I never thought politics could be this great a circus!

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/303255...roll_video

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/303255...roll_video

now watch this parody and tell me it's not McCain and Palin in a private meeting!

www.youtube.com/watch

"Let me get back to you on that one......."

www.nbc.com/Saturday_Nig...-open/704042/

the thing thats so frighteningly funny is that Tina Fey has used Sarah Palin's words almost verbatim when giving the answer abotu the 700 Billion Dollar Bail out....I think she may have added in a phrase about dollar menus....but other than that it is a shorter but nearly word for word usage of the idiocy that is Sarah Palin.

Watch her walk into the propeler blades in this interview. Someone needs to tell her that stringing buzz words together and occasionally throwing in a verb doesn't mean you are actually making an intelligent sentence.

www.youtube.com/watch

www.youtube.com/watch

When Ideas go horribly wrong

So that picture is about how I feel about the stupid excesses of the economy over the last 10 years that have brought us to this place. Putting fake tits on that crone is about as smart as letting the market self regulate like it has been and then whining for money when the inevitable happens! Get real you idiots in DC!

So in the 90s we lifted many restraints on big businesses. Yes we did force some to comply with pesky Sarbanes-Oxly regulations thanks to monoliths like Microsoft and Enron.......but you know, once the dust from Enron settled we really thought "hey, good thing we nipped this in the bud, now lets go back to wearing those rose colored glasses!"

Unfortunately Enron was a warning shot off the port bow that we completely did not take for its true import. It has been said that I am being "bitchy" and ,sans qualification, secdon guessing the President, whom is presumably more qualified than I am to make decisions about the economy. Now I will grant you that in his college years George W. Bush did sit in on many more economics courses than I did in my college years. And I will further grant that he has sat behind the CEO's desk in larger corporations more than I have. However, every great tower of industry started out as a small idea owned by a guy who thought he could revolutionize how "X" was done, made, or sold and so started his own company, and further...our founding fathers forged a government on the very premise that each individual has a voice that is equal to that of the elected officials. So I have no qualms in saying...."Bitch, gimme the bullhorn, your time's up and there are tough questions you haven't answered satisfactorily!"

So my assertion that there had to be something worse around the bend feuling the desperation with which the bail out was being begged for was realized this evening with Washington Mutual being siezed by the Feds........320 BILLION dollars in assets now tied up under federal jurusdiction to prevent a collapse. Yes people, read that again carefully......320 BILLION Dollars, that would roughly equal HALF the bail out that was being asked for.

but guess what, that can't be all either. For starters the market is going to tank like there's no tomorrow when it opens in the morning. That crash will fuel further destabilization in companies that had been teetering on the edge of the abyss, desperately hoping they wouldn't get the nudge it would require to drive them over. Trust me.......this is not the last shoe to drop on this one........we're in for more.

now back to why I have a problem acquiessing silently to President Bush's plea for his 700 Billion Dollar bail out. What i find horrifying about it, beside the cavalier disregard for any fiscal responsability to those whose money he would actually be lending ( namely yours and mine...to the tune of 28,000 dollars per person in the united states...not registered voters......per PERSON) such that he can outline a plan for how the money will be repaid, on what scedule payments will be made, and what recompense we the lendors have should the loan payments be defaulted on...........lets set aside the fact that we are being asked as a country to pay for the poor choices of a pamperd few who profited immensly from these wreckless money grubbing business practices, and even if they don't get their "golden parachute" severance payments, they will still be in possesion of multiple luxury homes, condos, luxury cars, the ability to jet aroudn the world and generally live in a style they are completely undeserving of given that their ill gotten gains are costing the American Public access to the collective "American Dream" by making it exponentially more difficult for anyone to attain even a fraction of it in the future..........And lets for the moment ignore the fact that George W. Bush has systematicly abused teh trust of teh american Public by feeding it promises that "the economy is essentialy strong" while all along knowing full well that these situations were in some form looming ever closer and did nothing to ready us for what we were about to have to grapple with. ..........lets ignore the fact that he waited until just after the Republican national convention to announce that the Federal Government siezing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, affording McCain the opporotunity to try and float his nomination of Caribou Barbie without also having to answer for the failure of two major lending houses that collectively hold 1/2 the mortgages of the home owners of the united states, in what can only be seen as one of the most craven and calculatedly greasy political maneuvers the Republicans have perpetrated in decades.

No my fundamental reasons for opposing this bail out are simple.

Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson are not elected officials, they have no check or balalnce to keep them in line, and if we hand them over fiscal oversite of 700 BILLION DOLLARS.......there has been no kind of explaination given for how they will choose the companies that are worthy of aiding out of trouble, and which compaines are not sufficiently "worthy" of assistance and will thus have to fend for themselves or fail. There has been no discussion of what criteria will need to be met economically for the power that Bernanke and Paulson will collectively weild to conclude and opperations to return to what they were prior to the bail out. At what point will we be "ok" and these two can hand the reigns back to the Presidency? And better still, does Bush think that this situation is going to resolve itself BEFORE the Inauguration............Cause well, you might have missed this lovely littel press brief if you were only paying attention to the normal media outlets and not reading the White House web site

Notice: Continuation Of The National Emergency With Respect To Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, Or Support Terrorism



White House News



On September 23, 2001, by Executive Order 13224, I declared a national emergency with respect to persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706). I took this action to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, including the terrorist attacks in New York, in Pennsylvania, and against the Pentagon committed on September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks against United States nationals or the United States. Because the actions of these persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States, the national emergency declared on September 23, 2001, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 23, 2008. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

September 18, 2008.

for those of you in the cheap seats who are not up on your constitutional history.........this is one of the early steps a president would need to take in case he was anticipating the need to postpone an election in the name of "stability" and continuation of an institution he deems necessary to the re-enstatement of stability in American Government or Economy.

So Tommasso, I am a bit concerned here, an I am feeling alot lied to, and very outraged, and a good bit afraid that we are being led down the garden path here and are stupidly walking right into the slaughterhouse and never questioning what al lthose guys are doing with sledge hammers slung over their shoulders.

So how dumb does he think we are?

ok....so for weeks now George W. Bush (for the sake of ease from here on to be refered to as the Village Idiot.....V.I. for short) has been telling us in carefully stage press releases that " the economy is essentially strong". And for weeks now we have all sat around playing the betting game of trying to figure out which financial institution would collapse over the weekend or be taken over by teh Federal Government to prevent it's collapse. Somehow they think we weren't going to catch on that more and more fo the major lending houses were folding up and packing it in. Somehow V.I. and his staff were thinking we might not catch on to the fact that these upheavals were happening on Sat or Sunday so as not to affect the end of week totals for the Stock Markets, and to give them a whole week to rebound once the news broke and had a chance to impact trading on Monday morning.

You know the last time I can really cast my (admittely abstracted) memory back to a leader being so not in touch with the populace, what is impacting their daily lives, and their real concerns would have to be....let me think......hmmm......

MARIE ANTOINETTE!

How exactly is the economy essentially strong V.I. ( or MCCain for htat matter since he too agreed) when Baer Sterns fails?
How Precisely do you two cronies call the economy strong when Fannie Mae and Bernie Mac both get taken over by the Feds?
How do you explain your assertions of an essentialy strong economy when shilling for a 700 BILLION DOLLAR Bailout?!

so what do they think the answer to this contentions subject is? Lets have the V.I. address the populace from the White House! Yeah, thats the ticket, he'll calm and reassure them with his deft delivery and his witty turn of phrase, and most of all his ability to connect with the common man and really speak to their concerns in a way that is going to be completely comprehensible!

www.cnn.com/2008/POLITIC...l#cnnSTCVideo

What in teh hell did that man just say?! (Your guess is as good as mine!)
Did you understand what he was saying? (NO!)
More importantly, do you think HE UNDERSTOOD what he was saying? (NO!)

The man really needs to fire whom ever wrote that speech for him. It was a great speech if he was addressing a conference of economics professors ( well assuming he could deliver it in a way that sounded quasi informed...........but listening to that snigglet of stupidity I certainly did not hear any sort of rational justification for putting each person in teh USA on the hook for $28,000 ( yours and my share of the lovely bail out strategy)

At no point has any of the Republican Leadership who endorse the "bailout" adequately explained this such that I have any comfort that they won't be back, hat in hand, a week or two from now saying, "OK we need more". There is so little regulation in this flimsy 3 page proposal that congress has been wrangling over, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson evidently don't quite understand all that has to go into writing a piece of legislation, that ultimately if Congress votes tomorrow and says "Yes, here's your check for $700 Billion" they would effectively be giving Ben Bernanke more fiscal power than the office of the President of The United States. Granted to some degree I am not necessarily arguing with NOT letting the V.I. have discressionary power over this "bailout" since its the policies that he and his party allowed to prosper that got us into this bind....so I am not saying he is necessarily the bench mark standard of fiscal responsability....but I think it sets a bad precedent for future Presidencies to allow the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to have that much unfettered power over the American economy.

Caribou Barbie for VP? Really? WTF?!?!?!

WHY ARE WE NOT OFFENDED?

So we ahve all had time for the initial shock of Sarah Palin's nomination to wear off, but what's next? I sat in front of the computer the other day, sipping my coffee and reading through the Kilkenny email:


I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative." During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later; to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal; loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council

became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects; which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance; but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork."

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT


"Hockey mom": true for a few years
"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
"NRA supporter": absolutely true
Social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
Pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation.
"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
Political maverick: not at all
Gutsy: absolutely!
Open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
Has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
"A Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
Fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
Pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th centurystandards.
Pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents.
Pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
Pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS

I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall; they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s


Anne Kilkenny

August 31, 2008



A nagging thought kept asserting itself. Like a fly in the Taj Mahal I could hear it echoing through the cacaphony of surprised exclaimations my brain was churning out as I read more into Sarah Palin's history....but I couldn't quite pin it down. Then I found an interesting clip of Matt Damon commenting on Sarah Palin's nomination:

www.youtube.com/watch

Then there was the furor that the Florida Republican Party tried to create over Oprah declining to invite Sarah Palin onto her show to be interviewed. I had to respect Oprah Winfrey's decision to decline interviewing Sarah Palin on her show until after the election. I thought it very professional and well reasoned that she was acknowledging that she would not be able to "fake" impartiality when interviewing her ( or any Republican candidate) after having publicly come out as a Barack Obama suporter. On her website she stated simply:


"Posted on Sep 5, 2008 10:46 AM
“The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.” – Oprah Winfrey, "


And of course....who hasn't seen Tina Fey's rocking send up of Governor Palin on Saturday Night Live?
www.youtube.com/watch

and it was at about that point, after a mass saturation in all that is lacking in Sarah Palin as a candidate that the nagging feeling in the back of my brain clarified. As I watched clips of the miniseries "John Adams" and saw a bunch of the awards that the performers were given for their portrayals of persons integral to the founding of our nation ( www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/ ).......I couldn't help wondering, What would John Adams, or George Washington, or Thomas Jefferson think of a choice like Sarah Palin as the "one-heart-attack-away" choice for Vive President of the United States?


-We are mired in an unending conflict in Iraq, with no end strategy in place, and ever increasing body count of American Soldiers, to say nothing of the poor Iraqui Civilians whose existance is being shredded by this conflict, and a price tag for the whole escapade that keeps growing like the numbers on the toteboard of the Jerry Lewis Telethon

-We are watching our economy swirl around the bowl before being flushed into the sewers of our own making. Greed and lack of regulation of big business ( thankyou republicans...really....thankyou for this hell) and financial institutions have caused the average citizen to not only have to deal with privations in the here and now due to the havoc that these unfettered financial houses have wrought....but now the average guy is going to be on the hook for decades to come paying for the 700 BILLION DOLLAR bail out that the President wants us to hastily approve of so that we can treat the symptoms and not the disease causing them. Of course current estimates are that the actual cost is more likly going to land near the TRILLION DOLLAR mark by the time its all said and done.

-Russia err....The Soviet Union...oh what the hell are they calling themselves this year?....anyway, they are starting to flex their muscles internationally now that they know we are in a weakend state.

-Iran knows we don't have the where with all to actually back up any of our threats to them because we have an attrition rate in our military that is making even the boys in the Joint Chiefs Lounge shake in their uniforms worrying about how they are going to stop the loss of able bodied men let alone provide the necessary support to the guys in harms way in Iraq and Afghanistan!

-Afghanistan and Pakistan are continuing to degrade militarily....and we don't have the man power in the military to send to these areas to stop the hemoraging ....and the insurgents there know it...its a waiting game that is in their favor.

-Darfur continues to devolve into further levels of genocide and the American Government blithly turns a blind eye to the appaling loss of human life, and the attrocities being visited on innocents, but they have no economic offering for us to pin our courage and humanitarianism to...so there is no profit margin to being civilized and helping fellow humans out of a deploreable situation.

-The Housing indistry is in chaos, good hard working people are being turned out of homes, good hard working people were defrauded into taking out loans with assurances that the "worst case scenario" would never come about so that larger corporations could reap the profit margin benefits....the situation got so bad that Fanny Mae and Bernie Mac had to be bailed out instead of being allowed to go under...they collectively hold the mortgages of (conservatively) HALF the homeowners of the entire United States!


So we are dealing with these major issues pluse hosts of others I have not bothered to enumerate...but clearly it is a pivotal election in our country's history. There is alot at stake in the choice of a leader....arguably more so than has been the case for decades.

And what have we been offered as a candidate for Vice President by the Republican Party?

Sarah Palin.

Their answer to the crushing list of issues that the President and by extension the Vice President, need to be ready to address head on and try to resolve....is Sarah Palin?! WTF?!

How are the American public not insulted by the manipulation this choice represents, how are we not affronted by the complete and utter lack of qualification this choice represents?

As a candidate for the Presidency of the United States John McCain is honor bound to choose someone he thinks is up to the task of leading our country since he has to be honest and admitt that (as the oldest candidate to run for the Presidency) there is a better than average chance that he could die in office ( mind you I am not wishing that on him, despite disagreeing with his policy and doctrine, I would not wish the man physical harm or death). And to answer this need his selection is Sarah palin?

But lets set aside gender. If we were to look at just the qualifications of the vice presidentail candidates on a resume with the names blocked out and just looked at job & life experiences alone.....one would be laughably inconsequential when scrutinized next to the other. Level the playing field and assume that both candidates were either women or men so that the gender bias were not in play and again, one candidate would emerge as woefully under qualified.

So why are the American People not outraged at this insult to their intelligence, that the Republicans think its ok to look down on American Citizens and hand them something as laughable as this and expect them to take it seriously?! It implies a cavalier disregard for the blood sweat and tears the founding fathers expended in giving us all the right and responsability to participate actively and vociferously in our government to present to us a choice like Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate for this upcoming election.

And for those of you who think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill.....look at how much larger and more complicated and covert Chenney has made the federal government since taking over as Vice President under Bush....don't even try to tell me that the Vice Presidency is a throw away position more ceremonial than active.....clearly this last 8 years has brought to the country's attention the fact that we need to be more careful about who gets to be Vice Presidnet!

Monday Sucked

Monday was not a good day. I know that you have not met this guy, or my mom, but if you could all please send good thoughts my Mom's way the next few days I'd really appreciate it. This picture is of Job, a former race track grey hound my Dad got for my mother as a gift when she was going through a really tough patch in her life. He showered her with undivided attention and gave her something outside her troubels to focus on, in a happy way.....and I really credit him and my Father's quiet gentle support for getting my mom through that bad phase 7 years ago.

But despite Job's glowing Vet reports in his first few years (the vet was pretty sure that Job must have been a winner in his racing days since he came to my parents in exceptionally good health for a racing hound), he was not young when he came to them. He had already had a full and successful career as a racer. Add 7 years to that already intense life and time and circumstance finally caught up with him, A week ago Job went for a Vet visit to ascertain why he was having troubles walking and why the cyst on his front shoulder was growing so large. The diagnosis was not good. It was cancer, radical, agessive, and assuredly fatal.

I talked to my Mom the day she got the diagnosis, and she had determined to tough it out a little while and use the meds the Vet had given her for Job to make his life as painless as possible for as long as possible. last night Job was in alot of pain and barely able to walk, Mom took Job ot the Vet this morning to have anotehr X-ray done and teh Vet said the cancer was attacking his bones faster than he had first thought would be the case when the diagnosis was made.

So my Mom decide it was time to say goodbye and spare Job having to endure a course of suffering with no hope of respite, escape, or relief. Today she had to let go of one of the life lines that helped bring her back from a trying period in her life, however hard it was for her; because ultimately holding on to him any longer would have been unfair to him. She and I could barely talk when I called her and even now I am having a hard time typing this

Job is at rest now but I know ther's a part of my Mom's heart that cracked having to put him to sleep, wishing there was some way she could do as much for him as he had done for her when she so desperately needed to give a revitalizing jolt to her life.....so if you could spare some good thoughts for her the next few days I'd appreciate it, and I know she would too.

1000!

a thousand of you have peeped my peofile as of today! Yay! You like me, you really, really like me!

I'm Back

Know then that it is the year 10,191. The know universe is ruled by the Padisha Emperor, Shadam IV; my father. In this time the most precious substance in all the universe is the spice Melange. the Spacing guild and it's navigators whom the sppice has, mutated, over four thousand years, use the orange spice gas to fold space; that is, travel to any part of the universe without moving. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the spice Melange is found on only one planet in the entire universe, a desolate dry planet of vast deserts. hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a Messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis.....also known as ....DUNE.
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Well, ok, so my vacation was not quite THAT dramatic......but at moments it felt like it was. I suppose a smidgen of background material might be in order since some of you are Ren faire folk who have not had as much cross over experience in the SCA ( a state of existance I would love to shift the statistics on in as many cases as possible since I think the SCA could benefit immeasurably from the level of research and dedication to craft my Ren Faire Friends on here put into their work...but thats a topic for another post)

Within the SCA there are households that are geographically based, and then there are those that are more "thematically" based. I belong to a household organized along the latter of these two ideas. Vlads Pleasure Pavilions is a camp at Pennsic that in may ways is sort of a Tavern, Beer Garden, theatrical stage of the sort you might find at some Faires, and for the first week of Pennsic we are open to the populace attending Pennsic to come, drink, socialize, reconnect with old friends, make new ones, enjoy our musicians, drummers, dancers and generally be entertained as well as add to the overall entertainment. To that end we try to make our pavilions as oppulent as possible, our clothing as fabulous as possible, and our persona's as larger than life as possible so that we can help contribute to hte overall Pennsic experience as well as have an outlet for our inner thespian....which is not so inner in a few cases.

This year we were able to monopolize the land block that in years past we had been forced to share with another household whom everyon thought we were complaining about continuously simply to be contentions. They got moved to another block this year because they lacked the adequate pre-registrations that their large faux-Italian villa set up requires. We were pleased to note that about 10 other camps in the viscinity of their new location quickly learned that our complaints about the Casa and the headaches it brings with it were not just sour grapes but well founded critiques of a flawed plan, bungled implimentation, shoddy execution, spearheaded by a leader who will fearlessly embrace every wrong decision he can get his hands on and dogmatically defend it as the right thing to do. Having them gone and no longer interfering in how we laid out our camp or having to live next to the construction site they are for 9/10 of Pennsic from dawn till dusk made all of us much the happier. The fact that the main salon of the Casa was built out on thorougly questionable pilings sunk into the creek bed that borders the lake made us all shudder as we inwardly pictured pivotal scenes from "The Poseiden Adventure" and each resolved we would NOT get stuck in the "shelly Winters role" come hell or more likly high water!

now the above criticisms being said, I do feel heartily sorry for many of those toiling under the whip cracking personality of the Casa's dubious ringmaster......there are some genuinely nice and talented folk whom I desperately hope will (after this years particularly spectacular public displays of mental caprice and temper by their fearless leader) wake up and smell the Kool-aide and run the hell away from the social grease fire that the Casa is apt to become if it continues along the path that was laid out this year.

And of course there were a plethora of fashion faux-pas's, train wrecks, and those ensembles best consigned to the tender mercies of a whisper chipper...with or without the wearer stil;l inhabiting the unfortunate frocks in qiestion.

I was treated to new (and reacquainted with a few I had forgotten) terms like "Fat-a-lanche" ,"Turning it", "Gacking", "Crispy-cougar", "Slutacous", "Whore-tacular"and a plethora of socially and politically inappropriate humor that my campmates are good for when they know they are around similarly politically incorrect folk.

and then of course there were the glittering moments of pagentry and glamor.....East Kingdom Court and getting called forward to be awarded with "Seamstress to the Crown" along with my Campmate Annabella/Christos and an apprentice sister Jackie, the Slave Auction (at which the Queen of Gleann Abhann demonstrated vociferously and annoyingly that charm and deportment lessons are not required to wear a crown)*{more about this darling Belle later....bless her heart!} which was a wonderfully attended and glittering evening, the Inquisition Masquerade, and Duchess Isabella's Ladies night

Now...it struck me...upon looking through friends profile upon my return, I am scandalously naked in the "Testimonials" department....and i want this rectified.....but seeing as i have a batch of friends on here who raise the term "creative" to soaringly new levels....I am going to make a challenge....I want testimonials that are great reads, but have nothing what so ever to do with reality...I want people to write about the times we went to fictitious places did unrealistically outlandish things one can only read of in the pages of fiction, wore clothing that equal the GNP of Dubai on a good day, hob knobbed with the movers and shakers of what ever age you choose. I know you all are up to it, I have read your postings, I have read your blogs, I have even had the benefit of getting to trade quips and cocktail stories wiht some of you personally....so lets hop to it...I wanna feel like I am not lacking in my profile anymore dang it!

ok blatant fishing expedition over...I am going to go contemplate which topic from Pennsic to in depth blog about first and let you all contemplate what sorts of adventures and highjinks you want to say we got into together!

These "Miracles" should be curtailed

We live in an contradictory age. On the one hand you have those who argue that magic nad mystery are extinct, that technology has supplanted myth and mysticism and spirituality and faith in intangible powers are now anachronistic concepts. on the other hand you have those who see miracles in every little mundane daily occurance, believe that technology actually working is in and of itself a miracle and that the minds who created the technology are miracle makers, they at times seem desperate to find miracles and thus are willing to bend the parameters a little and lower the bar alot. Miracles used to be things like a miraculously flying monk, a child seeing the virgin marry and then leading the French army to victory, the sick being healed, Gil Perez being magically teleported from a spanish colony in the Phillipines to Mexico City ( 1593)*.......but to me one thing stands out clearly as an act that can be permanently removed from the rosters of "miracle occurance".

The birth of a child was once lauded as a "miralce of Life". I think we can safely agree that the magic has been taken out of that process. In a world where a 16 yr old girl gets national media coverage for getting pregnant (Jamie Lynn Spears) when every day there are thousands upon thousands of young unwed girls who are getting pregnant before they have even selected their Junior Year classes in high school.....clearly the act of getting pregnant and delivering a child into hte world is not an act that takes place behind a shroud of mystery and mysticism any longer. In a week where I was forced to endure wall to wall "brangalina" commentatorating about Angelina Jolie adding two more kids to her "Franklin Mint International Babies" collection it sickened me to see the state of commonality, urbaness, enui that Pregnancy and Childbirth have been brought to in modern culture when they used to be mythic occurances that preceeded celebrations within family and community to welcome the new little miracle life. Largely to blame for this casual attitude for the motherly state, I think, is the fact that the stigma abotu getting pregnant before one is actually ready in society's eyes to be a parent has been removed or so marginalized as to be nearly nonexistant.

Now there are a few other stories that appeared in the news that really made me think that parenting, ushering a small life into this world, is an act that needs to be more restricted, needs to have some of the "special", the "myth", the "elevation" put back into it by giving it a bit more exclusivity so that you as a responsible person carrying a child when you are ready to be doing it and the stupid teenager who thinks she knows everything but still is a bit mystified by the mechanics of birth control (A-put pill in mouth,B-Swallow,C-repeat process with next pill tomorrow) or ( A-Purchase Condom, B-Put on condom, C-When finished remove condom and discard) are not viewed in the same light by a public disinclined to see the wonder and accomplishment of the one because of the lack of self awareness and general stupidity fo the other. So I thought about things a little and it dawned on me, there is a perfectly simple way of resolving this lacy of awe....as well as a host of other connected problems. National Birth Control..........put birth control in the water, aerisolize it in the atmosphere, add it as an extra ingredient in soft drinks, piggyback it in diet pills, coat anti depressant pills in it, and for the love of god make it an addative in any and ALL alcohol! Now...once you have hit maximum saturation within the populace it won't matter if teenagers screw like bunnies, they will not be hampering their future with a child (or the welfare system, or their parents for that matter), those of lower income who milk the welfare system for a living simply because they don't mind demonstrating they are very reproductively viable despite an overwhelming lack of resources necessary to deal with the outcome of a fruitful womb. Now now...before you all reach for your retro "kill the Commies" buttons and banners, I am not advocating a cap being placed on people that each family can only have one child like China. Have as many as you like, if you can pass a test/background check to demonstrate that you are a viable responsible parent candidate. Pass that test and you get the pill (or what ever it is) that is the countering agent to the national birth control.

Ok I can hear you all getting restive over this concept, so bear with me a little. We make someone take a basic competency test before allowing them to get bgehind the wheel of several hunder pounds to a ton of metal and plastic that they are then going to possibly drive at speeds of up to 85 miles per hour legally thus endangering not only their own life but the lives of many others on a daily basis. And we make them take a test before handing them a license and saying "Go forth and endanger lives."

Then ther is the fun of gun ownership. ( NOTE I am not going to open the can of worms of restricting gun ownership in this blog, but rest assured it is a pet topic of mine and one I am pretty adamant about) Before you can go out and purchase fire arms and or hunt we require that you pass a gun ownership test and pass a background check ( I realize this varries state to state, but in essence we test you to some degree). Again, before saygin its legal for you to be stalking the woods and byways of our country trying to pick off the local fauna we want to know that you know how to at least sound like a responsible gun owner before we say "Go forth and endanger lives"

Heck...now in most states if you go into a drugstore and want to buy Claratin or Allegra for your allergies they make you show ID and sign a waiver attesting to your awareness that you may be questioned about your purchase of this controled substance due to its usefullness as a component in making things like Meth. I have to sign a waiver just to get relief from my allergies stating that I am aware that SOME people might use this to "go forth and endanger others"

But we do nothing to restrict the pregnancy rate in our country. Our completely out of whack birth rate is probably one of the largest contributors to our economic problems as it impacts medicaid, welfare, social chairitable organizations, counseling facilaties, the environment, schools, churches. Can you even imagine how much less we as tax payers would get tagged for anually if children were not being born to parents who cannot begin to provide even the basic necessities of care for them? What if the government ( National, Sate and local) were not overburdened with having to come up with ways of providing hte needs of thousands of children because the parents ( both adult and juvenille) got pregnent with no thought of consequences and now expect someone to bail them out for their lack of responsability?How much more effective might those different levels of government be if they were freed of the necessity to be institutional parents?

So you might be wondering why I am ruminating on the sad state of parenthood in our country and the need for restricting access to this "Miraculous " condition........so here you go

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Pittsburgh, PA-
Authorities identified 18-year-old Kia Johnson as the woman found tied up with her uterus cut open inside a Pennsylvania apartment, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office said Sunday. The medical examiner says the body found in a Pennsylvania apartment is that of Kia Johnson. 1 of 3 Authorities used dental records to confirm the woman's identity. Johnson's partially eviscerated body was found at the apartment of a Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, woman who arrived at a hospital with a newborn infant earlier in the week. A placenta was found at the scene, the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, medical examiner said. Johnson's body "was in a state of moderate decomposition" and the woman had been dead for about two days, Medical Examiner Karl Williams said in a written statement.
Johnson's hands and feet were bound by duct tape. The cause of death remains undetermined, Williams said. Drugs were found at the scene, and authorities are awaiting toxicology results to determine whether the woman was sedated, he said. It's unclear whether the woman was alive when the infant was taken, he added. The body was found Friday at an apartment belonging to a woman with a history of attempting to steal newborns, according to court records obtained by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a felony, and dealing in infant children, a misdemeanor. Court records show that she was arraigned on the felony charge Friday and is next set to appear in court on Thursday. She is being held at the Allegheny County Jail, WTAE reported. Watch Andrea Curry-Demus being taken into custody. According to a criminal complaint, Curry-Demus was taken by ambulance to a local hospital Wednesday with the baby, claiming it was hers. Tests at the hospital proved that she was not the mother, and police were notified.
Curry-Demus told Grande she had suffered a miscarriage in June and "did not want her mother to get upset." In the complaint, Detective Rich Grande said Curry-Demus told him she purchased the baby from a woman named Tina for $1,000. Morton said fingerprint testing had ruled out a woman named Tina Carter, one of two other pregnant black women who have been reported missing in the area.

On Wednesday, Curry-Demus said, Tina showed up with her newborn wrapped in a towel and left. Curry-Demus said she called medics because the baby was still "dirty from birth," the complaint said. The baby is in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said, and will be released to child welfare workers when he is ready. Reporters visiting Curry-Demus' apartment earlier Friday had noticed flies and smelled an odor from the sidewalk below, WTAE said. Police Chief Ophelia Coleman said the body was not found earlier because Curry-Demus' sister led them to another apartment. Friends and relatives said Curry-Demus had told them she was pregnant for months, even having a baby shower. "I went to the baby shower and her wedding," Ivee Blunt said. "I had no idea something like this could happen. I'm totally shocked. And she was so nice and kind. It's just unbelievable." But Stephanie Epps, Curry-Demus' sister-in-law, said Curry-Demus would never allow her to touch her stomach. "Pregnant women do things like that," she said. "They're happy because they're pregnant. But she would never do none of that." As she was led out of the Wilkinsburg Police Department, Curry-Demus told reporters, "I didn't do nothing," according to WTAE. According to court records obtained by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Curry-Demus became pregnant at 12 and miscarried four months later. She had a second miscarriage in 1990, when she was 21, the paper said. Only a few months after the second miscarriage, Curry-Demus befriended a woman who had just given birth but later attacked her with a knife and tried to steal the baby, the paper said, citing the court records. The woman's husband intervened, and she fled, the newspaper reported. The next day, she went to a hospital and befriended a woman who had brought her 3-week-old daughter to the hospital to be treated for meningitis, the Tribune-Review said. When the woman went home for the night, Curry-Demus left the hospital with the baby. It was found at her home, unharmed, the following day. In 1991, according to the records, she pleaded guilty to various charges stemming from both incidents and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, the newspaper reported. She was paroled in August 1998 and ordered to serve 10 years of probation, the paper said. Curry-Demus was examined by psychiatrists at the Allegheny County Jail before her sentencing and was diagnosed with severe depression, personality disorders and auditory hallucinations, the newspaper reported, citing court records. She told doctors she spent a lot of time thinking about her miscarriages and "kept hearing babies cry," the Tribune-Review said.
Wilkinsburg is just east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


Earlier this year, a Kansas woman was sentenced to death in the 2004 killing of a Missouri woman whose baby was cut from her womb.
Lisa Montgomery was convicted in October in the death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, who was found strangled in her Skidmore, Missouri, home. Stinnett's womb was cut open, and her unborn child was missing. Montgomery was found days later at home in Kansas, where she was attempting to pass the baby off as her own.

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and then there is this lovely video footage:

video.aol.com/video-detai...k/2184692915

TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- A Brevard County man was caught on video passed out at the wheel with his three children in the back seat at the Quik Stop in Titusville on Wednesday night. An Eyewitness News camera crew was in the area when a call came in over the police scanner and arrived before officers. David Novick, his friend and Novick's three kids managed to get to the gas station safe and sound, driving a couple blocks from his home down SR-50. He went there to buy cigarettes and passed out with his children, all under five years old, in the car.
Novick never saw the police coming. The 37-year-old Titusville man was out cold when they showed up. His three children were unbuckled in the back seat of the parked car. Police questioned whether there was something more than alcohol involved. The single father was so out of it, not police, not a slap in the face and not even police removing his children could get him to wake up. "Dave, they are taking the kids," Novick's friend told the passed-out dad. When he finally did get out of the car, police said Novick failed a sobriety test and a breathalyzer indicated he had a blood alcohol level of .152, nearly twice the legal limit. He was arrested and charged with DUI, driving with a license suspended and, because there were three children in the car, three counts of child neglect. The three small children were placed in the care of Novick's girlfriend. "They miss him a whole bunch. They love their dad and he loves them. He's a really, really good dad. He is," said Novick's friend Shamra Sika. Novick is being held in the Brevard County jail on $30,000 bond.

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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- A 20-year-old Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to snatching a pregnant teenager she met online in a foiled plot to wait out delivery and steal the newborn. Lauren Gash pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping, assaulting and restraining 18-year-old Amanda Howard in a motel room a year ago. Gash and her lawyer said in court she planned to raise the baby as her own.
Investigators believe the plan failed after a co-defendant, Alisa Betts, got scared and called police. Officers arrived at the motel to find duct tape around Howard's neck. A few days later, Howard delivered a healthy boy. Betts is charged with kidnapping, assault and felonious restraint

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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Little Caylee Anthony disappeared more than a month ago, but her mother kept her daughter's disappearance a secret until this week. Now the 22-year-old mom is in jail and the community is asking, "Where is Caylee?" Investigators said Caylee Anthony's mother borrowed a shovel from neighbors around the time the 2-year-old disappeared a month ago. They searched the back yard at Caylee's grandparent's house on Hopespring Drive (see map) Thursday night. Police said Casey Anthony had been at the home, alone, during the past five weeks and Thursday night they began searching the backyard to make sure 2-year-old Caylee was not there. Investigators used search dogs, cadaver dogs and tools to comb the yard for clues

"Like everybody, I'm hopeful we find the child alive, but we want to be prudent and follow up every lead we get," said Sergeant John Allen of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Neighbors who know the family were upset to see the grandparent's home turn into a crime scene. The family said they remain hopeful.
Orange County's lead investigator on the case said they received several calls since news of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony's disappearance hit the news, but they're still looking for the little girl and they said her mother continues to be their biggest obstacle. A judge denied bond for Casey Anthony Thursday morning, saying that she lied to her family about the whereabouts of her child, whom she hasn't seen since June 9.

"You left your 2-year-old child Caylee Anthony with a person who does not exist, at an apartment you can not identify and you lied to your parents and friends concerning your child's whereabouts," Judge John Jordan said during the bond hearing for Casey Anthony. "You didn't even report her missing until five weeks later and then only because the child's grandmother insisted."

Anthony said nothing in court except for acknowledging to the judge who she is. She was taken into custody Wednesday on charges of child neglect and lying to the authorities. (Five Lies)

"Your 2-year-old child is still missing and it appears you've shown no regrets or concern with your actions," Judge Jordan said Thursday morning. "Ms. Anthony, the court would say to you, 'Where is Caylee Anthony?' But I can't force you to answer that question. But that's the question I leave with you, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Anthony said.

The judge ordered her to have a mental health screening for Baker Act criteria. Now that she's held on no bond, prosecutors say that gives them a 33-day window to file formal charges and then Anthony could ask for bond again. The grandmother of Caylee Anthony, Cynthia Anthony, has no explanation as to why her own daughter did not notify authorities that the child has been missing for weeks.

"Once we got involved, it was our biggest concern to try and locate the child," Cynthia Anthony said. (Interview With Grandmother)

Casey claims she dropped her daughter off with a babysitter and friend named Zenaida and has not seen either of them since. Law enforcement sources said Casey led them to an apartment where the babysitter supposedly lived, but the apartment had been vacant for more than three months. Deputies said Casey told them she worried her daughter might be hurt if the police got involved, so she lied to her own parents, telling them the young girl was fine. Investigators said they tried to question people at Casey's workplace, but she lied about working at a Universal Studios. Sources said she even led them around the park, saying she was taking them to her employee locker.

"It's things like that which causes concern. This is time we could've spent trying to locate the child," said Sgt. John Allen of the Orange County Sherriff's Office. It is only one element in a story that has the woman's own mother concerned.

"I've never seen her be a bad mom. She loves her daughter, I don't doubt that," said Cynthia Anthony. Investigators said they have not found the friend Casey claims she left her child with. The Department of Children and Families told Eyewitness News it has opened its own investigation, but there's little the agency can do until they find out what happened to the girl.

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Now I know there are a bunch of you who are likly to want to strap on your activisim hats and start championing hte cause of those born into abject poverty in 3rd world countries and the fact that their births are in fact an actual miracle given the circumstances their mothers carry them to term in. I will not argue you that point. But I would argue in reply that a woman in Darfur who manages to carry her child to term and delivery a healthy (ish) baby into the world is liveing in a very different version of the world than a woman in the United states ( or mainland Europe) has been since at the earliest the 1950s but certainly no later than the late 1960s. The levels of difference between that Darfur mother's world and ours are several orders of magnitude apart. I will not for one moment argue that the women who manage to survive in abject poverty and care for children and still find some modicum of joy in life are not miraculous beings deserving of as much prasie (and 10 times more help) as the world can give them. We however have done everything in our power here in America and the 'modern world" to undercut the miraculousness of that act by sublimating it to the less than boring state it now resides in.


* On October 14, 1593 Gil Perez was allegedly teleported from a Spanish Colony garrison in Manila Phillippines to Mexico City. Perez had been serving guard duty at the Governor's Palace in manila. Upon appearing in Mexico City he addmitted to knowing he was no longer in Manila, but having no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He testified that the Governor (Don Gomez Perez Dasmarinas) had been assasinated. When informed he was in Mexico City, Perez refused to believe it saying that recieved his orders on the morning of October 25th in manila and that it was therefore impossible for him to be in Mexico City on the 24th. The authorities places Perez in Jail as a deserter and for the possibility that he might be in the service of Satan (Gotta love it when serving statn was still an imprisonable offense.....man the fun we could have with Geroge W on that one!). The Most Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition questioned him, but all he could say in his own defense was that he had travelled from manila to Mexico City "in less time than it takes a cock to crow". Two months later, news from the Phillippines reached Mexico City via a galleon out of Manila confirming the essential facts of perez's account. The former Governor had been beheaded in a revolt led by chinese rowers, as well as corroborating other elements of the fantastical story that Perez had first told. Wittnesses confirmed that Perez had indeed been on guard duty just before magically arriving in Mexico City. Furthermore, one of the passengers on the ship recognized Perez and swore that he had seen him in the Phillipines on October 23rd. Gil Perez eventually returned to the phillippines and took up his former position as a palace guard, living from thenceforth a seemingly uneventful life.

Hells Belle

SO as you all might have noted in previous postings I have made mention of several "guest critters" that we are hosting. They came to us through a convoluted series of circumstances that don't really have any bearing on this posting so I'm not going to bother rehashing those here. The only sallient point out of that tale of human stupidity that really bears noting is that the former owner of these 4 little lost souls has an X-wife (Dominique) who lives in Atlanta GA who wishes to come and claim the disposessed four legged wonders. BLESS HER HEART!

Now first I should say that despite the inconveniences these four critters have cuased in my day to day existance, they are at base really cute, generally well behaved animals that I have honestly developed affections for......we just happen to live in a house and in a style that are not conducive to having a small herd of creatures running roughshod over the house like some sleep away play camp for thouse evolutionarily not blessed with thumbs. There are two dogs and two cats. The dogs are a Shephard Chow mIx and a Shepherd golden retriever mix....Ella and Sheba respectively, and ella is about 3 years old and Sheba is in the neighborhood of 12 to 13. The Cats are Mimi and Meesh ( I didn't choose that name.....its freakin stupid....he looks like MOrris the cat...so thats what I call him...and he seems to agree with the re-naming as he responds instantly to the new name when called) and Mimi is a bit of a bitch....she rules the pack with an iron paw and takes no prisoners. Morris likes sleeping on my bed with me and is the cuddeliest thing you'd ever want to see.

Suffice it to say it is going to be hard on an emotional level for me to say goodbye to these little guys when the day comes even though it will mean an easing of tensions within the house for having had sleep schedules up-ended by these critters and the mass inconvenience of 2 extra dogs both of whom shed at an allarmingly fast and copious rate! And even if Dominique has the smarts god gave a guinea hen, she's a sweet spirit....BLESS HER HEART!

which brings me to my point....the departure of the critters. Initially this arrangement was supposed to be 2 to three weeks tops. last week marked the month and a week marker post. The Woman ( Dominique) who will be claiming hte critters has sent us a whopping $100 for the care and upkeep of her animals till she can come claim them. The critters have started trying to mark territory ( because its been long enough now that they are starting to treat our house as new "home" and thus they are trying to establish a pecking order with my dog and that is a war fought with pee and poop as the weapons of first usage). So the carpets have had to be cleaned repeatedly, the animals have shot through food at an alarming rate...i had no idea 3 dogs could or would eat that rapaciously! I have been daily wakened by cats and dogs wanting out or wanting attention at the glorious hour of 5am.....and I admitt I tend to be an early riser...but you'd be amazed by teh difference between getting up at 6 and getting up at 5am and how it impacts your general demeanor....trust me...in my case it is often the difference between a power puff girl and Lizzie Borden. Our vaccuum cleaner died rather than hang in there and help us fight the unending battle against tumbleweeds of dog that daily need to be wrangled or they run the risk of taking over like so many tribbles! And she has sent us $100. Why that Dominique....she's a speacial soul, I can't imagine anyone ever thinking she was dumber than a sack of wet mice! BLESS HER HEART!

Couple this inadaquacy with the fact that I was forced to strap on the "bitch hat" 2 weeks ago and put my foot down because it became increasingly clear that Dominique was manipulating the situation and trying to play the sympathy card ( i was a twee bit unclear how an X wife of 6 years gets to play the "grieving widow" act.........but mabey thats just me) everytime discussion rolled round to nailing down a definitive time for her to come and get the critters. When put to the sharpest of points verbally she confessed she actually had done nothing to formalize a plan to come collect her new children of the four legged variety from us. To say that I went ballistic would be like calling hiroshima an M-80. Dear Dominique.....BLESS HER HEART!

Now I was raised by a bunch of women who, although not southern-belles geographically speaking, had definitely been imprinted by some actual honest to god Belles and as such alot of the customs and traditions trickled down to me by default. Despite my somewhat barbed tongue and strident vocabulary on here in my blog, in real life I try to err on the side of decorum most often in defference to the social graces. Sure I may let my tongue "off the leash" if I am in trusted company whom I know are not likly to be offended by my colorful retoric....but I am very conscious of the concept of "public" vs "Private" voice. i also learned from some fo the best how to be more cutting than a scyth at threshing time while still sounding perfectly polite and genteel, words can be a weapon more potent than any dueling souther beaux could have concieved of.......bruises and cuts will heal...try rehabing a reputation once a southern belle has sunk her teeth into it with an axe to grind for personal reasons and see what the recovery rate is like!

So I got a scoach terse with this little Georgia Peach and made it emphatically clear that if she did not have a plan in place to collect her shedding progeny from us, that in short order I would start taking steps to place them in homes with no care for her opinion of that plan.

And you know what......dropping the verbal ruffles and releasing the dialog from the confines of the hoops and crinolines that were shielding everyone from cold hard facts managed to have an impact! Low and behold Dominique will be arriving on the 21st of July to collect the critters, and should be departing on the 23rd ....theoretically....since as yet she still has no actual plan of action other than comingh here. HOw the woman manages a B&B that hosts special events and yet manages to not be able to schedule a simple trip and whenever put to the task of discussing scheduling can't seem to nail down what her daily/weekly/monthly schdule looks like.........I am so glad I am not working for/with this woman! BLESS HER HEART!

oh...by the way, I have been using some basic "southergirl speak" here that a few of you might be unclear on. There is a long held tradition in southern genteel society, that you can say the most horrid disreputable things about someone ( true or less than strictly so) so long as you follow it with the caveat "Bless her heart" ( as this is most often being used when speaking of another woman) it negates all the hateful, vile things you have said before.

when used alone with no critiquing commentary preceeding it, the understanding is that you think that the person in question is any of the following, but certainly not limited to this list:

-a cum drunk road-stop-rest whore
-a cheep junkyard floosie
-dumb as a sack of hair
-tackier than a tube top in church
-a lying sack of horse shit
-possesed of the moral fiber of a female alley cat
-so ugly it looks like she fell out the ugly tree, hooked her teeth on the bottom branch end even the grim reaper won't cut her down like so much strange fruit.
-so ugly is looks like someone lit her face on fire and beat it out with a bag of hot nickels

feel free to add to the list of implied critiques as you see fit.

I am so looking forward to meeting Dominique so I can bless her heart to her face in the sweetest tone imagineable.

and thus I will leave you with this:

its a hot summer afternoon in North Carolina. Two Southern Belles sit in tehir hoops skirts ( cause that's the required uniform of a Belle) sipping mint julleps watching bees buzzing in the magnolias and bouganvliiea on the outside of hte jalousies. One belle, Mary-belle(M), is telling the other , Arabell(A), about how married life is treating her.........

(M)- "Well sugar, you know my Beauregard, he went and got himself promoted to Executive Vice President, and don't you know that came with a big old fat raise!"

(A)-"Well, isn't that nice!" {she sips her mint jullep}

(M)-"And don't you know it, Beau though it was awful I had to drive that little car to the store, so he hired a town car and driver to take me everywhere!"

(A)"Well isn't that nice!" {She pats her forehead with a scrap of lace edged emboridered linen}

(M)"And you know what else, he thought it high time the children were enrolled in private school so they only mix with the right element you know......."

(A)-"Well isn't that nice!" {She flicks open a carved wood fan and delicately fans herself}

(M)-"And the best part.......for our 1 year anniversary he got me this stupid-big DIAMOND RING {wags hand in A's face to flaunt it}!

(A)-"Well.....isn't that nice!" she says appreciatively inspecting the glittering golfball size rock on M's finger...then returns to sipping her mint jullep and swats a mosquito decisively.

(M)-:Well sweetie, I been sittin' here pratteling on 'bout all the things Beauregard has showered on me since gettin' his promotion and you haven't said a thing about what Jackson's been doing for you since you got married last year!"

(A)-{Flicks her fan shut and sets it in her lap} "Why he got me Charm and Deportment lessons over at Miss Pitty Pat's Finishing School." she says as she checking her hair in the reflextion on the back of a silver spoon

(M)-"Jackson enrolled you in charm school?" she asks in a tone that implies this is akin to discovering one has stepped in dog mess in the yard.

(A)-"Why yes he did, and its been the best thing really, changed my life!"

(M)-"Well I don't see how it can be all that great, I mean its not like a car, or a provate school, or a ring, or scads of money..." she replies clearly at a loss trying to locate the societal benefit charm school would offer when compared with the tangible things her husband had surrounded her with

(A)-"Well, for instance, the other day when we were having our class on how to conduct oneself in social situations with other women, Miss Pitty Patt taught us, that no matter how much some catty two faced small minded gutter slut (whose husband was keeping the hookers on the boulevard in shiny red heels) might irk us and make us what to point out that no amount of diamonds, hired cars or provate schools would ever elevate her from being tacky trailer-trash, Bless her heart, and no matter how much her silly bragging might make us want to slap her silly.......any time we felt our temper starting to boil and were in danger of telling that woman to GO FUCK HERSELF!....we should smile demurely and say as sweetly as possible......"Well, isn't that nice!"