Thursday oddems: toronto celebrates ron & don; styble shoots his mouth and his foot; the condom of misogyny; gay bowel syndrome, the movie; malkin quits billo to spite her face

~~ Toronto is a cool place, and according to the Le Bureau de Tourisme and one of the coolest things about Toronto is: There's no Ron & Don! Loyal reader Lance sent this picture taken at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

~ Did he say actually fricking say that? Yes, he actually fricking did: Bryan Styble, KIRO talk hobbyist on his show, A Tree Falling In the Forest (Sundays,10p-1a) told listeners this week: "Too often when people hear "double murder" they think "minority." This is the guy who opined that slavers did Africans a favor by giving them a ride to America so they could enjoy the fruits of the Land of the Free. KIRO doesn't care what he says, apparently, maybe because he says it when nobody's listening.

~~Will O'Reilly will ever let go of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer? He's been mad ever since slick chick editorialist Dorothy Parvaz wouldn't come to his woodshed to be spanked for some otherwise innocuous umbrage tickler she wrote. Then he ambushed publisher Roger Ogilvie because he wouldn't ingratiate himself to Billo for whatever it was Dorothy wrote. Now he insists the paper (along with The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal Constitution) is "rooting for a recession because they want the Democratic Party to win elections, very simple." (They're "far left loons," he says of the P-I, but we've heard from our Foxie friend in NY, he was very pissed that Hannity & Colmes got Parvaz and he didn't).

~~ We may end up supporting Hillary Clinton, we're so weary of everybody- and we mean everybody- jumping on her shit. 80% of Chris Matthews' Hardball is devoted to him making snide, belittling remarks, and generally trashing her. Watching the R's debate Wednesday, you'd think Hillary was the Antichrist and already nominated. Maybe in a few more decades we'll be ready for a woman president. With what they've already done to Hillary: know it: they'll eat Professor "Kinder/gentler" Obama for lunch. Guess it's white males for another cycle or two. (God forbid we get a strong woman to lead this country- and oh yeah- we can't have a girlie weak one who'd wimp out in the big man's world either. What a crippling conundrum misogyny's got us in).

~~ Conservapedia is where right-wingers must go if they want to avoid the "anti-Christian and anti-American" Wikipedia. The icky, sticky wiki has a daily Bible verse, and claims to have more readers than Rush's site. Fun for Interweb lib yucksters this week has been the viral dissemination of Conservapedia's Most Viewed Pages. Seems it's a little peek into the roomy closet that's the Republican Big Tent:
   1. Homosexuality‎ [1,961,476]
   2. Main Page‎ [1,960,592]
   3. Homosexuality and Hepatitis‎ [518,504]
   4. Homosexuality and Parasites‎ [469,613]
   5. Gay Bowel Syndrome‎ [438,481]
   6. Homosexuality and Promiscuity‎ [422,728]
   7. Homosexual Couples and Domestic Violence‎ [374,581]
   8. Homosexuality and Gonorrhea‎ [332,313]
   9. Homosexuality and Anal Cancer‎ [295,014]
  10. Homosexuality and Mental Health‎ [294,448]

~~ For a while, there, we thought that mean old Michelle Malkin was taking over right-wing teevee. She was on Billo Reilly's show practically every night plus she hosted every time The Big Fat Head took a night off. She was the brunette exception to the blonde rule around The Factor. (The Brunette Exception: good title for a whodunit, no?) Then, in October she disappeared. Turns out she took Great Umbrage when media whore Geraldo Rivera told a reporter that media whore Malkin was “the most vile, hateful commentator I’ve ever met…. It’s good she’s in D.C. and I’m in N.Y. I’d spit on her if I saw her.” Riv era later gave a Puerto-Rican/Jewish apology on the Billo Show, which Malkin refused to accept. The publicity, according to Wonkette, "has led Malkin to the conclusion that being an interviewer-subject on teevee offers much less self-satisfaction than viciously attacking people online (agreed)." Now we're stuck with that stunning, vicious, tight sphinctered scold, Laura Ingraham- and Billo's blonde quota is back in the hundred range.

Comments

[cinco]

I know michelle's ass, and that is not michelle's ass.

[Rich]

Considering Mr Stybles tendency to prattle on adnausium about nothing, something about vapid minds. I'm not surprised no body's hair is on fire about what he say's.

[joanie]

That is one weird picture and not all flattering to Ms. Malkin.

Chris Matthews at the Miami Book Fair was convincing everyone that Hillary would be the candidate and would probably deserve it. He's an opportunist and sensationalizer. He's smart but you'd never know it watching his show. So I don't watch it.

And Michael, Hilary is not the best candidate and it has nothing to do with her womanhood. Shame on you for being so superficial.

[mercifurious]

"Too often when people hear "double murder" they think "minority."
~BStyblehead

Bla'M (and/or Bla'M famers): Do you have the date/approx time of this comment? If you do, let me know and I'll update WikiStyble

Back to real life. See y'all in a few months

[sparky]

The Sty's blog has few comments, and those there appear to be written by The Sty himself. Sad.

[Blowhans Sponsor]

Malkin looks hot there, and big deal what Styble said, if people are listening and he's good for the station then who cares,it's not like this blogs butt buddy Goldy has anymore listners

[mark]

Ron Maclean and Don Cherry - CBC sportscasters.

[Duffman]

All-right...a hockey fan :)

[Andrew]

Yes that pic is fake, http://hotair.cachefly.net/hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/nina.jpg , Michelle Malkin is ugly once again.

[Andrew]

*clickable* http://hotair.cachefly.net/hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/nina.jpg

[joanie]

Andrew, I clicked on it and it said "access denied." How'd you get it?

As for that picture being hot? She looks like a box - a rectangle. No wonder she has to bend over, she ain't got no waist. Right, Michael? No hips, no waist, but she's perky - or so I'm told.

She'd never last on the frontier.

Miss you, merci.

Oh, and it appears Rudi thinks the City of New York should transport him to his assignations to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars? Wow! Are you rightwingers hard up!

BTW, I'm beginning to think Paul will be our new president. I think by the time the election comes around, people are going to be so sick of government and politicians, Paul's desire to get rid of it all will resonate with everybody.

Although Oprah has designated Obama and she sure pulls a lot of weight with the TV crowd.

Doncha just love American politics?

Dennis is the best!

[Jimmy Kowalski]

According to the polls, Paul won the YouTube/CNN debate last night
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/debates/scorecard/youtube.debate.112807/
http://blackhillsportal.com/npps/story.cfm?id=2345

[Duffman]

..he may have won the one last nite but Huckabee won the one on Wed. nite 11/28/07 !

[joanie]

Where's your link, duff?

[Duffman]

..it's in the brain; either you rocognize it or you don't! or, do you NEED to be guided by MSM, and 'so-called' objectivity polls (a JOKE!!!)

[joanie]

oh, faith again . . . ho hum

[Duffman]

You do realize, don't you joanie that there was NO debate 'last nite' but only on Wed. nite. I watched it in totality; did you?

[joanie]

No. First of all, I don't get cable. Second, I don't care much about all the msm debates. It is too early. Third, the stupid questions they are asked tells me little. Fourth, some candidates get few questions and I'm am usually interested in hearing all the candidates. Fifth, CSpan will air the debate and if I'm around, I may watch it then.

Note the may.

Finally, you are playing word games which is a waste of time. Why didn't you just say it was Wednesday instead "last night" and stop the "cute?" And wasn't Kowalski's point that "polls show..." so what's the effin' point you are trying to make anyway?

We are back where we started: "faith again..."

[coiler]

Paul won and has won most of the polling lately, wonder if Duffs is aware of this?

[joanie]

Well, duff, are you?

And, chuck, still awaiting your evidence that Bush's intentions are honorable...

[PugetSound]

Joanie, Sparky, any other Teacher
Ron Paul said one of the first things he would eliminate would be the Dept of Education.
I use to hear Reagan rant on about it and use it as a whipping boy on the Campaign Trail. Given his efforts with the Soviet Union/fight against world communism he never turned his attention to it outside of the Campaign Trail and putting Bill Bennett in charge of it.
I am not an educator so I am curious as to your thoughts on the Federal Dept of Education. I assume he wants to devolve it back down to the state. Not sure what that would mean for educators.

[sparky]

I don't think Ron Paul has done his research, but rather is more interested in getting rid of Big Government. Of course there are probably a million ways to make the agency more efficient, but a lot of kids who depend on grants and federal student aid for college would suffer if the department suddenly disappeared. Giving the money to the states would not guarantee that it would reach the intended recipients either. There needs to be oversight to ensure accountability, which some states would avoid if they could. Look how the Teaxs State Supt. faked the test results by removing low kids in Houston schools so he could proudly proclaim how great Texas was doing. The US Dept of Ed caught him and of course Bush rewarded him by making him the Secretary of Education in his cabinet.

They provide other services such as doing the research that teachers dont have the time or resources to investigate-- there is a huge research engine called ERIC, as a clearing house of sources for educational research used by classroom teachers. It also oversees the higher ed system for the entire country. It oversees state agencies like OSPI which receives funding which is passed on to schools.

Get rid of No Child Left Behind, a layer or two of bureaucrats and make it more efficient. But it would be a mistake to think that merely handing the money to the states would provide an equal education experience - the heart and soul of public education-for every child in this county.
Compare the difficulty levels of various NCLB state tests around the country and you will see what I mean. The WASL is one of the top 3 most difficult tests in the nation, behind Minnesota and Massachusetts. There is a reason Arkansas students score so high. NCLB lets each state establish the difficulty of the test, and some states, like Arkansas, have tests that are just plain lame.

Ron Paul is popular for his stance against the war, but his domestic policies would hurt a lot of people.

[sparky]

By the way, did you know there are countries who provide a free college education for everyone? Ireland is one of them. Can you imagine what America would be like if everyone (who wanted to) went to college? What miracles could we accomplish if we were the most highly educated country in the world?

[sparky]

One more and then I have more than used my quota of Bla'Ms bandwith today

One study done by the government:
The proportion of family income needed to pay net college costs (after accounting for all student financial aid except loans) at public four-year colleges has grown from 28% to 42% in Ohio; from 18% to 30% in Iowa; from 25% to 36% in Oregon; and from 20% to 31% in Washington state.

The ability of families in the US to send their kids to college is deteriorating. 42% of the family's income to send a kid to college? Who can afford that???

[joanie]

I didn't know ERIC was federal - thanks, sparky.

Re Ron Paul: Everything he wants to do gets rid of government and will hurt most of us. I think, however, a lot of people want to get rid of government and start over. I might be one of them... Dennis is the best!

I think France also provides free education through college.

I don't have a lot of opinion about the Dept of Ed . . . as always, teaching/education is an easy target. It is too bureaucratic right down to the local level. And everybody thinks he/she can do it better. I don't think that's going to change.

[PugetSound]

I agree with the comments of Sparky and Joanie about the Dept of Ed and the cost of education. Especially if you wait until just a couple years beforehand to figure out how to pay for it. (let me put in a plug for the WA State GET Program-it's a heckuva deal).
But right now, as long as your qualified isn't everyone pretty much able to borrow enough to go to college. I mean, if you really want to attend a school you may have to go to a public university ie WAZZU versus Seattle University but as long as your willing to take on debt you'll go. I see 20 somethings starting as professionals in my line of work with anywhere from $20k to $200k of school debt who will start out at between $45-$50k per year. In five years they'll pull in $70-90k.
I think one of the reasons why the cost of education outpaced inflation over the past 20 years is that the schools understand that the kids can always 'borrow' to pay for tuition. The kids don't really understand the real cost of that over the course of their lifetime. So -and I am not talking about the professors here- the school administrators have little incentive to control costs.
My point being that it isn't as much access to college but the desire to take on the financial burden associated with it. But if a degree gets you a job you want that pays an additional $10-15k a year it may be worth it to incur the debt over the coarse of your lifetime. I do wonder about those who get degrees in Social Science or Political Science that end up with a 4 year degree but little in the way of marketable skills. Nursing/Accountant majors do fairly well especially if you get an advance degree. But you can do well with just a 2 year degree. After 10 years, my brother in law is a union electrician/foreman in the Bay Area and pulls over $140k down there with some but not a lot of overtime. But it involves a lot of physical labor that a knowledge worker aka paper pusher doesn't have to deal with. His wages haven't been suppressed by illegal workers unlike other trades such as roofing/framers. So his wages have been allowed to be what the union can bargain for.

[joanie]

I don't mean this to be a whine, but a good teacher puts in an awful lot of time and money of her own. For those of us who do that, we are woefully underpaid.

But, the other side of the coin is that an awful lot of poorly educated people are coming into teaching and don't spend the time or have the intellect. A starting wage at about $30,000 would probably help but good teachers who continue in the field should do much better than they do. I know of one teacher who came from the south because she couldn't pass the ed test down there so she's teaching up here now. Teachers themselves need to be intelligent and have an interest in learning. I don't know quite how you get people like that without testing them early - testing them on their own skills. Can they write well? Do they have a basic knowledge of government and current events? Is there own education diverse and enriched?

I think those are the things that should be considered first when recruiting teachers. People who themselves love to learn and who are curious. They are the ones who will inspire those same characteristics in the children they teach.

Schools of education don't recruit that way at all. They should. Good lesson plans mean nothing if a teacher isn't an active learner herself. (himself...)

[joanie]

Sorry - laughing here - "Is there own education diverse and enriched?" should be their - Michael, edit me please!

[joanie]

Listening to hour 1 of Dave's show on 11-29 and I'm hearing Tim Eyeman and a legislator arguing big time! Check it out. It is right at the end of the hour.