07.30.08
Posted in News, Politics tagged Barack Obama, Dana Milbank, Presidential Race at 10:19 pm by Katharine Lackey
Is Obama acting like the presumptive next President? Not just the presumptive Democratic nominee? Dana Milbank at the Washington Post seems to think so. Barack Obama has been acting presumptuous lately, not just presumptive, the columinst says.
Fresh from his presidential-style world tour, during which foreign leaders and American generals lined up to show him affection, Obama settled down to some presidential-style business in Washington yesterday.
Traffic was shut down for him as he zoomed about town in a long, presidential-style motorcade, while the public and most of the press were kept in the dark about his activities
Remind me to be thankful that I don’t have to commute to D.C.
Secret Service entered with Obama through a side door at the Cannon Caucus Room. Capitol Police cleared the halls — both of these events were what would take place for the actual president.
The press has begun to complain about Obama’s behavior, saying Obama’s campaign was “acting like the Prom Queen” and being more secretive than Bush.
After meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister, Obama’s aides issued a presidential-like statement, “I had a productive and wide-ranging discussion. . . . I look forward to working with the democratically elected government of Pakistan.”
But aren’t all campaigns about confidence — about saying you’re going to win? No one wants to listen to a candidate who says, “I will try to win, but I’m not sure I will.” And doesn’t Secret Service have a right to protect the candidate as they see best? I would think Obama would face more threats than McCain as he is more controversial. Still, Obama’s recently dealings with the media do raise some concern as to whether he’s restricting access.
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Posted in News tagged Diploma, Jesus, Olympics, Spokesman Review, Wall Street Journal at 9:48 pm by Katharine Lackey
- A Trinity of Sorts: Three people are claiming to see versions of Jesus or Mary in various everyday objects: the family cat, the bathtub … and Cheetos. Holy Cheesus!
- Leaked! The opening for the Beijing Olympics has been leaked, according to the Wall Street Journal. Wait, I thought China was supposed to control the interwebs over there.
- Fake Diploma: The Spokesman Review has released the names of individuals in the military, education and government who purchased phony and counterfeit diplomas through a local mill. I knew you were too dumb to have gone to Harvard.
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07.29.08
Posted in News, Offbeat tagged Barack Obama, Batman, Beijing, Britons, Courier Post, Detriot Free Press, Fat cat, Gas prices, Hattiesburg American, Horses, Jetpack, Joker, New York Times, News & Observer, Olympics, Princess Chunk, The Dark Knight at 2:42 pm by Katharine Lackey
- An Israeli student has apologized for taking Obama’s prayer, which was published in a paper, Religous News Service reports. I updated my previous blog on the subject earlier.
- Olympic horses are being treated like rock-stars aboard their flight to Beijing, the New York Times reports. “The horses fly with an entourage — team grooms, veterinarians and at least one ‘flying groom,’ an equine flight attendant whose job is to make the horse as comfortable as possible,” Times reports
- Officials at an animal shelter in Camden County, NJ, were surprised to receive a 44-pound cat who appears to have escaped from its house, the Courier-Post reports. Nicknamed Princess Chunk, it is unclear how the cat escaped its rightful owner, “She’s built like a quarterback,” said one shelter volunteer. “I mean, how do you lose a 44-pound cat?!”
- A British family has fulfilled its quest of visiting all 50 states (plus D.C.) in the U.S., the Hattiesburg American reports. “People in America don’t realize what history they do have,” the wife and mother says. Yes, because our history only dates back 300 years, whereas England’s goes back many more centuries.
- A New Zealand inventor has created a jetpack that he plans to market next year at $100,000 a piece, the New York Times reports. “There is nothing that even comes close to the dream that the jetpack allows you to achieve,” one man says.
- Two groups in St. Louis are holding prayers at gasoline pumps to ask God for lower prices, The News & Observer reports. The group thinks their prayers are being answered as gas prices have lowered in the past two weeks. What happens when they go back up again?
- A phony Joker was arrested in Michigan after he attempted to steal items related to “The Dark Knight” movie from a local theater in Three Rivers, the Detroit Free Press reports. “…police officers who were dispatched early Sunday to the Three Rivers 6 theater arrived to find employees restraining a man wearing a purple suit, a green wig and face paint in the style of Batman’s nemesis in ‘The Dark Knight.’”
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Posted in Politics tagged Barack Obama, BarackBook, John McCain, John McCain is Really Old, Tony Rezko, www.barackbook.com, www.meetbarackobama.com at 2:24 pm by Katharine Lackey
The Republican National Committee is running and financing a Web site that aims to discredit Barack Obama on many of his issues, at www.barackbook.com and www.meetbarackobama.com.
Here’s the problem — the GOP insignia in the right hand corner of both pages is not readily noticeable. I first visited BarackBook without realizing that it was run by the Republicans. I thought it was odd Obama would be “friends” with Tony Rezko and would have the status, “Barack is hoping to settle on an Iraq policy before November.” It was then I finally noticed the GOP header.
The other problem is that BarackBook looks like Facebook — and I wonder if there are any copyright or infringement issues there? Also, will people quickly see the that the site is run by the GOP or will they believe its a legitimate site about Obama?
With both sites, its easy to see that the RNC is targeting youth voters — those familiar with Facebook and other social networking sites — but won’t older Republicans or even Democrats be confused by the design?
While I’m sure we will see both sides attacking one another over the issues, I would hope the Democrats would not use the same tactics that the RNC has taken.
The only John McCain Web site that I can find that is somewhat similar is John McCain is Really Old. The site is clever and funny (see: Naps for America, and No Child on My Lawn), and, most importantly, is not run by the Democratic National Committee. While the DNC does launch similar attacks on its main Website — it is much clearer who the attacks are coming from — the opponents.
Both sites, however, do focus on a number of mistakes both candidates have made in speeches and interviews, as well as “flip-flops” in policies — which is good so long as they link to reputable sources.
To both candidates: I get tired of the back and forth that surrounds presidential elections. Don’t all these attacks just even themselves out? Couldn’t you find a better way to spend donated money?
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Posted in News tagged Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Ken Dunkin, Texting at 1:28 pm by Katharine Lackey
Some can talk the talk. Others can walk the walk. But apparently, its extremely hard to text and walk. In my daily news roundup yesterday, I wrote about a Chicago Sun-Times article about how dangerous texting while walking can be.
In January, Illinois State Rep. Ken Dunkin, introduced legislation that would fine residents $25 and a misdemeanor if caught using a cell phone while traversing streets.
“This legislation is not laughable. On the surface it’s like, ‘Oh wow, what is this?’ But it’s becoming more and more of a common problem with people haplessly crossing an intersection and almost killing themselves.”
Research has shown that while the brain has the ability to multitask and text-walk, it’s a delicate balancing act. A number of people nationwide have apparently been killed while text-walking and young adults are frequently seen for injuries after text-walking into something or someone.
While the bill has good intentions, its language may need updating — does it ban anyone from using a cell phone in any regards when crossing the street? Or just it just ban text-walking while crossing streets?
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Posted in News tagged Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Extreme Makeover, Harper family, Homes at 12:57 pm by Katharine Lackey
One of the massive homes built by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is going into foreclosure, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Harper family took out a $450,000 loan using the house, which was built in January 2005, as collateral for a failed construction business.
Nearly 1,800 community members helped build the home, the largest Extreme Makeover had constructed, and raised $250,000 for the family to pay for their children’s college as well as home maintenance.
“It’s aggravating. It just makes you mad. You do that much work, and they just squander it,” Lake City Mayor Willie Oswalt, who helped vault a massive beam into place in the Harper’s living room, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
I’ve watched the show a few times and I always like when they help out families in desperate need of assistance — such as the family who’s child had a rare disease that didn’t allow her to properly regulate her body temperature — but I’ve always thought the homes were a little too big. While special designs are needed in some cases — take the family who’s husband and father was blinded after an accident — I don’t think you necessarily need to make the house so large in order to meet the families needs.
Perhaps if Extreme Makeover hadn’t made the Harpers house so large, just big enough to fit their needs, the family would not be going into foreclosure since they would not have been able to take out such a large loan — although the family could have used common sense to not take out such a loan in the first place.
The Washington Post also has an essay on the subject.
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07.28.08
Posted in Politics tagged Barack Obama, John McCain, New York Times, President at 11:09 pm by Katharine Lackey
While focus has exceedingly been on Barack Obama’s recent foreign trip, the New York Times is quick to point out that both Obama and McCain have their own far-reaching faux pas.
While Obama has stood on a podium with a faux presidential seal and adorned his jet “O-Force One,” McCain gave a speech looking back on his first term in office and recently began giving radio addresses every Saturday.
It is unclear when the two presidential candidates will hold their first state dinners, spend their first weekends at Camp David or welcome this year’s N.B.A. champions, the Boston Celtics, to the Rose Garden.
Oh, wait, neither of these guys has been elected yet.
The article is extremely interesting and I cannot do it justice by paraphrasing it — so go read it!
Also, read the Times Opinion piece by Frank Rich, which also touches on the same subject.
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Posted in News tagged Barack Obama, Iraq War, John McCain, Petraeus, Robert Novak, Texting, USA Today at 10:52 pm by Katharine Lackey
- Texting while walking, rollerblading, biking, etc, can land you in the emergency room, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “It’s amazing how instinctive it is for people to [text while doing other things]. Texting is kind of like hearing. It’s almost another sense,” says emergency room doctor. Upside: I have a sixth sense!
- Violence in Iraq has reached a “normal” level, USA Today reports. Because violence is always normal… right.
- McCain gained on Obama in a new USA Today/Gallup poll, USA Today reports. That trip Obama took — didn’t help.
- Robert Novak has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, the AP reports. Last week the columnist received a citation after hitting a bicycist in D.C. The columnist is best known for revealing Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity in a 2003 column.
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Posted in Internet tagged Blackle, Cuil, Google at 10:18 pm by Katharine Lackey
A new competitor specifically targeting Google’s success, has emerged in the name of “Cuil,” pronounced “Cool,” the New York Times reports.
With a more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing look, one could prematurely think that Cuil would be a good alternative to the most popular search engine — Google. But, upon closer inspection, there are issues with Cuil that need to be ironed out before it can come up to Google’s standard.
During a couple searches I got this result:
No results because of high load…
Due to excessive load, our servers didn’t return results. Please try your search again.
Earlier in the day, a search for “blogs” yielded no results, although that error seems to be eliminated now.
I do like the top tabs and general layout of the pages, although some of the information seems dated. The colors — black and blue, reminded me of Blackle a little. Also, if you’re afraid of the feds, Cuil does not keep any search results — which is great if you’re doing something stupid or illegal. Cuil claims to be able to search more web pages than Google — but 1) I’ve never found a problem with Google having too few pages and 2) there’s no way to know that for certain.
At the end of the day, though, Cuil offers little advantage over Google other than appearance and doesn’t have an easy way to access to Maps, my Calender, Gmail and the variety of other Google products I use daily. I also didn’t see a image search or video search.
Here’s the problem, Google has become such a household name — when you say you did an internet search for something — you say you “googled” it. And therein lies the problem for Cuil — because its not as easy to say “I cuiled it” and Google already has such a hold in the household name department. And finally, there’s the problem that I keep trying to pronounce it as “qui-il.”
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Posted in Offbeat tagged Holy Grail, Monty Python, Rabbit of Caerbannog, rabbits, UK at 9:47 pm by Katharine Lackey
Apparently the UK is facing an invasion of rabbits — leading the Army to take on the new enemy after the fuzzy little creatures began destroying the remains of ancient buildings under a military training site.
The Roman and Bronze Age artifacts underneath the site have been under attack for ages.
At least this species of rabbit aren’t the spawn of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
“Runaway!”
Sorry, I can’t resist a Monty Python reference.
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At least this species of rabbit aren’t the spawn of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
