How to spend $160 a day on your hair

It seemed a little ridiculous for John Edward's to get a $400 haircut or two, but Sarah Palin is really taking the cake on this one. I got curious today after finding this photo series on Digg. She's clearly got a stylist, but it's not publicly known who's putting her in those classy outfits on the campaign trail. I'll admit it; Sarah Palin looks pretty classy most of the time. Turns out that's because the campaign has spent $150,000 on her wardrobe and hair in the past 3 months. Politico broke the story today. I also found this link with a really classy picture of what she looked like before she was named the republican vp nominee.
Turns out the stylist is Gahl Hodges Burt, who had something to do with Nancy Regan in the 80's, and tells Cindy McCain what to wear, too.
Fark: She's got a Facebook.

Abortion in Europe

I was curious about the status of abortions in Europe after reading this article. The quote from the British Financial Times: "The Palin appointment is yet more proof of the way that abortion still dominates American politics." sparked my interest. What exactly are the abortion policies in European countries? Here's the answer: Europe's Abortion Rules.
I think the most interesting is Ireland.

"Ireland has voted five times in the past 20 years on its abortion laws, most recently deciding to continue to allow women to have an abortion if they say they are suicidal - a loophole the government and Catholic Church wanted closed.

Women can have counselling and advice on options, and can leave the country to have the procedure elsewhere - more than 6,000 a year go to the UK for a termination."

I was very pleased with what Obama said about abortion in the debate last night. If you're into fancy stuff like a transcript to read along with your video, and popular opinion graphs, but don't mind your video being little. Try CNN.

Racism

The following is an email that was forwarded to me by a friend.
Typically I would have dismissed that the cause of the differences described is due to racism. But the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that racism is the only cause.
Read the email below, and feel free to leave me your opinion.

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?

…..think about it.

Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama: Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Vs

John McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters – journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call

Picnik Zombiefy effects

So I discovered this almost a year ago. But I just remembered it today in relation to this blog.
The photo editing site Picnik has an editing tool called zombieify which allows you to turn the subject of your photo into a zombie. There's also a blood tool, which helps a lot with the zombie effect. Furthermore, I think the site is sort of handy for a lot of reasons. Check it out, and share what you create.

these days

seems like I alter the appearance of the blog more often than I update it.

RNC Protests

Had I the means to attend the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis Saint Paul, I would have gone for the opportunity to protest the event.
Now, the first few days of the RNC were scaled back as Hurricane Gustav approached New Orleans, and threatened to induce Katrina level damage to the city. I was momentarily thankful that I had not attended the protests, thinking that the scaled back convention would have been a waste of a very long trip. I thought nothing more of it, until today when I learned that Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now had been arrested for approaching a policeman outside the convention. Video of the arrest of Amy Goodman and her producer Nicole Salazar are easily obtainable on the internet. Nicole Salazar describes being "stomped" by police while trying to flee the area. Later, Amy Goodman tries to approach police in riot gear to question them about the arrest of her two producers. Both Salazar and Goodman clearly identify themselves as press, and are both displaying their high-ranking press passes, which entitled them entrance to the convention itself.
Descriptions of police actions included the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades. I never heard of a concussion grenade before, so I attempted to research. What I found was this video from Current TV. I have not been able to find a very good definition of a modern concussion grenade.
I am deeply outraged at the numerous civil rights violations perpetrated by the police on this occasion, however this seems to be the mounting trend. Also, I question how the FBI or the Secret Service invading protest groups is anywhere near constitutional. Though I find it amusing the first groups apparently targeted for infiltration appear to be Vegan Organizations.

On a final note, Coverage of the Protest, and the accusations of police brutality have been severely lacking from mainstream media. Protests in general is something, I think mainstream America should be aware of, but is seldom considered newsworthy for the mainstream media.

Is Brilliancy a word?

I'm very amused by these tactics to fight the man.
click links below.
http://www.officeofstrategicinfluence.com/bulkmailer/
http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/spam/