biden is wrong. Gov. Palin has come under criticism when she referred to being in the real America. Joe Biden is “tired, tired, tired, tired, tired!” of candidates referring to some parts not all red white and blue.

Nearly three in every four (73.4 percent) respondents from counties of fewer than 25,000 people expressed that their love for their country was extremely strong, compared to only half of those in counties with more than 300,000 inhabitants. In the nation’s largest population centers, those expressing “extremely strong” love for country stood at only 46 percent. And over two-thirds of respondents from small counties reported that it is ”extremely important” to be American, compared to about half of big-city folk. More

Enjoy Your Retirement

Just be sure to get to the breadline early

House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks

U.S. News And World Report

Do You Love Video Games

Don't let parents and teachers discourage your addiction you could have a great career in the Air Force.

Imagne

The NRA latest ad is inflammatory and is not quiet true. Obama doesn't want to make homeowners the criminals when protecting their families and their homes. He just wanted the homeowners to call the U.N. where they would open no precondition talks with the misunderstood freedom fighter. He could be justified into liberating items for the people if they were purchased with dividends from oil company stocks.

Speaking Of Fairy Tales

A recent post here discussed the importance of learning through the telling of tales. Seems someone "typical white person" grandmother didn't read little Barry about "The Ant and The Grasshopper" or "The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg". Because The One wants fewer ants to provide for more grasshoppers and if not exactly killing the goose put it on a starvation diet.

Both the McCain and Obama plans would increase this number by expanding existing tax benefits or creating new ones. Senator McCain is proposing one expanded provision—the dependent exemption—and one new credit, a $5,000 refundable health care tax credit. The Obama plan contains seven new provisions, including a new “Making Work Pay Credit,” a “Universal Mortgage Credit,” and a plan to eliminate income taxes for seniors earning under $50,000.¹

Taken together, the Tax Foundation estimates the McCain proposals would increase the number of nonpayers by about 15 million, bringing the total number of taxpayers who pay no personal income taxes to 62 million, roughly 43 percent of all tax filers. Almost all of this is due to McCain’s health care credit, which dramatically realigns health care incentives and gives people a powerful motive to buy health insurance. This tax provision has a bigger impact on cutting people’s taxes than any single proposal from either party.

Barry should have been reading good science fiction like.

The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all perfect democracies throughout all histories. A perfect democracy, a "warm body" democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally, has no internal feedback for self-correction.... [O]nce a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader — the barbarians enter Rome. - Robert A. Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987)

Unless a tax policy like Steve Forbes Flat Tax is enacted, Our tax policies will drive capital out of our markets and into other arenas for investment if the capital class winds up funding all of the federal government, and the electorate continues to demand services for which they don’t pay.

If You Burn It You Can't Eat It

The International Monetary Fund has ended its support of biofuels calling it a very very bad idea.

Replacing even 6 percent of total fuel usage with biofuel would require doubling agricultural production to maintain current output. “Where are you going to get the land and the water for this? This is irresponsible policy,” Brabeck-Letmathe said. If the US alone would reverse its policy to replace fuel with biofuels, food prices would stabilize, he stated.

The advisers to The One, Tom Daschle and Jason Grumet both of whom work for corn-ethanol producs, must not have given him the memo. Obama is still enthusiastic supporter of one of the least effective forms methanol from corn. He will stay a big supporter till the Iowa electoral votes are secure.

McCain did take the high road when it came to corn but is a supporter of other bio-fuels which still waste crop land and fresh water.

Eventually, we will run short of arable land and fresh water to grow the crops that feed our cars instead of our mouths, and food prices will rise astronimically. We already saw this dynamic in 2008, and the reaction of governments was to pull back exports and keep food within their countries. This will lead to massive starvation and violent unrest. If you thought Islamic terrorism was bad, wait until two billion people realize they’ll starve to death because we didn’t want to drill for oil off the coasts or build nuclear plants for electric cars.

Must Read For Future Employers

Will helicopter parents come to work to demand better conditions for their trophy kids?

With Wall Street in turmoil and a financial system in crisis mode, companies are facing another major challenge: figuring out how to manage a new crop of young people in the work force -- the millennial generation. Born between 1980 and 2001, the millennials were coddled by their parents and nurtured with a strong sense of entitlement. In this adaptation from "The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace," Ron Alsop, a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, describes the workplace attitudes of the millennials and employers' efforts to manage these demanding rookies. Article

For their part, millennials believe they can afford to be picky, with talent shortages looming as baby boomers retire. "They are finding that they have to adjust work around our lives instead of us adjusting our lives around work," a teenage blogger named Olivia writes on the Web site Xanga.com. "What other option do they have? We are hard working and utilize tools to get the job done. But we don't want to work more than 40 hours a week, and we want to wear clothes that are comfortable. We want to be able to spice up the dull workday by listening to our iPods. If corporate America doesn't like that, too bad."

Sorry young missy but it will only be "too bad" till they discover that countries like India and China have a fast growing highly educated workforce. Enjoy the tunes on your iPod while flipping burgers.

Iraq Needs To Supply Us With Election Observers

Because we are quickly turning into a third world country when it comes to elections.
Courtesy of IMAO

















A voter in the democratic elections in Iraq, October 15, 2005.











A Democratic voter in the elections in Ohio, November 4, 2008.

The One Wants You

How much of the youth vote would be going to The One if they understood that one of the CHANGES he intends is to bring back is the Draft? Some Hillary supporters translate the comments.

Biden said: " "I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I'm not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it," the Senate Foreign Relations chairman said of Obama. "This guy has it. But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us.".”

Recall that Obama has said: “But it’s also important that a president speaks to military service as an obligation not just of some, but of many. You know, I traveled, obviously, a lot over the last 19 months. And if you go to small towns, throughout the Midwest or the Southwest or the South, every town has tons of young people who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s not always the case in other parts of the country, in more urban centers. And I think it’s important for the president to say, this is an important obligation. If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.
And by the way, we will deploy you in some difficult areas, but that’s part of what it means to be an American and to serve and to sacrifice...”

Combined with Charles Rangel already introducing legislation they have a valid point.

Tell Me A Story

Across space and time one universal trait of humans is the love of a good story. Common themes appear in tales throughout history and across the globe. Scientific America explores the secrets of storytelling and why we love a good yarn.

Researchers studying the tales find clues about our evolutionary history and the emergence of emotion and empathy along with discovering how we analyze information and accept new ideas.

Storytelling is so vital to how we learn that we often make stories out of all manner of new experiences.

A classic 1944 study by Fritz Heider and Mary-Ann Simmel, then at Smith College, elegantly demonstrated this tendency. The psychologists showed people an animation of a pair of triangles and a circle moving around a square and asked the participants what was happening. The subjects described the scene as if the shapes had intentions and motivations—for example, “The circle is chasing the triangles.” Many studies since then have confirmed the human predilection to make characters and narratives out of whatever we see in the world around us.

One common theme in stories from industrial nations to hunter gather tribes is the strong male hero and the kind and beautiful female. Researchers suggest they can be based on classic Darwin theory. The female represents the healthy female capable of having and raising offspring
of a male with the traits needed to protect and defend their family.

As researchers continue to investigate storytelling’s power and pervasiveness, they are also looking for ways to harness that power. Some such as Green are studying how stories can have applications in promoting positive health messages. “A lot of problems are behaviorally based,” Green says, pointing to research documenting the influence of Hollywood films on smoking habits among teens. And Mar and Oatley want to further examine how stories can enhance social skills by acting as simulators for the brain, which may turn the idea of the socially crippled bookworm on its head.

She Shoots .... She Scores

Stick around for number 5

Former Linebacker Gets In Another Lick

When you are in the SEC and playing LSU don't never ever never trust the refs

Now the South Carolina QB has to put up with the embarrassment of being taken down by an old referee.

No Dear, I Have To Read It For Science

Investigations like this should help improve the number of young men studying science. The latest research at the Dirty Old Man Institute For Science Research where they read Playboy just for the data.

Past research has investigated ideals of beauty and how these ideals have changed across time. In the current study, facial and body characteristics of Playboy Playmates of the Year from 1960-2000 were identified and investigated to explore their relationships with U.S. social and economic factors. Playmate of the Year age, body feature measures, and facial feature measurements were correlated with a general measure of social and economic hard times. Consistent with Environmental Security Hypothesis predictions, when social and economic conditions were difficult, older, heavier, taller Playboy Playmates of the Year with larger waists, smaller eyes, larger waist-to-hip ratios, smaller bust-to-waist ratios, and smaller body mass index values were selected. These results suggest that environmental security may influence perceptions and preferences for women with certain body and facial features.

Must be for real because they published their findings and made it boring.

Why Is Delaware The First State?

Delaware is called the first state because they quickly ratified the constitution before the other states could keep them out. That was one of the founding fathers major blunders because now they keep electing Joe Biden.

Some thoughtful people simply have a tendency to confuse intelligence with the ability to be glib, or more precisely, to bs. And I think that is much of what it comes down to—if Palin doesn't know the answer to a question, she just isn't that good at making something up. Biden, by contrast, is a master bs'er, as his debate performance exhibited. As a general rule, the less informed he was about the answer to a question, the more assertive he was in answering it.... From Todd Zywicki

Our recommended candidate Governor Palin is sometime accused of not being on the same page as her running mate Sen. McCain. What is hardly ever mention is that Sen. Biden is not only not on the same page, he is seldom on the same book or even the same library as Senator Obama.

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions.

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

Great we are supposed to risk being blown up just to give the Community Organizer some experience. The inexperienced President Kennedy no precondition talks with the Soviet Union came within a frog's hair of turning the East Coast into a parking lot. Kennedy Talked Krushchev Triumphed

It was a remarkable speech even for Joe the Buffoon.

"I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I'm not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it," the Senate Foreign Relations chairman said of Obama.

Maybe he knows a lot about foreign policy but the Senator is almost always wrong. The only time he is right is when he disagrees with himself. We need another debate Biden vs Biden.

• One of 5 senators against the Alaskan Oil pipeline which provided the world a valuable source of energy while increasing the carbou herd.
• Against the first Gulf War without which a mad man would have been in control of the flow of oil from the middle east.
• Supporter of Pres. Clinton bombing aspiran factories in Sudan.
• After 9/11 said "Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran"
• For the Iraq Invasion.
• Predicted the Iraq elections would be an ugly violent affair.
• Against the successful surge.
• Wanted to divide Iraq which every knowledgeable person of the area thought would be a disaster
  
• Well into 2005, Biden pronounced that timetables for a U.S. withdrawal would be a “gigantic mistake.” Now he thinks that withdrawal timelines ar just fine.
  

If elected the best thing Obama could do was listen carefully to the experienced Biden and do the exact opposite.

Addendum: With two weeks till the election suddenly Joe The Buffoon has no campaign appearances today. They must have scheduled him some quiet time.

Spreading Your Momey Around

Sad state of affairs when a man standing in his own neighborhood can't ask a question of a politician without having to undergo a virtual rectal exam. The press has made a huge deal out of the fact that he doesn't make $250,000 and is not a real plumber because he doesn't have all the correct papers from the state. . Joe never said he did or that he was a certified by the state. He said he wanted to buy a business and hoped it would be successful. The media has put more time in effort into uncovering dirt on this man than they have on the person that wants to be President of the country. All of which is obfuscating the real problem the answer that was given by someone that has never run anything but his mouth.


Since it usually takes an immigrant to point out what sets this country apart, here is a blurb from MarkSteyn's weekend column. Steyn is an immigrant from Canada living in New Hampshire.

The heart of the American Dream is aspiration. That’s why people came here from all over the world. Back in eastern Europe, the Joe Bidens and Diane Sawyers of the day were telling Joe the Peasant: “Hey, look, man. You’re a peasant in the 19th century, just like your forebears were peasants in the 12th century and your descendants will be peasants in the 26th century. So you’re never gonna be earning 250 groats a year. Don’t worry about it. Leave it to us. We know better.” And Joe the Peasant eventually figured that one day he’d like to be able to afford the Premium Gruel with just a hint of arugula and got on the boat to Ellis Island. Because America is the land where a guy who doesn’t have a 250-grand business today might just have one in five or ten years’ time.

Interesting poll results on Joe The Would Be Business Owner.

Among those earning $40,000 a year to $100,000, 52% have a favorable opinion of Joe the Plumber while 33% offer an unfavorable assessment.

Those who earn less than $40,000 a year just 39% have a favorable opinion of him while 44% provide an unfavorable review.

Those with a higher income have an even lower opinion of Joe—35% favorable, 52%.

Why we need to raise the voting age.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters under 30 agree with Obama’s statement while 33% disagree. A plurality of those over 30 take the opposite view.

No Longer Just Saturday Night

If you watched Tina Fey's impersonation of Governor Palin via the internet rather then the original program you are not alone. It was estimated two-thirds of viewers saw it on their computer and a smaller percentage recorded the program. This skit is turning out to be a watershed moment for television. Viewing on the computer is also becoming a more popular choice that video recording.

"I don't know if we would have seen this sort of viral activity a year ago, if people didn't think of their computer as a place to turn to for video entertainment," said Amanda Welsh, IMMI's head of research. "I really believe that we are seeing a change in consumer behavior on a very profound level."

Did He Get Fries With It

A PA man eats a 15lb hamburger.


That would go good with 50 eggs.
Luke: I can eat fifty eggs.
Dragline: Nobody can eat fifty eggs.
Society Red: You just said he could eat anything.
Dragline: Did you ever eat fifty eggs?
Luke: Nobody ever eat fifty eggs.
Prisoner: Hey, Babalugats. We got a bet here.
Dragline: My boy says he can eat fifty eggs, he can eat fifty eggs.
Loudmouth Steve: Yeah, but in how long?
Luke: A hour.
Society Red: Well, I believe I'll take part of that wager.

Dragline: Why you got to go and say fifty eggs for? Why not thirty-five or thirty-nine?
Luke: I thought it was a nice round number.

The Sun Up Close And Personal

The sun is currently in a restful phase with no sunspots visible for the past 200 days. The Boston Globe has a collection of great pictures showing the sun in all its moods.

No Mexican Child Left Behind

Teachers in Mexico are on strike protesting new government regulations that attempts to tie pay to performance and requiring job applicants to pass exams before being hired.

Traditionally teaching has been treated as a trade where jobs are handed down to their children or sold for as much as $6,000.

Ms Emily Stays In Topton For The Movies

A twist from our senior entertainment editor. A review of a free film to be shown at the Lutheran Home this Friday night sponsored by our local library. Shake up your world and see it from a different perspective. You can't beat the price its Free.

Review by Emily Trosprel
11th Grade BHHS
Senior Entertainment Editor

Ben X

Ben X opens on the mossy plains; snow capped mountains in the distance and a dark-haired hero at foreground, posing in his gallant stance. Dragons hover by hewn stone arches as the paladin mounts his grey steed. Through the wilderness he gallops against a blue and orange sky, hoof beats paced to majestic pulsing of music. When he locates his destination, the man’s gleaming sword is raised to slay ax-wielding beasts and reach his princess healer, Scarlite . . .

Do the above images seem atypical of a low-budget Belgium film about the struggles of a teenager suffering from autism? In fact, they occur within a virtual, online game environment, and the person behind the hero avatar is Ben (Greg Timmermans), a high school student with Aspergers syndrome. His condition makes him unable to engage socially with his peers and unfortunately, makes him also the silent victim of brutal bullying. Ben’s only refuge is his role-playing game, where he can be anyone he wants to be; he can be powerful. But reality invades when an episode of his humiliation finds its way onto the internet, previously his one haven from a tortured life. Tensions build ominously as Ben formulates his “endgame,” even as the severity of his agony increases by the day at the hands of those unaccepting of differences.

It is clear from the opening minutes that reality and fantasy blend together without distinction in Ben’s world. Life is more a game than “Archlord” is to him, and the opponents are stronger. There is no reviving in reality, and no healers among the well-meaning but ineffective teachers, doctors, and parents. Cell-phone cameras and words prove to be more potent weapons than axes. The intercutting of video-game footage adds a unique element to Ben X, one that visualizes what the central character wishes he and the world could be. Physical struggles between good and evil appeal to Ben. They’re simple. They can be won.

However, some battles can never be won. In addition to the game-world and Ben’s point of view, the film includes flashes of documentary-style interviews set in the near-future, forebodingly hinting at a tragic event that the story appears to be converging upon. “Someone always has to die,” is one of Ben X’s first lines. Yet, the film itself plays games with the audience. The device of the interviews lays the pavement for dark avenues, the potentials of which are made subtly clear. The final road taken is all part of the game.

“Message movies” have been given a bad reputation as of late, and the term is usually considered synonymous with “preachy” and “heavy-handed.” But director Nic Balthazar’s debut picture never insults the audiences’ intelligence. It approaches a relevant social issue (actually, several issues) and never sacrifices character or story. It may be a flawed film, but the at times overwhelming visual style mimics Ben’s perception of reality. Reality mimics the game world, Ben mimics reality, and Ben X mimics one of the most driving and emotionally textured ninety minutes that can been seen onscreen.

Four out of four stars for Ben X

This is part of the "Third Friday" film series, which consists of select independent and foreign films shown the third Friday of every month and sponsored by Brandywine Community Library. These films are unique in that they are not widely available, and will not be shown in theatres. The film will be shown at 7pm in the multi-purpose room in the Henry Health Center, Lutheran Home Campus, in Topton. There is no charge. Contact the library for directions. (610)682-7115.

Bet He Has Problems With Crossword Puzzles

The one bright spot if this country goes completely insane is the late night comics will have 4 years of great material.


Joe Biden "A bull that brings his own china shop."

Historical Internet Event

CHINO, CA—In an unprecedented and historic event Monday, the "I Am Under 18" button, an Internet security device which if selected restricts access to websites featuring adult content, was clicked for the first time ever. "I knew I could simply claim to be over 18 and continue onto my desired destination, but I also realized that I would have to live with that lie for the rest of my life," said local resident Garrett Kinley, 17.

A Brandywine student wouldn't even visit a site that had such a button. Maybe a button should be placed on the Topic section of this site but read IQ Greater Than Room Temperature. Na, that would destroy business.

Oopsie

One of the main income generators of Senator Obama plan was the "windfall profit" on the evil oil companies.

• Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families:Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.
• Provide $50 billion to Jumpstart the Economy and Prevent 1 Million Americans from Losing Their Jobs: This relief would include a $25 billion State Growth Fund to prevent state and local cuts in health, education, housing, and heating assistance or counterproductive increases in property taxes, tolls or fees. The Obama-Biden relief plan will also include $25 billion in a Jobs and Growth Fund to prevent cutbacks in road and bridge maintenance and fund school re­pair - all to save more than 1 million jobs in danger of being cut.

Now with oil plunging from $147 towards $50 a barrel can anyone guess where the money is going to come from to pay for these programs? After his staff reviews the previously posted discussion a windfall profit on plumbing contractors will be on the agenda.

His Answer Scared Me Even More

Sometimes it takes a plumber to do the job.



A follow up interview



Pretty sad when this guy explains economic theory better than either nominee for president. On second thought guess it isn't that hard to understand when one has been a U.S. Senator for decades and the other one hasn't even run a lemonade stand.

This year both seem to be competing on the size and type of the fish.

The illustration was found at Unit Interactive It was submitted by a design student Heather Mantovani. She uses graphics to help people better understand fundamental differences in sociopolitical ideals.

School Safety Improvements

In an effort to meet the public demand for the school district to control cost and meet safety concerns a little out of the box thinking was in order. In addition to costing 10's of dollars traditional smoke detectors have batteries which must be replaced on a regular basis causing additional expenses. The disposal of these hazardous chemical batteries raises environmental concerns.

The facilities management and food service department put their heads together and arrived at an idea solution that solves all these problems.

Introducing the Brandywine Organic Fire Detector.

Tighten Border Security

If you think building a border fence and strengthening border security only applies to southwestern states then you should reconsider. An even bigger threat is on Pennsylvania eastern border.

The Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll, released Wednesday, found 49 percent of those polled would rather live somewhere else.

New Jersey already is suffering from an image problem and bears the brunt of jokes because of its corruption and pollution problems. But 58 percent of those residents polled said the heavy financial burden of just living in the state is no laughing matter, and that's why they want to leave.

This is really asinine the state has a lot to offer. If 59% disagree with their taxes and corruption then they shouldn't vote with their feet but start voting for people that will reduce the state tax and regulation burden. Hard to fathom that they are fed up with the current state of affairs when there is no chance that the Obama won't carry the state.

Conn. Supreme Court Cites Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a great tool for quick introductory to unfamiliar topics and a source for accurate references. For very good reasons it is often discouraged or forbidden to be used as a source by professors and teachers for basic research papers. Entries in the site can be edited by anyone regardless of their expertise. However a Connecticut Supreme Court judge has cited it during the recent decision to legalize homosexual marriage.

Another Great Moment In Nationalized Medicine

The London Telegraph is reporting that employees of the British National Health Service are being treated at taxpayers expense to private medical facilities.

An NHS trust has spent more than £12,000 on private treatment for hospital staff because its own waiting times are too long. The money was used to bring in physiotherapists to help workers recover from muscular-skeletal injuries at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

Bosses said it prevented them from leapfrogging NHS patients and enabled them to return to work more quickly.

However, the private treatment, which amounted to £12,116 for 271 appointments over the past year, was described by critics as “shocking”.

Mark Wallace of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Their staff should have to wait like everybody else. Perhaps if they experienced it as their customers - that is the taxpayer - experienced it, they might be a little keener to improve their waiting times.”

Once again the people in charge of a public system using a private one. Not much different than Washington D.C. politicians that reject any type of vouchers for parents that have to send their children to those beleaguered schools, while sending their own to private academies.

"Just Beautiful Girls, Inside and Out"

Never has the selection of a homecoming queen sent so many tears falling so freely.

Kristin Pass, an 18-year-old senior with Down syndrome, became Aledo High School's homecoming queen Friday to a joyous standing ovation and the flutter of a thousand tissues on a remarkable night for an amazing young woman.

Carolyn Pass stood at the edge of the football field, taking pictures of her daughter and friends' daughters in the court, when the stadium erupted.

"It's just something you can't even imagine," she said. "And afterward, everyone was just running down to her, congratulating her. And the other girls in the court, they're all just beautiful girls, inside and out."

Ms. Pass said she spoke later with a friend. "She said the only mistake anyone made was not handing out crying towels."

95% Illusion

Great article in the WSJ pointing out that in the Obama tax plan there are no real tax cuts only income redistribution, redefinition of language and illusions that would make David Copperfield proud . His plan boils down to if you are a good kid and don't make much money just do like Daddy says he will give you an allowance. This was once called welfare, in 1972 George McGovern who didn't have the handle on the language as The One has called it a "Demogrant."

The cost of these hand out is expected to rise from $647 billion to $1.054 trillion over the next 10 years. By redefining the language the Obama team can now call income payments tax credits which creates the illusion that the government take of the GDP is lowered down to 18.2%

What really hurts is that the free gifts are reduced as income creating a large marginal tax rate. Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working overtime or taking a new job. So instead of these credits being used to "make work pay" they can be a terrible disincentive to earn an extra dollar. In fact it will greatly increase the likelihood of people the economy depends upon to hire and create the next new thing of Going John Galt.

Study hard kids because checks are being written that you are going to have to cash.

Next Secretary Of Education

For a glimpse of what changes in educational policy could be in store during an Obama administration just have to look at what his mentor and a man whose book he praised. From a November 2006 speech by education professor and home grown unrepentant terrorist William Ayers.

President Hugo Chavez, … invited guests, comrades. I’m honored and humbled to be here with you this morning. I bring greetings and support from your brothers and sisters throughout Northamerica [sic]! Welcome to the World Education Forum. Amamos la revolucion Bolivariana! ...

[M]y comrade and friend Luis Bonilla, a brilliant educator and inspiring fighter for justice … has taught me a great deal about the Bolivarian Revolution [i.e., Chavez's movement] and about the profound educational reforms underway here in Venezuela under the leadership of President Chavez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution, and I’ve come to appreciate Luis as a major asset in both the Venezuelan and the international struggle—I look forward to seeing how he and all of you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane…. [For more information on the Venezuelan socialist Luis Bonilla-Montoya, see here.]

I began teaching when I was 20 yeas old in a small freedom school affiliated with the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The year was 1965, and I’d been arrested in a demonstration. Jailed for ten days, I met several activists who were finding ways to link teaching and education with deep and fundamental social change. They were following Dewey and DuBois, King and Helen Keller who wrote: “We can’t have education without revolution. We have tried peace education for 1,900 years and it has failed. Let us try revolution and see what it will do now.”

I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position—and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice. After all, the fundamental message of the teacher is this: you can change your life—whoever you are, wherever you’ve been, whatever you’ve done, another world is possible. As students and teachers begin to see themselves as linked to one another, as tied to history and capable of collective action, the fundamental message of teaching shifts slightly, and becomes broader, more generous: we must change ourselves as we come together to change the world. Teaching invites transformations, it urges revolutions small and large. La educacion es revolucion!

… [I’ve] learned that education is never neutral. It always has a value, a position, a politics. Education either reinforces or challenges the existing social order, and school is always a contested space—what should be taught? In what way? Toward what end? By and for whom? At bottom, it involves a struggle over the essential questions: what does it mean to be a human being living in a human society?

Totalitarianism demands obedience and conformity, hierarchy, command and control. Royalty requires allegiance. Capitalism promotes racism and materialism—turning people into consumers, not citizens. Participatory democracy, by contrast, requires free people coming together, voluntarily as equals who are capable of both self-realization and, at the same time, full participation in a shared political and economic life.

… Venezuelans have shown the world that with full participation, full inclusion, and popular empowerment, the failing of capitalist schooling can be resisted and overcome. Venezuela is a beacon to the world in its accomplishment of eliminating illiteracy in record time, and engaging virtually the entire population in the ongoing project of education.

… [W]e, too, must build a project of radical imagination and fundamental change. Venezuela is poised to offer the world a new model of education—a humanizing and revolutionary model whose twin missions are enlightenment and liberation.

Viva Mission Sucre!

Viva Presidente Chavez!

Viva La Revolucion Bolivariana!

Hasta La Victroria Siempre!

Michael Moore Eats All Of Cuba Food

Film director Michael Moo