• Notty Problems: Even Leaving Doesn't Solve Them - Only in Utah... - Politics, Schmolitics

    True-Blue Believers in God, Guns and Postum to the North, Caffeinated Non-Violent Pinko Heathens to the South

    …that’s how politics in Utah works when both major parties book their conventions into the same complex on the same date. Rolly: Guns and coffee don’t mix – Salt Lake Tribune The Republicans secured their Salt Palace space some time ago and will hold their convention on the complex’s north side. The Democrats were having a difficult time finding a suitable place for what they were willing to pay, then settled on the Salt Palace’s south section after a group canceled its reservation for that day. So between the two parties — the Democrats have around 2,700 delegates, and plan…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Decoder Ring Not Required

    Sayonara, Rev. Paperboy. Make maximum use of improved textbooks : Editorial : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri). Still, the problem remains finding ways for teachers to make really good use of the beefed up textbooks. After all, if they try to teach everything, the amount of material may overwhelm the children’s capacity to absorb it all, consequently returning to the much-criticized “cramming” style of education. Yet teachers are expected to have the competence to proceed with lessons after sorting out what part of the textbooks are to be taught, while accurately gauging the level of their students’ comprehension. ===…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    That Nopey, Derangey Thing

    … coming from the Dopey Strangey thing is even more clueless than usual. UNLOAD! #fb Sarah Palin Tells Tea Partiers To Stop Drivers With Obama Bumper Stickers « Alan Colmes’ Liberaland. Less than a week after a man was driven off the road for sporting an Obama bumper sticker, Sarah Palin told a tea party rally in Searchlight, NV to stop cars with Obama stickers on them. (and demand to know how that “hopey, changey thing” is working out for them)

  • Politics, Schmolitics

    Paranoia In Bloom

    A reminder from long ago – Procter and Gamble being accused of Satanism. I remember a neighbor kid’s mom earnestly telling me to let my mom know how to read the Satanist symbolism on a box of Tide. Thing is, I think this was well before 1980, when Snopes and other websites claim the rumor took hold. I remember it in Utah in the mid-70’s… from a lady who I think used and sold Amway products. Hmm. – Salon.com What we have here is less a political than a community mental-health problem. We’ve seen it all before. Paranoia blooms whenever…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Confessions of a Low-Information voter

    I voted for Scott Lee Cohen, because I am a total idiot. And even though I hang out with political junkies online in Second Life, and constantly read newsfeeds, I failed to educate myself about local political races, and didn’t read the Chicago Tribune’s excellent election special section (because that bit wasn’t in my news feed, and I don’t read the print version anymore). I just left it too late, and on election day, I heard a radio ad (the only commercial station I listen to is WXRT) that made it sound like Cohen was a fresh newcomer with a…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    A Roguish Ghost Story

    Palin pops the literary pooper Nov. 17th, but a ghostly midwife will probably fade into the background. 400 pages in 4 months? Really? Sarah Palin finishes 400-page memoir, 'Going Rogue,' to be released Nov. 17 — chicagotribune.com Palin, 45, spent weeks in San Diego shortly after leaving office and worked on the manuscript with collaborator Lynn Vincent, a person close to her said. She was joined in San Diego by her family and her top aide, Meghan Stapleton, then spent several days in New York working around the clock with editors at Harper, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to…

  • All Things Interesting - Politics, Schmolitics - Second Life

    Today Was My Birthday, So What Was It To Me?

    [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/QJ-CqT5orEI" width="425" height="344" wmode="transparent" /] This card was waiting for me when I got home – THANKS, DEBBIE!!! I love it! It was a really early start – I had to be in the office by 7am as I’d switched shifts with someone. And it was my birthday, and it was my day to keep an eye on queues and emails, but of course we were short 2 agents and we had lots of calls, so forget keeping and eye on emails and queues. In the middle of all the chaos, some pretty flowers arrived at my desk, courtesy…

  • Politics, Schmolitics

    ¡King George No! ¡Presidente Reagan, Sí!

    How “hundreds of thousands” became “tens of thousands” in Washington today. This just in: Bring Reagan Back Now!! (Not That Bush Guy, Apparently).Anti-Government Demonstration Draws Tens of Thousands to D.C. – washingtonpost.com A loud, rambunctious crowd gathered at the foot of the Capitol. Invocations of God and former President Reagan by the speakers got loud cheers, echoing across the Mall. On an overcast and windy afternoon, hundreds of yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags flapped in the breeze, mingled with U.S. and Texas state flags. “We own the dome,” the crowd chanted loudly, pointing at the Capitol. Most signs were…