Friday, October 31, 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN BABIES!!!






The Door in the Dark

by Robert Frost


In going from room to room in the dark,
I reached out blindly to save my face,
But neglected, however lightly, to lace
My fingers and close my arms in an arc.
A slim door got in past my guard,
And hit me a blow in the head so hard
I had my native simile jarred.
So people and things don't pair any more
With what they used to pair with before.


AND THEN:






The head of the Hillsborough GOP, David Storck, distributed an email from a Republican Party volunteer saying the voters are a threat.

That's because, as the volunteer says in the email, he sees "car loads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes for Obama."

It goes on to say, "This is their chance to get a black president and they seem to care little the he is at minimum a socialist and probably Marxist in his core beliefs." The Republican volunteer says that is because, "After all he is black- no experience or accomplishments but he is black."

If the McCain/Palin campaign has done anything, it has exposed the worst in our society. Couple that with the hate talk that infests the once-public airwaves from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and the xenophobic, racist rants of the right wing blogs and this is what you get.



me-we have bumped our heads blindly in the dark, haven't we?
Chant For Dark Hours

by Dorothy Parker



Some men, some men
Cannot pass a
Book shop.
(Lady, make your mind up, and wait your life away.)


Some men, some men
Cannot pass a
Crap game.
(He said he'd come at moonrise, and here's another day!)


Some men, some men
Cannot pass a
Bar-room.
(Wait about, and hang about, and that's the way it goes.)


Some men, some men
Cannot pass a
Woman.
(Heaven never send me another one of those!)


Some men, some men
Cannot pass a
Golf course.
(Read a book, and sew a seam, and slumber if you can.)


Some men, some men
Cannot pass a
Haberdasher's.
(All your life you wait around for some damn man!)
It's Dark in Here

by Shel Silverstein



I am writing these poems
From inside a lion,
And it's rather dark in here.
So please excuse the handwriting
Which may not be too clear.
But this afternoon by the lion's cage
I'm afraid I got too near.
And I'm writing these lines
From inside a lion,
And it's rather dark in here.
Behold, As Goblins Dark Of Mien

by Robert Louis Stevenson



BEHOLD, as goblins dark of mien
And portly tyrants dyed with crime
Change, in the transformation scene,
At Christmas, in the pantomime,

Instanter, at the prompter's cough,
The fairy bonnets them, and they
Throw their abhorred carbuncles off
And blossom like the flowers in May.

- So mankind, to angelic eyes,
So, through the scenes of life below,
In life's ironical disguise,
A travesty of man, ye go:

But fear not: ere the curtain fall,
Death in the transformation scene
Steps forward from her pedestal,
Apparent, as the fairy Queen;

And coming, frees you in a trice
From all your lendings - lust of fame,
Ungainly virtue, ugly vice,
Terror and tyranny and shame.
never fear, i haven't given up politics today:
















my thanks to utah savage.



this is the pumpkin that my little sweetie painted!!!!

hey, i'm up to 53 different countries that have been here!!!
it is a gorgeous sunny warm halloween day.

should be wonderful for all the little trick or treaters.

i remember many a halloween when we had to put coats either on top of or under our costumes! tonight should be perfect.






these are some really interesting rocks that bruce(pool league bruce, thank you so much!)brought me from Michigan.(i love rocks from all over)

and of course, layla!





















Top Signs That You're Too Old to Trick or Treat ...







10. You get winded from knocking on the door.

9. You have to have another kid chew the candy for you.

8. You ask for high fiber candy only.

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance and fall over.

6. People say, "What a scary mask!" but you're not wearing a mask!

5. When the door opens you yell, "Trick or..." and can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full of restraining orders.

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.

and last but not least...

1. You avoid going to houses where your ex-wives live.





Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

now WHO took my picture when i wasn't looking????
funny pictures of cats with captions
more animals









this just took my breath from me!!!!!!







dennis prager, right wing talker at a republican fest:



Prager, who calls Bachmann a “wonderful, wonderful extraordinary human being,” addressed the brouhaha by telling how he would’ve dealt with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews — by asking Matthews if he believes there are “American values” in the first place; if Matthews agrees, then “logic 1.1″ dictates that some people must hold anti-American values.

He added that both parties once upheld the “American value system” — the Democrats in the era of Kennedy and Truman — but the “Sixties Generation, the radicals, have taken over one of our two parties. They must be stopped!” People who “vote blue,” he added, “don’t know they’re voting radical.”

(THIS IS THE KICKER!!!!!! READ IT AND THINK ABOUT WHAT HE SAID AND THE FACT THAT IT WAS CHEERED!!!)





No fan of the Enlightenment, Prager added, “Equality, which is the primary value of the left, is a European value, not an American value.”



gee, who wrote this? hummmm???





Amendment XIV

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
i saw this in the new christmas catalogue that i received.
i see this sort of thing every year but no one that i know of ever follows it up to let enquiring minds(like me, ha!)know if anyone purchased the items.






















Oct 28th 2008
By Carol Hartsell

We know you're constantly wondering what to do with that extra $5 million you have lying around. Well, you could tuck it into your bra using a cup holder, or buy a whole new bra.

Luckily, Victoria's Secret has come up with a scrumtillescent new bra for you to blow that wad on -- the Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra. Covered with 3,575 black diamonds and 117 one-carat white round diamonds -- and offset by two totally unnecessary swingin' 100-carat black diamonds -- the bra is perfect for wearing to the office, the gym or just around the castle when you're feeling sparkly.
HALLOWEEN BLOG THINGYS!!!!



You Are a Vampire



You are charming, sensual, and even a bit manipulative.

You can't help but get people to do what you want.



You have sharp senses and a strong predatory instinct.

You go after what you want, without mercy.



While you have the heart of a killer, many people are drawn to you.

You are elegant, timeless, and mysterious. You are the ultimate fantasy object.




You Are Candy Corn



Your Halloween personality is whimsical, colorful, and creative.

You see Halloween as a time to get your creative juices flowing.



Each year, Halloween can't start soon enough for you.

You tend to go all out for Halloween. You decorate like crazy and always dress up.




You Are 45% Witch



It's unlikely that you're a witch. At least, no one thinks you are.

You may still be interested in witchcraft, but you're by no means a stereotypical witch.



While you don't seem all that witchy, people may think you're a bit weird.

You're definitely a little offbeat. No one really knows what to make of you sometimes.

NOW THIS SHOULD TELL YOU SOMETHING!!!!








from gina's:







This is a list of Republicans who are supporting Obama


Jim Leach, Former Congressman from Iowa

"For me, the national interest comes before party concerns, particularly internationally. We do need a new direction in American policy, and Obama has a sense of that."

Lincoln Chafee, Former United States Senator from Rhode Island

"As I look at the candidates in order who to vote for, certainly my kind of conservatism was reflected with Senator Obama, and those points are that we're fiscally conservative, we care about revenues matching expenditures, we also care about the environment, I think it's a traditional conservative value to care about clean air and clean water."

William Weld, Former Governor of Massachusetts

"It's not often you get a guy with his combination of qualities, chief among which I would say is the deep sense of calm he displays, and I think that's a product of his equally deep intelligence."

Arne Carlson, Former Governor of Minnesota

"I think we have in Barack Obama the clear possibility of a truly great president. I would contend that it's the most important election of my lifetime."

Wayne Gilchrest, Congressman from Maryland

"We can't use four more years of the same kind of policy that's somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness."

Larry Pressler, Former Senator from South Dakota

"I just got the feeling that Obama will be able to handle this financial crisis better, and I like his financial team of [former Treasury Secretary Robert] Rubin and [former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul] Volcker better."

Richard Riordan, Former Mayor of Los Angeles

"I'm still a Republican, but I still will always vote for the person who I think will do the best job."

Lowell Weicker, Former Governor and Senator from Connecticut

"At issue is not the partisan politics of two parties, rather the image we have of ourselves as Americans. Senator Obama brings wisdom, kindness, and common sense to what is both his and our quest for a better America."

Jim Whitaker, Fairbanks, Alaska Mayor

"If we are as a nation concerned with energy, then our consideration should be a national energy policy that is not predicated on crude oil 50 years into the future. We need to get to it, and I think Barack Obama is very clear in that regard."

Linwood Holton, Former Governor of Virginia

"Obama has a brain, and he isn't afraid to use it."

Government Officials:

Colin Powell, Secretary of State under Bush 43

"...he has met the standard of being a sucessful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world-- onto the world state, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."

Douglas Kmiec, Head of the Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan & Bush 41

"I was first attracted to government by Ronald Reagan, who lives in our national memory as a great leader and an inspiring communicator. Senator Obama has these gifts as well, but of course, more rhetorical flourish without substance would be worth little. Is there more to Senator Obama? I believe there is."

Charles Fried, Solicitor General of the United States under Reagan

"I admire Senator McCain and was glad to help in his campaign, and to be listed as doing so; but when I concluded that I must vote for Obama for the reason states in my letter, I felt it wrong to appear to be recommending to others a vote that I was not prepared to cast myself."

Jackson M. Andrews, Republican Counsel to the U.S. Senate

"Barack Obama is a thoughtful visionary leader who as President will end the decline of American law, liberty, and fiscal responsibility that are the hallmarks of the extremist policies of the current Administration, now adopted by John McCain."

Susan Eisenhower, Granddaughter of President Eisenhower & President of the Eisenhower Group

"Given Obama's support among young people, I believe that he will be most invested in defending the interests of these rising generations and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation as a whole."

Francis Fukuyama, Advisor to President Reagan

"...Obama probably has the greatest promise of delivering a different kind of politics."

Rita Hauser, Former White House intelligence advisor under George W. Bush

"McCain will continue the wrong-headed foreign policy decisions of Bush, while Obama will take us in a new direction."

Larry Hunter, Former President Reagan Policy Advisor

"I suspect Obama is more free-market friendly than he lets on. He taught at the University of Chicago, a hotbed of right-of-center thought. His economic advisers, notably Austan Goolsbee, recognize that ordinary citizens stand to gain more from open markets than from government meddling."

Scott McClellan, Former Press Secretary to President George W. Bush

"From the beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping."

Bill Ruckelshaus, served in the Nixon and Reagan administrations

"I'm not against McCain, I'm for Obama."

Ken Adelman, served in the Ford administration

"The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate. That decision showed appalling lack of judgment... that selection contradicted McCain's main two, and best two, themes for his campaign-- Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick."

Lilibet Hagel, Wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel

"This election is not about fighting phantom issues churned out by a top-notch slander machine. Most important, it is not about distracting the public-- you and me-- with whatever slurs someone thinks will stick."

Columnists and Academics:

Jeffrey Hart, National Review Senior Editor

"It turns out that these political parties are not always either liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican. The Democrat, under certain conditions, can be the conservative."

Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations at Boston University

"For conservatives, Obama represents a sliver of hope. McCain represents none at all. The choice turns out to be an easy one."

David Friedman, Economist and son of Milton and Rose Friedman

"I hope Obama wins. President Bush has clearly been a disaster from the standpoint of libertarians and conservatives because he has presided over an astonishing rise in government spending."

Christopher Buckley, Son of National Review founder William F. Buckley & former NR columnist

"Obama has in him-- I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy 'We are the people we have been waiting for' silly rehtoric-- 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."

Andrew Sullivan, Columnist for the Atlantic Monthly

"Obama's legislative record, speeches, and the way he has run his campaign reveal, I think, a very even temperament, a very sound judgment, and an intelligent pragmatism. Prudence is a word that is not inappropriate to him."

Wick Alison, Former publisher of the National Review

"I made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries, when there was still hope he might come to his senses. But I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history."

Michael Smerconish, Columnist for the Philadelphia Enquirer

"...an Obama presidency holds the greatest chance for unifying us here at home and restoring our prestige around the globe."

CC Goldwater, Granddaughter of Barry Goldwater

"Nothing about the Republican tickets offers the hope America needs to regain its standing in the world, that's why we're going to support Barack Obama."



Posted by Pagan Sphinx at Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7

had a meeting last night for our big fund raiser in nov. for the scholarship fund.

i hope it goes well. people don't have the money to spend like the used to.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008





















from quaker dave(his comments aren't working right now but i know he won't mind. he's a jewel)






Joseph Galloway

(McClatchy Newspapers) October 26 - This is an autumn of great discontent as not just the United States, but the entire world trembles on the brink of an economic recession that may bring the kind of pain that’s known only to the oldest among us.

With days to go before Election Day, the nation watches as a presidential candidate and his political party unravel, frantically dragging every ugly ghost out of the closet in an attempt not only to fool everyone, but also to scare everyone.

They appeal to the worst remnants of racism that cling like kudzu to a dying magnolia. Their robot phone dialers intrude on millions of uneasy citizens with messages of hate and fear and envy and greed.

They try to paper their opponent with guilt by association: He associated with a man who, decades before they ever met, belonged to a group of wild-eyed student revolutionaries.

They and their forces of darkness falsely claim that he’s a Muslim at the same time they attack him for belonging to a Christian church whose black minister aimed angry sermons at white America.

They have presided for the last eight years over a stunning redistribution of wealth: They’ve turned Robin Hood upside down, taking from the poor and the middle class and giving to the very rich.

Yet they tar their opponent for daring to suggest that it’s time to turn the tables and redirect some of that wealth to those who are jobless, homeless and hopeless, and to the millions of other hard-working Americans who are likely to join those growing ranks in the months and years to come.

They call him a socialist for embracing a principle that’s rooted deeply in the teachings of the Christianity that they wear on their sleeves but cannot find room for in their hearts.

They promise to “correct the mistakes” of their own president, their own members of Congress, their own appointed overseers and regulators, if only we give them another chance.

They promise to punish the Wall Street tycoons and the big bankers who in their greed built this house of cards that’s crashing down onto Main Street. Yes they will. Surely they will smite the robber barons who brushed a few crumbs from their groaning tables of riches into the laps of the very people who now vow to punish their benefactors of great wealth.

They say this even as the barons, fat with bonuses and commissions, pick over the carcass of a fallen economy, carving out another tasty morsel or two for themselves.

Is it any wonder that Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin and the Republican Party are sinking like the Titanic? Do they take us all for complete morons?

Granted, they may have reason to think that. After all, not only did we (with some help from the Supreme Court) elect George W. Bush our president, we also re-elected him to a second term. Fooled us twice, they think, so maybe the third time is charmed.

That, however, doesn’t seem likely as a cold, hard winter looms this November. Not likely at all.

Here’s a prediction for you, for them: McCain and Palin will go down to defeat by 15 to 20 points, and they’ll take a heap of Republicans down with them.

The financial collapse and the painful fallout that’s stalking the nation won’t be righted overnight, however. Putting Barack Obama in the White House and giving the Democrats a veto-proof majority in Congress won’t mean that happy days are here again.

Hard work, sacrifice and suffering lie ahead. It could take a decade or more to repair all the damage that Bush, Dick Cheney and all their henchmen in prison, out of prison and on their way to prison have done to our economy, our military, our standing in the world, our Constitution and to civil discourse, common decency and competent governance.

In the meantime, we Americans would do well to try to remember all those things that our grandmothers told us about how to get by in hard times.

How to get by on a lot less.

How to grow a vegetable garden.

How to squeeze a nickel till the buffalo bellows.

How to appreciate the small joys of family and friends.

How to share what you have, no matter how little you have, with those who have nothing.

Someday we may be able to tell our grandchildren about the Election of ‘08 when we, the people, turned away from anger, hate and greed and once again embraced the better angels of our nature.


© 2008 McClatchy Newspapers








Pittsburgh Pundits - Electile Dysfunction
Presented by: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Venue: Late Night – Cabaret Theater
Next performance: Thursday, October 30, 2008 10:30 PM
Tickets: $5.00 at the door / Free for District Patrons (see details)

Special Election Edition Pittsburgh Pundits - Thursday, October 30th! ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION

We end where we started. Political Pundit/Comedian John McIntire heads up an All Star cast of Pittsburgh Pundits and comics, as we take head into the last minute desperation phase of the most exciting political campaign in modern history. Comedian Gab Bonesso will shock and amaze with her bizarre social commentary comedy.

Remember when Pittsburgh had liberal talk show hosts? McIntire does. And so does the outrageous Lynn Cullen, who recently parted ways with her broadcast employer, after years of being a prominent liberal firebrand in the 'Burgh. Silenced in the short term, she's ready to roar, on an outstanding political panel.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman, who recently wrote "For some conservatives, the Sarah Palin effect lasts longer than the four hours the doctors warned them about," will also analyze the heavy and lightweights of this unprecedented year. And GOP attack ad specialist John Brabender, will shed light on whether last minute mud slinging can win the day for either side.

All of this takes place Thursday October 30th, in an election scarier than any frightening Halloween night. The political goblins rear their frightening heads at 10:30 PM at the Cabaret Theater. See this for a mere $5 - or - get in free if you've been to a Cultural Trust event that night.

Please check back for November 14th content!

TICKETS

Only $5.00 at the door. Cash & credit accepted. District Patrons - Present your ticket stub from an earlier show at any other theater to gain free admission to Late Night (after 10:15pm and while seats last).

TIMES

Doors open at 10:00pm / District Patrons seated after 10:15pm / Show begins at 10:30pm.

SERVICE

Late Night Happy Hour 9-11pm / Full food & drink service / Click HERE for our online menu.

INFORMATION

Call the Cabaret Theater at 412-325-6769 for more information.






(dammit, and all this time i've been buying victoria's secret bras trying to look "perky"!)





Politician Allegedly Stuffed Bribes in Bra



By GLEN JOHNSON and DENISE LAVOIE, AP
posted: 20 MINUTES AGO BOSTON (Oct. 29) - A state senator who lost the Democratic primary last month was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday and charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes from undercover agents she believed were local businessmen.

Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was charged with attempted extortion as a public official and theft of honest services as a state senator. She did not enter a plea during an initial court appearance Tuesday.

Massachusetts state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was charged Tuesday with taking $23,500 in bribes from undercover FBI agents. This image made from video, which was included in an affidavit filed by the FBI, allegedly shows Wilkerson stuffing cash under her sweater and inside her bra on June 18, 2007.

She faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each count.
Wilkerson, 53, lost the Democratic primary in September to former teacher Sonia Chang-Diaz despite support from Mayor Thomas Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick. She is running a write-in campaign for the Nov. 4 election, in hopes of retaining the seat she has held since 1993.

Wilkerson was ordered Tuesday to have no contact with witnesses and retain any documents related to the extortion case or to her personal finances.
In asking for those conditions, Assistant U.S. Attorney John McNeil said Wilkerson has a "long history of acting as if she is above the law."
Wilkerson's attorney, Max Stern, said she would obey the judge. She has been released on an unsecured $50,000 bond.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said it was coincidental the complaint was filed a week before the election. He also said he did not believe any other public officials mentioned in Wilkerson's dealings took a bribe.

The new charges are the latest in a string of troubles to plague the lawmaker, Massachusetts' only black state senator.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Wilkerson was recorded by audio and videotape accepting bribes in exchange for helping a proposed nightclub in her district get a liquor license. She also allegedly accepted payments for helping an undercover officer posing as a businessman who wanted to develop state property in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood.

The complaint said Wilkerson took $10,000 earlier this month to fund her write-in campaign.

Sullivan said Wilkerson accepted eight payments, ranging from $500 to $10,000, during the 17-month investigation.
An FBI affidavit filed in court includes a series of still photographs from video recordings allegedly showing Wilkerson accepting cash. In one photograph, taken in June 2007, Wilkerson appears to be stuffing a pile of cash under her sweater and inside her bra.


Stern suggested the released surveillance photos do not tell the entire story.
"I'm sure you know there is a context to every one of the interactions you have been told about, there is something that happens before and there is something that happens after that has not been included in what you have been shown," he told reporters after the hearing.

"Voters and taxpayers expect that elected officials will do what's right for their constituents, not what is financially best for themselves," Sullivan said.
State Senate President Therese Murray, who had endorsed Wilkerson and campaigned with her, said she was seeking an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee and would remove the senator from her post as chairwoman of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

The governor earlier had called the allegations "troubling and sad."
"If these charges are proven to be true, Sen. Wilkerson should resign," Patrick said in a later statement, a call supported by State Senate Republican Leader Richard Tisei.

The state Bar Counsel last week also filed a complaint against Wilkerson accusing her of lying under oath in an effort to overturn her nephew's voluntary manslaughter conviction. The penalty could include disbarment. She has denied those allegations.
Over the years, she has also faced accusations of failing to account for donations and personal reimbursements, failing to pay federal income taxes and failure to properly report consultant fees she received from a bank for which she lobbied.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17.
a RANT here:

i had on the cable news. all of a sudden, "BREAKING NEWS"

another damned car chase. i turned it off. i do NOT want to see live video of a high speed chase where innocent people could be maimed or killed right before my eyes!

it's SICK!
from jonathan turley's blog:







An ex-judge has apologized after the McCain campaign and Republicans denounced her email sent to Jewish voters in Pennsylvania suggesting that presidential candidate Barack Obama taught members of a community group “to commit voter registration fraud.” She also compared a vote for Obama ignoring “the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s.”


GOP political consultant Bryan Rudnick helped draft it and has been fired for his role in the controversy. He says, however, that “I had authorization from party officials” to send the e-mail.

The e-mail was sent to 75,000 Jewish voters and read “Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA - Victory 2008.” It warned “Fellow Jewish Voters” of the danger of a second Holocaust due to the threats to Israel from its neighbors. It added: “Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008. Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let’s not make a similar one this year!”

The e-mail was signed by former state Supreme Court justice Sandra Schultz Newman. What is astonishing is Newman is member of McCain’s task force monitoring election day voting. The email was also signed by real estate developer Mitchell L. Morgan steel industry executive I. Michael Coslov.

Newman was the first woman elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and resigned in 2006.
Today, Ms. Newman sent an e-mail apologizing. An apology seems a bit light as a response. Newman should be thrown from any campaign related post and certainly should have nothing to do with monitoring elections. The e-mail was an outrageous act, not some misguided moment of passion.



(me- i wonder how many people that GOT that e-mail even heard of the apology and if they did, how many believe it wasn't a forced one?)
something i think is VERY VERY important to check out before election day. i'm not kidding.







i've been reading a book called:







SECRET LIVES OF GREAT AUTHORS

what your teachers never told you about
famous novelists, poets and playwrights

by robert schnakenberg




it is an easy read but very interesting
and it tells me that I AM the picture of mental and physical health next to THEM!


HA! guess i have room to expand my "horizons!"



at first i was po'd. now i just laugh at these 2 buffoons!

i love maddow's show. if keith is a bit too heavy handed for you(tho not for me)
rachael is just right.










oh congrats and blessings for cr and tps's little girl who just got married to her beloved!


two wonderful young women in love.
they flew to california before the bigots might have their way
and stop same sex marriage there.


funny how palin decried big gov yesterday acting like a second family
and getting into your personal life. irony is lost on her and others like her.











from c&l:







Wow, Sheppard Smith goes after Joe the Plumber for the insane statements he made at an RNC event today about Obama. Will John McCain still be using Joe the Plumber in all his new ads since he's saying Obama will destroy Israel? (rough transcript)

Sheppard: Why specifically is a vote for Obama a vote for the death of Israel?

Joe: Well specifically, look at his record. Obama's agreed to meet with Israel's enemies with no uncertain terms.. In fact he's letting them dictate terms to him and then look at his past associations, people he talks to...

Sheppard: Like who?

Joe: Quite honestly, you know, the gentleman that approached me with that question I agreed to with what I know...

Sheppard: What I can't figure our is why, let's listen to this clip from earlier.

Q: A vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel. I'ss guarantee you that.

Joe: Well, you know what? I'll actually agree with you on that one. I agree with you. I really think that would be a problem.

Sheppard: Joe, do you know Barack Obama's positions on Israel?

Joe: Ahhh, listen, I know you want to really get some answers on this one, I'm just not going to help you out here Sheppard. Let people go out and find it issues....

Sheppard: Do you think John McCain agrees with you?

Joe: No, it's just my personal opinion that I've come up with looking at different facts.
Listen, you don't want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough to probably be dangerous.

Sheppard: Well that's what I was kind of wondering. I wonder if you think it's dangerous at all for people to say a vote for Barack Obama is the same as a vote for Israel. If you think that's something dangerous for people to start believing because what happens if the polls are right and he becomes the President of the US and people start thinking this means the death of Israel. Are you worried what people might do if they actually believed something like that?

Joe: Well again, that goes back again to what I've been saying.

Sheppard: I just want to make this 100% perfectly clear. Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend to the United States no matter what happens once he becomes President, his words.

Nice tag Shep. What a very silly man that Joe is. He couldn't name one thing Obama has done for anyone to say something so outrageous as that. And he refused to even answer Sheppard's questions. He probably thought he would be getting the Huckabee/Cavuto/Hannity treatment. Hey Joe, you ain't pretty no more.





(me- it's enough to make you crazy!)
he said it all last night:
geeeeezzzz, everything outside is wet and now it's cold and snow flurries.

of course, max waits til i'm just out of a HOT shower to have to reallyreallyREALLY go outside! THAT will get your eyes open!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008





(thanks, bg)
yard signs, freaking yard signs!






AP


LEAVITTSBURG, Ohio (Oct. 28) -



A teenager was wounded in the arm by a man who said he wanted to stop the boy and another from taking his John McCain yard sign, according to police.

Warren Township police Lt. Don Bishop said 50-year-old Kenneth Rowles told officers he got out a .22-caliber rifle Saturday afternoon to fire warning shots, not hurt anyone. The two shots hit the van the teens were in.

Rowles pleaded not guilty Monday to felonious assault. A preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 4, Election Day.

Kyree Flowers, the 17-year-old passenger in the van, was wounded in the arm and was treated at a hospital, Bishop said.

The victim and his cousin admitted stealing signs at the Rowles home and elsewhere, Bishop said Tuesday. Rowles had the only McCain sign on a street with numerous Barack Obama signs, according to Bishop.

He said there was no evidence the thefts were anything more than teen vandalism. No charges were filed against the boys.

Local Republican and Democratic officials said campaign signs have been disappearing frequently and people were frustrated.
cat
more animals













christine wicker:






They tried branding Obama the anti-Christ. They tried linking him with Islamic terrorists. They've implied that unknown powers bought his allegiance by financing his education at Ivy League universities. They've used their pulpits to endorse McCain, hoping to spur a fight with the I.R.S. that would rouse their troops.

None of these tactics has brought their errant minions under control.

So using God like a hired gun to terrorize the town's people, the evangelical Christian mullahs are declaring that Obamageddon is at hand, using that very word and asking as the Religious Right/Republican Townhall magazine did in a September headline, "Could We Survive a Barack Presidency?"

Evangelical publisher James Strang answers the survival question by warning his readers that people who hate Christianity will take over the country once Obama is elected.

In fact, "life as we know it will end," Strang writes.

Last week Focus on the Family's James Dobson added his own doomsday predictions with a 16-page rant about evils that will befall the United States by 2012 if Obama is elected. A British commentator dubbed Dobson's list of a parade of horrors.

As a warm up Dobson blames misguided young evangelicals for putting Obama in office. It's them he's hoping to scare most. But they and emergent church leaders such as Brian McLaren, who endorsed Obama, have broken ranks and won't be coming back. He's truly delusional if he thinks they're listening to him.

A great mass of other evangelicals, who never followed the evangelical mullahs and never will, are also going for Obama. Maybe Dobson thinks they'll listen to him.

Not likely. They're using tried-and true-evangelical tactics on behalf of their own cause.

Seattle's Jim Henderson, a former Pentecostal preacher and head of Offthemap.com, is trying guilt.

He recently sent a mass email urging his friends to support Obama because he has the character and bearing to be president, and because his election gives Christians the opportunity to transform historical wrong.

The enslavement of Africans contributed greatly to our nation's wealth and has never been addressed directly and concretely by our leaders, Henderson wrote. Linking that lack of repentance to the country's $13 trillion of debt, he told his friends that our current troubles are a matter of reaping what we've sown. He then cited the chance to elect Obama as an example of "God's mercy - as a way through this historic dilemma and one that will do for our national character what reparations never could."

He and his ilk won't be convinced by Dobson's scare tactics. They're more likely to agree with a new bumper sticker popular in Colorado, where Focus on the Family is based.

It reads, "Focus on your own damn family."

So which evangelicals are left? Oh, I know. How could I have left them until last? The true faithful. The ones who always listen to Dobson.

He's going after evangelicals who may stay home on election day because they paid too much attention to his reasons for refusing to support McCain earlier in the year.

At that time, thinking that he was powerful enough to quash McCain's nomination, Dobson chastised fellow evangelical Gary Bauer for supporting the senator from Arizona.

"The Senator," Dobson said in a press release from Focus on the Family, "is being touted by the media as a man of principle, yet he was involved with other women while married to his first wife, and was implicated in the so-called Keating scandal with four other senators. He was eventually reprimanded by the Congress for the 'appearance of impropriety.' The Senator reportedly has a violent temper and can be extremely confrontational and profane when angry. These red flags about Senator McCain's character are reminiscent of the man who now occupies the White House."

The man who now occupies the White House? Oh yeah. That guy. Isn't he the last president the Religious Right elected?

But let's forget about that. Many of God's men have fallen. God's people move on.

Dobson's jeremiad against McCain also noted the senator's love of alcohol and gambling, as well as his acceptance of support from Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group.

Pretty strong stuff. All true. But let's forget about that.

The Republicans anointed McCain anyway.

When Dobson saw that threats to take his toys and go home didn't keep McCain from winning the nomination, he forgot his previous scruples. Now Dobson sees McCain as God's man. It's Obama who's the devil. And under God's direction, as he always is, Dobson is speaking out again. But this time he is no longer dealing in truth.

As he notes in the letter's preface, Dobson is now imagining things, things that could happen if Christians don't unite behind McCain and give that adulterous, profane, violent, scandal-tainted, bought-out-by-the-homsexuals drinker and gambler the most powerful elective office in the world.

In the letter Dobson imagines Boy Scouts disbanding rather than allowing gay scout leaders the complete license they will get if Obama is elected. He imagines the Pledge of Allegiance being banned in schools. He imagines Communism gaining new power. He imagines doctors killing children just minutes before birth. He imagines Americans forbidden to own guns. He imagines television and radio stations forbidden to preach the Bible. He imagines ministers, lawyers, doctors, social workers all being punished for following their consciences.

Dobson may have gotten his letter idea from Christian radio's Janet Porter who wrote an imaginary "Letter from a Future Prisoner" last year. She was fear mongering over the idea the Hillary might be elected. If that happened "thought crimes" would be instituted. Christian books would be banned. Christian speech would be called hate speech.

Porter, an even bigger drama queen than Dobson, imagined herself in prison doing hard labor merely for defending her faith. And who does she imagine in the cell next to her?

No, no. Not Jesus. Don't be ridiculous.

It's a home-schooling mother weeping inconsolably because her innocent children have been put in foster care.

All because they loved Jesus.

All because that adulterous, profane, violent, scandal-tainted, bought-out-by-the-homsexuals drinker and gambler didn't win the presidential election.

It's enough to make Mickey Rooney weep.












75. Halloween

by Robert Burns



UPON that night, when fairies light
On Cassilis Downans 2 dance,
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,
On sprightly coursers prance;
Or for Colean the rout is ta’en,
Beneath the moon’s pale beams;
There, up the Cove, 3 to stray an’ rove,
Amang the rocks and streams
To sport that night;


Amang the bonie winding banks,
Where Doon rins, wimplin, clear;
Where Bruce 4 ance rul’d the martial ranks,
An’ shook his Carrick spear;
Some merry, friendly, countra-folks
Together did convene,
To burn their nits, an’ pou their stocks,
An’ haud their Halloween
Fu’ blythe that night.


The lasses feat, an’ cleanly neat,
Mair braw than when they’re fine;
Their faces blythe, fu’ sweetly kythe,
Hearts leal, an’ warm, an’ kin’:
The lads sae trig, wi’ wooer-babs
Weel-knotted on their garten;
Some unco blate, an’ some wi’ gabs
Gar lasses’ hearts gang startin
Whiles fast at night.


Then, first an’ foremost, thro’ the kail,
Their stocks 5 maun a’ be sought ance;
They steek their een, and grape an’ wale
For muckle anes, an’ straught anes.
Poor hav’rel Will fell aff the drift,
An’ wandered thro’ the bow-kail,
An’ pou’t for want o’ better shift
A runt was like a sow-tail
Sae bow’t that night.


Then, straught or crooked, yird or nane,
They roar an’ cry a’ throu’ther;
The vera wee-things, toddlin, rin,
Wi’ stocks out owre their shouther:
An’ gif the custock’s sweet or sour,
Wi’ joctelegs they taste them;
Syne coziely, aboon the door,
Wi’ cannie care, they’ve plac’d them
To lie that night.


The lassies staw frae ’mang them a’,
To pou their stalks o’ corn; 6
But Rab slips out, an’ jinks about,
Behint the muckle thorn:
He grippit Nelly hard and fast:
Loud skirl’d a’ the lasses;
But her tap-pickle maist was lost,
Whan kiutlin in the fause-house 7
Wi’ him that night.


The auld guid-wife’s weel-hoordit nits 8
Are round an’ round dividend,
An’ mony lads an’ lasses’ fates
Are there that night decided:
Some kindle couthie side by side,
And burn thegither trimly;
Some start awa wi’ saucy pride,
An’ jump out owre the chimlie
Fu’ high that night.


Jean slips in twa, wi’ tentie e’e;
Wha ’twas, she wadna tell;
But this is Jock, an’ this is me,
She says in to hersel’:
He bleez’d owre her, an’ she owre him,
As they wad never mair part:
Till fuff! he started up the lum,
An’ Jean had e’en a sair heart
To see’t that night.


Poor Willie, wi’ his bow-kail runt,
Was brunt wi’ primsie Mallie;
An’ Mary, nae doubt, took the drunt,
To be compar’d to Willie:
Mall’s nit lap out, wi’ pridefu’ fling,
An’ her ain fit, it brunt it;
While Willie lap, and swore by jing,
’Twas just the way he wanted
To be that night.


Nell had the fause-house in her min’,
She pits hersel an’ Rob in;
In loving bleeze they sweetly join,
Till white in ase they’re sobbin:
Nell’s heart was dancin at the view;
She whisper’d Rob to leuk for’t:
Rob, stownlins, prie’d her bonie mou’,
Fu’ cozie in the neuk for’t,
Unseen that night.


But Merran sat behint their backs,
Her thoughts on Andrew Bell:
She lea’es them gashin at their cracks,
An’ slips out-by hersel’;
She thro’ the yard the nearest taks,
An’ for the kiln she goes then,
An’ darklins grapit for the bauks,
And in the blue-clue 9 throws then,
Right fear’t that night.


An’ ay she win’t, an’ ay she swat—
I wat she made nae jaukin;
Till something held within the pat,
Good L—d! but she was quaukin!
But whether ’twas the deil himsel,
Or whether ’twas a bauk-en’,
Or whether it was Andrew Bell,
She did na wait on talkin
To spier that night.


Wee Jenny to her graunie says,
“Will ye go wi’ me, graunie?
I’ll eat the apple at the glass, 10
I gat frae uncle Johnie:”
She fuff’t her pipe wi’ sic a lunt,
In wrath she was sae vap’rin,
She notic’t na an aizle brunt
Her braw, new, worset apron
Out thro’ that night.


“Ye little skelpie-limmer’s face!
I daur you try sic sportin,
As seek the foul thief ony place,
For him to spae your fortune:
Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
Great cause ye hae to fear it;
For mony a ane has gotten a fright,
An’ liv’d an’ died deleerit,
On sic a night.


“Ae hairst afore the Sherra-moor,
I mind’t as weel’s yestreen—
I was a gilpey then, I’m sure
I was na past fyfteen:
The simmer had been cauld an’ wat,
An’ stuff was unco green;
An’ eye a rantin kirn we gat,
An’ just on Halloween
It fell that night.


“Our stibble-rig was Rab M’Graen,
A clever, sturdy fallow;
His sin gat Eppie Sim wi’ wean,
That lived in Achmacalla:
He gat hemp-seed, 11 I mind it weel,
An’he made unco light o’t;
But mony a day was by himsel’,
He was sae sairly frighted
That vera night.”


Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck,
An’ he swoor by his conscience,
That he could saw hemp-seed a peck;
For it was a’ but nonsense:
The auld guidman raught down the pock,
An’ out a handfu’ gied him;
Syne bad him slip frae’ mang the folk,
Sometime when nae ane see’d him,
An’ try’t that night.


He marches thro’ amang the stacks,
Tho’ he was something sturtin;
The graip he for a harrow taks,
An’ haurls at his curpin:
And ev’ry now an’ then, he says,
“Hemp-seed I saw thee,
An’ her that is to be my lass
Come after me, an’ draw thee
As fast this night.”


He wistl’d up Lord Lennox’ March
To keep his courage cherry;
Altho’ his hair began to arch,
He was sae fley’d an’ eerie:
Till presently he hears a squeak,
An’ then a grane an’ gruntle;
He by his shouther gae a keek,
An’ tumbled wi’ a wintle
Out-owre that night.


He roar’d a horrid murder-shout,
In dreadfu’ desperation!
An’ young an’ auld come rinnin out,
An’ hear the sad narration:
He swoor ’twas hilchin Jean M’Craw,
Or crouchie Merran Humphie—
Till stop! she trotted thro’ them a’;
And wha was it but grumphie
Asteer that night!


Meg fain wad to the barn gaen,
To winn three wechts o’ naething; 12
But for to meet the deil her lane,
She pat but little faith in:
She gies the herd a pickle nits,
An’ twa red cheekit apples,
To watch, while for the barn she sets,
In hopes to see Tam Kipples
That vera night.


She turns the key wi’ cannie thraw,
An’owre the threshold ventures;
But first on Sawnie gies a ca’,
Syne baudly in she enters:
A ratton rattl’d up the wa’,
An’ she cry’d Lord preserve her!
An’ ran thro’ midden-hole an’ a’,
An’ pray’d wi’ zeal and fervour,
Fu’ fast that night.


They hoy’t out Will, wi’ sair advice;
They hecht him some fine braw ane;
It chanc’d the stack he faddom’t thrice 13
Was timmer-propt for thrawin:
He taks a swirlie auld moss-oak
For some black, grousome carlin;
An’ loot a winze, an’ drew a stroke,
Till skin in blypes cam haurlin
Aff’s nieves that night.


A wanton widow Leezie was,
As cantie as a kittlen;
But och! that night, amang the shaws,
She gat a fearfu’ settlin!
She thro’ the whins, an’ by the cairn,
An’ owre the hill gaed scrievin;
Whare three lairds’ lan’s met at a burn, 14
To dip her left sark-sleeve in,
Was bent that night.


Whiles owre a linn the burnie plays,
As thro’ the glen it wimpl’t;
Whiles round a rocky scar it strays,
Whiles in a wiel it dimpl’t;
Whiles glitter’d to the nightly rays,
Wi’ bickerin’, dancin’ dazzle;
Whiles cookit undeneath the braes,
Below the spreading hazel
Unseen that night.


Amang the brachens, on the brae,
Between her an’ the moon,
The deil, or else an outler quey,
Gat up an’ ga’e a croon:
Poor Leezie’s heart maist lap the hool;
Near lav’rock-height she jumpit,
But mist a fit, an’ in the pool
Out-owre the lugs she plumpit,
Wi’ a plunge that night.


In order, on the clean hearth-stane,
The luggies 15 three are ranged;
An’ ev’ry time great care is ta’en
To see them duly changed:
Auld uncle John, wha wedlock’s joys
Sin’ Mar’s-year did desire,
Because he gat the toom dish thrice,
He heav’d them on the fire
In wrath that night.


Wi’ merry sangs, an’ friendly cracks,
I wat they did na weary;
And unco tales, an’ funnie jokes—
Their sports were cheap an’ cheery:
Till butter’d sowens, 16 wi’ fragrant lunt,
Set a’ their gabs a-steerin;
Syne, wi’ a social glass o’ strunt,
They parted aff careerin
Fu’ blythe that night.


Note 1. Is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are abroad on their baneful midnight errands; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said on that night to hold a grand anniversary.—R. B. [back]
Note 2. Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the Earls of Cassilis.—R.B. [back]
Note 3. A noted cavern near Colean house, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed, in country story, for being a favorite haunt of fairies.—R. B. [back]
Note 4. The famous family of that name, the ancestors of Robert, the great deliverer of his country, were Earls of Carrick.—R. B. [back]
Note 5. The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a “stock,” or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with: its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any “yird,” or earth, stick to the root, that is “tocher,” or fortune; and the taste of the “custock,” that is, the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the “runts,” are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brings into the house are, according to the priority of placing the “runts,” the names in question.—R. B. [back]
Note 6. They go to the barnyard, and pull each, at three different times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the “top-pickle,” that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed anything but a maid.—R. B. [back]
Note 7. When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being too green or wet, the stack-builder, by means of old timber, etc., makes a large apartment in his stack, with an opening in the side which is fairest exposed to the wind: this he calls a “fause-house.”—R. B. [back]
Note 8. Burning the nuts is a favorite charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire; and according as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be.—R. B. [back]
Note 9. Whoever would, with success, try this spell, must strictly observe these directions: Steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and darkling, throw into the “pot” a clue of blue yarn; wind it in a new clue off the old one; and, toward the latter end, something will hold the thread: demand, “Wha hauds?” i. e., who holds? and answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the Christian and surname of your future spouse.—R. B. [back]
Note 10. Take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass; eat an apple before it, and some traditions say you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjungal companion, to be, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder.—R. B. [back]
Note 11. Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of hemp-seed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then: “Hemp-seed, I saw thee, hemp-seed, I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my true love, come after me and pou thee.” Look over your left shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, “Come after me and shaw thee,” that is, show thyself; in which case, it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say: “Come after me and harrow thee.”—R. B. [back]
Note 12. This charm must likewise be performed unperceived and alone. You go to the barn, and open both doors, taking them off the hinges, if possible; for there is danger that the being about to appear may shut the doors, and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the corn, which in our country dialect we call a “wecht,” and go through all the attitudes of letting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times, and the third time an apparition will pass through the barn, in at the windy door and out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the appearance or retinue, marking the employment or station in life.—R. B. [back]
Note 13. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a “bear-stack,” and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.—R. B. [back]
Note 14. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a “bear-stack,” and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.—R. B. [back]
Note 15. Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another, and leave the third empty; blindfold a person and lead him to the hearth where the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand; if by chance in the clean water, the future (husband or) wife will come to the bar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretells, with equal certainty, no marriage at all. It is repeated three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered.—R. B. [back]
Note 16. Sowens, with butter instead of milk to them, is always the Halloween Supper.—R. B.
THIS is what mccain/palin the republicans and fox news have done to this country!









i screwed up the one on the house and senate, my aim sucks!



You Should Be Allowed to Vote



You got 14/15 questions correct.

Generally speaking, you're very well informed.



If you vote this election, you'll know exactly who (and what) you'll be voting for.

You're likely to have strong opinions, and you have the facts to back them up.


remember, about a week or so i posted a pic of my favorite jeans that had given up the ghost?

well, my VERY favorite sweatshirt has followed them into that great pile of rags in the sky!

my faded red, duquesne university sweatshirt, size large is no more.
my daughter got it for me her freshmen year and i have loved it ever since. it was soft and rumpled and big and comfy but like most good things, it had an end yesterday. you can not buy soft like that. it only comes from age(kinda like me, ha!)


http://www.duq.edu/frontpages/aboutdu/
wet, cold, max loves it. i hate it.

Monday, October 27, 2008

GEE GOV....















Feds Disrupt Skinhead Plot to Kill Obama

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, AP
(Oct. 27) - Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said Monday.
In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name...




me- when will people learn????

the furnace has kicked on and the skies are getting darker.
from c&l, these people rock!


please read:



John Amato Monday Oct 27, 2008 12:01pm




From the C&L inbox, Rick writes:

I loved your recap of the McCain interview with Brokaw. Just wanted to point out that not only did Reagan raise taxes during a recession, but Bill Clinton raised taxes in 1993 a year after his election. We were mired in the worst recession since the depression at the time. Not one GOP Congressman or Senator voted for Clinton’s tax raise at the time and they all claimed it would ruin the economy, the same as now. Well, as you know, Bill raised taxes and we saw the greatest growth in our history along with record surpluses that will probably never be equaled. Under Reagan we saw the beginning of the deregulation era that brought us the savings and loan crisis, the Enron debacle and this current banking crisis that we find ourselves in today. When Reagan took office in 1980 our total debt was under 1 trillion dollars. Today it is 11 trillion and we had surpluses under Clinton. So under Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2 we increased our national debt from 1 trillion to 11 trillion.

It’s time that everybody realized that Milton Friedman and Reaganomics is a totally failed policy and until we do realize it, we are doomed to keep repeating it. It’s remarkable that more so called experts have not addressed the failed “deregulation” policies of the GOP as the main contributor to this collapse of our banking system.
even tho she thinks it is. i don't and i live here too!








over at sporks!






Patently Insane
Simple Sarah goes all in:

See, under a big government, more tax agenda, what you thought was yours would really start belonging to somebody else, to everybody else. If you thought your income, your property, your inventory, your investments were, were yours, they would really collectively belong to everybody. Obama, Barack Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes, and I say this based on his record... Higher taxes, more government, misusing the power to tax leads to government moving into the role of some believing that government then has to take care of us. And government kind of moving into the role as the other half of our family, making decisions for us. Now, they do this in other countries where the people are not free. Let us fight for what is right. John McCain and I, we will put our trust in you.
So, you see, a President Obama will seize all of your belongings and heard the recalcitrant and suspicious into Gulags.





me-now this is SO wrong on so many levels that i'm not going into all of them.
anyone with the i.q. above that of a kumquat should be shaking their heads and firing off an e-mail to the mccain campaign pleading "pretty please" to get her off of the ticket!

STILL can't get my freaking bio up top here where it belongs!!!!
Boy, 8, Killed in Gun Show Accident AP


(me-this is NOT a comment on guns. this is a "WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING?"
post.)








WESTFIELD, Mass. (Oct. 27) - An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.

The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said.

The boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and "was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury," a police statement said.
Christopher died at Baystate Medical Center.

Police said the boy's father was at the gun fair and accompanied his son in the ambulance, but it wasn't clear if he was at the firing range with Christopher at the time of the accident. Police didn't give the father's name.

Although police called it a "self-inflicted accidental shooting," police and the Hampden district attorney's office were investigating, officials said.
"We are going to review all the circumstance regarding what happened, who was involved, what authorities they may or may not have had, who was supervising," District Attorney William Bennett said Monday.

It is legal for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said.

Those conditions were met in this case, he said. He declined to release the supervisor's name.

The club said on its Web site that the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training, is "all legal and fun." People are allowed to fire weapons at vehicles, pumpkins and other targets, it said.

Officials of the private club and the firearms group could not be reached for comment. There was no response to a message left on a club answering machine. The C.O.P. group's machine clicked off without taking a message.

The sportsman's club was founded in 1949 and describes itself on its Web site as promoting "the interest of legal sport with rod, gun, and bow and arrow, both directly and through training."
It has eight firing ranges as well as archery and fishing facilities located on 375 acres in Westfield, about 100 miles west of Boston.
Saints

by Louise Gluck



In our family, there were two saints,
my aunt and my grandmother.
But their lives were different.

My grandmother's was tranquil, even at the end.
She was like a person walking in calm water;
for some reason
the sea couldn't bring itself to hurt her.
When my aunt took the same path,
the waves broke over her, they attacked her,
which is how the Fates respond
to a true spiritual nature.

My grandmother was cautious, conservative:
that's why she escaped suffering.
My aunt's escaped nothing;
each time the sea retreats, someone she loves is taken away.

Still she won't experience
the sea as evil. To her, it is what it is:
where it touches land, it must turn to violence.





thanks, blue gal!












Dear sherry

I wanted to send you a very quick note to let you know that we're up on the air in Georgia, with a version of our incredibly successful "Body Armor ad," calling out Senator Saxby Chambliss for his votes against greater funding for body armor.



As you know, Senator Chambliss came into office by shamefully questioning Max Cleland's commitment to our nation. So, you would think that Chambliss would then vote to make completely sure that every bit of funding for troops' equipment passed. But he didn't.

We'll be running the ad over the next week around the state, holding Senator Chambliss accountable for his votes against the troops.


Thank you for all of your support.

Sincerely,
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org




VoteVets.org.
laundry in the dryer, tomato sauce on the stove.
had thunder and lightning and winds last night, but no rain.

might get wet snow flakes tonight! PHOOEY!

Sunday, October 26, 2008


HEY, i'm up to 50 countries that have visited my little bloggy here!

cool!



















Juke Box Love Song

















by Langston Hughes


I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let it whirl,
And while we listen to it play,
Dance with you till day--
Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl.