How is Sarah Palin like Anna Kournikova?

Sarah Palin has been in the news again as an author and an X-men character, Rogue. But what does she have in common with a Russian tennis star? Sarah Palin's continued success has to do with her marginal amount of political talent and success, combined with the fact that she's hot. Though many liberals goggles are clouded, objective observers have to acknowledge that this former beauty queen is very attractive. And she's attractive in the perfect way for this moment. While Cougars and MILF's are all the craze, here is Sarah Palin, a mom with those librarian that could go wild at any moment glasses.

And in America, looks still go a long long way for women.

In fact, for women to be famous in America, there is an inverse relationship between talent and beauty. Meaning that if a woman is extremely talented she does not need to be as attractive. And for someone with extremely good looks she needs only marginal talent. And that's the side of the spectrum where Sarah Palin comes in. On the one side you have your Hillary Clinton's, your Madeleine Albrights, your Sonia Sotomayors. Eminently qualified women, but not the head turners that sell magazines and books. On the other hand there is Sarah Palin, a governor of one of the least populous states in the union, and a gimmick pick for VP running mate, who is famous beyond her political skills.

Anna Kournikova was a tennis player who had only once, briefly, entered among the top 10 female tennis players. And yet she is probably the most famous name in Female tennis. This is because her small amount of skill combined with her ridiculously good looks, makes for a winning combination.

In the inverse example which shows some promise for the future, is Susan Boyle. The British singer, unattractive but extremely talented, has now had the best selling CD release in Britain, ever. With lots of talent, perhaps beauty can sometimes take a back seat. But for now, plan on seeing a lot of Sarah Palin and Anna Kournikova, and not much else.

Why do Iraqis think the Emperor is wearing clothes?

In a country where we started a war looking for weapons that didn't exist, Iraqis are now searching for real weapons using technology that doesn't exist. It was reported in the New York Times yesterday that a "Bomb Detector" being used in Iraq is seen as useless by American military officials and "Technical Experts." The "Bomb Detector" is a handheld wand that is supposed to point to cars when there are guns or explosives inside. It doesn't work. According to US Military generals and technical experts it is something that they never use.

Yet Iraqis have bought 1500 of these at up to 60,000 dollars a piece from a British company that makes incredible claims about their abilities. All over the country these are used at checkpoints in what is basically a shadow game of protection. Though Iraqis are no safer, they may get a false sense of security from what is essentially a magic 8 ball.

This would be funny if it weren't frighteningly real and being used in a war torn country. The depravity of selling something like this to developing countries is beyond opportunism, it is shameful. In Iraq, not just the US, people continue to buy into infomercial claims and refuse to accept that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Real bomb detection machines, such as those used at airports are bulky and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It's sad when a product being used by the military is worse than using nothing. Because now for with a false sense of safety, there is no impetus for change. The US government along with the Iraqi parliament should demand that the ADE 651, made by ATSC (UK) Ltd., either show that the product works, or refund the money to Iraq. There is no room for magic in a war zone, and there should be no tolerance of this blatant manipulation of an army that is putting an entire population at risk.