BEYOND THE PALE-IN JR

Bristol Palin has the challenges of being the daughter of a public figure and being a single mother. She is going to do a speaking tour on these challenges. Although, her challenges are going to be somewhat more evolved or modified, or have kind of a different ambience take your pick. She is going to be getting a minimum of $30,000.00 per speaking engagement so she is going to have to give an update on the challenges of a single mother who makes $30,000.00 per speech has to raise a child. That’s different and we are sure there will be no underlying political message on behalf of her mother. It will be a sincere discussion of the real struggles of the young single mother who’s like really, really raking it in. Hey, Kudos, when her mother said “does you love your freedom”? I guess this system in America here with speaking engagements and unlimited fees gives you a lot of it.

PLAGIARIZING IN ADVANCE

We’ve now done it to the best. For some time now, going back in to roughly 2008 we’ve talked about the followers of Glen Beck the equivalent of Rush Limbaugh’s ditto heads and these are the Becker heads. It seemed so perfect a label, we’ve received favorable commentary on it, but last week it turns out that in keeping with our custom of plagiarizing in advance we did it to the best. We did it to the esteemed Steven Colbert. Yes, that’s right. On May 13, 2010 the Colbert Report in a lengthy discussion of Glen Beck, the host mentioned, we have decided to call them Becker Heads. You should have told us Steven, we wouldn’t have been doing this since 08, we would never not give you credit, you are the esteemed one; you are the oracle of obliviousness and you are what every play on words or words on play affectionato hopes to be. So, we apologize to you the best, The Colbert Report, for having plagiarized in advance your term “Becker Heads”, but listen to him and listen to his followers. Congrats again, we hope you will accept our apology.

WE PLAGIARIZE IN ADVANCE, ON VIETNAM ERA SERVICE THIS TIME

We’d like to talk to Larry Pressler, he was a Republican Senator from South Dakota and he was in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. He talks about the inherent unfairness of the draft (and it was unfair), and he talks about it every time one of the elite is mentioned in the media. CT AG Richard Blumenthal got five deferments and was in the Marine Reserves and Mr. Cheney got five deferments and was totally unapologetic, saying “I had more important things on my agenda”. Yes for every one of those folks, there was a “man instead” -a term we have used over the years in articles and on this website. Because there were draft quotas, and every town was required to send X amount of young men to that war in Asia and was going to fill their quota. Usually it was a poor person, often an African American, who went instead as Mr. Pressler, the former Republican Senator so rightly points out. For better or worse (and you can most certainly say more worse than better) you can say those were the politics and morays of the time. Oh, yes, John Ashcroft to our knowledge has the most Vietnam Era deferments; seven. Guess he knew his best security was staying in the homeland. So, let those who condemn Mr. Blumenthal, look at their own service or the service of relatives, spouses, friends, and let them look at their own voting record. Namely, if they voted for Mr. Cheney, and supported the appointment of Mr. Ashcroft, or personally had them or those who sent to Vietnam their man instead, then don’t say a word about Richard Blumenthal, because you are being as hypocritical now as you were then.

THE BARRON OF THE PLASTIC KINGDOM

John Shepherd-Barron was a Scotsman. In the 1960s he came up with the idea that he should be able to get his money even if the banks were closed and he created a machine which he could use a card to dispense money. Gee, you’re thinking; why didn’t he use an ATM? Because there weren’t any and that is what he invented. Yes, the crude form beginnings had some glitches, but it was refined and it is worth noting that in its original form a customer was not able to withdraw more than $14.00 in cash at a time. Now there is over 1.7 million ATMs around the world, you can draw great amounts of your own funds out, which seems only fair. We owe his wife one little debt of convenience; he suggested a six number pin and she said four would be fine and he went with that. We are a plastic kingdom and John Shepherd-Barron was the first Barron. He was born in India in 1925 to Scottish parents.