Sarah Palin's palm cheat-sheet steals her show
 Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin addresses attendees at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville on Feb. 6, 2010. (Ed Reinke/Associated Press)
Has there been a more talked about stolen glance since George H.W. Bush looked at his wristwatch during a 1992 debate with Bill Clinton?On Saturday, former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin glanced at her left palm during a question and answer session at the first National Tea Party Conference in Nashville. The topic: her thoughts on what the top three priorities for the GOP ought to be should the party regain control of Congress.It quickly became apparent that Palin had been glancing notes written on her palm. The Huffington Post produced a photographic close-up, which showed her hand contained the words "Energy", "Tax" and "Lift American Spirits." The phrase "Budget cuts" was also there, though the word "Budget" had been crossed out.Much mockery has ensued -- from members of the press and liberal critics of Palin alike. Andrea Mitchell on Monday tweaked Palin's "cheat sheets" on MSNBC's Daily Rundown, saying she'd written notes on her own hand "just in case I didn't remember" the script. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDrX4_lsLKY&feature=player_embedded  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOvQCkrm3Sg&feature=player_embedded Editors Note: We don't see the paper.   

  Rod Aydelotte/The Waco Tribune Herald, via Associated PressBaylor's Brittney Griner with Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle. Griner later punched Barncastle, drawing a two-game suspension.  "Griner, 19, created a major commotion, one that will be difficult for her to deflect, during the second half of Baylor’s game Wednesday night when she punched Texas Tech forward Jordan Barncastle, who had been called for fouling her with a sharp elbow, breaking Barncastle’s nose and causing both benches to clear."Read Article    

  Oscars 2009: the complex voting system explained Tuesday marks the final day of voting for members of the Academy Awards to decide the Oscar winners, but due to the Academy's complex voting system, some films are more favoured than others.  A Sedate Oscar Debate
By Noam Friedlander in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 9:30AM GMT 17 Feb 2009 For those outside the industry, the voting process is a conundrum – a complicated preferential system, which resembles the well-established Single Transferable Vote system. The ballots are then tallied by accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers and there are no computers used. It's all done by hand.Rick Rosas, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and one of two accountants charged with tabulating the results, says there are years when just a few votes separate the winner from the losers."We have had exceedingly close (results), extremely close," said Mr Rosas. "This is my eighth year, and I definitely recall having to recount a couple of times for best picture."The academy, which is made up of people from the film industry, allows members to vote for their colleagues, as directors vote on directors, actors for actors etc., but everyone is allowed to vote for the best picture contenders and it is this process that provides the complications.All Academy members chose five films, which are ranked in order of preference. For a movie to receive a nomination alone it must be ranked first by at least a fifth of the voters. However, complications arise when only two or three movies receive that coveted first place spot. When that happens, the Academy takes the film with the lowest number of No 1 votes and reallocates those votes to the second choices on the ballots.But what frequently happens is that only two or…

 AP Poll: Americans high on Obama, direction of US By RON FOURNIER and TREVOR TOMPSON, The Associated Press