do return call to Obama
don't return call to Obama
do return call to Obama
don't go to the debate
do stop campaigning
don't stop campaigning
don't go to the debate
do stop...sort of...
do go to Washington
don't go to the debate
don't go to Washington
do marshall the forces and get something done
do go to the debate
don't go to the debate
do lobby for the proposal
do bad mouth the proposal in the press
don't go to the debate
do go to the debate
call Obama
don't go to the debate
do make a joint statement
don't make a joint statement
do go to the debate
do get support for the Bush proposal
don't get support for the Bush proposal
don't go to the debate
do come up with a totally different proposal
do throw a wrench in the works and piss off everybody
don't go to the debate
do stop campaigning
don't stop campaigning
do go to the debate
don't go to the debate
do go to the debate
do go to Mississippi and chat with Jim Lehrer for 90 minutes about the good ole days
sorry, I was just picturing McCain's 'to-do' list for Thursday/Friday
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
It's all in the timing
Turning my back on the presidential circus, both the current and the wanna-be version; ignoring the sounds of falling investment bankers on Wall Street; I turned my attention to something important...the new ipod.
I resisted buying an ipod for years. I thought they were very fun looking toys and I coveted one, but I found myself listening to NPR when I walked instead of music so it didn't seem to fit my needs. Then I discovered that there is this cool little attachment that looks like the Shuffle but in reality is an FM radio receiver. Intrigued, I still resisted. NPR was only on AM in this area and had been for a few years. Then NPR announced that they were moving back to FM and my resistance crumbled. I would get the little widget for myself, music AND NPR, I could justify it. It was fate.
So I took the plunge and in August I purchased the ipod Nano, 8GB, green.
I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have discovered the addiction of podcasts and now happily listen to my favorite news shows, how-to podcasts on nearly anything from meditation to gardening and all of my favorite music.
Then Apple announced that the ipod had been updated. The new ipod Nanos are an even sleeker design in more colors, have more capacity and are less expensive.
The new Classic was also an upgrade and now has 120GB and costs approximately $50 more than my 8GB Nano. The brand new 8GB Nanos are approximately $50 less than I spent less than a month before the new ones were released.
I am still happy with mine. I just tell myself that at this rate, I will soon be able to have one of those 120GB models for practically nothing....
.....I'll just wait.
I resisted buying an ipod for years. I thought they were very fun looking toys and I coveted one, but I found myself listening to NPR when I walked instead of music so it didn't seem to fit my needs. Then I discovered that there is this cool little attachment that looks like the Shuffle but in reality is an FM radio receiver. Intrigued, I still resisted. NPR was only on AM in this area and had been for a few years. Then NPR announced that they were moving back to FM and my resistance crumbled. I would get the little widget for myself, music AND NPR, I could justify it. It was fate.
So I took the plunge and in August I purchased the ipod Nano, 8GB, green.
I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have discovered the addiction of podcasts and now happily listen to my favorite news shows, how-to podcasts on nearly anything from meditation to gardening and all of my favorite music.
Then Apple announced that the ipod had been updated. The new ipod Nanos are an even sleeker design in more colors, have more capacity and are less expensive.
The new Classic was also an upgrade and now has 120GB and costs approximately $50 more than my 8GB Nano. The brand new 8GB Nanos are approximately $50 less than I spent less than a month before the new ones were released.
I am still happy with mine. I just tell myself that at this rate, I will soon be able to have one of those 120GB models for practically nothing....
.....I'll just wait.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
hindsight, again
Why is it that we are supposed to think that hindsight = leadership?
John McCain has been a strong proponent of deregulation.
His chief financial advisor has been Phil Gramm, until Phil got both feet in his mouth recently and became a detriment on the campaign trail. Gramm was fired because he was an embarrassment, not because McCain stopped valuing his financial advice.
Gramm was one of the architects of the banking deregulation that took place a few years ago, with McCain as a supporter.
How did that work out? Well, now we are in the middle of this debacle where the banking industry is proving that it can't police itself any better than a lot of other industries. Economists outside of the Washington social circles have been pointing this out for years but they have been, for the most part, ignored. Most of them have recently been restrained and not shouting gleefully "told ya so!" even though it must be tempting.
Now that it is an actual crisis and all the bad decisions and greed and simple shortsightedness are becoming public ... McCain has discovered the advantages of regulation and oversight. He has also discovered that some people on Wall Street are greedy to the point of self destruction.
And we are supposed to believe that his somewhat myopic hindsight is really the kind of leadership that we need.
Come again???
John McCain has been a strong proponent of deregulation.
His chief financial advisor has been Phil Gramm, until Phil got both feet in his mouth recently and became a detriment on the campaign trail. Gramm was fired because he was an embarrassment, not because McCain stopped valuing his financial advice.
Gramm was one of the architects of the banking deregulation that took place a few years ago, with McCain as a supporter.
How did that work out? Well, now we are in the middle of this debacle where the banking industry is proving that it can't police itself any better than a lot of other industries. Economists outside of the Washington social circles have been pointing this out for years but they have been, for the most part, ignored. Most of them have recently been restrained and not shouting gleefully "told ya so!" even though it must be tempting.
Now that it is an actual crisis and all the bad decisions and greed and simple shortsightedness are becoming public ... McCain has discovered the advantages of regulation and oversight. He has also discovered that some people on Wall Street are greedy to the point of self destruction.
And we are supposed to believe that his somewhat myopic hindsight is really the kind of leadership that we need.
Come again???
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Thank you, Michael Seitzman
I couldn't have said it any better. In fact I couldn't have said it as well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-seitzman/sarah-palin-naked_b_125861.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-seitzman/sarah-palin-naked_b_125861.html
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Third Crusade....the remake
Done any reading about history lately? You might want to brush up on the period around 1100 AD. Why? Because there are some people in this country, who seem to think of that era as The Good Ole Days.
Let's see what there is to be nostalgic about.....
What we would call scientists had to work in secret and at the risk of their lives.
Disease ran rampant and was viewed as punishment from God for unnamed sins.
oh, yeah....here's a biggy...
Most of western civilization was engaged in a Holy War. Richard really ramped up this Holy War when it was his turn, firing up the troops with the Will of God and defeating the Forces of Evil.
He did eventually get his hat handed to him and had to go home, but not before he and his predecessors partially destroyed Jerusalem and sapped the resources of western Europe, spawning multiples wars for control of what was left. Nice legacy.
So why is it that there seems to be a sizable chunk of our population who want to repeat this sterling era?
They want science removed from public school curriculum and replaced by religious teachings.
Being somewhat consistent on this bent, they have labelled some disease as punishment from God.
And they want to label a misguided/gone astray war in the Middle East as some sort of moral adventure.
A lot of flag waving accompanies these ideas, but apparently not a lot of thought about long term consequences.
I can't help but want this country to stop being viewed like the village idiot of the international community. We have health care and education that puts us competing with third world countries, left in the dust by most of the developed world.
Our unique blend of poison, religion and propaganda that we call politics leaves our allies gaping with open mouths.
And in the area of international diplomacy....with apologies to the career diplomats who are still hanging in there doing their best...let's just say we are somewhat inconsistent, perhaps incomprehensible would be a better description.
So when are the people who don't have some sort of personal agenda for personal gain going to take back control of this country?
We have an opportunity in November. It might be the last one for a long time.
Or we could get used to living in the Middle Ages.
Let's see what there is to be nostalgic about.....
What we would call scientists had to work in secret and at the risk of their lives.
Disease ran rampant and was viewed as punishment from God for unnamed sins.
oh, yeah....here's a biggy...
Most of western civilization was engaged in a Holy War. Richard really ramped up this Holy War when it was his turn, firing up the troops with the Will of God and defeating the Forces of Evil.
He did eventually get his hat handed to him and had to go home, but not before he and his predecessors partially destroyed Jerusalem and sapped the resources of western Europe, spawning multiples wars for control of what was left. Nice legacy.
So why is it that there seems to be a sizable chunk of our population who want to repeat this sterling era?
They want science removed from public school curriculum and replaced by religious teachings.
Being somewhat consistent on this bent, they have labelled some disease as punishment from God.
And they want to label a misguided/gone astray war in the Middle East as some sort of moral adventure.
A lot of flag waving accompanies these ideas, but apparently not a lot of thought about long term consequences.
I can't help but want this country to stop being viewed like the village idiot of the international community. We have health care and education that puts us competing with third world countries, left in the dust by most of the developed world.
Our unique blend of poison, religion and propaganda that we call politics leaves our allies gaping with open mouths.
And in the area of international diplomacy....with apologies to the career diplomats who are still hanging in there doing their best...let's just say we are somewhat inconsistent, perhaps incomprehensible would be a better description.
So when are the people who don't have some sort of personal agenda for personal gain going to take back control of this country?
We have an opportunity in November. It might be the last one for a long time.
Or we could get used to living in the Middle Ages.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
and I want to know this because........?
I'm feeling old and cranky. Not old as in 'oh my aches and pains' but more like old as in 'what in the hell is the matter with people today?'
I can clearly remember a time when you could meet someone at either a social or business event and NOT find out within 5 minutes everything about their religion, political party of choice and sexual preferences.
I can even remember working very closely with people, day after day, for months or even years and not knowing these things; or caring.
I recently heard it said that when you begin a conversation with someone and they assert their religious affiliation within the first 30 seconds, they are grabbing the moral high ground for the duration of the conversation. Hopefully you weren't planning to voice an opinion.
We have become a very divided country in more ways than red and blue states and we seem to be working very hard to find things to be contentious about.
Just for the record, I most certainly do not want to hear about your religion, I don't want to hear about your political leanings unless we are having a civilized discussion about the upcoming national elections and I never want to hear about your sexual preferences or your opinion about this whole topic.
I can clearly remember a time when you could meet someone at either a social or business event and NOT find out within 5 minutes everything about their religion, political party of choice and sexual preferences.
I can even remember working very closely with people, day after day, for months or even years and not knowing these things; or caring.
I recently heard it said that when you begin a conversation with someone and they assert their religious affiliation within the first 30 seconds, they are grabbing the moral high ground for the duration of the conversation. Hopefully you weren't planning to voice an opinion.
We have become a very divided country in more ways than red and blue states and we seem to be working very hard to find things to be contentious about.
Just for the record, I most certainly do not want to hear about your religion, I don't want to hear about your political leanings unless we are having a civilized discussion about the upcoming national elections and I never want to hear about your sexual preferences or your opinion about this whole topic.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Sarah Palin....
perhaps I should number these....there may be quite a few.
Let's start with the premise that this is a woman that working women everywhere can identify with.
Well.....maybe I can identify her....I have met women like her. I tend to run the other way.
The idea that all women everywhere will identify with all women everywhere, when it comes to politics, is absurb.
Do people really think that women backed Hilary just because she is female?
How about because she has good ideas?
Palin's record indicates that she is someone that I would fight tooth and nail on almost every issue from environmental concerns (she doesn't seem to have any) to creationism. Personally I don't care what your religious beliefs are...but keep them out of the public schools and for that matter out of public office.
And I think that will lead me to my next rant......why should I care what religion you subscribe to?
Let's start with the premise that this is a woman that working women everywhere can identify with.
Well.....maybe I can identify her....I have met women like her. I tend to run the other way.
The idea that all women everywhere will identify with all women everywhere, when it comes to politics, is absurb.
Do people really think that women backed Hilary just because she is female?
How about because she has good ideas?
Palin's record indicates that she is someone that I would fight tooth and nail on almost every issue from environmental concerns (she doesn't seem to have any) to creationism. Personally I don't care what your religious beliefs are...but keep them out of the public schools and for that matter out of public office.
And I think that will lead me to my next rant......why should I care what religion you subscribe to?
a place to vent....
I find that I talk to myself or even rant while I am driving, listening to the news. It leaks into other areas of my life so I am going to put those thoughts (rants) down here. Hopefully no one will ever read them and it will be very therapeutic.
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