How?
Well, if you fill in any online form, and you tab over to the states section and you begin to input Florida's abbreviation (FL), at the moment that you enter the "F" up pops the choice of the Federated States of Micronesia.
If you make the mistake of hitting "enter", you have to go back and hand select the state of Florida.
IT IS SO ANNOYING!!!
Since when did the Federated States of Micronesia become a state, and how come no one informed me of this any sooner?!
I know that for some of you this is the equivalent of griping about your mate leaving the top off a tube of toothpaste. But if you were job hunting and repetitively filling out forms, it might be enough to send you out of your office for a well-deserved 15 minute rant in your backyard as the nearby squirrels run off, chattering, looking backwards over their shoulders at the insane person stomping about in their backyard.
Not that I would ever do such a thing.
So I finally gave up this morning, and googled this Federated States of Micronesia. I figured that if these employers were all considering job applications from residents of this place, maybe I should get to know my competition better.
According to Wikipedia, it's a cluster of micro islands (which explains the first part of the word "Micronesia"). These islands are near Papua New Guinea. In other words, any competitors will need to get into their hand-carved bark canoes and paddle a long ways to get over here and fight me for a job.
Which gives me some relief, since the competition is fierce enough as it is without my having to fight a headhunter to get a break.
They do have pretty spiffy attire, though... So if they become a true threat, I may have to rethink my standard business suit.
Sarah Palin's Acceptance Speech
When I first heard of Sarah Palin about 6 months ago, I was quite impressed. When McCain announced her as his running mate, my friend and I were so excited that you should've seen the emails flying between us! As you know, I've posted some pretty positive thoughts about her nomination.
But let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute.
Palin has some things that may haunt her if she doesn't get spin control on top of it right away:
1. Her televised comments as Governor saying that the Iraq war is a war of God on June 8. This will smack of the Crusades to the Muslim world (this can't look good to other countries), and many conservatives such as myself do not agree with the war, nor believe it's of God.
To see it, go here.
2. Her Bridge to Nowhere claim (that she said "thanks, but no thanks") is somewhat disengenuous, as it turns out that she may not have constructed the bridge, but she sure kept the money.
To see an article on this, go here .
I would very much like it if points 1 & 2 didn't exist, but we have to be fully aware that they do. With any luck, Palin has some excellent spin doctors on her team now, so there will be decent answers that will make this only a hiccup in the campaign.
But to ignore it is dangerous, IMHO.
11 comments:
I do not think there are even computers in the Federated States of Micronesia. They are a territory of the USA, used briefly in WWII as an air base.
I saw Palin's speech. I was a little under-whelmed. it started out OK. And she is not running for President so I did not really expect policy details or anything.
The thing about special needs children was nice, but I do not expect that to go anywhere. Republicans hate any form of social spending. They can afford their special needs children - screw everyone else.
But all she did was belittle and berate. This is to be expected to a degree, but it was like she was talking only to the base. Which she was.
The base does not care about the bridge to nowhere money, or anything else really. All they care about is their agenda.
1. Institute a theocracy - that THEY control.
2. Make abortion illegal.
3. End welfare, so all the children that are born can starve to death in the streets.
And Sarah is their go to point, or so they think. And they know about these things. Their strategy is long term.
The Maverick indeed. You know why he picked an unknown? Carl Rove. Thats why. See nobody knew squat about her before, except for a few people in Alaska. Nobody EVER even goes there to campaign. Ever. When was the last time a President ever went there? Hawaii is also largely ignored. Too far away.
Anyhow since nobody knows much about her she can say anything she wants. Like she said no thanks to the famous bridge. But when you point out that the kept the money anyway, then you are "personally attacking" her and you are "sexist". Watch for the Republicans on TV to start saying this over and over.
Hitler's propaganda minister said if you tell a lie enough times to enough people, it becomes true. And this is exactly what the Republican Party is doing.
Spin doctors. Right, Sauer. With any luck, the RNC's political machinery can distract the public from corruption and warfare with non-issues.
Right. Let's pray to God no one in the herd wakes up for this.
I've got an idea! Is Willie Horton still around? What's that character up to these days?
m@, a spin doctor isn't a cover-up specialist. They ARE a media savvy person that can put the best slant on whatever failings the candidate has.
Barack Obama has one, believe you me. And he needs it. In fact, everyone in politics needs it. Everyone's flawed.
Let me be very clear: I hate the war in Iraq. I don't agree w/ the McCain group on that one. In addition, I want something done to immediately correct the trade imbalance. Again, I disagree w/ the McCainers there. But there are things I agree with too, and I feel that they're slightly better than Obama/Biden.
Lazy, Good point. I'm betting they haven't even heard of apples, let alone Apple. So... why in the heck are they listed in the pulldown list?!
Many of my friends were impressed with Palin's speech. I thought it was good. I didn't think it was great. However, I also found out they hired one of Bush's former speech writers, which could account for much.
How does Carl Rove tie in?
As you know, I wanted Hillary. I felt that everyone was being very sexist when SHE ran, so don't discount the motivation behind many people's panning of her. Even women in the media can have mixed motivations.
On the other hand, EVERYone's flaws need to be trotted out. That includes McCain's, Obama's, Biden's, and hers. She shouldn't get a special pass, but she shouldn't get anything more than the boys get, either.
A spin doctor might as well be a cover-up artist. I took a class in college called "Fundamentals of Public Relations". It took less than two weeks to see that I would have some serious ethical problems in that area, and I changed majors. I personally cant call taking someone's bad behavior and making it look like good behavior anything other than "a lie".
As for Obama, I cant say as I'm terribly enamored of him, but at this point I dont care. The Republicans have had 7 years in power (6 of those exclusively in power) and have made a total hash of things. Why anyone can even contemplate leaving them in power is beyond me. Seems like if old-fashioned conservatives would let the party crash and burn, then they might wrest control back from the neo-con/fundamentalist coalition (a match made in hell if there ever was one, each allowing the other to exercise their worst impulses). God knows the Democrats arent going to do much good in Washington, either, but if you dont throw the bastards out who are screwing things up (whoever they may be), then how are you going to get them to pay any attention?
Come on. Carl Rove is all over this. Every day of the Democratic convention there were new McCain attack ads. And then there was the highly mysterious series of false stories about Obama going to a madrassa and him being muslim and shit.
Rove works for Fox by the way. Just throwing that out there.
So where did you get the idea Obama is a muslim? You had a post about it one day.
If you do not remember the fracas in 2000 during the Republican South Carolina primary, please research it. The EXACT SAME tactics were used against McCain. He went from a lead in the polls to a loss to Bush. It was so bad, the maverick almost left the Republican party.
They trashed and belittled his war record - because Bush had none.
They accused Cindy McCain of being a drug addict.
They made accusations that the dark adopted kid was really McCain's own flesh and blood.
There were also rumors floating around that McCain was really gay.
So he lost to a man who does not even know how to spell CIA, let alone how to run that agency.
The rest is history.
So how can you NOT see the same fingerprints all over McCain and his campaign?
Seriously, research the 2000 Republican South Carolina primary race.
Dave, There is no doubt that people lie. But a GOOD spin doctor doesn't do that. They know that lies always come back to haunt you. They merely look for the best politically correct response that can be made.
Sometimes that means that they advise the candidate to come out with the information right away - the truth is more easily swallowed when it comes from the perpetrator herself.
Sometimes that means that the candidate is advised to begin to immediately rectify the situation and wait until a whistle blower alerts the press before coming out and admitting that they did it BUT they've been making restitution.
Sometimes that means knowing what excuses to make.
It never means lying.
Lazy, didn't you read my posts about Obama being a muslim? I can't be certain that he is one NOW, but he certainly was listed as one when he was a child. He was introduced to the faith. He had a father that was. And under the muslim faith, you can follow another religion outwardly, and claim to be of that religion, and bide your time until it's 'safe' to admit you're a muslim. So, it's still possible he is. Probable? I don't know. But possible, yes.
I don't like Rove, of course. He's highly unethical, as we all know.
OK, you're refreshing my memory. I will have to look again. At that time, things were very chaotic in my life and I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have.
Oh - are you in for a shock! Lots of good stuff went on in 2000.
Remember - back then EVERYTHING McCain is saying now did not matter.
And as for the muslim thing - what would YOU do if you were living in a muslim nation (for whatever reason) and were sending your child to public school?
1. just register as "muslim" to make your life easier, knowing it is bullshit anyway.
2. Register as something else, and POSSIBLY subject you and your kid to some crazy ass old codger who finds out you are not muslim and freaks out about it.
tick.....tock.....tick.....tock.....DING! times up!
And whatever the case, it was only a year or two of his life. Not a huge major part. And then he was back in Hawaii, living with the very white and very not muslim grandparents. The same grandparents who raised his not muslim mother who was his primary (or only) care giver for years.
Were there even mosques in Hawaii??
It is all bullshit. Made up in an attempt to discredit him. When you can not run on policy - you make shit up.
Which is exactly what was done in 2000 to McCain. And what McCain is doing now.
Lazy, that muslim nation that Obama was in had plenty of schools of other faiths, don't forget that. In fact, when he was registered in a christian school, his mom listed his religion as Muslim, which she surely didn't have to do as he was now in another religious school entirely.
I do know that many people in other countries are afraid of the muslim population (as you say), obviously with very good reason. But can the same be said for Christianity? No. That should tell us all something.
I will definately do some research to refresh my memory about 2000!
"his mom listed his religion as Muslim"
His mom listed his religion as Muslim. Barack himself was how old? Old enough to drafted into al Qaeda as a manchurian candidate, maybe?
If we're not "allowed" to use the sins of the daughter against the mother who raised her, then we certainly cannot use the sins of the mother against the son that she raised.
Let's also not forget that the late sixties and early seventies were a time of great spiritual turbulence and seeking. Our current plague of militant christian fundamentalism has it's roots in that time, as much as the Hari Krishnas do. Obama's mother may well have been going through such a journey herself, and, if so, for her (and her paperwork) lil'bama's religious identity would have been in flux (for how often does a mother experiencing a chill tell her child to put on a coat?).
Dave, I certainly agree that parents don't make us who we are. However, they do have influence on us. And being Muslim is different than being pregnant. I'm sure all mothers and Muslims would be in agreement here.
Being pregnant is not a fundamental belief. Pregnant moms aren't told that they can declare themselves to be men, and only have the baby when they wish to. Pregnant moms don't believe that their salvation rests on childbirth. There are no shrines to pregnant moms, no priests, and most importantly, people aren't killing in the name of pregnancy.
Post a Comment