The Col: "I'll bet if a Republican rang the alarm on global warming it would considered gospel"

Nope. It would recieve the same attention Democrats give to "birthers".

But you are right about it being a political game. Too bad we will never know what the reaction would be, because that is something I would bet on... easy money.

(V): "Muller leads the Berkeley Earth Project"

I suppose it beats being an underemployed sceptic. Now Muller can afford to pay his light bill... no more shivering under the blankets on those cold winter nights.

I'll change the subject this time..

Why have so many aliens crash landed on earth? With all of their advanced technology you would think landing on earth should be easy for them.

(V): "Commentator Sarah Wildman says the Affordable Care Act finally makes healthcare affordable and accessible for women."

Makes you wonder how the human race has survived up until now... what with all the stupid genes that keep getting passed along.

Now that the US has elected its first black president, I wonder if England is ready to elect its first black prime minister?

Artful Dodger: My wife would get mad at me and say, "You're doing that on purpose!"

Artful Dodger: Preemptive farting doesn't work for me.. I just end up farting twice.

Artful Dodger: That's okay. A little laughter is good for the soul... too much laughter not so much.

It don't matter who you are, ya can't beat 100% success

A political press agent or publicist employed to promote a favourable interpretation of events to journalists.


This is of American origin and came about during the 1980s, when the need for 'sound bites' became pressing enough to require a new class of publicist to provide them. The earliest printed references are from that period, For example, this from The New York Times, October 1984:

"A dozen men in good suits and women in silk dresses will circulate smoothly among the reporters, spouting confident opinions. They won't be just press agents trying to impart a favorable spin to a routine release. They'll be the Spin Doctors, senior advisers to the candidates."

So, why 'spin'? For the derivation of that we need to go back to yarn. We know that sailors and other storytellers have a reputation for spinning yarns. Given a phrase in the language like 'spin a yarn', we might expect to assume that a yarn was a tall tale and that the tellers spun it out. That's not quite right though. Until the phrase was coined, yarn was just thread. The phrase was coined as an entity, just meaning 'tell a tale'. That came about in the early 19th century and was first written down in James Hardy Vaux's A new and comprehensive vocabulary of the flash language, in 1812:

"Yarning or spinning a yarn, signifying to relate their various adventures, exploits, and escapes to each other."

So, spin became associated with telling a story. It began to be used in a political and promotional context in the late 1980s; for example, in the Guardian Weekly, January 1978:

"The CIA can be an excellent source [of information], though, like every other, its offerings must be weighed for factuality and spin."

From there it is a small step for the people employed to weave reports of factual events into palatable stories to be called 'spin doctors'.

Artful Dodger: "Anyone want to read more of Obama's gaffes? He's got plenty to choose from."

I do, as long as it doesn't take up half the page. Can that be done?

Meanwhile, deep within the bowels of the Obama campaign headquarters...

Artful Dodger: drugs can be stimulating for a brief moment too.

Americans favor Obama to defend against space aliens

AFP – Thu, Jun 28, 2012


Nearly two in three Americans think President Barack Obama is better suited than Republican rival Mitt Romney to deal with an alien invasion, according to a survey released Wednesday.

National Geographic Channel contacted 1,114 adults across the United States last month for its fanciful opinion poll ahead of its new cable television documentary series "Chasing UFOs."

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they were certain that unidentified flying objects exist. Eleven percent were confident they had spotted a UFO, and 20 percent said they knew someone who claimed to have seen one.

With Obama facing re-election in November, 65 percent said Obama would be more adept than Romney to respond to an alien invasion, with women and younger Americans more likely than men and over-65s to agree with that prospect.

National Geographic Channel said the results of the email and online "Aliens Among Us" survey dovetailed with the research underpinning "Chasing UFOs" which premieres Friday with Texas and Colorado residents describing their encounters with mysterious flying objects.

The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percent.

The "likes" link sucks, don't bother going there... don't touch that!

He likes the ladies

Artful Dodger: I don't look so good first thing in the morning either.

Artful Dodger: "I did NOT Google this:"

I knew it!!! Oh, they all laughed at me when I told them, but who is laughing now...

bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....

Artful Dodger: "I have one of Rahm too."

bring it on...

I'm sending one of those chain saw links to my son who is in the Navy.. it looks like him. I want him to show it to his wife, I think she will agree with me. heh heh heh heh heh...

Artful Dodger: I guess I could talk and post links to pictures.. it's a free country, I can do both.

Artful Dodger: The Democrats are literally gambling on this next election. They are shoving it all into the pot... either they will fundamentally change the US, or it will be their last hurrah until they can rewrite history to spoon feed to the next generation of voters.

If they succeed in fundamentally changing the US, it will be too late for anyone (including them) to complain about how those changes affect them.


I could be wasting ink here actually talking about this... maybe I'll go back to just posting funny looking pictures.

Artful Dodger: I doubt the facts about where he was born is of little concern to those who want him in the oval office. The only reason Obama has been lying about this is that he cannot legitimately hold the highest office here unless he has been born here.

It wasn't an issue when he was a senator, so at that time there was no reason for him to not tell the truth. The story had to change for him to legitimately run for president, and a lot of people covered his backside to make it happen... and still are. After he is out of office the purpose for the lie will be gone, and only then will the truth about it be allowed to see the light of day.

No one wants to admit they were duped the first time around, so the issue won't work because as the Col said, "It's a gamble the Democrats would happily take.." I'll wager there are US citizens who don't even know why it's an issue in the first place.

Obamas father was born in Hawaii. Two days later he walked to Kenya and gave birth to Obama, then he gave him to Rahm Emanuel and walked back to Hawaii. That's what really happened.

It must be true... no one in their right mind could just make this stuff up out of whole cloth.

We've just now learned from documents recently unearthed near area 51 that Kenya is the 56th state, so as it turns out Obama did not lie. He was born in the US of A.

Okay, he did lie about being born in Hawaii, but not really... he misspoke.

Vikings: oops, my bad.

I saw Silent Movie again a few weeks ago. Haven't seen it in decades.

...and the evils of capitalism

Michael Moore weighs in on the problems with healthcare<a/>.

Silvery Moon: "Kinda looks like someone I know but wearing a skirt"

You know Michael Moore? That's awesome!

MissDelish: yeah

We wouldn't need Tea Party activists if...

Silvery Moon: It's easier to reason with some of the people here with pictures. Words seem to confuse them...

JungleBurgers:"I meant...fun?"

Yes.

Artful Dodger: "I'm moving to Canada."

eh?

JungleBurgers: "Do you practice?"

Since I stopped going to McDonalds I'm not in the kind of shape I need to be in to practice bushido anymore.

Correction, it must have been the day before yesterday... Yesterday was tame by comparison.