Quote
Youth is, after all, just a moment, but it is the moment, the spark, that you always carry in your heart.
~ Raisa M. Gorbachev quotes
Joke Friday
A very thirsty guy realizes that he's just walked into a gay bar. He thinks, "What the hell, I really want a drink."
A gay waiter swishes up to him and says, "What's the name of your penis?"
The customer is shocked and says, "Look, I'm just not into that. All I want is a drink."
The waiter winks at him and says, "I'm sorry, honey, but I can't serve you until you tell me the name of your penis."
So the customer says, "All right, what's the name of YOUR penis?"
The waiter replies, "Well I call mine Timex, because it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin."
So the guy thinks about it for a couple of minutes and still can't come up with anything. So he asks the guy next to him his dick's name.
"I call mine Ford, because it's built ram tough. Have you driven a Ford lately?"
The customer thinks for a moment and says, "The name of my penis is Secret."
"Secret?" says the waiter, confused.
The customer says, "Yeah... strong enough for a man, BUT MADE FOR A WOMAN!"
Joke Friday
I booked into a hotel and said to the receptionist, "I hope the porn channel in my room is disabled."
"No," she says, "it's regular porn, you sick bastard."
Joke Friday
Paul Newman
Only women of a certain era will fully appreciate this.... True story. (If you don't understand this, tell your mother, she'll get it!)
A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town where Paul Newman and his family often visited.
One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk. After a brisk five-mile hike, she decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone.
She hopped in the car, drove to the center of the village and went straight to the combination bakery/ice cream parlor.
There was only one other patron in the store:
Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee.
The woman's heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with those famous baby-blue eyes.
The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely.
Pull yourself together! She chides herself. You're a happily married woman with three children, you're forty-five years old, not a teenager!
The clerk filled her order and she took the double-dip chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other. Then she went out the door, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman's direction.
When she reached her car, she realized that she had a handful of change but her other hand was empty.
Where's my ice cream cone? Did I leave it in the store? Back into the shop she went, expecting to see the cone still in the clerk's hand or in a holder on the counter or something! No ice cream cone was in sight..
With that, she happened to look over at Paul Newman.
His face broke into his familiar,warm,friendly grin and he said to the woman,
'You put it in your purse.'
Joke Friday
A psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with four young mothers and their small children.
'You all have obsessions,' he observed.
To the first mother, Mary, he said, 'You are obsessed with eating. You've even named your daughter Candy.'
He turned to the second Mom, Ann: 'Your obsession is with money. Again, it manifests itself in your child's name, Penny.'
He turned to the third Mom, Joyce: 'Your obsession is alcohol. This too shows itself in your child's name, Brandy.'
At this point, the fourth mother, Kathy, quietly got up, took her little boy by the hand and whispered, 'Come on, Dick, we're leaving. Your brothers Peter and Willy are waiting for us.'
The Editor
in me is having fun here in my drafts file - fun deleting all these old drafts - down to 15 and, probably not even half of them will see the light of day. It's funny but i do think that this might've been the job for me. Lots of times after movies i walk out thinking what they could've cut to make it better; and in books too, sometimes i think of a better ending or how they could've made things more beliveable or a character more likeable.
Yes, I think I would've liked having a red pen in my hand or being surrounded by what was left on the cutting floor.
(I'm waiting for an interview for a pt-time job at the local rag for editorial assisant-keep your fingers crossed.)
update: I received an email stating that they would be conducting interviews after Thanksgiving - but i never even got the interview- I did receive an email stating that the position had been filled. No cigar!
Sunday Sampler
Blog pick of the week: Lorna in wonderland ( I very much enjoy her wonderful wry humor).
Well, i'm off again on the great sofa/sectional hunt (wish me luck - i will need it!) -the ole champagne taste/beer budget thing. Can't imagine what it would be luck to just walk in and say i'll take that one." hey, but no thrill of the chase (who am i kidding- no headache). I want leather but afraid of this inexpensive Bicast leather that i'm considering- will it last??
Yippee!! I did it again!(3rd year running)! Nablopomo is over today - no more posting every day! - now i can just sit on my couch (if i get one).
Joke Friday
ITALIAN Women are TOUGH!
An elderly Italian man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite ravioli wafting up the stairs.
He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.
Gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen, where if not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were hundreds of his favorite ravioli.
Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of love from his wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?
He threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture.
His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the ravioli was already in his mouth.
With a trembling hand he reached up to the edge of the table, when suddenly he was smacked with a wooden spoon by his wife.
'You Jerk!' she said.
'Those are for the funeral.'
Happy Turkey Day!
A game warden was driving down the road when he came upon a young boy carrying a wild turkey under his arm.
He stopped and asked the boy, 'Where did you get that turkey?
The boy replied, 'What turkey?'
The game warden said, 'That turkey you're carrying under your arm.'
The boy looks down and said, 'Well, lookee here, a turkey done roosted under my arm!'
The game warden said, 'Now look, you know turkey season is closed, so whatever you do to that turkey, I'm going to do to you.
If you break his leg, I'm gonna break your leg. If you break his wing, I'll break your arm. Whatever you do to him, I'll do to you. So, what are you gonna do with him?'
And the little boy said... 'I guess I'll just kiss his ass and let him go!'
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!
(Thanks P.)
Manic Monday
Due to technical difficutlties this post is going to be short and to the point since the only reason that i am posting is because of this damn nablopomo. I am dead tired - i only got 3 or 4 hrs. sleep last nite since i woke up at 2AM I managed to muddle thru 8 hrs. of work. but the mouse in the den is not working so i'm on the laptop which i don't really like unless i'm on vacation and since it's like 30 degrees out i don't think i'm on vacation. And thedamn hi-tech lights over the kitchen island went out tonite too. i'm feeling especially technically challanged; so instead of getting freaked out about all this stuff that i need to get fixed, i'm going to bed.
Sunday Sampler
This weeks blog pick of the week: Just Painting - Go visit this wonderful painter.
Just in from Jordan's furniture and my head is about to explode. I am totally perplexed by the leather choices out there. i don't want the best or most expensive leather; i just want durable and affordable; oh and available in a sectional configuration. any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Joke Friday
This 80 year old woman was arrested for shop lifting. When she went before the judge in Cincinnati , he asked her, 'What did you steal?'She replied, 'A can of peaches.'The judge then asked her why she had stolen the can of peaches and she replied that she was hungry. The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied 6. The judge then said, 'I will give you 6 days in jail then.
'Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment, the woman's husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something. The judge said, 'What is it?'
The husband said, 'She also stole a can of peas.'
Trivia Thursday
Well if it weren't for Nablopomo there would be no post today - Grey's Anatomy is on, i still have to make the kid's lunch and I have nothing. Last night I was thinking of taking down this damn blog - yes i know it's a love/hate thing and i would miss it dearly. And yeah maybe i shouldn't have stopped my Prozac - it is winter and S.A.D. is real and of course there is my long history - nevermind- we're definitely not going there tonite.
Ok and since this blog looks like a bad case of days of the week underwear and it is Trivia Thursday, here is some trivia for you, or i should say something trivial.
well see here is my dilemma- I sold my sunroom/family room furniture to a friend who was moving last weekend - it's a long story and probably would make a better post than this.
i need to replace this couch so who out there has this new "microfiber" stuff. i can't believe that i'm considering this stuff since i absolutely hated it at first. Or should i take the big leap to leather ( hell i'm charging it anyway), is it worth it?
ok so place your vote now cause i ain't got anything to sit on.
microfiber or leather?
Manic Monday
Just another manic monday... wish it was sunday. It wasn't manic at all, pretty tame actually. The day kinda dragged - never a happy medium it seems. We passed the time between patients telling jokes. Day 17 here of (Nablopomo) and I really have nothing.
It is exciting hearing all the news about the Obama cabinet possibilities including Hillary. Crockhead had an interesting post about it yesterday- go check it out, or you can always check out what the puppies are doing ( see below).
Sunday Sampler
The good news:
Shiba Inu Puppy Cam
Live Videos by Ustream
The bad news: There are no rooms to be had ( cept for around one thousand dollars or more) in washington dc for the inaugeration. This is where i make a shameless plug to any washington bloggers or friends of bloggers to open up their house(for a fee of course) to me & a couple of my friends to be able to witness this historic event.
The worst news: Obama election spurs race threats, crimes.
Blog pick of the week: A man of my town Go read some of his very thoughtful posts.
Joke Friday
The love story of Ralph and Edna.
Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. Ralph and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking past the
hospital swimming pool. Ralph suddenly jumped into the deep end.
He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there.
Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled him out. When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she
now considered her to be mentally stable.
When she went to tell Edna the news she said, 'Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged, since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life
of the person you love. I have concluded that your act displays sound mindedness.
The bad news is, Ralph hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead.'
Edna replied, 'He didn't hang himself, I put him there to dry. How soon can I go home?'
Trivia Thursday
How many democratic presidents have there been and how many republican presidents have there been? (answer at bottom).
but first some techno questions for you:
can anyone out there tell me what the heck happenned to blogroll?? i don't think it's just mine - tho mine no longer updates; but if you click on it it tells you that they are having problems -check back. so is it time to abort? and if so now what? what next? bloglines - is it complicated? i seem to remember trying it once. could someone tell me how to do it easily? I also need to see if i can get site meter back on here - there was a problem with the blog awhile back and i had to delete it.
Answer to trivia question: There have been 14 Democratics and 17 Republicans, but during the 1800 there were the "Democratic-republicans" which is now just called the Democratic Party so counting that you would come up with a total of 18 Democrats and 17 Republican.
opinion poll:
my computer is 7 yrs. old - has had 2 hard drives replaced. As it stands now it is
s-l-o-w-well you'd be slow too if you only ;had 256 KG of ram memory. so those are the facts and i want to know if u think it is crazy to add more memory??
Vote here now: Yes/No/ Say it isn't so ( your 2 cents). and while we're at it, how do you do those poll thingies??
6 degrees of separation
6 degrees of separation explained here.
The day after the election, I just kind of wandered around and pinched myself - really, wow, cool, unbelievable!!
Later that night i went out to the store and upon walking in i saw someone from the election. I had only met her and her husband once; but i remember noting how her husband prefaced what he said to people on the phone banks that nite with "i'm a viet-nam vet". latter we laughed together when he said about that "well, then they can't be "mean" to me.
So when i see her walking into the store, i say hello and we hug and strike up a conversation- comrades. we exchange phone numbers.
The next day, i notice a tall dark haired woman in the waiting area at work. yup another Obama volunteer. i go over and say hi and we talk about where and what we did election night- another comrade.
six or seven degrees of separation for sure.
Weekend update
Seeing as i have to post everyday this month because of (Nablopomo), i thought maybe i need a schedule. last year.
Sunday Sampler: (Blog pick of the week). This week's blog pick: castleruins (really great photography- go see!)
Manic monday (where i complain about work).
Haiku tuesday (you do know what haiku is don't you).
wednesday (tba)
thursday (tba)
Joke friday
Photohunt sat.
And ,of course ,I reserve the right to not follow the damn schedule at all.
Happy Weekend!!!
Joke Friday
Oct 20, 2008
Dear Red States:
We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, andwe're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware,that includes California , Hawaii , Oregon , Washington , Minnesota,Wisconsin, Michigan , Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe thissplit will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the peopleof the new country of New California.To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue ofLiberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You getWorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent ofAmerica's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We gettwo-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states paytheir fair share.Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than theChristian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. Please beaware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we'regoing to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you needpeople to fight, ask your evangelicals.With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percentof the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineappleand lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent ofAmerica's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners)90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, mostof the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias andcondors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Techand MIT.With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health carecosts), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of thetornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all SouthernBaptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh,Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We getHollywood and Yosemite, thank you.Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah wasactually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacredunless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent saythat evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involvedin 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are peoplewith higher morals then we lefties.
Peace out,
Blue States
"The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all your time."
Is there life after campaigning?
Well, the day after the election I hung around the house; I just kept pinching myself. I didn't go to work and I didn't have to go the local Obama headquarters; so I looked around at the oh so many unfinished projects around here and since it was a nice day opted for an outdoor project; but really i mostly just did nothing. I really was in kind of a daze - happy for sure but also relieved - relieved that it was over and ended the way that i had only hoped but wasn't sure of until i heard them say it at about 11 PM on election night.
To recount election day - I went to work (begrudgingly- i wanted to be at HQ's); when i got there i checked my email and there it was an email from HQ's - "Vote and then get to a phone bank". Yipes! as much as i wanted to just quit and get on down there - i finished my morning shift, went to vote, came back -did the afternoon shift; then headed to HQ's. I thought we'd be there til 11:00 calling the west coast but at 7:30 we were released by the leader of this phone bank- told well maybe that is a good sign. well a few of us just looked at each other in disbelief - like what? stop now? go home and bite my nails?
Go home i did but the went out to a local Dem. party had a beer and a couple of slices of hot pizza ( a nice change from the steady diet of cold pizza and Halloween candy that i'd been eating down at HQ's.)
Back home and i settled down in front of the TV ( now with a glass of wine) at least now the Northeast had come in and he was ahead. Well i fell asleep and woke up to them saying that he'd won Virginia!! (what? Virginia? really? wow); went out to the kitchen for a glass of water and emptied the dishwasher (what was i thinking?- still working on nervous energy?). When i walked back into the sunroom, there it was on the TV - President elect Barack Obama!!!! OMG!!! I called my very good friend and reveled in the moment. I stayed up and watched his amazing acceptance speech,the shots of Times Square, DC and around the world in awe.
Then I went to bed happy and woke up happy and most importantly did not wake up in the middle of the night with night terrors ( what if? what if he doesn't win? what if the evil empire (Rep.) prevail with their robocalls and hate mail - i had woke up to an awful commercial that morning and then there were all those awful postcards from the Fla. Rep. committee to my Dad - who had passed away 3 yrs ago at 91 - a lifelong Democrat. I guess they just send them to all old people in Fla. then the news that they were calling Cubans in Fla. and telling them that Castro endorsed Obama. So so glad that all this was behind us now and that Yes we did! was the mantra of the day.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Don't let the evil republican empire win - Get out and Vote for Obama!!!!!
(seriously - i haven't gotten any robocalls here in Mass. - they know we're blue but i've gotten 3 or 4 Obama hate mailers from the Florida Rebublican Party addressed to my dad at my address. He used to live in Fla. - he died a few years ago- he was 91. He was a Democrat.
Joke Friday
Is this a joke or what? It was comical watching McCain ask if Joe the plumber was there at a rally where they had to bus school kids in!
Unbelievable that the best McCain has is "Joe not really a plumber", a guy who hasn't paid his taxes.
Uber Award
Suzanne
at Liquid Illusion
for this priceless award!
********
Uber
(synonym to Super)
Amazing Blog Award
is a blog award
given to sites
who:
~ inspire you
~ make you smile and laugh
~ or maybe gives amazing information
~ a great read
~ has an amazing design
~ and any other reasons you can think of that makes them uber amazing!
The rules of this award are:
* Put the logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
* Let them know that they have received these
Uber Amazing award
by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your awards from.
I nominate the following bloggers:
1. Simply Wait (Patry)
2. Just Painting (Mary)
3. Lorna in Wonderland (Lorna)
that I know!
Again, Thank You Suzanne
for this award!
Joke Friday
McCain's Voicemail to Palin Leaked to Press (Listen)
Voicemail sent to Palin before the GOP convention.
(Couldn't figure out how to get this up on here so just click on the read more link to get to it- it's funny.)
read more digg story
Make believe maverick/the real John McCain
Go read this great story in the rolling stone about the self proclaimed maverick.
And read in the Anchorage Times about the maverick's lying side kick.
(Gov. Palin, read the report. It says you violated the ethics law.)
And from over at Crockheads : The Cranky Old Man Report: McCain's Transition Chief Lobbied for Hussein. The ineptness of the McCain campaign is unbelievable. Now it comes out that the head of his transition team, William Timmons, headed up a lobbying team for Saddam Hussein right after the first Iraq war. The same guy who vetted Governor Barracuda must have been in charge of vetting Timmons for his job.
Sorry Dad I'm voting for Obama..
by Christopher Buckley
Christopher Buckley’s books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. His journalism, satire, and criticism has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Esquire. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Forbes FYI.
The son of William F. Buckley has decided—shock!—to vote for a Democrat.
Let me be the latest conservative/libertarian/whatever to leap onto the Barack Obama bandwagon. It’s a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They’d cut off my allowance.
Or would they? But let’s get that part out of the way. The only reason my vote would be of any interest to anyone is that my last name happens to be Buckley—a name I inherited. So in the event anyone notices or cares, the headline will be: “William F. Buckley’s Son Says He Is Pro-Obama.” I know, I know: It lacks the throw-weight of “Ron Reagan Jr. to Address Democratic Convention,” but it’ll have to do.
Dear Pup once said to me, “You know, I’ve spent my entire life time separating the Right from the kooks.”
I am—drum roll, please, cue trumpets—making this announcement in the cyberpages of The Daily Beast (what joy to be writing for a publication so named!) rather than in the pages of National Review, where I write the back-page column. For a reason: My colleague, the superb and very dishy Kathleen Parker, recently wrote in National Review Online a column stating what John Cleese as Basil Fawlty would call “the bleeding obvious”: namely, that Sarah Palin is an embarrassment, and a dangerous one at that. She’s not exactly alone. New York Times columnist David Brooks, who began his career at NR, just called Governor Palin “a cancer on the Republican Party.”
As for Kathleen, she has to date received 12,000 (quite literally) foam-at-the-mouth hate-emails. One correspondent, if that’s quite the right word, suggested that Kathleen’s mother should have aborted her and tossed the fetus into a Dumpster. There’s Socratic dialogue for you. Dear Pup once said to me sighfully after a right-winger who fancied himself a WFB protégé had said something transcendently and provocatively cretinous, “You know, I’ve spent my entire life time separating the Right from the kooks.” Well, the dear man did his best. At any rate, I don’t have the kidney at the moment for 12,000 emails saying how good it is he’s no longer alive to see his Judas of a son endorse for the presidency a covert Muslim who pals around with the Weather Underground. So, you’re reading it here first.
As to the particulars, assuming anyone gives a fig, here goes:
I have known John McCain personally since 1982. I wrote a well-received speech for him. Earlier this year, I wrote in The New York Times—I’m beginning to sound like Paul Krugman, who cannot begin a column without saying, “As I warned the world in my last column...”—a highly favorable Op-Ed about McCain, taking Rush Limbaugh and the others in the Right Wing Sanhedrin to task for going after McCain for being insufficiently conservative. I don’t—still—doubt that McCain’s instincts remain fundamentally conservative. But the problem is otherwise.
McCain rose to power on his personality and biography. He was authentic. He spoke truth to power. He told the media they were “jerks” (a sure sign of authenticity, to say nothing of good taste; we are jerks). He was real. He was unconventional. He embraced former anti-war leaders. He brought resolution to the awful missing-POW business. He brought about normalization with Vietnam—his former torturers! Yes, he erred in accepting plane rides and vacations from Charles Keating, but then, having been cleared on technicalities, groveled in apology before the nation. He told me across a lunch table, “The Keating business was much worse than my five and a half years in Hanoi, because I at least walked away from that with my honor.” Your heart went out to the guy. I thought at the time, God, this guy should be president someday.
A year ago, when everyone, including the man I’m about to endorse, was caterwauling to get out of Iraq on the next available flight, John McCain, practically alone, said no, no—bad move. Surge. It seemed a suicidal position to take, an act of political bravery of the kind you don’t see a whole lot of anymore.
But that was—sigh—then. John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?
All this is genuinely saddening, and for the country is perhaps even tragic, for America ought, really, to be governed by men like John McCain—who have spent their entire lives in its service, even willing to give the last full measure of their devotion to it. If he goes out losing ugly, it will be beyond tragic, graffiti on a marble bust.
As for Senator Obama: He has exhibited throughout a “first-class temperament,” pace Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s famous comment about FDR. As for his intellect, well, he’s a Harvard man, though that’s sure as heck no guarantee of anything, these days. Vietnam was brought to you by Harvard and (one or two) Yale men. As for our current adventure in Mesopotamia, consider this lustrous alumni roster. Bush 43: Yale. Rumsfeld: Princeton. Paul Bremer: Yale and Harvard. What do they all have in common? Andover! The best and the brightest.
I’ve read Obama’s books, and they are first-rate. He is that rara avis, the politician who writes his own books. Imagine. He is also a lefty. I am not. I am a small-government conservative who clings tenaciously and old-fashionedly to the idea that one ought to have balanced budgets. On abortion, gay marriage, et al, I’m libertarian. I believe with my sage and epigrammatic friend P.J. O’Rourke that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away.
But having a first-class temperament and a first-class intellect, President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit we’ve dug for ourselves. If he raises taxes and throws up tariff walls and opens the coffers of the DNC to bribe-money from the special interest groups against whom he has (somewhat disingenuously) railed during the campaign trail, then he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr.
Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy “We are the people we have been waiting for” silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for.
So, I wish him all the best. We are all in this together. Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship. And so, for the first time in my life, I’ll be pulling the Democratic lever in November.
As the saying goes, God save the United States of America.
Amen
Obama-supporting nun, 106, shocked by fame.
American based in Rome is ‘startled and a bit anguished’ by the attention.
ROME - A 106-year-old American nun who became a minor celebrity after she appeared on television saying she is voting for Barack Obama is "startled and a bit anguished" by all the attention she is getting, her order said on Monday.
Sister Cecilia Gaudette, born on March 25, 1902, has decided to step out of the limelight and back into the comfortable obscurity that characterized her life before the media discovered that she will be one of the oldest Americans to vote.
"Sister Cecilia is tired, she is startled and she is even a bit anguished by all the attention," Sister Carmen Aymar, a deputy superior general at the convent in Rome where the voting nun lives, told Reuters by phone.
Now she wants to be left alone," Aymar said.
After Gaudette appeared on CBS News in the United States and on BBC radio saying she was voting for the first time since 1952 and that it would be for Obama, the convent was besieged by calls from reporters and media outlets across the world.
"I'm encouraged by Senator Obama," she told the BBC. "I've never met him, but he seems to be a good man with a good private life. That's the first thing. Then he must be able to govern."
'Very proud to be an American'The story of Sister Cecilia, who was born in Manchester, New Hampshire and voting by absentee ballot over the Internet, was picked up by Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera, and other media.
"She is very proud to be an American," Sister Aymar told Reuters. "She keeps an American flag in her office."
Aymar said Gaudette, a retired teacher of music and art, has been living in Rome for the past 50 years and before that taught in France and the United States.
"She didn't know she could vote by mail or internet and after someone told her she could, she decided to do it," Aymar said.
Gaudette said the last time she voted in an American presidential election was in 1952 and she cast her ballot for President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican.
Gaudette is hard of hearing and her questions are relayed by another nun. She wears thick glasses and still uses a large, upright black enamel typewriter.
"But she is a very determined woman and still very lucid," said Aymar, who like Gaudette, is a member of the Religious Sisters of Jesus and Mary.
Gaudette said her hope for the future included peace in the world and an end to the war in Iraq.
Palin Abused Her Power and Lied
(and I plagerized - blatently stolen from Crockhead.)
The Republican legislature in Alaska has released its investigator's report on Sarah Palin's actions in trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired and can be read in its entirety here. In short, the investigation concludes that Governor Barracuda acted unethically in abusing her power, and that she lied about being afraid of the ex-brother-in-law. Specifically with the claims of fear, the report states:
"I conclude that such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins' real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons."
Obviously, the wingnuts who have been showing up at McCain/Palin rallies and yelling "shoot him" at the mention of Obama's name are not going to be deterred from continuing to support Palin over some little technicality like abuse of power, unethical behavior and lying. I doubt, however, that the release of this report is going to convince many undecided or Obama-leaning voters that they should now support McCain/Palin.
It is amazing how the wheels have come off of the McCain campaign over the last two weeks; caused not only by the economic news but by McCain's own impulsive mis-judgment. It has gotten so bad that reliable conservatives like Chris Buckley, son of Mr. Conservative, William F. Buckley, and still a columnist for the Buckley magazine, The National Review has announced that for the first time in his life, he's voting for a Democrat. This by a former McCain supporter, by the way.
On September 9, I wrote in a blog post "Slowly, slowly, the Palin balloon will deflate as the vetting McCain did not do before his impulsive selection gets done by the press. Don't panic Obama supporters." I'm not always right, but this time I was.
It's not over until all the votes are counted. But it is certainly looking good if you are an Obama supporter.
Unbelievable!!
(How come no one is reporting this? I think it is time the Obama campaign got the facts out on Palin and her secessionist hubby!)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Posted October 9, 2008 | 11:28 AM (EST) Alaskan Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
Read More: 2008 Election, Aip, Alaska Independence Party, Bill Ayers, First Dude, Joe Vogler, John Kerry, Media Coverage Of 2008 Election, Obama Ayers, Palin Alaska Independence Party, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Todd Palin Aip, Todd Palin Sarah Palin, William Ayers, Politics News
In 2004, America's malleable mainstream media allowed itself to be manipulated by artful Republican operatives into devoting weeks of broadcast attention and drums of ink to unfairly desecrating John Kerry's genuine Vietnam heroics while obligingly muzzling serious discussion of George W. Bush's shameful wartime record of evasion and cowardice.
Last week found the American media once again boarding Republican swift boats against this season's Democratic candidate armed with unfair and hypocritical attacks artfully designed by GOP strategists to distract attention from the cataclysmic outcomes of Republican governance. Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has taken to faulting Senator Barack Obama for his casual acquaintance with a respected Illinois educator Bill Ayers, who forty years ago was a member of the Weathermen, a movement active when Obama was eight and which he has denounced as "detestable." Palin argues that the relationship proves that Obama sees "America as being so imperfect that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
The Times dedicated a page one article to Obama's relations with Ayers and CNN's Anderson Cooper obliged Palin by rewarding her reckless accusations about Obama's patriotism with a major investigative report. Fox, meanwhile, is still riveting its audience with wall to wall coverage of this pressing irrelevancy.
But if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man--her husband, actually--who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base--an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy.
AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law."
AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."
Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism.
Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention. In other words, this is not something that happened when she was eight!
So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?
Where Obama wins round 2
No handshake from McCain; but what was worse is when he referred to Obama as "that one"!!! that one??? that one what? shades of racism/prejudice. incredible/unbelievable! He most certainly is out of touch/erratic- not who i want in the room talking to world leaders. I want the smartest guy in the room to be our next Presidant - Barack Obama!
Hopeful
YES!!!
(Now I hope that the Republican swiftboating doesn't change things - I hope Americans are smarter than that and I hope we start fighting back and expose the real(not imagined) scandals that McCain has been involved in.)
Paul Newman 1925-2008
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian and auto racing enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy award, and many honorary awards.
Newman was a co-founder of Newman's Own, a food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. On September 26, 2008, Newman died at his long-time home in Westport, Connecticut, of complications arising from lung cancer.
Early life
Newman was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland), the son of Theresa (née Fetzer or Fetsko and Arthur S. Newman, who ran a profitable sporting goods store. His father was Jewish and his mother was born to a Slovak Catholic family at Ptičie (formerly Peticse) in the former Kingdom of Hungary, now in Slovaki and converted to Christian Science when Paul was five. Newman had described himself as Jewish, stating that, "it's more of a challenge".
Newman served in the Navy in World War II in the Pacific theater.] Newman was sent to the Navy V-12 program at Ohio University, hoping to being accepted for pilot training, but this failed when it was discovered he was color blind. After the war, he completed his degree at Kenyon College, graduating in 1949. Newman later studied acting at Yale University and under Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio in New York City
Film career
Newman made his Broadway theater debut in the original production of William Inge's Picnic, with Kim Stanley. He later appeared in the original Broadway productions of The Desperate Hours and Sweet Bird of Youth with Geraldine Page. He would later star in the film version of Sweet Bird of Youth, which also starred Page.
Major films
Newman was one of the few actors who successfully made the transition from 1950s cinema to that of the 1960s and 1970s. His rebellious persona translated well to a subsequent generation. Newman starred in Exodus (1960), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Harper (1966), Hombre (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Towering Inferno (1974), Slap Shot (1977) and The Verdict (1982). He teamed with fellow actor Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973).
He appeared with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the feature films The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, (1958), From the Terrace (1960), Paris Blues (1961), A New Kind of Love (1963), Winning (1969), WUSA (1970), The Drowning Pool (1975), Harry & Son (1984) and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990).
Retirement from acting
Newman announced that he would entirely retire from acting on May 25, 2007. He told US broadcaster ABC that he didn't feel he could continue acting on the level that he would want to. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."
Philanthropy
Paul Newman at an announcement for a new Hole in the Wall Camp in Carnation, Washington in 2007With writer A.E. Hotchner, Newman founded Newman's Own, a line of food products, in 1982. Newman established a policy that all proceeds from the sale of Newman's Own products, after taxes, would be donated to charity. Among other awards, Newman's Own co-sponsors the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, a $25,000 reward designed to recognize those who protect the First Amendment as it applies to the written word.
One beneficiary of his philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential summer camp for seriously ill children, which is located in Ashford, Connecticut. Newman cofounded the camp in 1988; it was named after the gang in his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Marriages and family
Newman was married twice. His first marriage was to Jackie Witte and lasted from 1949to 1958. Together they had a son, Scott (1950), and two daughters, Susan Kendall (1953) and Stephanie.[ Scott Newman, who died in November 1978 from an accidental drug overdose,
Newman lived away from the Hollywood environment. He made his home quietly in Westport, Connecticut, and was devoted to his wife and family. When asked about infidelity, he quipped, "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?"
Political activism
For his strong support of Eugene McCarthy in 1968 (and effective use of television commercials in California), Newman was 19th on Richard Nixon's enemies list.
Consistent with his work for liberal causes, Newman publicly supported Ned Lamont's candidacy in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic Primary against Senator Joe Lieberman, and was even rumored as a candidate himself until Lamont emerged as a credible alternative. He had donated to Chris Dodd's presidential campaign.
If anybody made a differnce it was Paul Newman.
Joke Friday
Joke Friday
I THINK I UNDERSTAND THIS ELECTION A LITTLE BETTER NOW
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, it's a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack, you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard Law School and you are unstable.* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Se nate r epresenting a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on t he city council, and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people (the same population as the city of San Francisco), then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25, and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, it's all much clearer now.....
Photo hunter
Joke Friday
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see" Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars" "What does that tell you?" enquired Holmes. Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful clear day tomorrow. What does it tell YOU?"
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. "Watson, you idiot, some bastard has stolen our tent"
9/11/2001
They Failed Miserably
by Kevin Caruso
Though they plot evil against you
and devise wicked schemes,
they cannot succeed.
(Psalm 21:11)
And the terrorists did not succeed.
They failed miserably.
Instead of dividing America,
they unified America.
Instead of destroying our spirit,
they strengenthed our spirit.
Instead of moving us away from God,
they moved us closer to God;
and strenthened our faith.
The evil cowards who attacked us failed miserably...
in every way.
And while our 911 angels are in Heaven,
the satanic terrorists burn in hell for eternity.
They failed miserably.
Joke Friday
Subject: Women are evil by nature
A woman went up to the bar in a quiet rural pub.
She gestured alluringly to the bartender who approached her immediately.
She seductively signaled that he should bring his face closer to hers.
As he did, she gently caressed his full beard.
"Are you the manager?" she asked, softly stroking his face with both
hands.
"Actually, no," he replied.
"Can you get him for me? I need to speak to him," she said -- running
her hands beyond his beard and into his hair.
"I'm afraid I can't," breathed the bartender -- "Is there anything I can
do?"
"Yes. I need for you to give him a message" -- she continued, running
her forefinger across the bartender's lip and slyly popping a couple of
her fingers into his mouth and allowing him to suck them gently.
"What should I tell him?" the bartender managed to say.
"Tell him," she whispered "There's no toilet paper, hand soap or paper
towels in the ladies room."
Joke Friday
The year is 2222 and Mike and Maureen land on Mars after accumulating enough Frequent Flier miles.
They meet a Martian couple and are talking about all sorts of things. Mike asks if Mars has a stock market, if they have laptop computers, how they make money, etc.
Finally, Maureen brings up the subject of sex.
'Just how do you guys do it?' asks Maureen.
The Martian responds, 'Pretty much the way you do.'
A discussion ensues and finally the couples decide to swap partners for the night and experience one another. Maureen and the male Martian go off to a bedroom where the Martian strips. He's got only a teeny, weenie member about half an inch long and just a quarter-inch thick.
'I don't think this is going to work,' says Maureen.
'Why?' he asks. 'What's the matter?'
'Well,' she replies, 'it's just not long enough to reach me!'
'No problem,' he says, and proceeds to slap his forehead with his palm. With each slap of his forehead, his member grows until it's quite impressively long.
'Well,' she says, 'that's quite impressive, but it is still narrow.'
'No problem,' he says, and starts pulling his ears. With each pull, his member grows wider and wider until the entire measurement is extremely exciting to the woman.
'Wow!' she exclaims, as they fell into bed and made mad passionate love.
The next day the couples rejoin their other partners and go their separate ways. As they walked along, Mike asks, 'Well, was it any good?'
'I hate to say it,' says Maureen, 'but it was wonderful. How about you?'
'It was horrible,' he replies. 'All I got was a headache . She kept slapping my forehead and pulling my ears.'
Photohunter
This weeks theme: Wrinkled
(Thanks to Castleruins for jogging my memory as I didn't think i had an entry for this week - tho his/hers is much better.)
Joke Friday
(reposting here - need some new material - but this is one of my favs.)
Joke of the Day - A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how is manifests itself:
I decide to wash my car. As I start toward to the garage, I notice
that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the
mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash
can under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the
trash first, but then I think that since I’m going to be near the
mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my checkbook off the table and see that there is only one check
left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, o I go to my
desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking. I’m going
to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I
don’t accidentally knock it over.
I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the
refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye–they need to be watered.
I set the Coke down on the counter and I discover my reading
glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.
I decide I’d better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to
water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water,
and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight, when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for
the remote, but nobody will remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so
I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll
water the flowers.
I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up
the spill.
Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day; the car isn’t washed, the bills aren’t paid,
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren’t
watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook,
I can’t find the remote, I can’t find my glasses, and I don’t remember
what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long and I’m really tired. I
realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it,
but first I’ll check my e-mail.
Joke Friday
Childbirth at 65
With all the new technology regarding fertility recently, a 65-year-old
friend of mine was able to give birth. When she was discharged from the
hospital and went home, I went to visit.
'May I see the new baby?' I asked
'Not yet,' she said, 'I'll make coffee and we can visit for a while
first.'
Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, 'May I see the new baby now?'
'No, not yet,' She said.
After another few minutes had elapsed, I asked again, 'May I see the baby now?'
'No, not yet,' replied my friend.
Growing very impatient, I asked, 'Well, when can I see the baby?'
'WHEN HE CRIES!' she told me.
'WHEN HE CRIES?' I demanded. 'Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?'
'BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM, O.K.?!!'
Photohunter
Joke Friday
Subject: Interview
A major International company was looking to recruit for an important
position, so they interviewed dozens of applicants and narrowed their
search down to three people.
In an attempt to pick one of them, they decided to give them all the same
question to answer within 24 hours, and the one with the best answer would
get the job.
The question was:
A man and a woman are in bed, nude. The woman is lying on her side with
her back facing the man, and the man is lying on his side facing the
woman's back.
What is the man's name?
After the 24 hours was up, the three were brought in to give their
answers.
The first, from England , says 'My answer is, there is no answer.'
The second, from Scotland , says 'My answer is that there is no way to
determine the answer with the information we were given.'
The third one, from Ireland , says 'I'm not exactly sure, but I have it
narrowed down to two names. It's either:
Scroll down for the answer, or stop, and try to work it out.
>>
>>
>>
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Willie Turner or Willie Naylor.'
The Irishman got the job...