From the NYT:
“WASHINGTON — Some White House officials were so concerned last year about the financial health of Solyndra, a solar equipment manufacturer that had received federal loans, that they warned that a presidential trip to the company’s California factory could prove a major embarrassment, newly disclosed e-mails show.”
obama never misses an opportunity to embarrass himself, does he?
Speaking of dumbasses, here’s my favorite clip from the movie Legally Blonde (a guilty pleasure).
p.s. Votermom over at Crawdad has named today “Run, Sarah, run!” day. If you are with me in my lifelong goal of only ever voting for women for office and doing everything we can to encourage MORE women to run, please post on FaceBook, twitter, email, etc.
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
murphy 10.04.11 at 10:25 am
My fifth grader is running for Home Room rep to the middle school Student Council. Today she has to give a short speech to her class and the voting is tomorrow. She is surprisingly not nervous at all and practiced her speech for us at least 10 times this morning before school.
There are 18 kids in her class. 10 boys and 8 girls. SEVEN of the 10 boys are running for the position. Only 2 girls are.
She’s pretty sure the boys will ONLY vote for a boy and that some of the girls will too.
These kids are 10 years old.
This is what we’re up against.
murphy 10.04.11 at 10:27 am
another way of looking at it, even at the young age of 10, fully 70% of the boys in her class think they are qualified to be elected. Only 25% of the girls do.
By the time they reach high school or college how many of those girls will still think they can buck the system?
Vote for women!
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 10:40 am
I’m casting my vote for Skipper!!
goofsmom 10.04.11 at 10:51 am
I just snuck on before leaving for work.
Skipper has my vote too! Gooooo Skipper!
Zee 10.04.11 at 10:54 am
Good for Skipper!
I love that part of Legally Blonde, too!
murphy 10.04.11 at 11:28 am
obama at his lowest point so far in his presidency today:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/obama_approval_index_history
have a cupcake!
http://www2.traceysspace.net/blog_images/palincupcake.jpg
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 12:36 pm
Related.
I read an article in the nytimes last month arguing against gender segregated schools/classes. It was noted that while the girls classes thrived, the boys… not so much. The main gist of the arguement was that boys were much more unruly/dispruptive in the absense of girls in the classroom; that having mixed gender classes would go a long way to getting the boys to settle down and focus.
No mention of the negative effects of that mix on the girls’ studies or classroom environment, or that the brunt of controlling the boys’ disruptiveness becomes, by default, the responsibility of girls.
Christ! If theyre disruptive, counsel them or kick their sorry asses out of school. Girls aren’t their tiny mommies and are not responsible for the rehabilitation of boys.
HP Boston 10.04.11 at 12:36 pm
You go Skipper!! Girls rule! Vote for Skipper, she will one day be your Senator! I like the sound of President Skipper the lady with experience. Past endevors include CEO of Lemonade Inc.
freddiebrown 10.04.11 at 12:58 pm
Hey – get this.. we knew it all along. Guys are just happy happy playing with their computer games while Women are getting ahead..
Why men are in trouble:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/opinion/bennett-men-in-trouble/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
For the first time in history, women are better educated, more ambitious and arguably more successful than men.
Now, society has rightly celebrated the ascension of one sex. We said, “You go girl,” and they went. We celebrate the ascension of women but what will we do about what appears to be the very real decline of the other sex?
The data does not bode well for men. In 1970, men earned 60% of all college degrees. In 1980, the figure fell to 50%, by 2006 it was 43%. Women now surpass men in college degrees by almost three to two. Women’s earnings grew 44% in real dollars from 1970 to 2007, compared with 6% growth for men.
In 1950, 5% of men at the prime working age were unemployed. As of last year, 20% were not working, the highest ever recorded. Men still maintain a majority of the highest paid and most powerful occupations, but women are catching them and will soon be passing them if this trend continues.
murphy 10.04.11 at 1:03 pm
love it Freddie, great link!
HP Boston 10.04.11 at 1:05 pm
Yup Frediebrown that is why we are being pushed back, back, back……
Headscarf anyone?
HP Boston 10.04.11 at 1:06 pm
A cannibal was walking through the jungle
and came upon a restaurant operated by a
fellow cannibal.
Feeling somewhat hungry, he sat down and looked over the menu….
+ Tourist: $8.00
+Broiled Missionary: $10.00
+Fried Explorer: $12.50
+Baked Democrat or Grilled Republican: $100.00
The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, “Why such a high price for the Politicians?”
The cook replied, “Have you ever tried to clean one? They’re so full of shit, it takes all morning.”
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 1:38 pm
The menz are skeert. Maybe they should stop framing this as a contest between the sexes? Whatever, the reverse of these statistics never seemed to get any attention. Eff ‘em.
Why men are in trouble.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/opinion/bennett-men-in-trouble/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 1:40 pm
Oops. Sorry Freddie. Saw your link after I commented.
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 1:51 pm
“We said, “You go girl,” and they went.”
THEY said?? Who the hell is “WE”??
They’ve been saying “hell no” for ever. WE (women) “went” in spite of institutionalized sexism; is spite of the patriarchy, in spite of the mutants, in spite of the penicentric religions, in spite of the barbarians.
Bennett is a smuck.
HP Boston 10.04.11 at 2:01 pm
Well said Dances! Bennett is a smuck.
murphy 10.04.11 at 2:25 pm
oops, election was today, not tomorrow.
She WON!!
murphy 10.04.11 at 2:26 pm
lol hp at the cannibal joke!
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 2:37 pm
Whoaaaa!!!
Congratulations Skipper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woohooooooooooo!!
SHE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FANTASTIC!!!
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 2:38 pm
Skipper deserves her own post: GIRLS WHO SMOKE!!!!!!
Would have loved to have heard Skipper’s speech!
murphy 10.04.11 at 2:46 pm
“Hi, my name is Skipper and here are a few reasons why I hope you will vote for me for Student Council. First, I am not afraid to speak up so I will bring all of your ideas to the Council. Second, I try to be friends with everyone so everyone’s voice will be heard on the council. And finally, I am very honest and will not make any promises I can’t keep. I will work hard every day for our classroom so I ask you to vote for me. Thank you.”
I was working late last night and completely forgot about the election. When she told me her speech this morning it was the first time I heard it.
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 2:50 pm
HP
I like the sound of President Skipper the lady with experience. Past endevors include CEO of Lemonade Inc.
_____________________
CEO Lemonade Inc.
Principle partner: Artists Representative and Management, Inc.
Home Room rep to the middle school Student Council.
Best Camper award – 2011
Environmentalist
Feminist
Musician
Hockey Player
Geez, Skipper’s resume is longer than Obama’s and she’s only (soon to be) 11 years old!!
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 2:52 pm
murphy 10.04.11 at 2:46 pm
“Hi, my name is Skipper and here are a few reasons why I hope you will vote for me for Student Council. First, I am not afraid to speak up so I will bring all of your ideas to the Council. Second, I try to be friends with everyone so everyone’s voice will be heard on the council. And finally, I am very honest and will not make any promises I can’t keep. I will work hard every day for our classroom so I ask you to vote for me. Thank you.”
I was working late last night and completely forgot about the election. When she told me her speech this morning it was the first time I heard it.
————————–
No wonder she won! I would have voted for her even if I didnt know her!! Great speech. All good honest points!! What more could you ask for?
Congratulations!!
freddiebrown 10.04.11 at 2:59 pm
Well done Murphy for a Skipper who has done well.
Got to groom the women for the future !!
There is a lot to be done because a lot of parents are still stoking the boys. It is a tradition all over the world so it is difficult to break. But it is so good to know that the tables are turned…and I am proud that in my small way, I am turning it at my end but there is a long road ahead.
I miss Ms. Hillary Clinton but I would vote for a woman POTUS no matter what party she is from because the big picture is the MOST important picture to me and I get that I will never find a candidate that I agree with 100% of the time but a female POTUS is the cake of all cakes. We must break that POTUS ceiling to further propel the women of our time and that means you and me..gals !
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 3:09 pm
freddiebrown #24
Right on, sistah!
Everyone doing their part in their own sphere of influence until we’ve reached critical mass works!!
Zee 10.04.11 at 3:13 pm
OMG, such fantastic news! Congrats to Skipper! Confetti galore!
Forget the college fund (well, not entirely), let’s start a pac for her future office runs!
Zee 10.04.11 at 3:20 pm
#11 HP….totally. I have been fuming for two days about reports from Russia on how they are brutalizing women to get them under the veil, draped from head to toe, and not allowing them in state buildings, and sending flyers to schools telling women/girls not to speak loudly or look men in the eye.
“extremists” my left foot. That is their systematic norm.
I put the link in the previous thread, but won’t drag it up here because this is a celebratory thread! Zerobama is a nitwit who is burying himself and Skipper is our bright future! Let us eat cupcakes!
Eat cupcakes and tell more cannibal jokes!
HP Boston 10.04.11 at 5:52 pm
I would like to share an experience with you all, to do with drinking and driving.
As you know some of us have had brushes with the authorities on our way home in recent months.
Well I for one have done something about it. The other night I was out for a dinner and a few drinks with some friends.
Well, after having far too much vino, and knowing full well I was wasted,
I did something I’ve never done before. I took a bus home.
I arrived home safely and without incident, which was a real surprise, as I have never driven a bus before.
freddiebrown 10.04.11 at 6:07 pm
OMG – Dances agrees with me. You Go Girl !! yea, yea, yea
HP Boston – # 28 That is a funny one! I was all serious waiting for the “Oh, what happened…” part.
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 6:09 pm
HP
LOLOLOL!!
Delle 10.04.11 at 6:11 pm
HP -
The cannibal joke is funny; the story about the bus is hysterical.
You are on a roll.
Delle 10.04.11 at 6:14 pm
Since I got on the blog a few minutes ago, I’ve learned that Skipper was running for Home Room rep and that she won!
Congratulations to Skipper and to Murphy for having such a smart daughter.
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 6:30 pm
Freddie,
I’ve agreed with you several times! I guess you, and others, wouldn’t know that because I tend to speak up mostly when I disagree.
Sorry about that.
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 6:33 pm
WTF??? Whose obsession??Whose facination?? Christ Almighty!
I didnt bother to read the article. This paragraph alone was more than too much.
“Our obsession with female evil, our fascination with the possibility of a depraved criminal hiding behind a pretty face, drove the coverage of the Amanda Knox case, Nina Burleigh writes.”
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/opinion/burleigh-amanda-knox/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 6:37 pm
RE: 34, okay read it… not what I was expecting. Whew.
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 7:59 pm
Rasmussen Oct 4, 2011:
19% Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president.
43% Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of … wait for it…
-24
MINUS TWENTY-FOUR
honora 10.04.11 at 8:14 pm
Skipper for America, 2036
(Don’t embarrass me if I got her age vs. election year wrong. I am not the one that will be president, so my math doesn’t matter.)
DancesWithPumas 10.04.11 at 8:44 pm
Let’s win one for the Skipper!!
freddiebrown 10.04.11 at 9:57 pm
Dances – I heard on KPBS today that the Wall Street/San Diego will be at the Civic Center. Didn’t catch where. Just thought I’d FYI.
goofsmom 10.04.11 at 10:38 pm
(((Skipper)))
I am so proud of you. YOU ROCK!!! Great speach.
XOXOXOXO
goofsmom 10.04.11 at 10:38 pm
Oops… speech
PumaRhythm 10.05.11 at 4:16 am
Yaaaaay Skipper!!! Congratulations!
also..
Hell Yes!! I am with you Murphy!
if Sarah runs…I hope she gets all of the 18million+ votes that were cast for Hillary in 08..and hits that ceiling so hard..it rains glass shards on the moon!
just think…if it were not for the ‘corrupt bastards club’ in the DNC…we would be gearing up for Hillary’s reelection campaign..may those backstabbers rot in h*ll!
so now it looks like the ‘cbc’ within the Repub Party is pulling the same sh*t with Sarah..not surprising though..because the highjacking of the ’08 Dem Primary came straight out of Rovers playbook via Donna B. and company.
so yes…
Run Sarah Run!
Vote Women
Delle 10.05.11 at 4:30 am
Bryon York on Bill Clinton’s new book –
Clinton Polishes Image:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/york-clinton-polishes-image-obamas-expense
Does anybody think that this means Hillary is getting ready to run? I had just about given up that idea, but reading this article brought it back.
FTA:
Judging by pre-release publicity, the book resembles nothing so much as a campaign tract for a third Clinton term. Of course Clinton is barred by the Constitution from being elected president again, but “Back to Work” still seems the product of an author who’s gearing up for something.
‘Third Clinton Term’ . . . . . ‘Gearing Up For Something’. What else could he be implying?
PumaRhythm 10.05.11 at 6:07 am
#42 sorry…
meant to say (rains shards of glass on the moon)
#43 Delle, “A Clinton Third Term” …be still my heart!!
maybe they are thinking of giving O’minus24andfalling a pink slip and sending him back to Chicago to play golf.
Hillary!!!!!
bbl..((((Pumas))))
stoney42 10.05.11 at 7:35 am
Kudos to Skipper!
I am wearing my “What Skipper Said…” t-shirt today in her honor.
theamericanway 10.05.11 at 8:30 am
Skipper, you are the reality of our hopes, and an apple which mercifully did not fall far from the tree!
Murphy, you’ve got to be bursting with pride, and rightfully so. I also see some poetic justice in your direct presence here for serving up cupcakes at the time of the historic minus 24.
Delle 10.05.11 at 8:43 am
The first woman has been named chief usher at the WH:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/angella-reid-first-woman-named-chief-usher-at-the-white-house/2011/10/04/gIQAFwQoLL_blog.html
Her name is Angella Reid.
Congratulations Angella.
HP Boston 10.05.11 at 8:58 am
How wonderful and sad is that!
Congratulations Angella.
Now if only you had the power to user that loserinchief out the door.
HP Boston 10.05.11 at 8:58 am
USHER his sorry ass far far away………..
HP Boston 10.05.11 at 9:02 am
Oh yeah what the hell will they do with a “class act” in the WH? To little to late!
stoney42 10.05.11 at 11:17 am
Heard on tv that Move on.o and a union, didn’t get which one, are supporting the Wall Street protest.
Delle 10.05.11 at 11:27 am
President Obama stopped by an early childhood education laboratory to read to children ages 3 to 5.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/10/obama-reads-kids-book-about-dog-bo/1?csp=34
He read them a book about HIMSELF!
Delle 10.05.11 at 6:22 pm
I guess you’ve all heard this by now, but Sarah is not going to run:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/105741/
freddiebrown 10.05.11 at 6:34 pm
Tooo darned bad about Palin. We have two votes for her
Now there is one woman left and a swarm of men.
Will women ever be good enough to govern the men ?
stoney42 10.05.11 at 6:38 pm
Have you seen this? I don’t twitter.
http://www.politico.com/politicoprimary/
stoney42 10.05.11 at 6:43 pm
Steve Jobs has died. RIP.
gordana 10.05.11 at 6:44 pm
RIP Steve Jobs!
DancesWithPumas 10.05.11 at 6:58 pm
BREAKING NEWS 7:38 PM ET Steven P. Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple, Dies
Thank you for everything, Steve. RIP
DancesWithPumas 10.05.11 at 7:00 pm
Will women ever be good enough to govern the men ?
———————
Women have always been good enough, better than, to govern. It’s the weak assed insecure egocentric males who are too frightened to recognize that fact.
DancesWithPumas 10.05.11 at 7:20 pm
Fantastic commencement address at Stanford by Steven Jobs. You won’t regret watching this youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
DancesWithPumas 10.05.11 at 7:21 pm
Apple: Remembering Steven Jobs- 1955-2011
http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/
goofsmom 10.05.11 at 8:12 pm
RIP Steve Jobs.
goofsmom 10.05.11 at 8:13 pm
Dances,
#59 – Well said!
freddiebrown 10.05.11 at 8:17 pm
Steve Jobs was such a visionary. My apples all thank his wonderful mind and great genius. I think I have seen that U-tube commencement at Stanford. It was so simply spectacular.
turndownobama 10.05.11 at 8:42 pm
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SKIPPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
freddiebrown 10.05.11 at 8:52 pm
It is people like Steve Jobs and his humble beginning and having turned Apple into the the second largest corporation in America that I find very difficult to take part in the Wall Street protests. There are a lot of real people who have worked really hard to be successful (and thus rich)and it is difficult to begrudge them. Many are philanthropists and gave a lot to charity – many people don’t know that. I love reading up on these rags to riches CEO’s and I do seek out these stories to inspire me.
DancesWithPumas 10.05.11 at 9:22 pm
freedie
I don’t believe for a minute that the #occupywallst protesters begrudge people who become rich. I think it’s more about the lying cheating scum entities (Brokerage firms, Banks, Mortgage / SubPrime Mortgage lenders, etc.) and their relationship to / and positions of influence, power, and control in our gvernment who have taken us all for a ride and are responsible, along with other mega-corporations, for the financial calamities we are now facing and for which we, the “little people” are/will bear the brunt. It’s “the other 99%” (us) who are attempting to change the calculus of the military-industrial-corporate complex as government that is bleeding us dry.
Of all the #occupies that I see floating around, I have yet to see one that sadi #occupyapple. There are the righteous and there are the scum. #occupywallstscum.
Zee 10.05.11 at 9:40 pm
It’s so sad about Steve Jobs. All the money in the world couldn’t save him. So sad for him, so young still, and a terrible loss for us all in terms of future innovation. But as an inspiration, he will live on.
freddiebrown, it’s not the Steve Jobs the protesters are protesting. How about the criminal FRAUD on Wall St? How about the people thrown out of their houses NOT because they “bought too much house” or mortgaged to the hilt but because the CRIMINAL banksters sold their shady mortgages at over 10-to-1 their value and falsely rated them as AAA. And that is the house of cards that collapsed. The “securities” market, not the everyday people defaulting.
The foreclosures are full of fraud, too. Banks are not working with people because the falsified paper value of these properties is more than if they even sold them. So they pretend to lose paperwork and let the vacant homes fall into disarray and bring down everyone’s property values.
The “banks paid back every penny of the bailout” is a BS meme as well. They are still getting corporate welfare in government loans at close to zero percent interest, and then sitting on the money because they can make a zero risk profit loaning the money back to the US via government bonds! Too bad for anyone wanting that money back in circulation.
It gets worse. The laws changed to let companies CLAIM they were banks, such as American Express Travel, so they could horn in on the gravy train, too. The book I see recommended the most is “It Takes a Pillage” by Nomi Prins, who used to be in the industry and is blowing the whistle…plus she uses our gal Hillary’s pet phrase to play off of in her title!
I hope the kids and the unions and more and more JOIN the occupations and support the occupations until the media and the public is moved to action including the spread of more knowledge. I have not even touched on the shadow wars, evil, devastatingly expensive, and unconstitutional. We should all be in the street, but I realize people need to hold on, so I support those who CAN and ARE demonstrating, because they are our true representatives.
And any haltering missteps on their end are born out of trying something new. Who knows what kind of outlandish clashes and missteps our founding fathers made in their saloons, planning our new country. (Well, we all know ONE brutal misstep they made: not listening to Abigail Adams to “remember the ladies.” ) Sigh! :/
Zee 10.05.11 at 9:41 pm
errrr….or what dances said!
freddiebrown 10.05.11 at 11:03 pm
Zee and Dances .. Noted your side which is true. There has to be a clearer target message to these protests. I think there is too much generalities being bandied about that seem to suggest that there is resentment of the rich and their wealth needs to be distributed. I am not rich by any means, I shopped at Ross last night but I think it has a scary undertone that smacks of socialism. As with everything, the undesirables tend to sidle up to get their message across as well and the message starts to get tainted. Warren Buffet is all for higher taxes for the rich,but isn’t it hyprocritical of him to say, hey if you don’t like the $5debit card charges, go bank else where.. He is a major shareholder of Bank of America. Its like saying ” I hear you and I am with you” and then give the knife a little twist.
Anyway, goodnight – have to get back to work.
murphy 10.06.11 at 8:18 am
Shucks posted,
take it upstairs!
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