Orwell as Nostradamus

George Orwell, 1984:

"She had without exception the most stupid, vulgar, empty mind that he had ever encountered. She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none that she was not capable of swallowing if the Party handed it out to her."

The Republican answer to Obama-girl

It is not only Barak Obama who has admirers who are musical. It seems that Sarah Palin has also become a muse for a young artist on the other side of the world:

Troopergate report says Palin "abused her power"

The Republican dominated legislative panel responsible for the Trooper-gate prove has voted unanimously to release the report of the investigation into Governor Sarah Palin.

The report finds that Palin "abused her power" illegally.

See Dawg for analysis.

Head of skate: the Palin movie

This is funny.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

h/t Andrew Sullivan

Palin and the Road to Nowhere

Apparently after the Bridge to Nowhere was cancelled, Palin build the access road to nowhere anyway.  

Why?  Because the Federal government earmark funding the access road was written in a way that did not allow the funds to be used for anything else.

Sarah Palin unqualified to be CEO: McCain advisor

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is a staunch Republican and has been actively supporting McCain, acting as his advisor and spokesperson on a number of occasions, even speaking at the Republican National Convention.

In this clip, she admits that Sarah Palin is unqualified to be CEO of a major corporation:

Palin and book-banning

Those interested in the Palin-book-banning story may want to read the story at Salon.

Sherry Whitstine's blog

One of Sarah Palin's aides is reputed to complained about Wasilla Republican Sherry Whitstine's blog and told her to stop blogging.

Palin and those rape kits

This is a little difficult to fathom, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the decision to charge rape victims for their exams was Palin's.

Sarah Palin's governing style

The NYTimes has an article describing Sarah Palin's governing style. Well worth reading.

Everything you need to know about Sarah Palin's troopergate

For everything you need to know about Sarah Palin's troopergate, follow the link.

Update.  You can also see Palin's 'Grave' Trooper Scandal at Washington monthly.

Another example of the Liberal press out to get Sarah Palin

The competency of Sarah Palin's record as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, is questioned by that well-known Liberal rag -- the Wall Street Journal.

McCain team denies Palin once a secessionist

The McCain Team may want to deny it (here), but this video shows that the Alaska Independence Party thought Sarah Palin was one of their own.

Update. An Alaskan Independence Party official says she attended their convention:

Update 2. According to this, the AIP officials now admit that they may be mistaken, and that it was only Todd Palin (Sarah's husband) who was a member of the AIP, not Sarah herself.

Odds of Palin surviving are roughly the same as those of McCain not

Meanwhile, Intrade has opened a betting-pool on whether Palin will withdraw before election day.

So far, betting seems to be 5-to-1. Roughly the same odds as a 72 year-old dying during the next four years.

Palin was an Alaska secessionist?

According to an official of the Alaska Independence Party, Palin was once a member:

Update. It looks like the NY Times has noticed the secessionist angle: here.

Palin and Alaska secessionists

This seems a little reckless, in retrospect. She sent this video-welcome to the convention of the Alaska Independence Party.

Update. Apparently Palin once belonged to the Alaska Independence Party.

McCain's big gamble

Judging from the American Social Security Administration's online tables (here), the actuarial probability that an American male of (say) 72 years of age, would die during a year is 3.2978%; one of 73 years, 3.6086%; one of 74 years, 3.9506%; one of 75 years, 4.3415%.

Taking these together over (say) four years, the odds of a 72-year old man dying in the next four years would be 19.1491%, or about one in five.

So, America. Feeling lucky?

Update. Via email I was reminded that the odds for the next four years are even worse: 77th year, 4.7789%; 78th, 5.2464%; 79th, 5.7413%; 80th, 6.2789%. The odds of a 76 year old dying before the end of his 80th year is 22.05%. And the odds of a 72 year-old dying within two terms, 41.2%.

Snicker

Sarah Palin's little problem

Over at Talking-Points Memo, Josh Marshall has a great summary involving Sarah Palin's trooper-gate.

Sarah Palin's electoral experience

Down south, Republican nominee John McCain has surprised everyone by picking up-and-comer Sarah Palin to be his running-mate.

The surprise is due to her lack of experience. She's been governor of Alaska for less than two years. Before that she was mayor of the town of Wasilla, Alaska, a small city or town, depending on your definition.

But her relative lack of experience is not merely in governing, but in electoral politics.

Here are the election results in the years that Palin was returned as mayor.

• in 1996, Palin defeated incumbent mayor John Stein 617 to 413.*
• in a rematch in 1999, Palin defeated John Stein 826 to 255.**

This means, however, that before her recent election as governor, Palin's entire electoral experience involved only a couple thousand votes.

*Source: Anchorage Daily News, October 2, 1996
**Source: Anchorage Daily News, October 6, 1999 (also here)