TBWAIN - AKA Jeff Svare's Blog

The photo of Barack Obama in traditional Somali attire certainly has generated a lot of attention. I haven't heard anyone from the Obama camp say, "So what?" about it, so I guess they're trying to soak it for all it's worth, too. Popular opinion says it was leaked to the Drudge Report by Clinton staffers, trying to make Obama look bad. I don't know how they expect that to happen. Obama's father was Somali, so why can't he pay respect to his heritage by wearing these clothes? Since this plan, if true, seems to have failed, the Clinton camp is trying to do damage control by denying any involvement. The Reuters account, as published at Yahoo News on Friday, states: "Clinton's campaign denies authorizing the release of the controversial photo but says that, with 700 staffers, it could not be certain someone had not sent it out unofficially." Translated from politicalese into English, it says, "Of course we leaked it. We just won...

It is with great regret I report that Utah SB14 which would have prevented smoking in cars with children under five years of age, was killed in committee on the 18th of February. Stephen Sandstrom , a Republican from Orem, said this bill was "a slippery slope" that could lead to "telling parents of overweight kids they're not doing enough to prevent obesity." He may have been the same one I heard who said this legislation was "an invasion of privacy." Ten days later, the House passed HB140 which requires children under the age of 8 to be in booster seats. The reasoning, according to Tim Cosgrove , a Democrat from Murray, is that 34 children children between the ages of 5 and 8 died in crashes between 2002 and 2006. According to the National Cancer Institue , secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer, heart disease, ear infections, asthma, and SIDS . It can also increase the risk of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, leu...

In Cleveland on Tuesday for a candidate debate, Hillary Clinton whined, "Well, could I just point out that, in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time? And I don't mind. You know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious." Her statement reminded me of an old saying, the first liar doesn't have a chance . Perhaps she was thinking the same thing.