there’ll be some sort of formal concession of a race he never had the remotest chance of winning, no matter how many terrorist-themed “moneybombs” the Paulnuts managed to put together. He had his own cult before Obama did; he’s still the only candidate with his own blimp (and his own racialist newsletter, his own Nazi donor base, etc etc).

the former first lady questioning his sincerity in opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement and darkly hinting he's not ready to be commander in chief in a crisis.

Polling place interviews with voters in both states suggested the criticism hit home, finding Clinton was winning the votes of late deciders in Ohio and Texas, as well as Vermont.

"One of our greatest assets in Afghanistan are our Canadian friends. We need our Canadian friends, and we need their continued support in Afghanistan," McCain said.

Quitting NAFTA would send economic shock waves throughout the world, and the damage would start here at home. Our economy and much of the U.S. business model is increasingly integrated with our neighbors to the north and south. Withdrawing from NAFTA would destroy economies in U.S. border communities, hurt U.S. farmers, rip apart North American supply chains and information systems, and devastate large and small exporters. In short, it would cause incredible damage to the overall American economy.

Most of this has nothing to do with Mexico or Canada. But politically that doesn't matter. Americans are not doing well. For many, NAFTA symbolizes everything that has gone wrong.

In the United States, some people have referred to this date as Sadie Hawkins Day with women being given the right to run after unmarried men to propose.

Sadie Hawkins was a female character in the Al Capp cartoon strip Li'l Abner. Many communities prefer to celebrate Sadie Hawkins Day in November which is when Al Capp first mentioned Sadie Hawkins Day.

OR..

It is believed this tradition (of Leap Year) was started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose. According to legend, St. Patrick said the yearning females could propose on this one day in February during the leap year.

Of course, the Greeks do it backwards....

There is a Greek superstition that claims couples have bad luck if they marry during a leap year. Apparently one in five engaged couples in Greece will avoid planning their wedding during a leap year.

But who are the leap year haters? The Muslims!

In the Islamic calendar, leap months are not used. They are forbidden by the Qur'an, which says:

“

The number of months with Allah has been twelve months by Allah's ordinance since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these four are known as sacred; That is the straight usage, so do not wrong yourselves therein, and fight those who go astray. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.

“

Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to Unbelief: The Unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guideth not those who reject Faith. (Qur'an 9:36-37)

Why even have a Leap Year in the first place?

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing one or more extra days (or, in case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, February would have 29 days in a leap year instead of the usual 28. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of full days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year which is not a leap year is called a common year.

to choose whether they were more in line with a "separationist and/or pluralist" viewpoint or an "integrationist and/or assimilationist" ideology.

I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility."

Are the Obamas, at bottom, snobs? Do they understand America? Are they of it? Did anyone at their Ivy League universities school them in why one should love America? Do they confuse patriotism with nationalism, or nativism? Are they more inspired by abstractions like "international justice" than by old visions of America as the city on a hill, which is how John Winthrop saw it, and Ronald Reagan and JFK spoke of it?

Have they been, throughout their adulthood, so pampered and praised--so raised in the liberal cocoon--that they are essentially unaware of what and how normal Americans think? And are they, in this, like those cosseted yuppies, the Clintons?

In a country that has throughout most of our lifetimes been tormented by, buffeted by, the question of race, a country that has endured real pain and paid in blood and treasure to work its way through and out of the mess, that for all that struggle we yielded this: a brilliant and accomplished young black man with a consensus temperament, a thoughtful and peaceful person who wishes to lead. That is his draw: "We made that." "It ended well."

The conservative movement cannot be a subsidiary of the Republican Party. The conservative movement is a long-term permanent commitment to fundamental philosophy....We can put the Democrats on record every day from here on out. We can use the House and Senate as opportunities to have the country focused on what's the right change and what's the wrong change.

There are two ways to go in the next election. Vote party and watch the GOP drag the nation Leftwards, or demand conservative candidates, and vote only for conservative candidates, and drag the country Rightwards. The latter takes courage and principles, the former takes no effort at all.