NBC is re-running the Saturday Night (not-so) Live episode tonight that contained a skit that attempted to tell how the subprime crisis really started. The digs at Pelosi and Frank were great, so was the couple who were caught flipping when the downturn hit. Shortly after the original episode, in which the real story of the Sandlers was told, the Sandlers complained to NBC about their actual activities being represented in the sketch. Tonight, the Sandler bit was cut out of the re-run.

I can understand pulling material from the internet. But making money from a re-run while editing out parts that some thought objectionable (personally, I thought the poking-fun at President Bush really sucked) is really poor business decision, and really classless.

Written today in USA Today

In a sense, the Obamas face a dilemma that many upper-middle-class families do in most big cities: Open, egalitarian systems offer lots of school choices — but the best ones fill up fast (and admission each fall is by lottery if applicants outnumber slots). Still, few can match the offerings of pricey private schools.

So, with each of the them pulling in over $200K, plus increased book royalties, and the built-in equity from Rezco on their Chicago mansion, the Obamas are upper-middle class. That makes McCain’s scoffed-at response of $250K for middle class at the Saddleback Church interview spot-on according to USA Today. I find this humorous.

I understand why some folks voted Libertarian. I was confronted this year with a US House race (FL-15) where a qualified independent candidate was running. I feared that the Democrat Dr. Blythe, a Planned Parenthood supporter, could win without my vote for the GOP Posey (who won). Consider these cases from this 2008 election yesterday:

• If 90% of those 29,000 who voted for Barr (L) in Indiana had voted for McCain, McCain wins Indiana.

• If 60% of those 25,000 who voted for Barr (L) in North Carolina had voted for McCain, McCain wins North Carolina.

• If those 11,000 who voted for Barr (L) in Missouri voted for McCain, McCain would have a 17,000-win instead of a 6,000-vote recount-margin in Missouri.

• In addition, if those 13,000 people in Minnesota had voted for Coleman instead of the Libertarian candidate Aldrich, then we could definitely count on Coleman winning and not worry about Al Franken winning in the recount (500-vote lead for Coleman now) amid voting irregularities.

I am all for voting one’s conscience. But there are other ways of telling the GOP you are not happy with them: send a letter and withhold your money, but not your vote. Believe me, I doubt 13,000 Barr votes in Minnesota Senate race really tells the GOP anything. But it could mean that those 13,000 pay much higher heating costs the next six years under a steep carbon credit tax program. Unfortunately, the rest of the country will also suffer.

So, Joe sixpack in San Diego votes at 7:55 pm. It does not matter. At 8pm, his state is given to Obama. Why even bother going out in the 70 degree weather to vote?

So today, Delaware voters get to vote for Joe-the-six-term-Senator twice. How is this possible? How is his Senate seat filled should Obama win? How can he pick which position he wants? Why should the Dems get a free Senate seat? In the same way, I urge all Alaskans to vote for Stevens just so Gov. Palin can appoint a Republican replacement after the election.

Again, Biden runs for a position he has zero intention of occupying. Call me disgusted.

I don’t see anything on the front page saying anything about website issues. Is it just me?

I don’t see anything on the front page saying anything about website issues. Is it just me?

Back in the 1970′s William (then called Billy) Ayers wrote (or co-wrote with his now-wife, Bernadine Dohrn) Prairie Fire, the Weather Underground’s manifesto. A must-read blog on this appears at ZombieTime with all the links and text. This is a must-read. I won’t pull pieces here. I encourage you to read the article.

As a side-note, as a graduate of Knox College, whose school nickname is the Prairie Fire, I will now request that the school change its nickname again. It used to be Siwash, but someone realized it was a slur at one point for American Indians, so they changed it. I wonder if the Ayers’ family had anything to do with it…

Sunday, The Anchorage Daily News (ADN) endorsed Barack Obama for President. From the AP Wires:

The newspaper said Sunday the Democrat “brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand.”

From this account, we have some definitions from the ADN:

• Thoughtful Analysis: Leaving town and telling folks to call you if they need you; also, notify you when McCain makes a policy statement.

• Wise Counsel: Egotistical career politicians such as Sen. Biden, Sen. Dodd, and Sen. Schumer; wives you are ashamed of their country; self-proclaimed terrorist revolutionaries; black liberation theology preachers.

• Cool Steady Hand: Needed to hold the cellphone if Franklin Raines calls asking to provide advice; needed to deal with running-mate’s speaking gaffes.

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I saw this blog post by Average American Mom when reading about Biden’s international crisis prediction. and thought it was hysterically funny (hey, it was late, but it was funny). So I needed to share it. I was surprised to find a huge conservative crowd at an abc news site.

Why I am voting Democrat!

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending MY MONEY than I would. I think when you spread the wealth around it is good for everybody! It’s Patriotic!

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. All profits are evil and should be confiscated for Government Redistribution.

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe that MORE Government regulations and higher taxes on Business will stop Business from exporting their jobs to Countries with LESS Government regulations and lower taxes.

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe terrorists should be allowed to have trials in American courts. And be able to subpoena top secret documents, soldiers, government officials, etc. to cross examine for their defense. They should have ACLU lawyers who can help intimidate Americans who serve on the juries!

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe Gay Marriage should be the law of the land and will probably produce better children.

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe English should not be the official language of the United States. I don’t mind pushing one for English when I use the phone.

• I’m voting Democrat because I believe partial birth abortion is okay but water boarding a terrorist is disgusting.

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Halloween is next Friday, 4 days before Election day. Please contribute your favorite ways to dress up as a Obama supporter, Joe Biden (maybe have “Chuck” wheel around with you and stand up), ACORN community organizer, or whatever is popular this season. I am sure that the Joe-The-Plumber costumes will be out there as well. Also, propose your scariest politician award.

2.0 had a search feature. I found nothing in the help section. Help! I cannot believe that a CMS-based site does not have a search capability.

And yes, I donated to 3.0.

The socialist spread-the-wealth message was the real news. But instead of covering what Obama said, the MSM are examining and trashing Joe W. In two days we will know more about Joe the Plumber than we know about Barack Obama. We know Joe’s union status, but we don’t know Obama’s grades in Columbia and Harvard. We know Joe’s complete financial history, but we don’t know Obama’s personal dealings with Rezco and ACORN.

This started with questions on how many houses McCain owns. McCain’s response should have been

“I’m not sure, could be seven or eight. Can I count the Capitol, my second home. Plus, whatever number we own, at least we paid for them with our own money.”

Then it went to Governor Sarah Palin’s history as mayor through governor. When questioned on her career, I wish she had responded:

I’ve won two elections to two offices, just like Mr. Obama. However, mine were for executive positions, the kind of office that a President holds. Plus, I never needed to undermine the election process by challenging petition signatures and exposing sealed custody hearing transcripts of my opponent.

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I was going to write on this, but let’s promote this one instead. And feel free to email NBC to ask them what gives. – Moe Lane

Everyone knows NBC is in the bag for Obama. Even O’Reilly admits it. From what I read on Michelle Malkin’s great website the real-life Sandlers got a bit upset after seeing the SNL skit Saturday night. See Moe’s diary for more info, and the link to the video that is no longer available. Gee, I guess it’s okay to dish it out on President Bush, Governor Palin, Nancy Pelosi, but you better not ruffle the feather(bed)s of the liberal left money people!

You can still see the video here

Just sent this in via www.house.gov, which is very slow tonite. Dr. Weldon voted for the bill Monday, saying it was a poor bill but he felt pressured to do something.

Please vote no on this bailout. I agree with you that it is a poor bill. But “doing something to just do something” is no reason to support it. As a doctor, you know how situations have to be analyzed and courses of treatment evaluated. You just cannot pick the first approach just because the doctor who invented it recommends it. Rather, you take time to evaluate alternatives.

Another analogy: You don’t buy the first house your realtor shows you (the he is also listing) just because the realtor says you cannot afford to pass it up. Rather, you take time to evaluate alternatives.

There are better ways to free up credit markets. Having the government float 800,000 million $$ of debt will just suck capital from the marketplace. Without ways to increase the supply of capital, nothing is gained. Reducing Mark-to-Market rules, lowering the cost of capital by reducing taxes, and providing insurance for the mortgages (with deductibles) are examples of measures to get the patient ambulatory while further analysis is performed.

Looking toward the future, I don’t want Uncle Sam to own and manage 300,000 foreclosed houses in the country, much less the ones on my block. Absentee slumlords will be preferable to Uncle Sam owning the houses in your, and my, neightborhoods.

I realize that asking you to vote “no” is asking you to vote the same way as our Senator Nelson did today, an action I would not recommend without much analysis. But this time, what the heck, be a maverick! It seems to be a popular movement.

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Just passed tonite
by a 78-12 vote, the RINOs have caved to the Democrats. And President Bush will sign this piece of bulky legislation. And look, that state that hates autos, California, did not even bother to show up and vote. I guess they opted out. I sure wish I had the chance to opt out.

There has been much debate about the impact of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on the home mortgage crisis. A libertarian friend of mine discovered this 1999 article by Ronald Brownstein at the LA Times of the proud achievements under the CRA during the Clinton presidency. This article contains references to the contributions of Clinton, Fannie and Freddie, and Andrew Cuomo. It is pointed out that in “1992, Congress mandated that Fannie and Freddie increase their purchases of mortgages for low-income and medium-income borrowers.” Note the date is 1992, when the Democrats had control of Congress.
Brownstein promotes how home ownership among minorities increased substantially:

It’s one of the hidden success stories of the Clinton era. In the great housing boom of the 1990s, black and Latino homeownership has surged to the highest level ever recorded. The number of African Americans owning their own home is now increasing nearly three times as fast as the number of whites; the number of Latino homeowners is growing nearly five times as fast as that of whites.

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Courtesy of a post by Julie Walsh at OpenMarket.org, we learn from The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) that

Arctic sea ice extent, after reaching its seasonal minimum last week, has begun its annual cyclical increase in response to the setting sun. A cooler melt season, retention of first-year ice, and dispersive ice motion set the 2008 melt season apart from 2007.

Overview of conditions

Arctic sea ice extent on September 23, 2008, was 4.59 million square kilometers (1.77 million square miles), an increase of 77,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) above the minimum extent of 4.52 million square kilometers (1.74 million square miles) measured last week.

Conditions in context

Arctic sea ice extent, after reaching its seasonal minimum last week, has begun its annual cyclical increase in response to autumn cooling. The ice will grow over the cold, dark winter months and reach its maximum annual extent sometime next March.

…

High retention of first-year ice

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the 2008 melt season was the higher-than-average retention of first-year sea ice (see earlier entries, including April 7). Relatively thin first-year ice is more prone to melting out completely than older, thicker ice. However, more of this year’s first-year ice survived the melt season than is typical. Sea ice age maps from Sheldon Drobot, our colleague at the University of Colorado at Boulder, show that much more first-year ice survived in 2008 than in 2007. This is one of the reasons that 2008 did not break last year’s record-low minimum.

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In the past week, so much discussion had been made of Governor Palin’s qualifications to become President. It seems that the MSM and the Democrats keep forgetting that Governor Palin is the VP on the ticket.

Now you really to forgive the left. They have this problem with people’s titles. When Obama introduced Joe Biden in Springfield, he called him the “next President of the United States.” When Governor Sarah Palin’s name was announced, they questioned why McCain selected a mayor of a small town in a small (?) state. At some point, they realized that Palin is no longer a mayor, but a Governor. But no one told Joe Biden, who on Thursday referred to Sarah Palin as Lt. Governor Palin. These guys really need to get their act together, or they may refer to Putin as President Putin. But I do really like the title State Senator Obama.

But, I digress. My point is that if the left keep saying that Palin will be one heartbeat away from being POTUS (oh how good that sounds!), I say McCain/Palin throw a curve for the third Presidential Debate: have Sarah Palin substitute for McCain. Why? (1) show her ability to think on her feet; (2) shake up and rattle Obama, making him improvise; and (3) show the country that we would be safe with VP Sarah Palin behind President John McCain. If they are so concerned with her qualifications for President, then let’s see just how qualified she is compared to their nominee. After seeing her over the last week, I’d say she could hold her own.