...because Pres. Bush, Linda Chavez and a small handful of Republican Senators say I am.
I am not for open borders and I am not for easing the restrictions and a small penance for illegal immigrants to stay here. I'm not against immigration, it would be foolish for me to be since my own family came here in the mid-60's and more of them came in the 90's.
Sounds pretty fucked up to me. I was always taught that winners never cheat and cheaters never win. This amnesty bill spits on that motto square in the center. I'm not against this bill because I don't like brown people. I'm against it because fucking cheaters piss me off and this bill rewards cheating. Nice moral lesson. The people that follow the rules to get here just got the rules toughened and Bush/Kennedy want to give a pat on the back and make it easy on the ones that broke the rules.
I want an even playing field for immigration and that means I hate America and I am a Nazi racist.
Fuck You Linda Chavez, who couldn't be Labor Secretary because she hired illegals to work at her house. If you like brown people so much why not pay them a fair and legal wage? Why not contribute to Social Security for your cheap labor? I know, you did it because no American will take a job as a nanny...
And fuck you George Bush, who had my unwavering support on almost all of your policies. I wonder how where those approval ratings will go to now.
Is it any wonder this whole thing is a mess? I don’t expect Senators or House members to read every single bill that goes through Congress. But a document that was going to take us to war and cost thousands of American lives?
People like that should be disqualified from running for President. We don’t need another screw-up in the White House.
Only 6 Senators and a handful of Congresscritters actually read the estimate before voting for the Iraq War Resolution. I get what Michael is saying and on principle, he's right. My only objection is that the estimate was wrong. Really, really wrong. So, in the case of Iraq, reading the estimate wouldn't have helped anyone make an informed decision.
Why would Clinton, McCain and the others that didn't read the estimate vote for the authoriztion to use force? We've been hearing about Saddam's weapons programs for YEARS. Years before Bush took office. I had no reason to doubt the claims since they were made by everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike. Neither did Clinton McCain, Dodd and the rest. Reading the estimate would've only confirmed what they already believed, it wouldn't have changed their initial vote. As proof, I'll point to John Edwards. Edwards read the report and voted for authorization.
That said, Michael's point is a valid one. Voting for something as serious as using force without reading all the intelligence available isn't exactly something we want in a leader. We already know what having an uninformed Cinc is like, no? I'd rather have a President that makes decisions after weighing all the available information than one that makes decisions based on word of mouth.
I am acknowledging publicly that the text of the original memo in the funny forgery story was real. I still think the captions under the eagle were funnier than hell. But the story was not fake, the memo was real but the PDF circulating with the Hummel figure has not been confirmed as real yet.
Feels like Monday but it's Tuesday. Kevin D came by for a visit yesterday and got to watch Dean and I interact, I'm sure he thought it was a real treat. People always wonder how the heck Dean and I became a couple, talk about opposites attracting. Dean is very serious, quiet and nerdy, I'm outlandish, outspoken and not the least bit nerdy. We are polar opposites in personality, just as our blogs are but we have similar interests.
So, Kev is over for a while and we're chatting about travel, religion and politics. Then I have to leave to take a lawnmower back to my sister's house. I'm getting ready to go and Draco starts fussing. I ask Dean if he minds watching Drake so Jake and I can return the lawnmower. He's says that he'd rather not deal with a screeching toddler, I respond instantly that he should have thought of that before he fucked me.
Silence. Shocked silence.
Then I start laughing. I thought that was a damn funny response. After all these years, I can still shock the old man. Makes a girl feel good that her wits are still quick and sharp.
Sorry, I know some of you don't like or "get" Ace but this is really worth reading. I laughed so hard, Dean demanded to know what was so funny. He laughed and linked it too. The captions under the Hummel figurine made me gasp for air due to laughing so hard.
Finally a SecDef that knows what the hell it's all about. I won't be surprised if he remains in his position during the Clinton/Richardson/Obama administration. Hopefully his age won't be a factor.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates encouraged the graduating U.S. Naval Academy class of 2007 Friday to "remember the importance of two pillars of our freedom under the Constitution: the Congress and the press."
Gates said the Founding Fathers wisely understood that the Congress, a free press and a nonpolitical military are needed in a free country.
"The press is not the enemy and to treat it as such is self-defeating," he said.
Mark is pissed and rightly so. This cave in to Bush is not what you liberals expected from your Democrat controlled Congress. I'm glad to see some actual annoyance at being screwed instead of just goalpost moving and finding new ways to explain the cave in positively, like the DCCC did.
THEN:
Two weeks ago, President Bush vetoed our legislation to demand accountability in Iraq and declared he would only sign a bill without any accountability for his management of the war.
NOW:
Now, the President has agreed to accountability and reporting provisions. That means for the first time we can force the President to be held accountable for his endless war in Iraq. We canceled the President's blank check in Iraq.
Accountability? That sounds good, it doesn't sound at all like the Dems blinked and caved. I guess you can't raise funds if you really said what happened.
Then: Two weeks ago, Pres Bush vetoed legislation with a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq.
Now: We dropped the whole timetable thingy so he'd sign it. Don't we suck? Aren't we a complete bunch of pussies?
We are off on our trip to Frankenmuth. It's a short trip, only 2 days, but with 2 kids any longer will test our sanity. Besides how many days at a waterpark are needed?
I have another post scheduled to go around 3:00pm and I'll leave an open thread for later.
Last night aired the third season finale of ABC’s LOST.
The executive produces said it would radically alter the direction of the show and it did. Charlie is dead. A bunch of “The Others” are dead. Locke is seeing Walter.
Oh, and everyone is off the island and back home.
Yeah, I’d call it a radical new direction. Pretty ballsy in my book. The kind of thing I’d expect from, say, Ron Moore’s re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, but never network television.
It’s pretty clear Jack wishes he never left the island and wants to get back. So much so it’s kind of scary. In his brief conversation with Kate it seemed to me that she might be sympathetic to that point of view.
And why isn’t Kate in jail?
And whose viewing did Jack attend? Who else died? The funeral director asked Jack if he was a friend or family of the deceased and Jack said no. Initially, I thought it might have been Sawyer. But, after seeing Kate, and he balking at the idea of going to this person’s funeral has me thinking, odd enough, it may be Ben.
I know it sounds wild but Ben and Jack have developed a kind of strange relationship. Given that Ben didn’t actually order the deaths of Sayed, Jin, and Bernard I wonder how their relationship might have evolved after leaving the island.
Then, Ben may have never actually left. I’m sure Locke wouldn’t and Rousseau said as much about herself.
I guess Sawyer could still be dead and there just be bad blood between Jack, Kate and him we don’t know about. However, this is all speculation. But that’s half the fun of LOST!
ABC picked up the show for three more seasons and the show’s producers stated that these will be the final three. So, LOST now has an end date – 2010. I’m glad to hear this. This is the type of show that really needs to be story driven and it’s nigh impossible to do a good story driven program for television unless you know where the end is. And with a show like LOST, without knowing that end point, it would be easy for the writers to bury themselves in mysteries that would never have a satisfying answer.
This episode didn’t heal the hurt over the utter trash the was the first half of the season but it goes a ways to show me they might pick up the pieces and make something nice.
Some people are already turning this into a political issue. It's not a political issue, it's a baby. Some of the Freepers are already starting the expected barage of anti-gay sentiment. Big shock.
PS Check out the official White House photo, to the left. I believe it's traditional for at least one of the first baby photos to be with the parents, not the grandparents. Or are we again trying to hide the fact that baby Cheney has two mommies? These people are a real piece of work.
Real piece of work? Yeah, whatthefuckever. John, who, thankfully will never know what if feels like to be in a long labor and deliver an 8lb 6oz baby thru a rather small opening. Here's a clue, if a camera came at me for an "official photo" after I gave birth, the cameraman would be in the ER having it extracted from a delicate place. And the other mommy was probably standing by her "spouse" like she should instead of posing for a photo op that would have been ridiculed by some other know nothing asshole like John.
As some of you may or may not know I've come to believe that Christians are incorrect to abandon Torah. A good chunk of it we should be keeping. I believe that Paul never taught against Torah. He said so himself many, many times. Now, there are portions of Torah that are impossible for us to keep for a number of very good and perfectly legitimate reasons. 1) We're a nation in exile - we're not physically in Israel. 2) We don't live in a theocracy. 3) We live under a government that doesn't keep the Law. There's more but that's enough.
Still, what of the portions we can observe we should.
But, rather then dance around misinterpreted quotes from Paul how about we do what Paul did?
In Acts 17:11 we see the Bereans looking into the Old testament to research everything Paul said and found it to be true. In Acts 28:22-23 it says Paul taught the people about Messiah out of the Torah and out of the prophets.
In short, everything Paul said was found to be accurate when compared against the Tanakh (Old Testament).
So, here's the challenge:
Find in the Old Testament where it states any of the following;
1) The Sabbath day would change from the 7th day of the week to the 1st.
2) G-d's people would no longer keep the festivals after the coming of Messiah.
3) G-d's people would no longer keep New Moon after the coming of Messiah.
4) Gentiles joining the nation of Israel were not expected to keep Torah.
5) Messiah would abolish Torah.
These five assertions are common within the Christian Church and Christians often point to Paul for them. Well, as I've shown, Paul taught from the Tanakh. The New Testament didn't exist. So, if Paul taught these things and they were found to be Scripturally accurate, as Acts 17:11 and Acts 28:22-23 makes clear his teachings were, we should find them as well.
So, let's drop the New Testament and see if we can find these five points in the Old Testament Let's teach like Paul!
First off, I despise sex offender lists. I believe they violate the “paid debt” principle in American law.
I'm kinda stuck in the middle. I get Michael's point. A prison sentence that has been fulfilled means that the debt to society has been paid. If the debt is paid then a sex offender list is an additional punishment. My main question is how many people sentenced actually complete a prison term? If they a good prisoners, they are paroled early. Parole doesn't always mean the debt is paid, often it is simply a conditional release of from prison prior to the end of the maximum sentence imposed. Conditional is the key word. If a sex offender is conditionally released then the State has every right to require that his/her name be put on a list. Also many offenders are given probation and again the list is totally reasonable.
Anyone know how often a sex offender actually completes their prison term? Are those that complete their full sentences also required to submit to the lists?
In grudging concessions to
President Bush, Democrats intend to draft an
Iraq war-funding bill without a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and shorn of billions of dollars in spending on domestic programs, officials said Monday.
The legislation would include the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade, a top priority for the Democrats who took control of Congress in January, the officials added.
Well, at least, they got a minimum wage hike. That's kinda like getting handed paper towel and a "thanks baby" after taking a cumshot in the face.
I've been reading and hearing a lot about the childhood obesity problem. Most studies indicate that it has been rising since the 80's. I heard a newscaster say that that coincidently is when working mothers started to be the norm. The suggestion being that there could be a link between moms working and kids getting fatter. Add in the "convenience" food also rising at that time and maybe.
It makes some sense that working moms would rely more heavily on the "convenience" food but there has to be something else. Correlation is not causation. I know plenty of working moms with kids that aren't fat and stay at homers with fat kids. It's more complicated than just blaming mom. Genetics plays a role, food plays a role, availability of sugary drinks and lack of exercise plays a role. I was in high school in the 80's and my mom worked at that point. My mom also always cooked our meals because my dad was not the convenience food kinda guy. We didn't drink pop/soda or juice boxes, we drank Kool-aid, iced tea, and water. In my neighborhood lots of moms worked, that's how I earned my money babysitting. I was on the payroll of about a third of my block from the ages of 12 to 15. People my age and older have one thing in common with each other that the kids today don't have with us. We played outside. We didn't have 200 channels to watch and cool video games to play. We had video games but most of them were at actual arcades. Those of us that had Atari or ColecoVision didn't stay in to play it all day because we were already older when they came out.
We played sports, we played outside, we occasionally ate Mickey D's and still some kids were just fat. Today more kids are fat but less of them are outside playing, more eat fast food/junk food and everyone drinks sugary drinks. I think it's a combination of factors. Lots of parents also let their kids make their own choices, I see this all the time. It boggles me to no end. Why would you let a 5 year old tell you what they are willing to eat? They are 5! What do they know? I know kids are picky but if you cave in to their demands where will it end? You have to be the parent, it's your job as a parent to teach your kid not let them find their own way. Do your job right and when it is time for them to find their way they will have all the tools to do it right. Teach your kids how and what to eat, teach them to cook when they get older, teach them to clean and be responsible for their stuff, don't let them dictate to you what they are willing to do.
I think that some kids are genetically predisposed to obesity but that doesn't mean they will automatically be fat. If they are chubby at 5 or 6 don't lecture them and don't make a big fuss out of putting them on a diet. Being overweight at that age is the fault of bad parenting and/or genes not the child. Take them to the doctor get their thyroid tested, make sure their blood work is normal. Always rule out medical issues first. If it's not medical, it's you. They learn by example more than they learn from lectures. Feed them better, get out and do stuff with them, don't let them spend hours in front of the t.v. or playing video games. Don't make them feel like they did something wrong. Make adjustments. If you put the blame on them you will be setting them up for a lifetime of eating disorders and yo-yo dieting. If it's not medical, then you screwed up someplace, fix it by being a parent not a buddy and not by blaming everyone else.
I’d like to talk about Jerry Falwell for a moment. So much of what has been written about him since his death drips with hate I’d like to try to seek some perspective. People hate him for what he’s said and done in his life. I want to know why. I have my suspicions.
I suspect that it’s not the man they have a problem with but the Man he represents.
I can’t think of a single time I’ve ever heard anyone attack his theology. They simply attack him personally as a hater, bigot, homophobe, or whatever else. But never does anyone ever talk about where he’s gotten his theology wrong.
I don’t know about you but if someone builds their life upon the idea the 2 + 2 = 5 I’d not waste my time telling them how screwed up their life is. I’d try to show them that they got the equation they based their life upon wrong.
I was at Dean’s blog and watching the firestorm there when I came across Ron Coleman’s post. Coleman gets it. Falwell’s words and deed can be traced back to his faith quite easily. Falwell isn’t a difficult man to understand once you realize that he bases it all upon an uncompromising love of Scripture and hatred of sin. The problem is that many people don’t understand where he coming from because either they live a life of watered down Scripture or just never bother to think in the first place.
Michael Demmons, in responding to Ron’s post, provided a number of quotes from Falwell. They’re provided with absolutely no context (he makes you follow his links and most people won’t if they already hate the man), but looking over them I completely understood where Falwell was coming from and agreed! Let me go over those same quotes here for a moment.
“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
G-d destroyed two cities for their immorality. You may have heard of them: Sodom and Gomorrah. G-d also called the sin of homosexuality an abomination. It’s one of the few He does. It goes to show just how harshly G-d views these two sins.
The problem arises with the rosy picture of Messiah Yeshua most of us have grown up with. G-d doesn’t judge anymore. To paraphrase Rosemay, we now have a softer, kinder Messiah. This, unfortunately, is a lie of the worst kind. Messiah is not greater than the Father. He said so Himself. Messiah serves the Father. The Father destroys cities and nations because of their sin.
I’ve heard many Christians say, “If G-d doesn’t judge America He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” That AIDS first reared its head in the homosexual community and plagues them disproportionately to this very day says something. And that AIDS is primarily transmitted through sexual contact says even more. I mean, if there wasn’t a disease crafted to punish sexual immorality I don’t know what is! Abstain from sexual sin, guess what, the odds of you getting AIDS is virtually zero.
If you believe in a G-d that punishes sin, and know that homosexuality is one of the worst kinds of sin because of G-d’s treatment of it in the past, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at AIDS and look at our nation’s growing acceptance of homosexuality, and sexual immorality as a whole, and put it together.
“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say “you helped this happen.” - On 9/11
Again, you’ll disagree with this comment if you don’t believe in a G-d that punishes nations for sin. If you call yourself a Christian of Jew, especially a Jew, then this shouldn’t be a radical idea for you. Nations that embrace sin over righteousness are judged. It’s a simple Biblical fact.
I believe that for some 200+ years G-d protected us. We all like that right? The idea that G-d protects us? 9/11 was brimming with calls of, “G-d bless America!” Remember? But G-d isn’t some security system you can turn on and off at your whim. What makes you believe G-d should protect us? What have we done to deserve it?
Please, tell me. If you’re a Christian or Jew please tell me why G-d should protect us? Falwell just provided a very compelling list on why He wouldn’t. We embrace sin over righteousness. G-d doesn’t protect people that turn their back on His ways.
I blame the physical attacks on Muslim terrorists. I’m not letting them off the hook. But the attack itself was allowed to occur because I believe G-d was trying to get our attention. Disagree with me? Show me in the Bible where I’m wrong. I can cite you example after example where G-d uses war and tragedy to get the attention of His people. The history of ancient Israel is rife with examples.
The Father doesn’t change. Messiah merely serves the Father and Messiah Yeshua’s only purpose was to be a sacrificial lamb. That’s it. Yahweh is still Judge over all Creation and His Will has never changed. And His patience isn’t without end.
“I know a few of you here today don’t like Jews. And I know why. He can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose.”
I actually laughed at this quote because, well, I think this was said in jest. And even if it weren’t it’s certainly not offensive. The Jewish people are a supernaturally blessed people. A quick glance at history shows they excel in the areas of science, business and any other trade they put their minds to. You think Hitler blamed the financial woes of Germany on the Jews because they weren’t good at making money? I’ll tell you something, stereotypes exist because they’re typically based on some fundamental fact.
We should all be so lucky as those “Jew bankers” or “Jew lawyers.”
G-d blesses His children with gifts. Gifts and blessings give rise to jealousy and envy in those that don’t have them.
There’s no insult here. Just friendly ribbing.
“If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.”
Well, yeah! Your point? Humanity is designed to love and worship his Creator. If you’re not doing this you’re a failure. If you understand the faith, you understand this. While Jews may not accept Messiah this concept isn’t alien to them. It’s a Jewish concept! So, again, this statement is grounded in Biblical principle. It’s only offensive to those that don’t agree with the Bible.
“The Jews are returning to their land of unbelief. They are spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior.”
Again, a concept grounded in Christian theology. The Jewish people have turned their back on Messiah. It was blindness on their part that led to His death. To this very day they still reject Him. This is no-brainer stuff. Jews need their Messiah. The world need their Messiah! Let’s remove the words “Jews are” and put in their place “world is.” Now it’s a statement most people wouldn’t care about. They’d let it roll off their shoulders. But since Falwell singled out Jews now all of a sudden it’s hate speech! Please. If it’s hate speech then Christian theology is hate speech. The Jews need their Messiah. No duh.
“Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan.”
And you thought I was gonna shy away from the though ones! Actually, I have no idea where Falwell got this but I disagree with him and I think he’s wrong.
Not much else to say on that really.
I don’t know about you but five out of six ain’t bad! I also just looked and this is pretty much the same list of sins Rosemary gave against the man. All I did was apply a bit of common sense, Biblical theology, and the will to say honestly “America has screwed up” and Falwell’s statements begin to make sense.
Of course, if you utterly reject Biblical theology then there’s nothing I can say to you anyway. But if 90% of the nation professes that the Bible is their holy text (be it the just the Tanakh or Tanakh and New Testament) had they spent a few more minutes actually reading it, rather than hissing at a man that ruffled their feathers, they’d see Falwell typically isn’t out of line.
His opinions are, in my view, by and large in line with the Father's. And, really, that’s the whole point.
You may blame him for being too harsh too much but how else can one combat the actions of other preachers that are too soft too much? The latter certainly out number and out popularize the former.
I must conclude that people who say they hate Falwell doesn’t really hate him. They hate his uncompromising message of moral accountability and repentance. But that’s not even his message, is it? These people’s problems aren’t with Falwell. Their problems are with their Creator.
I've linked the Wikipedia entry on Mencken so those of you, who are unfamiliar with him can get a clue as to why Ace would choose him. Mencken was a journalist and a satirist. He's also the guy that dubbed the Scope's Trial as the "Monkey" trial. Here's a bit more:
Mencken was an outspoken defender of freedom of conscience and civil rights, an opponent of persecution, injustice, puritanism, and self-righteousness. As a nationally syndicated columnist and author of numerous books he notably assaulted America's preoccupation with fundamentalist Christianity and attacked the "Booboisie," his word for the ignorant middle classes. In 1926, he was arrested for selling an issue of The American Mercury banned in Boston.[1] Mencken heaped scorn not only upon self-serving public officials but the contemporary state of American democracy itself: in 1931, the Arkansas legislature passed a motion to pray for Mencken's soul after he had called the state the "apex of moronia."
Mencken sometimes took positions in his essays more for shock value than for deep-seated conviction, such as his essay arguing that the Anglo-Saxon race was demonstrably the most cowardly in human history, published at a time when much of his readership considered Anglo-Saxons the noble pinnacle of civilization. He captivated young intellectuals with total assurance and a delightfully hateful, but no less erudite style.
I guess you could almost call him the Howard Stern of the early 20th century. Outspoken and funny, unless you didn't "get" him. If you didn't "get" him you thought he was evil and hateful...just like some see Ace, I guess.
A real hate site is run by someone that truly hates like Fred Phelps, who I won't link. That's real hate and there is no way possible to misconstrue that.
Speaking at a special brainstorming session on the sidelines of the 34th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM), the foreign ministers termed Islamophobia the worst form of terrorism and called for practical steps to counter it. [emphasis mine - MTR]
If I was flamboyantly gay, I would be afraid to walk into a cowboy bar in Wyoming. Caballerophobia? No, a healthy will to live.
If I wasn't crazy, I would be afraid to walk through Bedford-Stuy alone. Bedford-Stuy-ophobia? No, due caution unsuppressed by mind-altering substances.
If I was a Red Sox fan, I would be afraid to boo the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Yankophobia? Fugeddaboudit! Don't be a schmuck.
If I was any kind of Muslim, and people all around me looked at me funny because sickos were perpetrating all manner of depraved atrocities in the name of my god, would I be uncomfortable? You bet your ass. Would I expect anything different? NO. Is it terrorism? NO.
Generalized xenophobia is an illness, focused xenophobia is prejudice (justified or not), neither of these should be equated with the commission of acts of mass murder and destruction for the purpose of influencing a political outcome.
What can I do about the cowboys? I guess I'd try to convince them that "real men" such as they should not feel threatened by the existence of homosexuals. AND PROSECUTE THE CRAP OUT OF THEM IF THEY COMMIT ASSAULTS.
What can I do to make people feel safer in high-crime areas? Increase police presence and community outreach to discourage criminals from operating there.
What can I do about the belligerent Yankees fans? Fugeddaboudit! Don't be a schmuck.
What can the powers-that-be in the OIC do about the above-mentioned sickos in their midst? How about discouraging mosques and madrassas from interpretations of the Quran and Hadith that foment horrific acts of violence against innocents?
They have a better idea:
At the end of the session it was decided to shortlist reputable Muslim and non-Muslim think tanks, academics and NGOs in the US and UK and other leading European countries for cooperation in monitoring and countering anti-Islam campaigns. The ministers said Muslim think tanks and NGOs in the Western countries should be encouraged and urged to develop closer contacts with their non-Muslim counterparts and to remain engaged in regular contact and dialogue. They felt the international media should be properly cultivated to motivate them to be more responsible in carrying out their responsibilities.
[emphasis mine - MTR]
Well, I see absolutely no one cared that I left for Germany two weeks ago so I'll keep this short.
I visited castles, churches and a concentration camp. Took 400+ pictures.
Airline lost my bag with all my clothes. Less than an hour after getting home I got in a car accident. It wasn't my fault. My insurance doesn't cover my damage. Micigan is a no-fault state. Anyone know how I can get the guy responsible for the accident to pay for the damages?
I'm having a really hard time thinking of what to say that doesn't sound disrespectful of the dead. Problem is I didn't respect him when he lived. The things he believed and said hurt so many people, people that I love and respect. I guess the only thing I can say is that I hope I'm right about God and he's wrong, that way he really will rest in peace and so will all those that died of AIDS that Falwell felt so at ease in condemning.
Everyone is saying you should say only nice things or this isn't the time or he can't defend himself. Well, neither could Saddam after he hung and I didn't feel compelled to be gracious to him or respectful of his family. I won't require you to restrain yourselves in the comments, what you say or don't say is your choice.
It is totally rude to put a commercial for the new Shrek movie immediately following Melinda Doolittle. I'm having a hard enough time not picturing her painted green as it is.
I've been accused of many things since I began blogging about 5 years ago. Being a liar and a smear artist are among some of the least of the charges. Hell, my nom de plume was inspired by charges of some that I was pure evil. I embraced the name not because I believe myself to be evil personified but as a badge of triumph. I will not be silenced by those that disagree with me and I will not sit idly by while some insist that I'm a smear artist.
No.
I am not a smear artist. I have never knowing written something about a politician that I knew was false. I have not. What I write I believe to be true. Have I been wrong? Certainly. Will I apologize for being wrong? Sure, if the subject that I was wrong about asks me to do so. I will not apologize to the throngs of liberal worshipers that demand it. If I am wrong about someone and they want a retraction, I will gladly give it to them. Beyond that, forget it. Bloggers on either side rarely apologize for anything and the right wingers are no more vicious than the left wingers. There is plenty of vitriol to go around. I don't demand apologies on my behalf, I take the nasty comments and accusations in stride. I know the truth and if you believe that I'm a liar, I will never convince you otherwise. Just know that I sleep peacefully every night. Making mistakes is not criminal, it's human and I am human.
Nobody is perfect but we can all strive to do our best and I do. Politics has always been volatile and passionate. It is an art and a science based on beliefs. Anything that deals with belief will always have strife. Everyone thinks that their way is best. That will always lead to arguing. I love arguing, that's why I blog.
I believe certain things, that's why I'm a Republican. I believe other things and that's why I'm a Catholic. Do my beliefs conflict with my affiliations? All the time but my politics and my religion do not define me. They are a part of me and they shape my thinking but so does the reading I do, the education I received, the news that happens and the advances we make. I am the sum of my parts and I cannot be defined by just one thing. So stop trying. Just when you think you know me, I'll surprise you.
What you know about me would fit on a postage stamp. Remember, you only know what I let you know, no more and no less. Except Ara, he might know me a bit better, since he's been a guest in my home before. You may like or you may hate me, I'm fine with either. I'm not here for your approval, I'm here to write, to discuss and to learn. Anything more I consider a bonus.
Well, that's all I have to say on this matter. Regular blogging will resume later. Thank you and have a nice day.
Crap, it's already after 1:30pm and I'm just now getting to the blogging. I've spent the morning getting reservations for a hotel, booking a rental car and working on securing a puppy sitter. Why? Because for the first time in over 2 years, Dean and I have both the time AND the money to take our kids someplace fun. And we are damn well going to take them. We found a place in Frankenmuth, MI that is both a hotel and a waterpark. It looks pretty damn good and they have really nice family suites.
I'm all booked and I even rented an SUV. Why an SUV? It's a funny thing. I was looking for a car/minivan that could accommodate our family and our luggage and have the best mpg since gas is almost as pricey as gold is. The smaller SUV had better MPG than all the cars available but the compact car. I'm not putting my kids in a compact car while driving on Michigan freeways, thank you very much, so the Jeep Liberty it is.
I can't wait till vacation time. Woohoo, the Esmays are going on the road!
QOAE: "I'm fine with double standards as long as they benefit me."
I said this almost flippantly during an argument with some random stranger. I have more conversations with strangers than anyone I know. There is some vibe I give off that tells people "it's okay to start inane conversation with me". Dean says it's because I always have a smile on my face. I wish I could stop doing that.
You got any selfish quotes that you would rather not be true?
My brother has been into genealogy since my Dad died. One of his goals was to see if anyone in our family could be linked to someone really famous.
He found a document that links his mother-in-law's ancestors to the family of the 2nd President of the United States. So that means my niece (his daughter) is the 11th Great Grand Daughter of Henry Adams. The man who just so happens to be the Great Grand Father of John Adams, our 2nd President. The direct connection between my niece Alayna & John Adams is 2nd cousin, 10 times removed.
Okay all you John Edwards fans, here is something that you and he should all read. Anyone who thinks "looking into" the WTC building 7 collapse is a good idea should have done it long ago. Some think that John Edwards was caught off guard and didn't know how to answer him. To you who accept that I say that the day a lawyer is caught off guard is the day you should get a new lawyer.
Mary MacElveen is a Democrat and she has written to Edwards and asked him not to feed the conspiracy nuts. She is also the author of the piece I liked above. She explains with great detail why the Rosie contingent is nuts. So if you are curious give it a read.
Lakisha went home last night. It was sad but when you have 4 really good singers competing for #1, 3 are going to lose. 4th Place on American Idol is pretty respectable. Last year, Chris Daughtry got bumped off when it was down to 4 and he hasn't suffered for it.
So, I say Kiki should come home with her head held high and don't worry. You'll have a career and I will be among many to line up for your first CD.
John Edwards has promised to look into the WTC tower 7 collapse. Well, I've been watching The View and I've heard Rosie make the looney claim that WTC tower 7 went down suspiciously because fire can't melt steel. Yes, that is what she said more than once and yes, I know she meant that the fire wasn't hot enough to melt steel. Everytime she said it I screamed at the t.v. that it didn't HAVE to melt the steel to cause a collapse. Just needed to weaken it and guess what? Softened steel won't support a structure like WTC tower 7. For example, if you put Rosie's body on my legs, I'd collapse. Didn't mean my legs melted, nope just that my legs aren't strong enough to hold up an elephant.
Why would Edwards pander to these people? Where are his balls? Did he leave them in his other suit? To even suggest that he's taking seriously the idea that the government took out that tower is both disgusting and insulting. I expect the nutters to say that kind of shit but not serious contenders for the Presidency. I'll be honest with you, I have been looking at Edwards seriously. I've been reading his site and trying to decide if I could support him. [There are no Republicans in the running that I could ever vote for at the moment. No, not even Rudy.] I'm currently leaning heavily in Hillary's corner but she may not get the nomination and I need to keep my eyes and options open.
Pretty boy John just lost me. Totally. I can't even take Obama seriously not after his sad gaff and even sadder explanation. Tired? You were so tired that you confused 12 deaths with 10,000 deaths. Please, spare me. You're a fetus next to the rest of the candidates running and you're already tired from campaigning? It's gonna get tougher Barack not easier.
I just heard on the news that the butter flavor used in microwave popcorn causes lung disease.
The illnesses seem to be affecting workers in the popcorn plant but nobody knows what risk is involved in popping and eating it. I never thought artificial butter flavor was a good idea health wise but I didn't consider it to be the new asbestos. That sucks.
Probably my favorite band of all time. I like and listen to a really wide variety of music but I was a teen in the 80's, so my musical tastes include a lot of early alternative bands. It is a rare thing when you find a group/band/solo artist that you can listen to and love every song on every album/cd. The Smiths and Morrissey solo are that for me. Still.
You can say a lot about Morrissey but you can't say that he is without talent. Well you can but you'd be lying. :-)
The Esmays went bowling last night. Guess what? We suck at bowling. Sucked so bad that we decided we are going to make it a regular Friday night. We may suck but it was really fun and we need more family fun activities.
The person who most needed to do well was Mitt Romney. He did and it will probably help his poll numbers if anyone else watched it. McCain was McCain. Rudy was lackluster but he spun a nice web around the abortion question. Tommy Thompson seemed like a warmed over corpse. Tom Tancredo's has zero public speaking ability. Ron Paul is a whackadoo. Mike Huckabee was okay till he tanked the question on religion and had to address his dissing of Romney. The rest were so lame that I won't even bother looking up their names to insult them.
George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia last Sunday when the two pit bulls appeared and lunged toward them, Allan Gay said.
"George was brave — he took them on and he's not even a foot high," Gay told The Associated Press. "He jumped in on them, he tried to keep them off.
"If it wasn't for George, those kids would have copped it."
One of the children, Richard Rosewarne, 11, was quoted in the Taranaki Daily News on Wednesday as saying George fought with the pit bulls to keep them off his 4-year-old brother, Darryl.
"George tried to protect us by barking and rushing at them, but they started to bite him — one on the head and the other on the back," Rosewarne said. "We ran off crying and some people saw what was happening and rescued George."
But George was so badly mauled that a veterinarian had to put him down, Gay said.
South Taranaki District Council official Graham Young said the two pit bulls had been impounded, and likely would be put down because of the attack.
In New Zealand, owners of dogs judged to be too aggressive can be required to have them neutered and dogs involved in attacks are destroyed.
This story made me cry and also reminded me why I love dogs. Hero dogs are not a new thing but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've heard about a dog that small acting like a big dog. May that good boy rest in peace.
This story reminds me of our late and most beloved Buttons. Before my Dad died, he and my mom retired to their country house about 2 hours outside of Detroit. We went out there for one of the holiday weekends, I'm pretty sure it was Labor Day weekend. Anyway, my dad used to make fun of Buttons because he was so sweet and not threatening in any way. He always called him stupid dog because one of his ears was always flopping down and it wasn't a very German Shepherd like trait. Dad said that Buttons always had a dumb look on his face. He didn't, he was just a really sweet 100 pound German Shepherd. On this particular day in 2000, Jake was just shy of his 3rd birthday and he went down the hill to the pond with my dad to watch the geese and ducks swimming. He wasn't in danger of drowning because he was wearing a life vest, dad was in the coop getting feed while Jake waited.
All of the sudden we heard a howl and then a growl. The howl was a small pack of wild dogs and a coyote heading straight for Jake. My heart stopped and I was screaming and running. There was no way anyone including my dad was going to get to Jake before the pack. Jake had wandered a bit and the pack was in between my dad and my son. The growl we heard almost an instant later, came from Buttons, who, was charging down the hill toward Jake at a speed I didn't know he was capable of. Buttons went for the coyote and took him down, the rest of the pack ran away. Buttons probably saved Jake's life and earned my dad's respect. That was the last time my dad called him stupid. He became "good dog" from that day till my dad died a year later.
When Buttons died Jake told me that he prayed for Buttons to find his Papa (my dad) in heaven, so that he (Buttons) wouldn't be alone. Then he laughed and said it would be funny if Papa had to see that floppy ear forever.
According to Rudy Guiliani they do. Rudy obviously was never a pet owner or he's just prejudiced against pets he doesn't personally like. People that don't own pets don't get people that do. Pet owners consider their pet a member of their family, yeah some people go overboard but isn't the norm.
Dean and I got a puppy, a kitten and a ferret pup a couple months after we first married. We loved them but we didn't think of them like children. We didn't dress them up and get goofy but we adored them. We added another ferret about a year later because we found them to be awesome fun. Our ferret Mindy came from a breeder so she wasn't fixed. We knew that we had to either breed her or fix her because if she went into heat she'd stay in heat until she bred or died. We found a stud service and paid for a male to sex her up. Then I found out I was pregnant with Jake. That was fun. My little pregnant ferret would nap with me and snuggle my pregnant belly with her pregnant belly. It was really sweet.
We were very supportive of the Ferret Associations in our state because we felt the laws regarding ferrets were/are unfair. The law was (and may still be) that ferrets are required to have rabies vaccines like all other pets BUT if a vaccinated ferret ever nipped someone, the ferret owner was required to surrender the animal to be put down. After putting them down, they would examine the brain to make sure it was clean. Ferrets have very fast metabolisms. If a ferret had rabies it would more than likely die before it had a chance to act rabid. Our vet told us that. Most vets that specialize in exotic animals back that claim. Besides that ferrets are indoor pets so the likelihood of one ever being infected by a rabid animal are slimmer than they are for cats and dogs. The law was written by people that were almost hysterical in their ignorance of ferrets. The poor little weasels have, most unfairly, been given a bad rap.
I don't think it is hysterical for a pet owner to want to change laws that require their pet to die for nipping, regardless of the fact that the animal has been vaccinated.
How would you feel if the law was written that way for dogs and cats? What is the point of the vaccine? I thought it was to protect the animal and the public both.
Anyway read the interview. It's funny because people seem to forget what a dickhead Rudy really is. I'm not shocked, I've always thought Rudy was an arrogant dick. He's law enforcement, that is a field full of arrogant dicks.
So? Does being an arrogant dick disqualify you from becoming POTUS? It hasn't so far...
to end poverty. That is a noble goal but so what? I'm more interested in what a candidate thinks he can do in the 4 years he angling for not a fantasy future. Look, I like the idea that he has a plan for eliminating poverty. I'm more interested in the first steps towards that goal than what may happen later. He has outlined a plan that looks good but expensive. I'm not sure how much he can actually make happen, even with a Democrat Congress. I'm curious about the bank account thing and I guess it's because I've lived a fairly sheltered life and even as a struggling adult I've never not had a bank account.
Expand Access to Bank Accounts and Fight Abusive Payday Lending. An estimated 56 million Americans don't have bank accounts, and they pay check cashers $8 billion for services most banks provide for free. Short-term payday loans regularly charge interest rates above 300 percent. Edwards suggested subsidizing bank accounts for working families and national rules to prevent abusive payday lending. [Center for Economic Progress, 2004]
Why would people not have a bank account? They aren't that expensive and you don't have to keep wads of money in them. It's damn cheaper than Payday loans and cashing your check at the liquor store.
The controversy over Tenet’s recollection has helped refresh the record about what Richard Perle was advocating in the days after 9/11. As ThinkProgress noted earlier today, Perle signed a letter addressed to President Bush on 9/20/01 that stated the following:
[E]ven if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
I still say Tenet is a lying piece of crap. He lied before we went to Iraq. Everyday he stayed silent and collected his check, he lied. I know that because he told us so on 60 Minutes. He accepted his medal and said nothing. He said nothing until long after Iraq started to look like a mess and he was getting blamed. Now, he needs to sell some books and save his reputation.
"My hunch is that without shallow, physically-oriented men to appeal to, many lesbians feel even less need to stay in shape than many straight women do."
Seems right on the money to me. Men are more visual than women are. Speaking generally, men are attracted physically first, emotionally/intellectually second. Women tend to be drawn by emotion and intellect first and physical attractiveness is just less important. I'm not saying that it isn't important, just less important than it is for men.
I recently saw Sean Hannity debate Al Sharpton. By a thread I like Hannity and that's only cuz he's better looking. But being better looking than Sharpton isn't really that hard. I've never been so torn...
R.I.P. Steven Malcolm Anderson
Minion
of the Week
