The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.
According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
Author: NewMexiKen
Reformer, yeah right
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.
In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters’ 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.
— AP via Yahoo! News
Beliefs
As I get older, I think much more often about the hereafter.
I’ll walk into a room and think to myself, “Now, what did I come in here after?”
21 October
80 67 66 52 49 1917
Whitey Ford
Steve Cropper
Judy Sheindlin (“Judge Judy”)
Carrie Fisher
Ken Watanabe
Dizzy Gillespie
NewMexiKen’s parents eloped 66 years ago today. She was a high school senior just turned 17. He was a 19-year-old sailor.
BTW, do you even know who Steve Cropper is?
According to the All Music Guide:
Probably the best-known soul guitarist in the world, Cropper came to prominence in the early ’60s, first with the Mar-Keys (“Last Night”), then as a founding member of Booker T. & the MG’s. A major figure in the Southern soul movement of the ’60s, Cropper made his mark not only as a player and arranger (most notably on classic sides by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett) but as a songwriter as well, co-writing the classic “In the Midnight Hour.”
And Green Onions is the single greatest rock instrumental ever, period (Booker T. Jones, organ; Steve Cropper, guitar; Lewis Steinberg, bass; Al Jackson, drums). MG’s, by the way, stands for Memphis Group, not the car.
And Whitey Ford:
Edward Whitey Ford was the big-game pitcher on the great Yankees teams of the 1950s and early ’60s, earning him the moniker Chairman of the Board. The wily southpaw’s lifetime record of 236-106 gives him the best winning percentage (.690) of any 20th century pitcher. He paced the American League in victories three times, and in ERA and shutouts twice. The 1961 Cy Young Award winner still holds many World Series records, including 10 wins and 94 strikeouts, once pitching 33 consecutive scoreless innings in the Fall Classic.
Just another thing this election is about
A picture that says a 1,000 words.
Click image for larger version.
Looks like his Grandpa, doesn’t he?
Click image for larger version.
Our national cacophony
… doesn’t need any more noise. I’m taking today off.
The riddler
What’s the difference between an investment banker and a pigeon?
A pigeon can still make a deposit on a BMW.
How do you define optimism?
A banker who irons five shirts on a Sunday.
What’s the best way to make a small fortune these days?
Start off with a large one.
What’s the capital of Iceland?
About $3.50.
Things are getting tough all over
About time someone said this
Now, I understand what politics is all about. I know how you can go after one another, and that’s good. But I think this goes too far. . . . And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.) on Meet the Press
More from Powell:
I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.
Amen.
Get your aprons ladies
[CHRIS WALLACE:] Senator, as a cold political calculation, hasn’t Governor Palin become a drag on your ticket?
MCCAIN: As a cold political calculation, I could not be more pleased. She has excited and energized our base. She is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America.
Child’s play
The oldest Sweetie, Mack, has added competitive running to his sports lineup this fall.
Saturday he competed in his first 5K (3.1 miles), coming in second in the Kindergarten-Grade 2 (K-2) class. He finished in around 27 minutes, a great achievement.
So he went and played baseball, getting two hits and driving in two.
Then he went to another running competition. (I can’t imagine where this kid gets his obsessive-compulsive behavior.) There he won. As his mother wrote when sending this photo she took at the finish line last evening: “You think this kid was tired of coming in second?” (Click image for larger version.)
But the funny thing is, Mack may not have finished second in the morning 5K after all. It turns out the winner in the K-2 group was a 39-year-old man (all these things show up on the internet after the event). I suppose it’s possible to be in kindergarten, first or second grade at age 39, but it seems awfully unlikely. Results pending verification of age and school.
For his part, Mack is 7 and in the second grade.
Strong words from historically Republican voices
It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation’s most powerful office, he will prove it wasn’t so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama’s name to Lincoln’s in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.
We may one day look back on this presidential campaign in wonder. We may marvel that Obama’s critics called him an elitist, as if an Ivy League education were a source of embarrassment, and belittled his eloquence, as if a gift with words were suddenly a defect. In fact, Obama is educated and eloquent, sober and exciting, steady and mature. He represents the nation as it is, and as it aspires to be.
Best line of the day, so far
“Taxes are always a redistribution of money. ”
Colin Powell, after his appearance on Meet the Press. (He endorsed that Senator from Illinois.)
Powell continued:
“Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay them, in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there’s nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more or who should be paying less, and for us to say that makes you a socialist is an unfortunate characterization that isn’t accurate.”
Quotes via The Washington Monthly.
For Sarah Palin’s benefit
Breaking
Not much fun (to watch)
When it got to 49-0 we left. It was halftime.
New Mexico beat San Diego State this evening 70-7; a 4-4 team over a 1-6 team. You’d think it would be fun to see, but somehow you just knew from the first touchdown it would be a blowout.
Indeed, I have witnesses to my prediction there would be 69 points just like USC over Washington State. I made my prediction when it was still only 14 to nothing early in the first quarter.
I hope the New Mexico players enjoyed themselves more than we did.
I wonder what this is like
NewMexiKen has spoken before an audience of a few hundred from time-to-time — for me at least, it was always a rush.
I wonder what this is like.
Plenty of blame to go around
Award-winning reporter Charles Duhigg of The New York Times on This American Life, October 11, 2008:
The blame for this is absolutely bipartisan. Both parties deserve a great deal of blame for what happened with the subprime mess. And to try and pin the blame on one party or the other really muddies the issue. A crisis like what’s going on right now, can’t develop without everyone fueling it. I mean we’re looking at the biggest crisis in a century. That only happens when basically everyone drops the ball. So there’s enough blame to give to both parties here.
Fannie and Freddie were part of the problem, but not the cause of the problem.
Neither McCain nor Obama have any particular claim to doing either right or wrong.
(We know Duhigg is good because he’s a native New Mexican.)
As chairman of the welcoming committee, it’s a pleasure to present a laurel and hearty handshake to our new …
Reputedly a true story via FiveThirtyEight.com:
So a canvasser goes to a woman’s door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she’s planning to vote for. She isn’t sure, has to ask her husband who she’s voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, “We’re votin’ for the n***er!”
Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: “We’re voting for the n***er.”
America gets more like Rock Ridge every day.
Best line of the day, so far
President Bush, this morning:
“In the long run, the American people can have confidence that our economy will bounce back.”
John Maynard Keynes:
“But this long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.”
Best line of the day, so far
“The Democrats are terrified. They’re convinced something terrible is going to happen because something terrible always happens. . . .
“It’s like the curse of the Bambino. The Democrats fear they’re under a jinx because they committed some sin, the political equivalent of trading away Babe Ruth. If so, it probably started with nominating Joe Lieberman for vice president.”
In any country with its priorities straight
… today would be a holiday.
It’s Chuck Berry’s birthday. He’s 82.
While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis in his very first single, “Maybellene.” Combined with quick-witted, rapid-fire lyrics full of sly insinuations about cars and girls, Berry laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance. The song included a brief but scorching guitar solo built around his trademark double-string licks. Accompanied by long-time piano player Johnnie Johnson and members of the Chess Records house band, including Willie Dixon, Berry wrote and performed rock and roll for the ages. To this day, the cream of Berry’s repertoire—which includes “Johnny B. Goode,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Rock and Roll Music” and “Roll Over Beethoven”—is required listening for any serious rock fan and required learning for any serious rock musician.
Planet Money Podcast
NewMexiKen once again recommends the daily (weekdays) 20-30 minute NPR: Planet Money Podcast as an excellent, informative means to learn about and follow the current financial crisis.
All of this week’s shows were worthwhile.
The Planet Money blog is useful, too.
Levi Stubbs, Four Tops Singer
DETROIT – Levi Stubbs, the gravelly voiced, plaintive lead singer of the Motown group the Four Tops, the group’s front man in 1960s pop classics like “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” and “Bernadette,” died Friday at his home here. He was 72.
The New York Times has an interesting article about Stubbs and the Tops.
“His voice was as unique as Marvin’s or as Smokey’s or as Stevie’s.”
They adopted the name in 1954 and were together until the first member died in 1997. One member, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, survives.