COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

South Dakota Republican Kristi Noem



South Dakota Republican Kristi Noem raised twice as much money as Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in the past three months and she looks to be worth every dollar.

HAT TIP: Doug

95 comments:

  1. She is a good looking lady.

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  2. Kristi's in a Hurry

    Latest ticket: 94 mph - "lotta flat open spaces"

    Song says 0 to 60 in 5.2, wonder what she's driving?

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  3. Stephanie's Big Makeover

    New Face, New Hair, New Husband

    Franken comes to campaign for her, says:

    "A vote for Stephie is a vote for Nancy Pelosi"

    Thanks, Al!

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  5. Independent video:
    She oughtta approve it and run it on TV

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  6. Blogger whit said...

    "When I hear the "Catholic" boys yelling something like "Holy Mary, Mother of God" as they decapitate their victims, I will equate them with Islamic radicals. Until then, they're common criminals."


    THAT appears to be the jackass comment of the day. Tell me Whit, what you think the LEADERS, the Priests, of the Catholic Church were saying to those little boys as they buggered them. Sure, it isn't equivalent, it is in some ways worse. "Holy Mary Mother of God bend over while I stick it up your..."

    How about some dry statistics detailing the barbarity of the CATHOLIC LEADERSHIP:

    In the USA alone:

    "There were approximately 10,667 reported minor victims of clergy sexual abuse during this period(1950-2002):

    * Around 81 percent of these victims were male.
    * 22.6% were age 10 or younger, 51% were between the ages of 11 and 14, and 27% were between the ages to 15 to 17 years.[15][24][25]
    * A substantial number (almost 2000) of very young children were victimized by priests during this time period.
    * 9,281 victim surveys had information about an investigation. In 6,696 (72%) cases, an investigation of the allegation was carried out. Of these, 4,570 (80%) were substantiated; 1,028 (18%) were unsubstantiated; 83 (1.5%) were found to be false. In 56 cases, priests were reported to deny the allegations.
    * More than 10 percent of these allegations were characterized as not substantiated. (This does not mean that the allegation was false; it means only that the diocese or order could not determine whether the alleged abuse actually took place.)
    * For approximately 20 percent of the allegations, the priest was deceased or inactive at the time of the receipt of the allegation and typically no investigation was conducted in these circumstances.
    * In 38.4% of allegations, the abuse is alleged to have occurred within a single year, in 21.8% the alleged abuse lasted more than a year but less than 2 years, in 28% between 2 and 4 years, in 10.2% between 5 and 9 years and, in under 1%, 10 or more years."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases

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  7. The blue-eyed brunettes always "did it" for me.

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  8. The depression continues for African Americans with 16.1% unemployment, near that level for a year now. Hispanics suffer 12.4% unemployment, and Obamanomics is punishing teenagers the most with 26% unemployment.

    Those are all Obummer's peeps. How's the One working out for ya?

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  9. In Nevada we went damn near 100 miles per hour, and it felt like 50.

    Talk about wide open spaces.

    You people back east don't know what you're missing.

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  10. I kinda like that Kristi.

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  11. Down from Wells through Ely is some of the best of it.

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  12. .
    How about some dry statistics detailing the barbarity of the CATHOLIC LEADERSHIP:

    There is no denying the barbarity of the assualts. There is no excusing the cover-up by the enablers in the bureaucracy.

    The perpetrators should be in jail like any other child molestors. I can agree with Ash to that point.

    What he fails to point out with his Wiki article is that as bad as the statistics are for the Church they track very closely percentage wise with trends across the general population. What studies have been done (and it's interesting to note that the Catholic Church has done the most extensive studies) all indicate that the Church is no outlier in this respect.

    You have the same percentages of abuse among other congregations, the Boy Scouts, other groups where adults hold authority positions over youth, and in the general population.

    The Catholic Church may be fucked but they are no exception.

    I suspect Ash's fixation on the problem among as I recall 2 - 4% of their priests is merely a red herring used to try to counter objections to certain aspects of Islam. But that's merely my opinion.

    Perhaps he is outraged at the level of abuse in the general population and is merely using the Catholic priests as an example. Commendable.

    Or perhaps he is merely ill-informed.

    .

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  14. Become a Lutheran

    :)

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  15. Or a Methodist, like my wife.

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  16. Lovely Quirk, now apply your statistical analysis on Muslims who are terrorists.

    I think it would be much easier to draw the conclusion that Catholicism is the problem given that the leadership is actually doing the crime than it is to draw the conclusion that Islam is the problem given the statistically insignificant number of FOLLOWERS of the religion do the crimes.

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  17. oh, one more thing Quirk, it would be nice if you would supply support for your contention that the incidence of child abuse in the Catholic clergy conforms to statistical norms of other populations.

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  18. .
    oh, one more thing Quirk, it would be nice if you would supply support for your contention that the incidence of child abuse in the Catholic clergy conforms to statistical norms of other populations.

    Sorry Ash.

    There have been a number of articles over the years that supported my contention. I would have assumed one truly interested in the subject would have seen them.

    Here is a recent one.

    Mean Men

    (Note that the article is 2 pages long.)
    .

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  19. Ash the dimwitted writes:

    Lovely Quirk, now apply your statistical analysis on Muslims who are terrorists.



    Hey Ash...

    Here is a difference for ya you nitwit...

    A. The problem with Priests was not written as doctrine as part of the Gospels.

    B. The Priests did not go into OTHER PEOPLES KINDERGARDEN to molest other peoples kids.

    Now your friends the Moslems...

    Cut the clits off their own women, who cares?

    They bugger tons of little boys (their own) who cares?

    They NEVER have cleaned up their act internally... Who cares?

    Now for the fun stuff...
    the Holy piece of SHit called the Koran and it's most elevated camel fucking so called prophet?

    ADVOCATE JIHAD AND MURDER OF THE INFIDEL...

    They murder their own, WHO CARES, but they go out and MURDER others...

    That is the difference you moron... Or in your case you macaroon....

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  20. It does Ash. People in the Christian world are pretty much the same. Common sense tells you so. People are pretty much the same. We have it in the "Lutheran world" though it's not talked about so much. In fact we try to not talk about it at all, though it is there.

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  21. .
    I think it would be much easier to draw the conclusion that Catholicism is the problem given that the leadership is actually doing the crime than it is to draw the conclusion that Islam is the problem given the statistically insignificant number of FOLLOWERS of the religion do the crimes.

    Ash your thought processes are illogical. Here you conflate a religion and it's principles and accepted tenets with the actions of the followers or officials within that religion.

    It's easy to point out abuses in te Church a thousand years ago or500 or even a couple hundred. But a couple hundred years ago slavery was accepted throughout most of the world. It would be good to think that we were a little more civilized these days. There is nothing in the New Testament that justifies child abuse or for that matter jihad.

    There is no excuse for the child abuse in the Church. As far as I can see there are no followers in the Church trying to justify them. In fact it is the Catholic "followers" that are most upset by the abuse.

    .

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  22. I think Ash might be in the running for another "Dumb Shit of the Week Comment".

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  23. I have a Catholic lady, I am very concerned about, her health is not so good, she fell and broke her hip, she was so upset about the the Catholic 'scandal' she hobbled over and talked it out with me one day.

    She is a representative Catholic.

    Her sis was a nun, up at the convent out of Grangeville, Idaho.

    I've visited there a few times.

    Those nuns, I tell you, are HOLY.

    Really lovely people.

    She is a wonderful woman, like most of the Catholics are.

    The Catholics----good people.

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  24. Now I've buttered up to Quirk.

    But I mean it.

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  25. No matter what Melody says.

    You get a bad one once in a while.

    My friend Madge is a Catholic. We went to church together, when we were gambling all night long.

    A wonderful woman, she has pictures of the saints in her house.

    She prays, does the cross, and the "mother of god".

    I like that kind of thing.

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  26. She's got damned nice hair, I think, plus a throat you wouldn't believe.

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  28. Ash likes to provoke. He rarely makes a positive assertion on anything, but when he does, he can be quite sensible. However his powers of provocation are far less skilled.

    My recommendation is that he sticks to what he is good at or improve his rhetoric.

    No Catholic defends the outrageous immoral and criminal behavior of the few disgraced priests. There is universal condemnation and public disgust. You do not have crowds of Catholics cheering in the streets when an altar boy gets molested.

    No Catholic claims a molested boy is buggered for Jesus.

    Catholic doctrine expects all human beings to be flawed and teaches forgiveness to those who are truly contrite for the ugliness of their sins and behavior and wish to change their lives.

    That is between the sinner and their God. They are still accountable to the law.

    To argue moral equivalency, as Ash has done, shows he either does not understand the meaning of "equivalent" or has a defective moral compass.

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  29. No Deuce, Catholics are no better nor no worse than Muslims.

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  30. Don't envy me, I'm in love, and can't get no where.

    It's a pisser.

    I want out.

    Peace.....Out

    :)

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  31. No Deuce, Catholics are no better nor no worse than Muslims.

    That's insane. They don't kill their bretheron they don't molest their bretheron, they don't molest their young people, and they don't cut clits off of young girls.

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  33. The reason that abuse in the Catholic Church is so visible is that the Church has deep pockets, and they are a fat juicy target for jackpot payouts in lawsuits. There is just as much abuse, on a per-capita basis, in places like Five Corners Good Book Baptist Church, but they typically only have 35 parishoners and can barely pay the heating bills as it is.

    At the same time, the rule of celibacy in the priesthood, which goes back centuries and was based on greed (too many married priests left their estate to their wives and children rather than the bishop when they died) has resulted in a priesthood that has a very large percentage of homosexual men who turn to each other for an outlet. Yet the official policy of the church is to oppose equal rights for homosexuals in society at large. Presented with the spectacle of priests unplugging from their boy butt sex long enough to organize rallies against marriage equality for gays and lesbians was the straw that broke the camels back and led me to withdraw from active participation in Holy Mother Church.

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  34. Quirk, I wanted to compliment you on your observations regarding China (I was whupped, and had to hit the hay.)

    China is to be taken seriously (just as the Soviet Union once was,) but they definitely have their problems. I'll never believe they can get where they want to go without making Very Significant changes to their political system.

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  35. We are soon going to observe the anomolous situation of elevators storing corn "on the ground" during a time of near-record high corn prices.

    Sumpin weird this way comes.

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  36. In fact, I just saw a picture (sorry, I can't provide a link, yet) of a corn pile starting at the elevator in Paulina, Ia. That is really interesting because there is still a Lot of corn to be harvested in Ia. A Whole Friggin' Lot.

    I heard yesterday that Citibank has $165 Billion Cash on Hand. Goldman, Morgan, all the rest - same story. Too much money, too little investment - Mischief is aborning.

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  37. Selah hit the jackpot with that last comment


    It's the money.

    We Luths are broke, basically.

    Cept for some lucky farmers.


    Selah is a good thinker.

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  38. Unlike most countries, the U.S. taxes the profits earned overseas by its corporations. The federal tax code then defers the tax on the non-domestic profits until the corporation brings those profits into the U.S. Since repatriating these profits means incurring a tax of as much as 35 percent, most overseas profits remain offshore.

    Last month Microsoft Corp. said it would sell as much as $6 billion in debt to fund dividend payments even though it has about $37 billion in cash and short-term investments on its books. Since most of its cash is overseas, borrowing makes better economic sense because the cost of borrowing is far lower than the tax.

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  39. If you can come up with a more self-defeating policy than That I'd like to hear it.

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  40. Plus, your multi-national companies (damned near all companies, nowadays) arrange it so all of their profits are made by overseas subsidiaries in places like Ireland, UAE, Bermuda, etc, and as a result ALL of their cash stays offshore.

    The S&P 500 Companies have close to $2 Trillion "Cash" in the bank (somewhere else, of course,) and end up paying, probably, less than 5% taxes in the U.S.

    Niether The Democrats, NOR REPUBLICANS, talk about that, do they?

    EXXON made $39 Billion last year, and paid NO U.S. Income Taxes.

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  41. If we had a sensible system for taxing Corporate Profits, say a 10% rate, that we actually collected, we'd probably reduce the Budget Deficit by at least $300 Billion/Yr.

    Of course, it would be great for the economy because a lot of that money would come home, and be used for investment, and jobs, here.

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  42. Think I just saw a lady come outta that mine!
    Hadn't read anything like that.
    Selah's nightmare.

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  43. Mister Chub does bear a striking family resemblance. Ol' Pops allus was a player. :)

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  44. They're starting to take promo shots down below, no doubt quite confident now that they'll all get out.
    ...looking forward to those book royalties.

    Outta make celebrities here share them the way they're gonna.

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  45. They sent a couple of people down there. At least one rescue worker, and a paramedic. Maybe one was female.

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  46. heh

    I'm 63 and I don't look like that, though Quirk does.

    I want Melody to know that.

    Besides, I can still think.

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  47. One guy has his shirt off.
    ...pretty bad case of man boobs.

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  48. Rufus, my cousin used to say, the one that guarded nuclear weapons in Germany, a little gut looks good on an older man, though I never agreed with him.

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  49. .
    She looked a little like Michaele Salahi.

    And I thought I saw Tareg in the crowd shaking hands with officials.

    .

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  50. .
    Besides, I can still think.

    We'll be the judges of that Bobbo.

    .

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  51. It's sad as hell to get older, you think the same, but nobody understands.

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  52. 29 year old dude had "Jesus" on his t-shirt sleeve.

    Probly start molesting kids as soon as they let him out of the hospital.

    ...AND just as likely as any muzzie to go on a murderous Jihad.

    Thank God for Ash and 'Rat, how would we keep our minds right without them?

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  53. .
    It's sad as hell to get older, you think the same, but nobody understands.

    I fitting subject for a poem, Bobbo. At least the theme of trying to recover youth and past glory. The theme is universal. I'm more into prose myself but stll...

    I'll write a poem by year's end and you can critique me.

    I'd do it sooner but I have a lot of stuff going on right now.

    .

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  54. "She looked a little like Michaele Salahi."

    They crashed the mine rescue?

    Did Chile hire Jarret to run the show?

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  55. .
    Just sayin Dougo.

    .

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  56. When ever years end comes, Quirkie.

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  57. .
    The poetic theme has already started Bob. Now I just have to draw in the words to fit the music.

    .

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  58. Older--

    The body gives out
    The body parts die
    The prostate goes
    But the Spirit of Life
    Goes on and on--


    The
    Spirit is everlasting

    And love lasts forever

    Thank God.

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  59. .
    Ok Bob

    But I'm thinking epic.

    .

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  60. Epic is Homer.

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  61. .
    Don't be literal Bob.

    Good heavens man your a poet.

    "Epic in Sweep"

    "Epic in Grandeur"

    I'm thinking epic in mood. Serious. Profound. Something dark, like "The Raven".

    .

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  62. .
    If I decide to go prose, perhaps something with 'film noir' grittiness.

    Either way this could be good.

    I'll need to think about it.

    .

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  63. .
    And don't stutter Bob.

    I know you're getting excited about this but still...

    Take a couple deep breaths and relax.

    (You know, maybe you could organize a poetry writing contest for the bar. Maybe early next year.)

    .

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  64. And, I got to get some sleep.

    The Spirit is
    Everlasting.

    It is more than you think.

    Much, much more.

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  66. .
    If you say so Bob. I certainly hope you are right.

    I have to admit to being a bit of an agnostic. Wish I wasn't.

    I sometimes think the Greeks were close to the mark in thinking there is little difference between gods and men. It is merely that the gods are man writ large.

    With that in mind, that Neil Young line keeps coming back to me, "It's better to burn out than to fade away."

    .

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  67. Q, you are trying to piss me off, aren't you?

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  68. .
    Q, you are trying to piss me off, aren't you?

    I consider it my raison d'etre Ruf.

    However, you'll have to be more specific since I try to do it in so many ways.

    .

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  69. promoting poewtry contests?

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  70. .
    Just trying to come up with some fresh ideas Ruf.

    I also thought holding a Renaissance Festival might be a cool idea but then thought maybe that idea might be a bit too ambitious.

    .

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  71. Did Bill Clinton actually say that half the country is mentally ill?

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  72. No, not exactly:
    BILL CLINTON: They enforced through their anonymous committees and their fabulous disinformation campaign to flip those poor Republicans into a white heat. Honest to God half of them need psychiatric. (Cheers and applause). Not because they're crazy but because nobody can be that angry that long and it be healthy for you. (Laughter). So they're dying to get to the polls to vote against all of us. They're trying to make this a referendum rooted in anger and apathy and amnesia, saying if things aren't perfect, vote them out. (Applause).

    This is Bill at a Maurice Hinchey rally

    It's funny because eventually it becomes "all about Bill." Suckin' that oxygen right out the room.

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  73. .
    I kinda like Bill.

    Course right now with all the Dems it appears to be a case of 'laughing to keep from crying'.

    .

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  74. WE ARE GODS WE JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET

    BUT WE WILL WHEN WE DIE

    WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS HAVING A HUMAN EXPERIENCE

    THAT'S THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

    AND THE PURPOSE IS --THE PURPOSE IS--TO SAY I LOVE YOU TO SOMEBODY

    IT'S FOR OUR GROWTH

    SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING

    CAUSE LOVE IS ALL THERE IS

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  75. http://carynlev.lookingforwhitman.org/

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  76. Where in hell did he come up with that word kelson?

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  77. I think it's part of a ship, but I'm not sure.

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  78. This beggars belief:
    NEW YORK – And you thought it was strange to hear that Barack Obama was related to Dick Cheney. Well, betcha can't guess who he's related to now!
    Yup — the president has family ties to none other than Sarah Palin, according to the genealogists at Ancestry.com, a discovery the family history site made when looking for connections between political foes.
    And that's not all — Obama also is apparently related to radio host and relentless critic Rush Limbaugh. Might you want to reconsider some of your recent comments, Mr. Limbaugh, now that you're apparently family?
    A genealogist at the Utah-based Ancestry.com, Anastasia Tyler, said Obama and Palin are 10th cousins through a common ancestor named John Smith, a pastor and early settler in 17th-century Massachusetts. Obama is related to Smith through his mother, as is Palin, Tyler said.

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  79. The kelson or keelson is the member which, particularly in a wooden vessel, lies parallel with its keel but above the transverse members such as timbers, frames or in a larger vessel, floors. ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelson
    Alternative spelling of keelson
    en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kelson

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  80. WE ARE GODS WE JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET

    Yeah, right! I'll believe that when I see it.

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  81. Trish, how ya doin?

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  82. Unbeliever.

    Have a little faith.

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  83. That's what I like about the very best poets.

    They know.

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  84. The Chilean miners made it.

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  85. Sone thirty something days, and they made it.

    Every last one.

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  86. It's ever, I tell you.

    It's consciouness.

    The best thing there is.

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  87. It is not death, it is becomimg.

    Only the fools don't know.

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  88. Have faith, Whit, that seems to best you can do right now.

    It's a start.

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  89. Hmm, what a strange country. Someone is Censoring Wen Jiabao; and, HE'S the Premier.

    Who Dat been Censoring the Premier?

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  90. You know,I think that girl is just the cat's pajamas. She is a lot like my daughter,or I would hope she would be.

    She rides horses too.

    I think there is a rise of good republican women in this country.

    And it's about damned time.

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