Yeah I’m sure moron mensa. The Obama Girl doesn’t have 54DD’s anyway, and thank god (or nature) neither do I.

Anyone with 54DD’s would be exceedingly uncomfortable, (not to mention unhealthy) and would definitely need some help with a diet.

I can’t imagine even being able to sit at a keyboard comfortably with such an oversized chest.

My own guess on the Obama Girl, (even though I’m not a bra salesperson, so I couldn’t be sure) is that she’s much closer to about a 34C, with maybe some extra support that creates a ‘push-up’ effect. 34C is a pretty standard size for American women.

Even Dolly Parton is nowhere close to a 54DD. More like maybe a 36DD or even a 36E.

Shenonymous,

I certainly cannot argue your overall take on politicians in the act of being politicians. Just another of those occasions of ---- “it is what it is.” And, I hold no blind ‘hero’ worship for any of them.

I would however, make the argument that all are not created equal, and that the various differences, (and extremes) can very much make or break any society. Barack Obama is not without blemishes, nor do I know of anyone who might be. (politicians or others). While I could probably go into some long (attempted) analytical comparison of them all, (and others from the history of US and world politics) I won’t. At least not now.

For now, I’m ready to accept him as the best possible option for actually beginning the urgent correction that is so desperately needed for our hopefully continued survival.  I don’t think there’s much argument in the realization that as a society and a supposed democracy that allegedly espouses that we’re have an equal claim to liberty and justice, and the pursuit of happiness and all of that, we have been on the wrong path for a really long time. It’s been a most destructive one, because it’s become so god damned OUT OF BALANCE!! In my experiences and ideology, when anything gets out of balance, it CRASHES! (not good).

So, if it’s just a matter of getting directions back to the right path, that’s a starting point. In other words, FIRST…(as Tom Hayden has said) STOP the DESTRUCTION! Or, as the physician’ oath declares:  (similar concept) “FIRST, do no harm.” I don’t expect that any one leader or even group of leaders/politicians can or will provide the entire ‘cure’. But, if they can at least recognize the disease, and then pragmatically consider ways of dealing with it, (and occasionally that DOES amount to ‘doing nothing’) then I can be satisfied enough.

I DO hate hypocrisy though. It drives me bonkers. But I’m also pretty good at discerning the difference between what may ostensibly ‘appear’ to be hypocrisy, and what may simply be pragmatism in advancing a greater good at the result end of the exercise.

It’s kind of like (in some legal philosophy) when one law has to be violated in order to uphold another law that is far more reaching in its overall application and effect.

So, that’s my pondering on politics and politicians, at least for the moment.

I now have even larger dragons to slay. (if that can even be imagined).

Timbuktu, and I’ve never been to Maine either. (Timbuktu IS on my wish list of places to visit however; Maine is much further down on the same list. Maybe after Kennebunkport is no longer inhabited by the barbarians)

Anyway, I could never cover all of the things that I ‘haven’t done’ in my life, but rest assured that I am NOT, a ‘meteorologist’ and so I have no idea where mensa moron came up with that.

I AM a Federally licensed aviator though, so the metrology lessons were a requirement for that particular bit of expertise. 

As for me being the President of the USA, I can only say that while I might be far more ‘qualified’ than the current president, and far less ‘qualified’ than others, the real issue is that I am NOT seeking the office.

And yes, one does have to AGREE/CONSENT to accept such a position. So no, it wouldn’t do any good for you all to just ‘have me be’ the president.

I mean hell, look what happened to Al Gore? Not only did he AGREE to accept the position, WE THE PEOPLE agreed that he should have it.

Wonder what happened there?

Maani,

More of the hair splitting that you know I reference as picking the wings and legs off of flies.

Consequently, ‘snarky’ isn’t really an appropriate term for your obsession with Obama and teleprompter technology. It’s just PETTY.

Having said that, I’d come to the same conclusion, (on the use of promting technology) in this most recent speech as I watched it. UNlink the speech that he delivered on what I call the “Race in America” issue, I did not see him refer to his notes, which he did do in the earlier speech.

I say that because I don’t know ANYONE, not even the most gifted of public speakers or academics, who can write and then deliver such an information packed address from MEMORY. It doesn’t happen, unless one has ‘practiced’ it, over and over and over again.

That said, I have am OF THE EXPECTATION, that anyone delivering such an address, would (and SHOULD) refer to their notes. And in the absence of their notes, and in the wisdom to incorporate advancing technology, I would expect what you reference as ‘teleprompters’.

So my own response to your obsession with this is, SO WHAT?

I’m far more impressed with the information that was conveyed to the American public, (or anyone who was able to view/read/hear the entire speech) than I am with the tools that were utilized to accomplish that.

And yes, it WAS an absolutely excellent speech, (I might have said it all slightly differently, but not much) and can surely be defined as yet ANOTHER ‘teachable moment’ in Barack’s rapidly growing resume.

And imagine, he’s not even getting paid for it...not even a measly associate professors salary. Well, that’s not entirely true. He does collect a salary as the Senator of Illinois, to represent the good people of that state. So what we should be doing is thanking the people of Illinois for sharing their resources with the rest of us.

And of course thanks goes to all the rest of us supporting Sen Obama in this campaign endeavor, (via our small donations) to put his wisdom in earshot and view of us all.

I think of it as socialized education.

You’ve done the research and if what you say is true then what I believe is true.

The solution to this country’s problems is not embodied in any of the current candidates.

The main issue is not Iraq.  It’s not the economy.
It’s not infrastructure and education and health care.

I think the main issue is the one you never hear from the candidates--like you never hear “OIL.” There is no hint left of the ideal upon which this country was founded.  And most don’t recognize or admit that because they’ve come to accept the present reality as the standard. 

When that happens, the only answer is a quick and decisive revolution.

One step in the right direction would be to stop talking about this election and its candidates and start talking about how to revolt.  Our founding fathers revolted against far milder oppression and
tyranny.

Listened to Obama’s entire speech.  One thing I’ll give him: he’s very good at reading Austen Goolsbee’s words off a teleprompter.  (And yes, Cyrena, he was using a teleprompter; I have friends who attended the speech.)

Okay, that was snarky of me.  Let me start again.

It was a good speech, and did cover alot of things.  But there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.  As far as the housing crisis goes, Hillary was first on the scene with a plan in this regard, at least two parts of which Obama lifted in one form or another.

As well, Obama spoke twice (possibly three times) about “college” and school loans.  Yet he was a no-show (yet again...) for the 2007 bill for student loans and student grants (Hillary voted for it.) So, once again, his words and actions don’t jibe.

Obama once again made his claim re “refusing money from federal lobbyists and PACS.” The first claim may be true, but the second is not: he accepted ~$4,000 from PACS.  A tiny amount, to be sure (especially given a total raised of some $200 million), but not “no” money.

He also spoke a couple of time about “special interests” and their stranglehold on government.  And he was largely addressing “Wall Street” during his speech.  Yet according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Obama has accepted almost $6 million from Wall Street firms, including ~$500,000 from Goldman Sachs (his largest single contributor in ANY industry), ~$300,000 from UBS, ~$250,000 from Lehman Brothers, and ~$150,000 from Morgan Stanley.  Do you really think these companies do not believe that they are “buying” something for their money?  If so, I have a bridge to sell you.

And as noted before, Obama has accepted more money from the energy, oil and gas industries than Hillary has, and almost as much from the legal and health care sectors.

So for all his damning “words” about “special interests,” his campaign coffers tell a different story.

Finally, re the mortgage crisis aspects of his plan, the following is Paul Krugman’s take on the various plans of Obama, Hillary and McCain:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/opinion/28krugman.ht ml?_r=1&sq=krugman&st=nyt&oref=slogin&scp=2 &pagewanted=print

Peace.

All:

An absolutely brilliant and hysterical look at a possible future re the economy and jobs:

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=O2uErWWwQTo

Peace.

God almighty cyrena, what haven’t you done in your life???  Maybe we should elect you president with all your experience and knowledge!!!!!

Actually moron mensa,

I HAVE studied meteorology, (and quite a few credit hours of it in fact). But, I would HARDLY call myself a meteorologist. Not even close. I didn’t especially like it, and only did it as a requirement for other certifications that I DID find enjoyable.

But basically moron mensa, I’m a SOCIAL (humanities) science kinda lady. I’m not all that knowledgeable about the physical sciences that REAL mensa members often excel at. So on that, I get by with the basics, and I rely on those who actually KNOW the stuff, to guide me in the more complicated questions.

That’s how my own specialties allowed me to tag you so quickly, as the social deviant that you are.

And yep, I agree whole heartedly with Muscle Boy’s take on the Obama speech. I’m just down-right proud of Barack Obama. I even take a bit of personal satisfaction in hearing him, since he says a whole bunch of the exact same stuff that I would. In other words, if he was just a bit younger, or I was a bit older, he could be my own son, and I’d be very proud of the positive effect that I’d had on him.

Hell, I could have even written the speech for him, but of course I didn’t. Not the one on race in America either, though I would have improved on that, if only marginally. Just a tad. But, he writes all of his own speeches. I’m proud of him for that as well.

So yes indeed moron mensa. As a citizen, I overwhelming appreciate Barack Obama for many and more of the same reasons that Muscle Boy and millions of other US citizens do.

If nothing else, I want the future generations to have a chance at survival.

Because yes..common sense dictates that I’m counting on them for my own.

Barack Obama knows that as well. It’s the most important concept for the rest of us to ‘get’. We’re all in this together, and what we’ve been doing up till now, OBVIOUSLY AIN’T WORKIN’!! In short, we’ve been going BACKWARDS moron mensa.

Do you get that? What do they teach in mensa school these days anyway?

• “..BTW, India expects to have 2 million cars out in their populace within 2 years that DO run on compressed air. One even carries 6 people, travels up to 125+ miles, 65 MPH max, costs about $2 to refill, and takes around 20 minutes. The vehicles are described (by American standards, but what does America know when we have millions of tank-like SUVS roaming our highways?) as cheaply built. Biggest problem noticed is no heater...AC though, and Kem Patrick suggested an electric one...and I’ll say a little insulation & good sealing goes a long way (Hell, VW’s would float for quite some time even)…”

Hi Doc…

This is what I received via email, which was actually a response to something I’d sent, titled “This solves the question of where to live when you retire”.

Basically, it was a joke, (at least in my opinion) because it was some huge motorized house bus, that no average citizen could possibly afford. It even had a space, (similar to the baggage hold in a greyhound) to store the car. I wondered what it could possibly use for fuel, and what the mileage might be, and suggested that it would be useless unless it ran on AIR.

So, this is what he wrote back..

• “..BTW, India expects to have 2 million cars out in their populace within 2 years that DO run on compressed air. One even carries 6 people, travels up to 125+ miles, 65 MPH max, costs about $2 to refill, and takes around 20 minutes. The vehicles are described (by American standards, but what does America know when we have millions of tank-like SUVS roaming our highways?) as cheaply built. Biggest problem noticed is no heater...AC though, and Kem Patrick suggested an electric one...and I’ll say a little insulation & good sealing goes a long way (Hell, VW’s would float for quite some time even)…”

So, there we have it. They don’t have heaters, but they do have air conditioners, (which I need more than I do a heater..one can always put on an extra jacket, and I don’t live in a particularly cold environment anyway.) Besides, can’t be any colder than WALKING. It also appears that adding an electric heater to them wouldn’t be all that difficult.

Anyway, I think ONE of the main points here, is that this IS ‘doable’ and has been for decades. Just like solar and wind power have been ‘doable’ for decades, but it would have cut into the GIGANTIC – ENORMOUS – GARGANTUAN – OBSCENE PROFITS, that the oil/energy industry has reaped. So, they’ve very intentionally made these other sources of energy less available, and have prevented any reasonable funding or expenditures to develop these alternative sources.

And yeah, I agree that Osama bin Laden has been toast for years. If they’d wanted to find him they knew right where to look, on Sept 11, and Sept 12, 2001. (he was in hospital for kidney dialysis, and the bushies knew it). Since then, there’s no way anybody is gonna convince me that the dude has spent the past 6 years dragging some rigged-up homemade dialysis machine around from cave to cave, jumping between mountains, and shooting his AK whatevers from the hip. PUHLEESE! The guy is dead.  The so called ‘bounty’ on his head is the same as the one offered up by OJ Simpson for the ‘real killer’.

Now the original co-founder of al-Qaeda, (Zawahiri) who put up the ‘ideas/brains’ for the organization, while OBL put up the money, may in fact still be around. I don’t know. He’s an Egyptian physician, (pediatrician no less) and it would appear that the US bounty was never intended for him, just OBL.

Anyway, I’m not sure we should count on the money still being in the pot, since it never was to begin with.

Hope this helps on India’s cars. I hadn’t really looked any further, but more time these days might allow me to search out more specifics. (as long as I can keep the electricity on.)

Your ignorance shows though the top of your dunce cap.  It must be crowded up your ass with the cap on over your swelled head.  Do you normally not stick to issues or do you just like to insight reactions, like I am doing right now? 

Congrats, it worked.

Obama’s speech was extremely impressive. It covered the whole picture of how our economy works in simple and clear terms.  We cannot continued to have this bribed government where the guys with the biggest bags of cash set the rules.  It is literally destroying our country and as we are largest single economy it will also destroy the world.  We are losing our rivers streams and lakes and now we have went from having improved air quality in states like California and Texas to a place where our air quality is not the worst in US history thanks to the short years of this moron Bush.  We certainly don’t want someone like McCain who seems to worship at Bush jr’s alter.  We don’t need a Bush jr II.

I was very very impressed with the level of detail of Barack’s speech.  It showed he really was not propagandized and bought off.  It showed clearly that he has a very good sense of the machine of our economy.  But I would add other things like possibly considering a tax credit where the wealthy who invest in bona fide small businesses with severe penalties for those that misuse the tax credit by setting up phony operations or operations in which they or their cohorts are the principle.  These investments should be directed toward the middle class and aiding minorities and poor whites to get their business going and thriving.  Try to use the tax code to help encourage investment in the US economy; that of the 50 states and possessions.

But I have to repeat I really did feel his speech showed a fantastic understanding of what we need to see and do to make our economy thrive for all.  And that it must be about the welfare of every single person.

Bush has literally come out on speeches and said the rich and the super rich are his people.  That should be a crime in a Democracy.

There is a very big difference between free market and anarchy wherein we end up with the few most powerful taking over and ruining any notion of a free market.  The most powerful who don’t succeed through market forces but by bribing the politicians to do their biding and thus we end up with a fascist state.  This doesn’t need to be the end product of free market capitalism.  We absolutely need a strong and free Democracy purged of political bribery and pay offs of any kind.  This and a free press are essential to a free society which in turn, for so many reasons, is essential to a free market place and the immense productivity and efficiencies it brings forth.

Thanks, cyrena, very interesting, but I’m not surprised.

If I remember correctly, there was a $50 million price tag on OBL’s head and the fact that that has never been claimed means to me that he’s toast, long ago.  50 million is a lot of money, to anyone, especially Bin Laden’s pizza delivery boy. 

I’d be interested in what you might find out about India, etc.

Excellent speech from Senator Obama.

There has never been a doubt that he CARES, or that he GETS what most of us fortunately DO understand. That is that we cannot collectively survive unless we individually survive.

This understanding of this most basic concept is what our suvival hinges upon. It is unrealistic to expect EVERYONE to ‘get this’ as proven by some of the posts here.

On the other hand, it is CRUCIAL that our ‘leaders’ ‘get it’ and understand it. So, while we’ve always known that Obama understands it, and that he CARES, this speech is just further proof that he’s figured out some ways to actually get it done.

In other words, he’s a really, really, really, smart guy.

I recently received an email from a friend who tells me that INDIA, is doing...EXACTLY this! (with cars). I’ll see if I can find the details.

I know that it’s already in the works.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I’d have to have $1000 for coming up with the idea and dinner with George Bush in the WH, during which time we could talk about brush clearing, Maine, and cowboy boots and hats.

I’d like to offer my cure for the economy:

The US government (or several govs.) award(s) a $1 trillion prize to the person, people, co. that designs, builds and mass produces an auto that does not burn fossil fuel, is relatively cheap to build and operate and does not harm the environment.  Forget electricity.

There would be a time limit, say 2-3 years.

In exchange for the prize, the inventors yield up the design/patent to public domain.

I think we’d get such an auto quite soon--at probably only a third of the cost of the Iraq war, and at pennies on the dollar cost of all the wars yet to be fought over oil, never mind lives saved. 

An eighth grader probably can see the idiocy in our politicians’ musings about the economy.

What the hell, make the prize $5 trillion.  Get the auto a year sooner.

Mr. Obama is absolutely correct that the bailout needed to be done to prevent a domino effect.  Sounds to me like that was the danger.  In 1929 when banks were going bankrupt due to over speculation in farming, banks heavily invested because of the advances of expanded farms due to the tractor.  It was a situation that would have adjusted itself it was said.  What caused the Great Depression however was the panic, investors rushing to cash out their savings and the US declared a bank holiday to calm tensions, slow people’s impulse, to actually lock them out from withdrawing, but it was too late.  The current blame over the bailout of derelict investors is born of the modern day free market Republicans, that they fought reasonable regulation on this large scale market. 
Again Obama resurfaces with a smart view, sounds like he cares what happens.