Sarah Palin is no dummy

Why is it that there are some people enraged about the way Sarah Palin was abused and mistreated by the media? Why is it that their darling rogue from Wasilla is always being vilified by the media? Is this a concerted effort to discredit her and what she stands for? I say categorically: NO!

This question has come up because of Gov. Sarah Palin is featured on the cover of Newsweek Magazine this week, prompting controversy for the picture the magazine selected.

Palin was featured as the cover story "She's One of the Folks", which highlighted Palin's "Joe Six-Pack" appeal, but questioned its relevancy to her VP candidacy. The article cited her interview with Katie Couric as a sign that she piques the interest of voters due to her common appeal. Sarah Palin holds the same type of appeal George W. Bush had because he was so common and incompetent the ignorant and uninformed identified with him and thought of him as “one of them”.

The old girl knows exactly what she is doing. This woman is manipulative, conniving, crafty and well versed in the art of getting even. Her major endeavor right now is to make money and in order to do so she must remain controversial. Controversial figures in our society sometimes tend to do very well financially even if their political futures seem bleak and Sarah Palin’s political stars are not shining for her, they never will. One good example of this is Mr. Rush Bouncy-Bouncy Limbaugh; he has been able to capture the imagination of millions of people with his controversial vitriolic ranting always appearing pompous, arrogant and self-aggrandizing and has made millions doing it.

But what is shinning for Sarah is a cluster of manipulations on her part to make her appear the victim against “them” and placing you on her side (“us”) Them in this case is the elite, intellectual leftist media. There is no such thing of course, as we all know the media has people of every flavor and tonality. But to hear her defenders talk it is as if everyone has come after poor Sarah with a vengeance.

True, she is no Ivy League laureate intellectual. It is true also that the old girl is in no way shape or form qualified to be the President of these United States. It is also true that when it comes to her followers you will be hard pressed to find a high school graduate and what is worse, they don’t know what Sarah Palin stands for, what her beliefs are or even if she has a concrete set of ideas, in other words, she is as devoid of facts and information as the people who are her self-proclaimed followers. This is what we just had eight years of in the person of George W. I speak for myself only, but I would like our President to be smarter than me, more educated than me and frankly, neither Sara nor George fit that profile.

So, don’t feel sorry for Sarah Palin; her fifteen minutes of fame have been extended beyond rationality and it is time they ended or she is going to sink this country into further mediocrity and chaos while she fools all of these naïve and ignorant people as she laughs all the way to the bank. She is getting all this free publicity other women would give their right tit to have.

PHOTO SOURCE: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/11/17/official-statement-on-newsweek-s-sarah-palin-cover.aspx

The United States the biggest, the best in everything?

And if you still think that the United States is the biggest and best in everything, please read the statistics down below.

This is an amusing anecdote I can tell you before I present you with the facts: My ex-wife, her parents and my two daughters were on vacation in South America. We went to Iguaçu Falls and the nearby Itaipú Hydroelectric dam. As we were looking at the water spilling over the many spillways I commented to my two daughters then 8 and 10: “girls, this is the biggest hydroelectric dam in the world, it produces enough electricity to power half of South America”

My youngest daughter, puzzled, looked at me and said: “but daddy, it is not in the United States”

Best Country in the World Rankings:

#1 Sweden 1683 points
#2 Denmark 1598 points
#3 Netherlands 1572 points
#4 Finland 1514 points
#5 Germany 1422 points
#6 UK 1407 points
#7 Canada 1373 points
#8 Switzerland 1326 points
#9 Norway 1320 points
#10 Belgium 1208 points

The USA doesn't even make the top 10. I live in the UK and well I am surprised that we rank higher than Canada and especially Norway. Well I am very happy that I have a Swedish passport!

Let's break down the ranking and see the details...

Best "Human Development" = Norway and Iceland
Best "Global Peace" = Norway and New Zealand
Best "Gender Equality" = Sweden and Norway
Highest Life Expectancy = Japan and Hong Kong
Best "Quality of Life" = Ireland and Switzerland
Most Competitive Economy = Switzerland and Finland
Most Economic Freedom = Hong Kong and Singapore
Best "Gay Rights" = Sweden and Norway
Lowest Obesity = Japan and Korea
Highest Adult Literacy Level = Sweden and Norway
Most Open Access to Research = Sweden and Netherlands
Highest Assylum Seeker Acceptance = Denmark and Canada
Most Aid to Developing Countries = Norway and Luxemborg
Highest IT Network Readiness = Denmark and Sweden
Lowest Computer Piracy = USA and New Zealand
Most Secularizartion = Czeck Republic and France

The United Nations produces an annual Human Development Report which includes the Human Development Index. The factors taken into account include life expectancy, adult literacy rate, schooling and Gross Domestic Product. Norway has been the top of this list since ousting Canada in 2001. Here are the top 20 results from 2006:


Top 21 Country & Rank
1. Norway
2. Iceland
3. Australia
4. Ireland
5. Sweden
6. Canada
7. Japan
8. USA
9. Switzerland
10. Netherlands
11. Finland
12. Luxembourg
13. Belgium
14. Austria
15. Denmark
16. France
17. Italy
18. UK
19. Spain
20. New Zealand

"The Economist Intelligence Unit, in conjunction with an international team of academics and peace experts, has compiled an innovative new Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 121 nations [using] 24 indicators, ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the level of respect for human rights [...], levels of democracy and transparency, education and material wellbeing. The team has used the latest available figures (mainly 2004-06) from a wide range of respected sources." Global Peace Index website

Best Countries for Global Peace:

1. Norway
2. New Zealand
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Japan
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Canada
9. Portugal
10. Austria

A study of 115 countries, assessing patterns of inequality by criteria including: Salaries and economic participation, access to better jobs, political empowerment, educational attainment, health and wellbeing. The league was produced by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. "While no country has yet managed to eradicate the gender gap, the Nordic countries have succeeded best in narrowing it and, in a very clear sense, provide a workable model for the rest of the world", the report says. "Switzerland, 34th, is amongst the lowest ranking European states, due to its poor record on higher education for women", whilst the UK came in high for its success on the exact same criteria. 2005 data is included to provide a sense of how consistent the rankings are on a year to year basis.

2006 Gender Equality Rank:

1. Sweden
2. Norway
3. Finland
4. Iceland
5. Germany
6. Philippines
7. New Zealand
8. Denmark
9. UK
10. Ireland
11. Spain
12. Netherlands
13. Sri Lanka
14. Canada
15. Australia

Women's Vote

First Countries to give women and equal right to vote:

1893 New Zealand
1902 Australia
1906 Finland
1913 Norway
1916 Denmark, Iceland
1917 USSR
1918 Canada
1919 Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia
1920 USA
1922 Ireland
1928 Great Britain
1944 France
1945 Italy, Japan
1963 Afghanistan, Congo, Iran, Kenya, Morocco
1971 Switzerland

Since then, all countries have followed suit, apart from Saudi Arabia.

Top 10 Life Expectancy:

1. Japan age 82.0
2. Hong Kong age 81.6
3. Iceland age 80.7
4. Switzerland age 80.5
5. Australia age 80.3
6. Sweden age 80.2
7. Italy age 80.1
8. Canada age 80.0
9. Israel age 79.7
10. France age 79.5

Life expectancy reflects overall cultural health, including diet, the health services systems, attitudes to exercise and well being, and also family structure and caring. Life expectancy stats are sometimes skewed by taking into account immigration, so that much of the time stats are compiled of natural-born inhabitants only.

Quality of Life

"The survey was prepared for the Economist's "World in 2005" publication, with the remit: "Where will be the best place to live in 2005?" Researchers took into account not just income, but other factors considered important to people's satisfaction and well-being. They included health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate, political stability and security, gender equality and family and community life." BBC News 2004 Nov 17

1 Ireland
2 Switzerland
3 Norway
4 Luxembourg
5 Sweden
6 Australia
7 Iceland
8 Italy
9 Denmark
10 Spain

Gay Rights

Sweden in 1987 was the first country to make steps towards full gay marriage, with a system of registered partnerships which specifically allowed gay partners to marry. Followed by Norway in 1993 which granted almost full legal equality for gay partnerships. Many countries have not yet got the state of tolerance that allows gay equality. There are still, in this day and age, countries where the death penalty is carried out against homosexuals (Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and other Muslim nations)

Environment

For each country, the number of companies in the Sustainability Index was divided by the number of companies in the Global Index. This give the percent of eligible countries in the index.


Sustainability Index Attainment

1. Finland 84.9%
2. Switzerland 82.4%
3. Germany 75.2%
4. UK 68%
5. Netherlands 64.5%
6. Spain 63.4%
7. Sweden 56.6%
8. Norway 33.1%
9. Denmark 33.1%
10. Belgium 32.8%

Secularization

The Pew Research Center conducted a survey of 44 countries to find out what percentage considered their religion to be important. This data supports 'Secularisation Theory': That the more developed countries are less religious. In other words: Religion declines as society advances.

Country and Percent of Population that adheres to a religion:

1. Czech Republic 11%
2. France 11%
3. Japan 12%
4. Bulgaria 13%
5. Russia 14%
6. Germany 21%
7. Vietnam 24%
8. South Korea 25%
9. Italy 27%
10. Slovakia 29%

Canada and the UK narrowly missed the top 10 with 30% and 33% respectively. The USA is the only developed country to appear above 50%. The Nordic states would probably appear with 20-30% religiosity.

We don’t even want to talk about Healthcare, now do we? Because if we do, we have to point out that we pay more for it than any other industrialized country, get the worst care and still leave millions of Americans without any coverage at all. Even communist Cuba, a third world, very poor country has a better healthcare system than the United States.

So, whenever somebody comes and fills their sorry mouths with false patriotism and confronts you with this arrogant attitude that was so prevalent during the Bush years and still remains as one of the trait characteristics of Republican assholes, refer to this set of facts and let them choke on the vomit of their stupidity. They are not fabricated nor are they the product of some left wing media propaganda tool; what they are is reality staring us in the face.

SOURCE: http://seapriestess.blogspot.com/

DON’T QUESTION MY PATRIOTISM

Why don’t we clarify this, you may say that I don’t love this country, but I do, perhaps a lot more than you, and I am talking to those who want the President to fail. I have never thought I would see the day when I heard people express their desire to have their President to fail or worse yet, actually praying for him to fail and even be dead. What kind of monsters are you? You applauded when America didn’t get the Olympics?

If you wish harm on your President you are wishing harm on America and in my book that is not patriotism, that is treason. Even if you don’t agree with some of his policies or even all of them, you don’t wish harm on the country that saw your birth, your home, your family, your friends and even complete strangers that depend on this country’s survival and success to make it in life themselves.

Perhaps you Republicans, Tea Baggers, Evangelicals and otherwise malcontents ought to examine your priorities. Is it your country or is it your political party first? Is it your religion or the place you call home? Is it your ignorance and resentment of those who think for themselves and are able to succeed and prosper that you resent? Is it that you also resent people who are so different than you that you think of them as not American enough?…well, with all due respect, if that is what you think then you are a xenophobe, or a racist or a homophobe, there is no other explanation. And that, assholes is not patriotism nor is it what America stands for.

You don’t become patriotic by wearing a lapel pin or flying the American flag on a high pole outside your house. It is not watching the Fourth of July parade nor do you obtain patriotism by adhering stupid bumper stickers on your car; even prayer wishing God to help America win a stupid war. God should not be taking sides because our adversaries are praying too. We should take a long hard look at ourselves and re-think all that has happened and the reasons for it rather than embrace some one-liner talking point you repeat like a parrot without thinking of the consequences or even the causes. Think for yourselves and don’t believe in lies, you know who they are and they may sound good at the moment you hear them but these are demagogues and opportunists who are exploiting you.

And if you do that, and still come up with the answer that you favor conservatism over progress, if you hate and despise people who think and appear different than you, then I say you are not patriotic.