The Tedder P. Schoenhopfer Policy Exchange

There’s a bit of a buzz going around in the internet with the rumor that Sarah Palin covered up her daughter’s pregnancy by claiming the baby was her own. Here’s a link to a site analyzing it:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-69834

Of course, it’s still only a rumor, so I don’t really trust it yet, but it’s still a fun read. I’m pretty skeptical but the evidence is very convincing!

World’s oldest man dies at the age of 138

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1047397/Worlds-oldest-man-dies-age-138.html

One of my new favorite sites is Failblog.org It’s basically pictures of mess-ups or just total failures in any situation. Here’s a funny example:

Love Fail

100 college presidents have signed up to encourage a debate over the drinking age.

The opponents of raising [edit: lowering] the drinking age cite lowered alcohol-related driving deaths since the age was raised, and MADD supports this argument. But I tend to give MADD more credit– I think they’ve successfully changed the culture to make drinking and driving taboo.

But I aslo wonder if lowering the age would then lower the age when kids start their illegal drinking,

The kitties are doing very well and they continue to get cuter and cuter.  Where Tash had a bunch of short brown fur and some sparse straggly black fur, he all of a sudden grew this thick, lustrous, shiny black coat.  The difference is astounding.  They are both also growing a lot and Tash is way more coordinated now than ever before-he hasn’t stepped in his poop for weeks.

Dexie is more and more amenable to being picked up, and cuddles more at night - I’ve woken up to him licking my face or pouncing on my head.  Tash has started imitating Dexie a lot and it’s super funny.  You’ll see Dexie doing something and Tash will just go over and start doing it too.  It’s super cute.  Maybe the cutest thing is that Tash LOVES this blanket that Mom & Dad got me for Xmas - it’s called the “dream blanket,” I think from brookstone, and it’s super super soft.  Tash doesn’t do it every time he’s on the blanket, but once in a while he starts purring really loudly and rhythmically rubbing his paws over the blanket over and over again and nuzzling his face in it.  It’s like he’s in heaven.  It is SO CUTE.  Or maybe the cutest thing is this game they play on the bed where Dexie goes under the blanket and roams around, and Tash goes on top of the blanket and tries to pounce.  It’s super silly.

The only annoying thing is they start mewing relentlessly if they think you’re going to give them some food or a treat, and it’s impossible to cook in the kitchen without constantly fending them off.  If we’re cooking meat Arastu has taken to cooking a little plain and giving it to them so we can eat in peace.  It sort of sounds like the mark of a crazy person but it works.  What’s funny is that they have definitely learned that their cuteness is our biggest weakness, and Tash has this one pose that he has obviously decided is the most cute (where he is flopped on his side with his legs sticking out, looking up).

I looked over a minute ago and Dexie had both paws around Tash and was licking his head.  Now they are running around and being rambunctious.

YAY FOR KITTIES!!!!!!

I guess we should just make a single post with awesome Olympic stuff, because this year’s Olympics are the best I’ve ever seen.

This is a pretty incredible ally oop by team USA:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0814_hd_bkm_au_l1659&channelcode=sportbk

“…one of those rare moments in sport when performance is so transcendent that it freezes time.” - Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated

“In the most outrageous display of speed to ever burn across the Olympic Games, Usain Bolt of Jamaica rocketed to gold in winning the men’s 100m dash in 9.69 seconds — not only a new world record but the first time in the history of human beings a man has run the distance under 9.7 seconds without a significant tailwind. Incredibly, Bolt, 21, could have gone faster. With a full seven strides to go, he dropped his arms and let them fall outstretched to his sides, appearing almost to run sideways as he played to the sold-out crowd of 91,000 at the Bird’s Nest. Just before the finish line, he started high-stepping and, for good measure, executed a chest-thump. All that, and still — 9.69 seconds. Bolt simply ran away from the rest of the best of the world.” - Alan Abrahamson, NBCOlympics.com

I hope everyone has been watching Michael Phelps in the Olympics, because last night he won what is easily the great win in the history of any sport. The Jason Lezak comeback a few days ago was nothing compared to this.

This is the only link to the video i can find, sorry if you have to perform a stupid install, but it’s well worth watching.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0816_hd_swb_hl_l0673

He wins by one one-hundredth of a second! I’m still going crazy over it.

I have to give them points for Meghan McCain’s blog, mainly because she has all these song playlists - that seems pretty neat. It’s also interesting to me to see a little glimpse into the life of Republicans. I have to admit they seem alien– I can’t help thinking, “what are they actually thinking?” because I can’t imagine it.

I think everyone reading this will greatly appreciate this video.  It is truly one of the best I’ve seen.

I just watch the men’s 4×100 swimming olympic finals and it was unbelievable! America was in the back (Phelps did a pretty poor job as the first leg) and Australia was in the lead. The US briefly overtook them, then fell behind again to Australia. Then France, who has been talking TONS of sh*t and bragging about how they’re going to dominate the swimming competition, took the lead and they were about 3 feet ahead of the USA with only 5 seconds or so left. But suddenly in the anchor leg Jason Lezak ROCKETED forward at the last second, overtaking France and winning the gold. It was amazing!

On another note, I just found out about the greatest swimmer ever, Mark Spitz. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he entered 7 swimming competitions, won 7 gold medals, and broke 7 world records. Oh, and he also did it without a cap OR goggles, and with that totally kick-ass mustache!

I’m in Newark airport for my 4:47pm departure.  You might notice, however, that it is 5:02pm.  (The blog clock is 1 hour off; it is 5:02pm, not 4:02pm.)[editor: it's fixed] Why is it past my departure time?  Because the latest status of my plane is:

Status:  Estimated Departure 2 Hours 43 Minutes Late (Delayed - Awaiting inbound aircraft)

If this were an infrequent occurrence then I would say “oh, well”  and shrug it off with a forced smile.  But this is not an infrequent occurrence.  This is an every single time occurrence.

It sounds shocking, but those are the implications of this article in the Los Angeles Times from July 11, 2008.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-divorce11-2008jul11,0,6546861.story?page=1

I tried to make a poll but it didn’t work.  So let’s just chat.  I like Kathleen Sebelius but can’t remember specifically why.  Other possibles:  Evan Bayh, Wes Clark, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, Jack Reed.  I don’t know who Jack Reed is.  Comments?