Saturday, January 17, 2009

Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

Obamameter.JPG

Polifact.com

Growing majority worried over Obama eligibility Even half in Illinois say issue should be reviewed, resolved

AOL

Now there’s a Barack Obama-branded cellphone (in Kenya)

A Barack Obama Branded Mobile Phone

Handset vendor, Mi has launched a Barack Obama branded mobile phone for sale in Kenya - the home country of the President Elect's father. The handset is co branded with the Obama colours and logo and is being sold for roughly $30.

The company says that the Mi-Obama handsets are available exclusively at Fone Xpress@ Nakumatt, Tuskys and Phonelink retail stores throughout Kenya, the product in its first week of availability has already sold over 1000 units in Nairobi alone.

"The coming of the new President of the USA is an auspicious moment for all Kenyans and the people of Africa. It is our pleasure to be able to launch the Mi-Obama phone as a memento that will always stay within the user's hearts and minds" says Alpesh Patel, Director of Mi-Fone.

The company said that it thought the opportunity was just too good to miss.

The President-Elect himself is famously addicted to his BlackBerry phone. 

Cellular News

Legos The Obama Inauguration


Zimbabwe introduces $100 trillion banknote

Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $100 trillion Zimbabwean banknote, worth about US $33 on the black market, to try to ease desperate cash shortages, state-run media said on Friday.


Friday, January 16, 2009

Google Announces Layoffs

Google has announced layoffs. Not contractors. Not hourly workers. Googlers.

Not many, thankfully--only 100--and some may be able to find jobs elsewhere in the company.  But they're all in HR, which tells you something about how quickly Google has scaled back its own growth expectations.

From the Google Blog:

Changes to recruiting

1/14/2009 03:01:00 PM

As we made clear during our last quarterly earnings call in October, Google is still hiring but at a reduced rate. Given the state of the economy, we recognized that we needed fewer people focused on hiring. 

Our first step to address this was to wind down almost all our contracts with external contractors and vendors providing recruiting services for Google. However, after much consideration, we have with great regret decided that we need to go further and reduce the overall size of our recruiting organization by approximately 100 positions. 

We know this change will be very difficult for the people concerned, and we hope that many of them will be able to find new roles at Google. They helped build this company, new hire by new hire, and we are enormously grateful for everything they have done. 

ALLEYINSIDER


Hudson river plane crash before authorities arrived (Photo)


Double Click for Large Size Photo

Atheists want God stricken from inaugural oath

YAHOO

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Ricardo Montalbán, 1920-2009 and Patrick McGoohan, 1928-2009 Died.

WIRED

Why do you need a license to fish?

HOWSTUFFWORKS

Serial coffee drinkers more prone to hallucinations and 'see dead people'according to a study

Herald Sun

Court rules that teachers can have sex with 18-year-old students

The Associated Press reports that the Washington Court of Appeals ruled that the state law that bars teachers from having sex with students doesn't explicitly include students who are 18 or older. The judges said the law is too vague.


This stems from a case involving a choir teacher at Hoquiam High School and an 18-year-old student in the choir. According to the opinion information sheet, no one denies the facts of the case --- it's the vagueness of the law that was called into question.

It would be interested to see how this might affect the person's teaching certificate, if it is determined that no crime was committed. A teacher found guilty of sex crimes against students have their licenses permanently revoked.

Or, perhaps the law will just get revised.

You can read the opinion for yourself. It's rather interesting how closely the judges parse the words "student" and "minor" to try to determine the intention of the law.

THEOLYMPIAN

NOW President says “Obama cabinet level picks so far under represent women”

GRETAWIRE

The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks. Yes, it is real.

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/#1

Cute Penquin Picture


What an adorable little girl 

Dad, son arrested after cop said they cut line

COMCAST

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Bailout Game.

I caused a depression.  There is no way to win I think.  


Monday, January 12, 2009

66th Annual Golden Globe Award Winners List

Movies:

  • Best Motion Picture - Drama: Slumdog Millionaire
  • Best Director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
  • Best Performance by an Actress - Drama: Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road
  • Best Performance by an Actor - Drama: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
  • Best Musical Or Comedy: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • Best Performance by an Actress - Musical or Comedy: Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
  • Best Performance by an Actor - Musical Or Comedy: Colin Farrell - In Bruges
  • Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role: Kate Winslet - The Reader
  • Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
  • Best Animated Feature Film: Wall-E (Disney/Pixar)
  • Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
  • Best Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire, written by Simon Beaufoy
  • Best Original Score: "Slumdog Millionaire," composed by A. R. Rahman
  • Best Original Song: "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen
Television:
  • Best Television Series - Drama: Mad Men (AMC)
  • Best Performance by an Actress - Drama: Anna Paquin - True Blood (HBO)
  • Best Performance by an Actor - Drama: Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment (HBO)
  • Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy: 30 Rock (NBC)
  • Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy: Tina Fey - 30 Rock (NBC)
  • Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)
  • Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television: John Adams (HBO)
  • Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Laura Linney - John Adams (HBO)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Paul Giamatti - John Adams (HBO)
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Laura Dern - Recount (HBO)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Tom Wilkinson - John Adams (HBO)

The Commercialization of The Presidency.

The Inauguration is less than one week away and Washington, DC is all about President Elect Obama….it seems like everyone is trying to make some money….

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Greg Craig’s New Mantra: The President Is Not Your Mascot
By Al Kamen
Monday, January 12, 2009; A11

When big-time Washington lawyer Gregory B. Craig picked up the portfolio of White House counsel for President-elect Barack Obama, he rightly expected he’d be on the cutting edge of big issues involving the separation of powers or other lofty legal matters.

It may not have occurred to him that he’d also be charged with stopping the commercial exploitation of his client’s image — the Obama can openers, Obama chocolate chip cookies, Obama chocolate bars and the like now on sale just about everywhere. And Craig is also the keeper of the official presidential seal, making sure it doesn’t get used on T-shirts or beer bottles contrary to White House policy or even federal law.

The counsel’s office for many years has been obliged to complain to businesses about the use of the presidential or White House seals on mugs and such. There’s even a federal criminal statute (18 USC 713) against improper use of the “likeness of the great seal of the United States,” or those of the Senate and House. Violators can be fined or even hit with six months in the slammer. Similar federal laws protect Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, the 4-H Club emblem and even the Swiss Confederation coat of arms.

Maybe you’ve been making a killing recently selling “Obama-endorsed” change purses. But as of

click here for the rest of the article

By the way…..other politicians are having the same problem…check out this calendar …..other politicians have their likenesses used, too:

picture-9

GRETAWIRE