Strollerderby : joe the plumber

Baby Name Trends for 2009

Amy Kuras — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:01:00 GMT

They’re baaacck....

The ladies who write nameberry.com and a bunch of baby naming books have now graced us with the 15 hottest baby name trends of 2009. The biggest big-picture trend (their words, not mine)? Depression era names – not inspired by the current economic climate but by Mad Men. Yes, we’re supposedly going to start seeing names like Don, Betty, Joan and Peggy be trendy again.

But oh it gets better. “Plus stylish new occupational names - Gardener, Ranger, Miller - are likely to gain in appeal for both boys and girls as actual jobs become more scarce.”

Give your kid a job name because you don’t have one? So I suppose around here we can expect to see lots of little “Autoworker,” “Newspaper Reporter” and “Scandal-Plagued Ex-Mayor”s?

And the, no lie “trendiest trend-related trend”? Names that are rejected by trendy parents before they even get popular, because of their similarity to other popular names or association with high-profile celebrities. ‘Kay. People not wanting their kid to be the fifth Ava in first grade is somehow a trend, now?

And supposedly using nicknames is a trend that will cross the pond from England. Good news for my kids, both of whom go by cute nicknames of very, very traditional names. Which, again, trend? Or just about every baby I have ever known ever?

I will give them this though — they named the Boy Name ready to jump the shark as the “aden” names – Braden, Hayden, Caden, etc. I thought Jaden was the coolest name ever when my college roommate gave it to one of her sons – ELEVEN YEARS AGO. Now? It’s the Rachel haircut of names.

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Top Baby Names of 2008? Really?

Amy Kuras — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:02:00 GMT

I’m a name snob, or more accurately, a name know-it-all. Names should be classic, not trendy, reasonably easy to spell or at least have a spelling that matches its sound, and for the love of Pete your innocent baby’s name is not something to have fun or make a statement with (hear that, Ashlee??).

Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz, authors of the Baby Name Bible and tons of other baby naming guides along with baby naming site nameberry.com, seem to disagree with their list of the “Top 10 Baby Names of 2008.”

While they don’t seem to be going for popularity but the impact the names had on pop culture (like Barack), there are some interesting choices on here.

One’s another Obama name – Sasha, which I have to agree is adorable and seems to really suit its equally cute bearer. But there’s two other politically influenced names on there: Trig, as in Palin, (turns out it wasn’t just made-up goofiness – Trig is the Norse god of strength), and Joe, as in The Plumber.

They also note movie- and TV-influenced names (“Twilight” star Edward and January for actress January Jones, Betty Draper on “Mad Men”), and new hipster-parent names like Ruby.

And there’s the “are you KIDDING ME?” names – the ultimate celebrity WTF name Bronx, and Cash, which the authors state is an important name because of the credit crunch. To which I say the same thing I thought when a beloved family member announced her son would be named that – are they trying to be funny? Eeesh.

Morning News: Which Spice Girl is Sarah Palin?

Madeline Holler — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Alec Baldwin got the worst lines during the historic Sarah Palin appearance on SNL two weeks ago. Something about how good-looking she is in real life. We cringed.

He reasserted his biting comedic credibility last night on David Letterman (1) during his uncanny Palin impression and (2) his likening of Palin to a Spice Girl. (We won't spoil it and tell you which Spice ... just watch to the end.)

So Baldwin toughened up. But is Sarah Palin softening on opponent Barack Obama? Yesterday in Pennsyvlania, she called him "promising."

In other Daily Palin, guess who the actual, practicing "socialist" is. It's Sarah Palin! As governor, she presides over a state that has no income or sales tax, but is able to send each of its citizens a check for more than $3,000 annually. That money doesn't come from her wardrobe budget, it comes from oil company revenues. And it's mandated by law. AND! She raised the amount this past year to cover big jumps in home-heating costs. Someone gonna brief Joe the Plumber on that?

Speaking of Joe, where the hell was he when McCain gave him a shout-out at an Ohio rally yesterday? Dammit, Joe, you're just like that other one and turning out to be a real embarrassment!

Also, reality check on Palin's self-reported tight-fisted ways: She has a hometown friend helping her hold down the snow fort in Alaska while she's out on the road trying to get John McCain and herself elected. Palin pays this friend to keep the communication lines open between the governor and her staff in Juneau. But the extra expense doesn't come from RNC/wardrobe funds. No, Alaskans are subsidizing Palin's political aspirations and paying for this assistant's travel -- at about $1,000 per day.

Maybe Alaska and McCain would be better off if he just sent her home.

Not such great news for McCain if he's hoping the still undecided voters will put him over the top. This says that undecideds (and who ARE you?) kind of split down the middle once actually in the voting booth.

While Obama supporters worry of a Bradley effect (aka: I'm only a racist in the privacy of my mind and the voting booth), experts will also look out for the "bandwagon effect." This is where people just start voting for the guy who is ahead. (Again, who ARE these voters?)

What really matters, in the end, is voter turnout. So in states like Georgia, where McCain leads with likely voters (those who usually vote), Obama leads with registered voters (those who could turn out even for the first time ever).

Does this explain Hillary's loss in the primaries and Palin's instant popularity? Turns out, being pretty helps female candidates, while the only thing that matters for males is perceived competence.

Before you go adding links and leaving "tips" in the comments and warning us to look into this or that story about Obama (or McCain), scan this Politico piece because there's probably a reason the story hasn't stuck.

They say: no one with a uterus should vote for McCain

Brett Singer — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:30:00 GMT

The actual title of this post over at the blog A Little Pregnant is "Why no one with a uterus should vote for John McCain." Despite the fact that I am someone who is without a uterus, I still felt that this argument needed to be shared with Babble readers.

Here is the opening salvo of the strongly but calmly worded argument against the Republican vice-Presidential candidate:

Senator John McCain, Republican candidate for president, on late-term abortions, and whether they should remain legal when the health of the mother is at stake:

"Health for the mother." You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything. That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, "health."

For purposes of my argument, it doesn't matter how you feel about abortion. Forget your own feelings about abortion. My own are rather liberal, offputtingly so to many people, so forget those, too. Forget your disappointment, if you feel it as I do, in hearing Senator Obama use the anti-choice movement's buzzwords, "partial-birth abortion," without busting out an angry McCainish sneer.

Focus instead on the air quotes McCain used, the belittling wiggle of his fingers as he summarily dismissed women facing what's possibly the ultimate lose-lose situation: your baby or your life.

Here is the video the author is referring to:

This line is also worth quoting:

Not only is John McCain saying we shouldn't have the right to terminate a pregnancy in the event that our lives are at stake, he's telling us he's skeptical that that happens at all.

We know better.

Actually, the whole thing is worth reading, and its not that long. Go check it out.

Source: alittlepregnant.com

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Best of FameCrawler: Week of October 17th

Whit Honea — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

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Breaking News: Joe Not Really a Plumber; Not Really Joe; Would Gain under Obama's Tax Plan

Shannon LC Cate — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:00:00 GMT

From the New York Times:

Thomas Joseph, the business manager of Local 50 of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics, based in Toledo, said Thursday that Mr. Wurzelbacher had never held a plumber’s license, which is required in Toledo and several surrounding municipalities. He also never completed an apprenticeship and does not belong to the plumber’s union, which has endorsed Mr. Obama. On Thursday, he acknowledged that he does plumbing work even though he does not have a license.

His full name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. And he owes back taxes, too, public records show. The premise of his complaint to Mr. Obama about taxes may also be flawed, according to tax analysts. Contrary to what Mr. Wurzelbacher asserted and Mr. McCain echoed, neither his personal taxes nor those of the business where he works are likely to rise if Mr. Obama’s tax plan were to go into effect, they said.

So Joe is neither Joe, nor a plumber. He is, in fact, practicing plumbing illegally! In other words, he's taking business from legitimate plumbers who paid for the education and training and union dues to be plumbers. (He is in fact "Sam-the-Scab" if you will.) His tax problems are not so much what he'll owe if Obama becomes president, but what he still owes from when GW Bush was president.

Again with the lie now, correct later GOP strategy.

But the fact is, this tax disagreement isn't about facts. It's about greed and selfishness. Let's pretend for a moment (okay, several more moments) that Joe the Plumber is actually a real guy. There's bound to be a guy who actually fits Sam-the-illegally-practicing-not-plumber's scenario somewhere in the United States, right?--a guy who really did start a small business as a hard-working plumber and really did work his way up to an income of $250K or above (and keep in mind, in 2007, the median household income in the United States was about $50,000).

Much as it ticks me off that the party claiming to be the party of "values" (presumeably virtuous values) is so keen on lying as a political strategy, the real values issue here is that I think (and Obama thinks, and the plumbers union thinks) that Joe, having taken advantage of the opportunities his nation offers to start a buiness, work hard and succeed in it, in fact, does owe soemthing in return once he is so far above the median. With greater wealth comes greater responsibility. And when you make so much more money than the average "Joe" living on your block, you can afford to pay a little more (Obama is talking about a mere 3% increase--from 36%, to 39%--as this video makes repeatedly clear).

So which do you believe? That people who make 450% of the median household income (in an inexpensive place like Ohio, for heaven's sake) should or should not pitch in a bit more to help those who are struggling to make ends meet--working just as hard, or harder?

I'm absolutely partisan. I'm not objective. My values say that those with more than they need ought to help those with less than they need and the government, for the common good of the nation and its economy, ought to support that.

Cough it up, Joe. You'll still be more than fine.

Joe the racist plumber?

Brett Singer — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

With all of the attention Joe the (unlicensed, non-union) plumber has gotten, you might think there are no new angles to explore. But my eyes popped when I read the last two paragraphs of a story in today's New York Times:

In his interview with Ms. Couric, Mr. Wurzelbacher, who voted Republican in Ohio’s March primary, said that his encounter with Mr. Obama had been prompted by his desire "to ask one of these guys a question, and really corner them and get them to answer a question for once instead of tap dancing around it. And unfortunately I asked the question, but I still got a tap dance."

He added, "He was almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr."

This, to me, is the elephant in the room with regard to Obama's candidacy. There are people who, when the time comes, will simply not be able to pull the lever for a Black candidate. Even some of the attacks on him – "he's a Muslim", etc. – are often just ways of saying, "he's Black" without actually saying it. (Then there are the not-so-subtle references.)

It reminds me of an experience I had while I was in college. I was standing on line at a McDonald's, and a man came up to me and said, under his breath, "You know, those people, they really can't count or make change."

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Those people." He gestured to the cash register, where a Black employee was working. "That's why this line is moving so slowly."

"Thanks," I said, and since I didn't give him a high five and ask when the next Klan meeting was, he left.

Putting aside the even more disturbing notion of election fraud (Florida? 2000? Anybody home? Bueller? Bueller?), it will be interesting if people are saying one thing to a pollster – "sure, I'm voting for Obama" – but doing something else in the privacy of a voting booth.

image/source: NYTimes

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Morning News: Obama and McCain BFFs?

Madeline Holler — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:30:00 GMT

Well, what's all this cozy smiling and laughter all about? We thought you were mortal enemies! Presidential hopefuls (or, in the minds of some, presidential desperados) John McCain and Barack Obama were all white ties and tails and smiles and brotherly love last night at a Catholic charities fundraiser in New York.

Keep an open mind and read some of their jokes. They're actually funny!

McCain makes a crack about "that one" and Obama says, at the expense of Sarah Palin, that he can see the Russian Tea Room from the podium. On the other hand, something about it feels a little politics as usual -- or like those of us sitting around in shredded yoga pants just itching to vote are somehow being had. We're choosing not to think too hard on it.

Here's the latest on Joe the non-Plumber. No license, no idea what he's talking about with taxes, nothing but a lot of press coverage (and maybe his own reality show?).

We'll combine a WTF with our Daily Palin. Madame governor is asking $15 million for copies of her state emails. Oh, and they won't be available until after election day. Yo, Palin. Ever heard of "open records"? Seriously, she's got to curb her eBay habit.

Some parents in Vacaville, Calif., are complaining about a music teacher who underwent gender reassignment over the summer. They feel like they had the right to know before the school year started. It sure seems to have taken awhile for them to figure it out. Maybe, you know, their kids didn't give a rip?

John McCain told David Letterman at a taping of the show yesterday that he "messed up" in not coming on as scheduled. Actually, he messed up by getting busted.

Awkward! There's another McCain family out there -- the descendents of slaves owned by John McCains ancestors. They live in Tennessee. And they're voting for? Barack Obama.

We saved the worst for last. Are you ready? ... We're heading into a recession. See you in the bread lines!

Photo: Reuters

What Did Obama Actually Tell 'Joe the Plumber'?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:26:00 GMT

"Joe the Plumber" (AKA Joe Wurzelbacher from Ohio) has been plunged into instant fame by asking Barack Obama a question about his tax policy. Since this interaction became the cornerstone of last night's debate, I thought I'd share a video of the actual interaction Obama had with Wurzelbacher, in which he clearly and concisely explains how his tax policy will affect working Americans.

Photo: BBC