@Geekazoid: Oh, I get it; all the comments like "SKANKY", "dead eye b1tch", "beehive mess... get a makeover soon", "stupidity outweighs any perceived aesthetic... she’s merely a fashion accessory and not a good one at that... old dusty ass... those interested in barn animals and backwoods inter-family relationships...", "living the dark ages and engaged in WW3", "not even close to Halloween,” "playing the part of First Lady", "blatant pandering of the McCain camp... most superficial and meaningless levels...", and "... if you like that 'drag' look" are what you'd call "enlightened dialog?

Please note that everything in quotes in the preceding paragraph was copied from the preceding comments. I don't see much discussion of policies or viewpoints here, only shallow attacks on Palin & McCain's character based on looks and age. Typical — and expected — on a forum like Neatorama, but I don't hear much better coming from the left anywhere else either.

If you'd like to get into a substantive discussion of the proposed policies and viewpoints of the candidates on both sides, I'd be happy to oblige. But I won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen here.

All the acrimony on display here... Weren't we all told that the it's the left that is most tolerant, most open to new ideas, and least likely to make judgments based on looks? What a bunch of hypocrites.

Hey, Big Dave; So do you consider Barack Obama qualified for the job? I don't.

I guess I can understand that women are wanting to mimmic what she wears, but the wig part has me flummoxed. I didn't realize that wig wearing was such a big thing.

Oh, and Absent(minded); if being conservative is such a terrible thing, why is it that liberals almost always try to fool voters by moving to the right during campaigns? Even Obama is doing it.

How do you spell "regret"? Won't be long and she'll be wishing for a great big undo button.

Oh, and I gotta say, PHOTOSHOP! and not a very good one at that. Didn't even take time to make sure the skin tones matched. That and the face looks like it belongs on a slightly, um, fuller body than that one. Wonder if that even belongs to her.

"Strict censorship kept their existence out of the newspapers, and those who knew of their presence were sworn to secrecy. It was feared that news of the balloons arrival would encourage the launching of more balloons. They weren't seen as much of a danger, but the hush-hush handling of the situation worked: the Japanese abandoned the project because they didn't hear of any success."

Wow; such a thing would never happen today... "The people have a right to know" scream the mainstream media. Makes one wonder how different the war in Iraq would have gone if the left and their willing accomplices in the media had kept their traps shut about the successes of the enemy and focused instead on the successes of our own troops. Whose side are they on anyway?

sparge makes a good point; last winter a neighbor called me & asked for some help in changing a flat. She had tried but couldn't get two of the lugnuts loose, AAA couldn't be there for two hours, and she needed to pick up kids in one hour. I couldn't get one of those nuts loose myself, and ended up twisting two of the pansy-arse original-equipment lug wrenches into uselessness. Even the big 4-way wrench I had twisted slightly trying to get it loose (yes, I'm a big guy; 6'2", 225lbs, and you don't want to pick a fight with me). I ended up letting her use my car to pick up her kids and waited for the AAA guy to show up with an air wrench. Ever since, I always check the lug nuts on my vehicles when I get them back from the shop to make sure I can get them loose with a wrench.

Being handy and using those DIY skills also ought to be looked at from an economic point of view — would it cost less to pay someone to do the job than I could earn in the same amount of time it would take me to do it myself? If the answer is yes, I usually do it myself, whether I know how to do it or not, and if not, just figure it out as I go. In years past, I didn't make a lot of money, so it was usually easy to determine which way to go, and I built up an impressive skill set in the process. Now I'm earning more, but will still revert to doing it myself fairly often because I'm a cheapskate and I like doing things myself.

Joe has a point as well; the girls ought to be subject to the same question. My wife bakes bread weekly from flour she mills herself, makes quilts, cooks like it's nobody's business, tends a mean garden (no, I'm not married to Ms. C.) and has taught our kids how to do all that too (even the boys); how many women do you know that can do the same?

renderanything boils it down well; it all comes down to specialization. No matter how well-versed I am in DIY, I still rely on others for some of the stuff I start with. I can weld, but I can't forge steel from raw ore. I can build a house, but I don't have the skills or tools to provide my own lumber, wiring, flooring or plumbing fixtures from raw materials; there are basics I need to start with, and getting some of those from truly raw materials is way out of my league. My wife has been reading the original "Little House On The Prairie" books to our youngest son lately, and some of the things that Pa Ingalls could do were very impressive. I dare say I would've done well in those days, but it was a hard, hard life. There are a lot of conveniences we take for granted today thanks to the specialization that our modern economy allows us.

But this topic brings to mind a tangental question... As people become further isolated from the raw materials of life, do they become less likely to believe in an everlasting, all-powerful and omniscient God? It definitely doesn't hold true in all cases, but there seems to be a tendency for people who are surrounded by things made by man to think that's all there is, and that any problem can be overcome technologically.

My Dad taught me the value of thinking twice before getting a tattoo — even three times before getting a tattoo with someone's name on it — without saying a word. You see, he got this great tattoo of a heart with his girl's name — Esther — on a scroll across the front. It was even in two colors; a real extravagance for a WWII GI.

Then he got back from the war and married Celeste. And Celeste would remind him regularly that he had the wrong name on his arm. Not that he needed the reminder, but she was happy to offer it, especially when she wasn't happy with him for whatever reason.

So I would say that getting a tattoo with the name of an empty suit like Obama on it is as bad an idea as voting for the empty suit. Which is to say it's a really, really bad idea. So, please; don't do either.

Guess you get what you pay for. There are going to be a lot of embarrassed Obama tattoo wearers come November when their man loses in a landslide bigger than 1972.

Maybe they could sue Calfy for a free tattoo removal.

I watch tv, but we don't subscribe to cable and that limits what and when we watch. My wife grew up without a tv in the house, and if it were up to her we wouldn't have one either. My family was the opposite; the tv was always on, if for nothing other than background noise. As a result, I like to have the tv on while I'm doing other things, but it drives her crazy because if it's on it consumes her attention. My kids tend to be the same way; if it's on, they're glued to it.

One of the new shows that my kids & I enjoy is Wipeout! Funny, funny stuff; especially the hosts.

i has had enuf strawbries, thx

What I'd really like to know is how this post didn't not get linked with this one?

I'd have to agree with the author; we're not helping much by pouring more money into Africa. But the poverty is only a symptom of the real problems there; the root cause of much that ails Africa is political corruption. Much of the money that comes into African countries gets skimmed off by crooked politicians and bureaucrats. Those same politicians & bureaucrats — or others very much like them — keep the people beaten down so that they remain dependent on the crooked governments. And those same politicians & bureaucrats — or others very much like them — keep getting re-elected in the democratic nations, or fight their way to becoming dictators. Makes one wonder if colonialism was really all that bad a deal.

You'd think that after a couple millennia Africa would have it a little more, umm... together. How is it that Africa has been inhabited for so long and is still such a mess?

@Homer Jay: I was surprised to see so many cell phones in Africa when I visited there in 2004. They're not often seen in the most impoverished ares, because they cost money; if people have no work to produce income, they can't support a phone. Communication is becoming increasingly important as Africa modernizes; cell phone networks are much cheaper to install & maintain than landlines, so it only makes sense to go that way. But I still find it hard to understand how many Africans can justify spending such a large percentage of what little they do earn on cell phones.

It's a boot.

Ohhhhhh.... You mean the black thing strapped to his leg... Others have already gotten that; corn cutter. But how many have actually used one or know how they work?

Unions had their place, about 100 years ago. Now the only thing they're good for is raising any given employer's cost of doing business by a significant percentage. If it weren't for the corrupt union bosses like this bozo, that money could very well be going into the pockets of the workers instead.

I worked one unionized job in my entire life, and that was only for 7.5 hours -- didn't even finish my shift, the job was so crappy. I live in a right-to-work state, but when I balked at signing the union card, I was visited by some very large coworkers and strongly encouraged to put my doubts aside. "Rocking the boat" on my first day would not be in my best interest. In the end I signed, and was durned lucky to even get a dime for my trouble that one day.

Oh, and the others that were hired that same day but didn't have the sense to walk out ended up being laid off two weeks later. Some union.

"It is time to put aside the global warming dogma..."

Wow; never thought I'd see the day.

"Of course, this is by no means accepted by most scientists in the world," but then again, neither is the whole global warming/change business. Many give lip service to it only because their livelihood depends on playing the game. I've never once seen a situation where so-called "consensus" on a semi-scientific theory equals "right".

Wow. Holidays for everything. Of course it comes from a greeting card company.

When will Neatorama Day be declared?