American Social Mobility

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1579981

Apparently social mobility in America is lower than all developed countries besides the UK. I wonder if any has done, or even if it’d be possible, to do a study on the trend over the past 100-200 years.

Plus check out newsweek international:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3037881/site/newsweek/

Apparently everyone else in the world is worried about losing Afghanistan, but America is interested in Annie Liebowitz’s Life in Pictures.

BTW, Project Runway is nearing its season finale, and I could not be more excited.

Day Break

Daddy’s Girl, in a little different way

Daddy’s Girl!!!!!!!! This may be the weirdest article I’ve read in a long, long time. It features a rich dad, numerous ex-wives, and a secret marriage between Rich Daddy and his daughter. I am not kidding.

A secret sexual relationship with his daughter was not enough. There had to be a wedding.

And don’t forget the awesome get rich quick schemes (?):

Six years after graduating from the University of Southern California in 1960, the young magnate set out with some friends to create their own country. According to newspaper articles published at the time, the plan involved sinking a mothballed World War II ship 220 miles off the California shore, then piling on concrete, clay, and garbage. The resulting island would be in international waters and outside the jurisdiction of American law. McMahan’s group planned to corner the market on abalone fishing.

And the trust funds:

It was then that McMahan took Linda into the family fold. He helped pay her tuition, set up a trust fund for her, and began including her in family holiday celebrations. He added her name to his list of children in his professional biographies. Eight years into their relationship, Linda was about to earn her PhD in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego. That’s when McMahan had Linda over to his New York home and asked her to watch the first half hour of Braveheart.

Anyway, all of this sexiness has been infinitely confused. And also, hard.

DAY

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/09/27/BL2006092701022.html

Good analysis of the “debate” coming from the White House.

Also Olbermann does a recap on what Bush’s counterterrorism:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/27/keith-olbermann-takes-a-look-back-at-bushs-first-months-in-office-leading-up-to-911/

My brother thinks this was all part of the 9/11 conspiracy, but I think that the Bush administration really was focused on missile defense and Iraq, as opposed to terrorism.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_he_me/kazakhstan_hiv_city

In my country we have problem, and that problem is the AIDS :-/ (Happier note: Borat documentary out Nov. 3rd)

Welcome to Blogsville, Population Penis Transplants

In the most important news ever, there has been the first-ever penis transplant. I am not kidding. The only problem is that “the patient and his wife apparently would rather not have a dead stranger’s penis in their lives. There was no physical rejection of the organ, but the patient and his wife had a “severe psychological problem” with it, and the surgeons had to remove it.”

This is the Thai revolution. Taking pictures in front of tanks, looking like a bunch of yellow mow-rons. And this is the media in America. These are the six things you shouldn’t believe (in case you do, and don’t forget your generic religion or -isms). And don’t forget, the Iraq war made the War On Terror (trademark pending) worse.

In more blog related punditry and fun-ditry:

AFP titled their piece, ‘Bush and Ahmadinejad to make rival cases in nuclear dispute at UN.’ In the interest of honesty, it should’ve been titled, ‘Two Lunatics Address UN General Assembly.’ The leader of an oil rich nation will argue that his country needs to develop nuclear energy. The leader of a nuclear weapon rich nation will argue that ‘nukes is bad.’

“I know it may seem a little weird, and I promise you that I’ll shred them after you’re done renting, but you know, since 9/11 you can’t be too careful. I have to say, we have had some STRANGE requests from foreigners. And sometimes, someone will call to rent the house, and they’ll sound all American, and then I’ll call them back, and they’ll pick up the phone in some foreign language that sounds like Al Qaeda!”