WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE, ME OR YOUR LYING EYES?
It was only because I thought it sexist that I didn't pass along a really hot picture of Sarah Palin that has been circulating on the internet. Well, it turns out that the picture of her wearing an American flag bikini and holding a rifle at a teen pool party is a fake. As my partner, who was a law clerk there, quipped when he first heard about this, "Who has a pool in Alaska?" This cite has the original photo side by side with the fake as well as comments from the photographer.
(GUANABEE)

NAToday - North Arlington, New Jersey News

BE MORE SPECIFIC!
My nephew Chicky (Albert Granell) scared the hell out of me when he sent me an email asking me to see his pictures from "the convention".

OUT OF NOWHERE
After my good friend Vincent took me to task for the comment about Alaska's racial makeup I sent him this reply:

The remark about Alaska's racial makeup was - like the crack about disability - just an aside and not of great relevancy. When you start talking demographics there all sorts of qualifiers and footnotes, but the point that I left undeveloped is that even in racial composition it is a wholly different place. In general, the "white" racial category includes the subgroup White Hispanics and varies greatly across the country. Of the total population, White Americans make up 76%. Non-Hispanic whites make up about 68% of the population. White Americans are the majority in every region, but attain their highest concentration in the Midwest, where they account for 84% of the population. African Americans make up 12%, Asian Americans 5%, and Hispanics 15%. 45% of American children under the age of 5 are minorities. Alaska breaks down to blacks 3.7%, Asians 4.6% and Alaskan natives 15.4%. I'm sorry that it distracted from the real point that Palin comes from nowhere with no apparent credentials save her gender and nutty politics. In contrast to Alaska, the United States is urbanized. 80.8 percent of its 300 million population residing in cities and suburbs. With a population of 670,000, Alaska is ranked 48th out of the 50 states. But ranked by population density, Alaska is the least densely populated at 2.849 people per square kilometer (1.1 per square mile), with the next nearest ranking state, Wyoming, at 13.208 (5.1 per square mile).

IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT?
Is this a great country or what? Where else could you have two people from such humble backgrounds vying for the most prestigious, powerful and dangerous positions in the world?I liken McCain's Veep choice of Sarah Palin to Nixon's decision to play nice with China. (hmmmmm!) Maybe it's going to take THEM to do it. If Barack wins, we have our first Black Prez and if we lose, well, at any rate we can console ourselves that the glass ceiling has been broken.
Apart from her obvious distaff state and her evangelical "pedigree", what is truly remarkable is how she got to be - should McCain win - next in line for the presidency.
While Barrack has an advanced degree in world affairs, is a Senator, blah, blah, blah, this lady figuratively and literally comes from nowhere. There are only three other states that are smaller in population than Alaska, a state that is nearly 71% white. (I also found it interesting that a large portion of its population (12%) is disabled and, so, one assumes - that despite its libertarian reputation - is on some sort of public transfer program. But, I digress.) Nor can you explain it as based on her 6 year experience as the councilperson and (subsequently) Mayor/Manager of a town that has a population the size of Hamilton, Alabama. In fact there are only 10 cities in Alabama that are smaller than Wasilla. (Click link above for comparison of Wasilla, Alaska to Alabama cities.) Truly remarkable.
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