when all else fails...

Listen up, people! The world is falling apart around us! Anarchy on Wall Street! Failures in our banks! Chaos in Washington! What do we do? Enjoy stupid cat photos, that's what.

Here's our Puss, clearly having had a bit too much fun at a party recently, then chipper and ready for cinnamon rolls the next morning!

not good enough to preach

How ironic that the same demographic of people who claim to be thrilled with a self-proclaimed Christian woman running for vice president are part of a demographic of people of faith who have recently rejected a Christian-based magazine featuring women pastors on the cover from being sold in a Christian bookstore chain. We have one of these stores here in our town, and I heard last weekend that copies of "Gospel Today"--which is a general Christian-life magazine--were only available by asking at the counter at this store because of the women pastors on the cover.

So let me get this straight...it's fine that a woman can run for vice president (and in theory be promoted...God Forbid...to President) of the United States, but it ISN'T okay for a woman to be ordained?

I understand that each denomination has specific interpretations of the Bible, and that this particular issue is one that has Scriptures pertinent to both sides (as is true of almost any issue you care to look up in the Bible), but to choose to hide this magazine, as if it were offensive somehow seems, well, offensive to me.

I did a little research by using The Internets to find out more, and wow, the publisher of the magazine is a woman as well! She was rather put off about the whole thing in the quote I read from her, but here's good news (no pun intended), all the attention should help her sales considerably.

I just wonder if the GOP Vice Presidential candidate were the cover gal if the issue would be hidden behind the counter?

Only comedians have the right questions

Why is it that only comedians are the ones asking the real questions in this campaign, or pointing out the obvious that "real" journalists and pundits are afraid to report?

Case in point...I didn't watch it but have heard that in an appearance on The View yesterday John McCain was being asked about some of the statements he and Palin have been making about her experience, and about Obama. Joy Bahar, who is a long-term host on The View and also a stand-up comedian questioned him about two ads his campaign has been running...one about the "lipstick on a pig" comment; and the other claiming that Obama sponsored a bill to teach sex education to kindergarteners. "We know that those two ads are untrue," Behar said. "They are lies."
In both cases the ads end with the required tagline, "I approved this ad."
"Actually, they are not lies," he said to Joy.

Well, yes they are. Anyone who knows how to use "The Internets" can find this out. Even Rove has criticized the sex ed ad as going too far into the territory of "not 100 percent the truth."

Now Barbara Walters was sitting RIGHT THERE. I don't know if she was asking tough questions too, but one would expect a seasoned journalist to do so. Joy--a career comedian--is the one who asked the toughest question.

And huge blessings to Jon Stewart, who in his incredibly intelligent comedy show has to do no more than run clips of politicians making big, bold statements; immediately followed by the SAME politician making a totally different and reversed statement just weeks, or months ago. Again, it is sad that a comedy show has to bring this simple way of proving that they are speaking out of both sides of their mouths, to light. Why isn't this stuff on the primary news channels?

My final reference is the brilliant cold open on SNL last weekend. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did a fantastic job skewering the differences between Hillary and Palin. Even though it was a comedy skit, the underlying "truth" to what they were saying was impressive.

Humor is all I can stand at this point.

this says it all

T1 received a most excellent gift from her cousin today. She is extremely proud of it, and I am too.

location, location

I was just watching coverage of the damage to Galveston, and the reporter was interviewing a woman who lost everything...her home was inundated with several feet of water, and she said she and her teenage son were living in their truck until they could figure out what to do, or she hopes FEMA will help her. She doesn't have insurance on her home or belongings, and she said she has no money.

The reporter wrapped her story saying that rebuilding Galveston will be a huge task, and will take years to fix.

Why I'm bringing this up is that this is the second time in a century that Galveston has been literally destroyed by a hurricane. And that's not counting other hurricanes that have hit and caused damage, but not been as severe. So, I'm thinking back to 2005 when Hurricane Katrina destroyed the 9th Ward of New Orleans. When residents were asked about whether they should rebuild in such a flood-prone area they insisted that this was their community, and had been for generations, and they wanted to stay. Commentators were blistering in their scorn for anyone who was foolish enough to want to rebuild in the 9th Ward.

So why isn't anyone questioning whether Galveston should be rebuilt? Isn't it likely to be the target again of another hurricane?

Just an interesting comparison.

windy city

We got the side of Ike blowing through our part of the Commonwealth this morning. If this is a tropical depression...and I'm not even sure it ranked as that...then spare me a hurricane. There's a reason I live in the middle of the country.

We watched as wind whipped our three large trees in our front yard and sent a flurry of leaves, twigs, branches and limbs onto our yard for several hours this morning. As we drove into town we had to turn around and find different routes because of downed limbs and trees blocking roads. We lost some siding on the south end of our house,the power was off in most of the area, and the bad news is we didn't get any rain at all out of this..which is the thing we DO need.

This afternoon we spent an hour with all four of us manning rakes, wheelbarrows, and our hands to clean up the mess. We made a good start on it, but we still have a huge limb stuck in a sycamore tree right in the middle of our yard. The limb is forked over the limb below it, and dangles all the way to the ground. The Reenactor is trying to think of ways to get it out without having to hire pros.

Meanwhile, we have a huge pile of debris in our garden that in a couple of weeks will make a heckuva bonfire.

This certainly doesn't rank up there with the devastation Ike wrought further south; but if our yard represents one teeny percent of the cleanup people are having to do around Houston all I can say is I feel for them.

toothless

T2 lost the first of his two front teeth today. It isn't his first baby tooth to come out, but it is the most obvious in his smile. He has that wonderful grin with a big gap in it now.

When he handed it to us tonight to look at before tucking it into the pocket of his tooth fairy pillow (yes, he still believes!) it was a very bittersweet reminder of just how big he is getting, and how quickly time flies.

An hour later we were out walking our neighbor's dog and I was watching the evening clouds float past the half moon, and I remembered what tomorrow is. Seven years ago I was pregnant with T2, and chasing T1 around the house. She had only been walking for a month when the Towers, and our world, collapsed.

I remembered how frightened I was, once the reality of what was happening sunk in on me. I remember walking out into that beautiful September day, looking up at the huge blue sky above me--which is usually streaked with jet trails--and realizing that I had never seen it so clear. Even after the FAA said there was no more air traffic, I was still terrified that at any moment a plane would appear out of nowhere and crash into our neighborhood. I remember holding her until she cried with impatience at not being able to play; and feeling T2 kick in my belly, and wondering what sort of world they would live in. I had never felt so scared in my life.

In the weeks and months following that awful day the news media went from a source of information, to an industry finding fortune in terrifying us as often as possible to get their ratings up. Every time there was the slightest hint that a terrorist plot might be afoot "breaking news" banners went wild with speculation. Every suspicious backpack left in a stairwell at an office building became national news. As every holiday approached a new threat seemed to emerge that if we as much as ventured into a public place we were likely to get assaulted with germs, or radiation, or worse. It didn't take much to trigger one of these panicky news stories....they seemed to come in waves. Tickers about Homeland Security officials advising us to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting sent me reeling. Did I need to buy this stuff to protect my children? Worries that anthrax might be sealed in letters made me not want to touch our mail.

I officially went into breaking news overload when the horrific conditions in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina became 24/7 video fodder. Three days after the levees broke, I emailed a friend with the terrifying realization that our government was completely useless at helping us in the event of a natural disaster, or worse, another attack. Her advice? Turn off the damn news.

Well, news junkie that I am, it was hard for me to do this. I have family who have worked professionally as journalists, and I still want to think that those who work in the media are fundamentally honest people wanting to tell truthful stories. The problem is, the news media are owned by corporations, and corporations are interested in making money. You can't make money in the news if no one is watching, or listening to you, or reading your paper. How to get them to watch, listen or read? Find stories that are so compelling that you literally can't take your eyes off them. If you have to stretch things a bit, well you can always apologize later if you get it wrong. No terrifying news today? Follow Britney around and see if she flips you off while slurping up an iced coffee. Make it a headline.

So today, seven years after 9/11, my fear lies not with terrorists, although I don't think they are through with us yet...not by any means. My fear for our country is how vulnerable we are to the massive amounts of information and misinformation we have blasted at us every day. There is no way to sort through it all and make any sense of it. Our nation is divided...right down party lines. We ARE a red state/blue state country. If you are red, you believe everything Faux news and Rush say; if you are blue you think the "liberal media" probably have it right, and as I have learned not only this week, but have been reminded again and again, they have it right only so far as it will continue to generate interest in a story. So where do we meet in the middle? Where does "purple" happen?

My fear, is that we have become a nation of idiots. We allow the news media to manipulate us with inaccuracies, sarcasm and gossip, rather than fact. And I feel like a big idiot for letting it happen to me. "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself" FDR said in the dark days of World War II, and it seems that we as a country have allowed fear itself to define our destiny.

Ignorance is bliss, a friend emailed to me today, and I have to agree. For the first time in a long time I listened to just music as I drove around town to do errands today. It was a mix CD I call "beach music" because listening to it makes me feel like I did when I was young, carefree and headed to the beach. That would be in the good old days before cable news, and the 24-hour news cycle.

This election is going to happen whether I am glued to CNN or not. The outcome will be whatever Madison Ave. and the two parties come up with to persuade the voters which brand of soap will best clean our collective mess. I already know what brand I'm buying, so there is no need to sell anything else to me at this point.

And with that, I'll crank up my tunes in my car, and enjoy my ignorant, toothless bliss.

I stand corrected

My sister sent me some information from factcheck.org regarding some of the statements I've been reporting in my blog (and in emails to family and friends) about Caribou Barbie. Turns out, some of them are wrong, and if not wrong, are just not exactly accurate.

My apologies.

Of course I can only hope that factcheck.org is accurate in what they are reporting (who sponsors that website, and does it attempt to report consistently for BOTH sides of the political debate?) I did a follow-up on Snopes.com on a couple of the issues I had discussed, and found there too that some of the information going through the media is *surprise* false...or at least stretched to within an inch of it's life.

I guess I would feel bad about this if Faux News suddenly went on air with a breaking story about how they have totally distorted virtually everything any Democratic candidate has ever done or said. I would also feel bad if key leaders of the GOP didn't regularly go on television or in speeches and hint at Obama being a Muslim, or his wife unpatriotic. I would definitely feel bad about this if at LEAST half of the "facts" Mrs. Palin herself spouted during her acceptance speech at the GOP convention last week hadn't ALSO been lies.

However, I will raise my hand and promise to do better. I will definitely try to multiple source any claims I make against her in future blogs.

This does not change the fact (and this IS the fact) that the only purpose her candidacy has is to make the voters even more divisive than ever. The GOP operatives knew full well when they decided to make her McCain's running mate that she would reignite the debate on issues that the country is clearly split down the middle on (abortion, teaching creationism in schools, more drilling in wildlife areas), and ultimately as long as the glare of the spotlight was on her, and her Jerry Springer -Goes-To-Alaska family then the spotlight would NOT be on the actual presidential candidate...who is the one we SHOULD be vetting as a nation. She is nothing more than a decoy, and the GOP powers have no intention of ever letting her be anything MORE than a cute chick who is "outdoors-y" (a direct quote from Pat Buchanon) and can clearly fend for herself if Armageddon DOES occur and she and her family have a hankerin' for roast moose followed by a good snowmobile race through a fragile arctic ecosystem.

She is the foil for McCain's "problems" with America's voters. There is no reason that his bland speech at the GOP convention would have roused the "independent" voters to boost his place in the polls...it is just the "buzz" about Sarah. She went for the jugular, and in spite of the fact that most of her direct hits on Obama were inaccurate (and you can check that on factcheck.org) the good 'ol boys and gals out there in FauxNewsLand were thrilled. She didn't abort her Downs Syndrome baby? She's a hero! She knows how to kill and dismember large animals? She spunky! She is "standing by" her pregnant teenage daughter? She's a loving, caring mother! She's a Good Christian Woman! She's a Mother! She married her high school sweetheart!

Okay. Officially. Who gives a damn about any of that? Here's what I care about:

1) The cost of gasoline in my town jumped $.15 a gallon in a matter of hours, based I assume on speculation that Hurricane Ike is going to blast the refineries near Houston to Kingdom Come. The cost of fuel for our two vehicles per month has now become our second largest expenditure...nearly tied with the cost of groceries. Will McCain/Palin put pressure on oil speculators and companies to change this? No. Their solution is to let the oil companies run amouck through what is left of our environment with drills and pipes, with the veiled promise that once our supply is bigger (which would take at least a decade if not longer) then the price of gasoline will drop! Hooray! I don't believe a word of it, of course, because then the oil companies will tack on the cost of all that infrastructure they had to build to do the new drilling and pipeline stuff. Please people....think this through!

2) The war in Iraq is an embarrassment to our country, and a travesty to the people of a nation that was NOT threatening us. We have destroyed lives, entire families, and changed the way we are viewed in the world; and meddled in the balance of power in the Middle East. We need to get out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Will McCain/Palin make this happen? McCain said in February at a town hall meeting that US Troops could be in Iraq as long as 100 years..."As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, it's fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day."

3) Meanwhile, back at the al Qaeda Training Ranch in Afghanistan, the Taliban has strengthened and become a volatile force again because we didn't commit the troops we needed to truly rout them out in the first place. McCain has pretty much followed the Bush strategy of ignoring the "true" war to fight the "Faux" war in Iraq.

4) Global Warming. Can't emphasize this strongly enough. This is THE main reason we can't re-elect more Republicans to the White House. Republicans pander to the notion that Global Warming is a bunch of hooey, and we should have the God-Given right to drive our super-sized SUVs any damn place we want. I just wish my kids weren't going to have to suffer the consequences of your selfish outlook on this.

5) The economy, stupid. Gas prices are high, food prices are high, people are going into foreclosure or bankruptcy...the economy is in the toilet. I thought the GOP was the party that was supposed to be GOOD for business? Huh? What the? Maybe they are only good for a few select corporations. They certainly haven't proved to be a big help to the middle and lower class in the last eight years.


We have to save ourselves people. Forget Sarah. Forget the fact that Cindy is an heiress. Forget about the fact that Obama didn't wear his "made in China" flag lapel pin for a few months. We need to stay focused on what is important...and that is making sure that the horrific decisions and policies of the last eight years are changed.

And me? I'll try to stick to the facts.

Does this mean Katherine Harris won't get to read "O"?

I just saw a ticker headline that the Florida State Republican Women are "boycotting" the Oprah Show and asking their members (and groupies) to cancel their subscriptions to "O" because they think it is unfair for Oprah to not interview Sarah Palin before the election. Point of fact is that even though Oprah is publicly supporting Obama, she has said she won't interview any of the candidates on her show BECAUSE of her support of Obama. (Obama, Oprah? There's lots of "O's" here!)

All I have to say to that boycott idea is remember how well it worked out for Disney when the Moral Majority tried to get their followers to boycott Disney products and theme parks because of the special events they sponsored for gays? Hmm?

And doesn't Ms. Winfrey make a lot of community contributions with some of her vast wealth? Doesn't she regularly through her show and magazine encourage her fans to get involved in their own communities and work with non-profit and charitable organizations to help others? Ever hear of a cool thing called the "Angel Network?" Couldn't she be considered a "community organizer?"

Well, if she is, that certainly wouldn't give her enough experience to be vice president, would it?

Speaking of elitist snobs

Just when I think I'm at the end of a nice, relaxing day with my family, I encounter one of these people...you'll know who I'm talking about.

I was getting some gas at a station near the interstate, and just as I was swiping my credit card at the pump, in drives a 30-something white man in a souped up Lincoln Continental (with the rims and flashy chrome all over it) and he is blasting, BLASTING some 80s hair band from his seriously loud speakers and doing one of those ultra-slow "hey look at how cool I am" drives into the parking lot of the convenience store.

Well, first of all buddy, if you're trying to impress anyone in a convenience store parking lot, you really are desperate....but I digress.

He pulls into a parking spot, and gets out....all decked out in his baggy cargo shorts, t-shirt and blue-tooth hands-free phone prominently affixed to his ear. And I swear (remember, he's nearing middle age and WHITE) he does the boppity-bop walk you see young rappers do as they walk through a suburban mall or whatever as he goes into the store, chattin' away to someone (or no one?) on his high-tech earring.

And here's the part that is so stupid to me...clearly I'm too old to "get" this... He leaves the car running, stereo blasting (hair band, remember?) bass thumpin' all pimped out car with the windows down and NO ONE IS IN THERE. He goes in to get his pack of Bud or smokes or whatever it was he was craving in all his ghetto-wannabe glory.

Weird.

And comical.

And sad.

But then, I'm an Elitist.

Proud to be an elitist snob

I appreciate all the feedback I've been getting both on the blog, and via email, about my recent angst regarding McCain's "choice" of running mate. I put that in quotes because I think down deep he's probably as alarmed by her as the rest of us are.

Even though I'm in something of a news blackout, I HAVE been listening to funny progressive talk radio (only the funny folks, not the ones who are too serious....I feel the top of my scalp start peeling off in distress if I get too far into this); and watching my beloved Jon Stewart take on the hypocrisy of what the Right is saying in defense of dear Sarah on one hand, and what they've said in recent interviews on EXACTLY the same topic (such as sexism, experience, etc.) about Democratic candidates. Do they truly not realize there are video tape archives of what they are saying on camera?

But I digress...I wasn't supposed to be talking about her. Instead, I'll say this. In light of the fact that she apparently mocked Obama for "just" being a community organizer, let me remind those of you out there who consider yourselves conservatives, your whole raison d'être is to minimize government intervention in our lives. Okay, well who exactly is supposed to organize food pantries, domestic abuse shelters, child advocacy groups, and suicide hotlines if the government isn't doing it? Have you (I'm referring to the collective "you" of the conservatives) volunteered to help with any of these very needed organizations? Have YOU stepped up to help someone who isn't able to pay their mortgage because they've lost their job and are in danger of now losing their shelter? No, I didn't think so.

And how ironic that the morning after McSame gives his acceptance speech the banner headline above his picture on news websites is about how much the stock market dropped in one day (over 300 points) after Sarah's speech (coincidence?) and how the jobless rate has now hit a five-year high.

He is promising "change" from the "liberal elite" in Washington. Well, who the hell are the liberal elite? Elite is the new word for "intelligent." I am elite because I think, therefore I can't be trusted to make important decisions. I am elite because I don't just accept the swill that Faux News spits out as "fair and unbalanced" without questioning the motives of the corporation behind it. For that matter, I don't just accept ANY questionable news story without looking for multiple sources.

Being elite means having the balls to want my presidential candidate to ACT presidential... not like a goofy, inarticulate good 'ol boy from Texas. Being Elite means I hope that my candidate can actually speak with inspiration and hope, not with sarcasm and fear. Being elite means I dearly love the idea that my candidate is funded by millions of donations from individuals desperate for a new direction for our country, not by corporations with vested interests in destroying our environment, and ruining our ability to have decent health care without going bankrupt in the process.

Being elite means I don't find a caribou-gutting, lying*, self-absorbed hockey mom at ALL suitable to be the vice president of my country. And I also don't find a geriatric man who uses his treatment as a prisoner of war 40 years ago as the main reason we should vote for him. Being elite means that I actually give a damn about how important a decision the presidential race is... I don't see it as being a popularity contest like American Idol.

I'm elite, and I'm proud of it.

*Fact check the GOP speeches...Sarah's is especially full of false claims.

Too Much

I am going to have to take a break from news for a week to see if I can calm down. I was moved to tears so many times last week listening to the inspiring speeches given in Denver, and within 24 hours of the high of hearing Obama's historic nomination acceptance speech I was once again feeling desperate and scared, angry and betrayed by news from the GOP. First, the appalling VP choice; then the president taking the opportunity of a hurricane in the Gulf to again make his case for additional oil drilling there.

Wait a minute, if the idea is that a Gulf coast hurricane can seriously jeopardize oil production there, WHY are we looking to add extra platforms right in harm's way? This man is interested in NOTHING but oil. Every action he has taken in the White House has been tied in some way to oil. I have taken to calling oil the root of all evil in the world...because whatever is wrong right now you can tie it directly to either the production of, the use of, the pollution from, or the craving for, oil.

And then, this evening as Ms. Sarah-I-Don't-Believe-Global-Warming-Is-Manmade is giving her speech, I see a news ticker that a huge chunk of an ice shelf has broken off, further alarming scientists as to how rapidly the oceans are warming.

If you do nothing else when you go to vote this fall think about what you are doing for your children by the choice you make. Is their future REALLY better now than it was before Bush took office? Do you truly think that John and Sarah are going to make it all better? Really?

So meanwhile I'm going to self-impose No News on myself for a week. I need to see if cutting myself off from the 24-hour news cycle cold turkey can improve my outlook.

MY view as a mother

Yes, I'm STILL wound up about dear Sarah...just ask The Reenactor. Don't say the word "Sarah" in my house unless you want a diatribe complete with foaming mouth and much stomping about. My newest rant though is just how oblivious the far right is to their own hypocrisy. I for one am very alarmed that a woman who gave birth to a special needs child just a few months ago, thinks in her family-values world that taking on this all-consuming job of campaigning (and heaven forbid she's the winner) the 24/7 job of vice president is a great idea. Yes, Daddy Palin in theory can help with the baby, but the point is that BOTH parents need to be focusing as much time and energy as possible into their baby and HIS needs right now.

Having a baby is exhausting--ask any new parent. Having a special needs baby adds even more time both parents should be spending seeing to his needs. Now, add into that mix the news that your teenage daughter is pregnant. For any regular family this would be considered a pretty complicated year....one where I feel like MOST families would feel they need to close ranks and focus on working through all the new changes and challenges in their lives. Oh, but wait a minute...forget all that...now Mom decides she should spend the next few months (please not years) running for national office...yeah...GREAT idea!

I am certainly not saying that women should give up their careers to raise their families. But MOST women don't have to choose to take on this type of career move at a time in their families' lives where they are most needed. And most professional women don't make a point of standing on a stage preaching how pro-family they are at a time when their own families need them the most. Sarah made a choice. Granted, she was already governor when she got pregnant with--and gave birth to--her fifth baby. She was already in a high-stress, high-demand job. But the fact that she has made a point of adding even more stress and demand on HER time in the first year of his life makes me question HER family values. And the fact that she knew what a bright light of negative energy was going to glare on her teenage daughter at a time when she least needs it also makes me question just how seriously she takes her role not just as a mother, but as a PARENT.

And finally...all you Dobson-lovin' family values folks out there...why is it when one of your own comes up short on the "value-o-meter" it is a good thing, but heaven help the "liberal" who has a lapse in judgment? I promise you...and think about this...had this been one of Obama's beautiful daughters (as teenagers) can you imagine the indignation that would ensue from the righty talkers? The rants that would come from radios and televisions across the country about black teenagers getting pregnant? Can you imagine even if it were Chelsea who was pregnant? How it would be just like someone raised by Bill and Hillary to get pregnant out of wedlock?

And one more "finally" that has been getting to me. Sarah has been called a "hero" for not aborting Trig...even though she knew before he was born that he had Downs Syndrome. She isn't a hero...she is a mother. These days most parents DO know before the child is born if there are health issues. Personally, this was something The Reenactor and I were aware of that could be a possibility before our own T1 and T2 were born. We had multiple tests to check their health status (including an amnio), and even before we had the tests done I KNEW, and so did my husband, that there was no way we would abort...even if they had been a D.S. baby. We were already too in love with them. We were already parents. Being a parent means accepting and loving the baby God blesses you with. Making a choice to keep your Downs Syndrome baby doesn't make you heroic...thousands of people make this decision every year. Being a responsible parent after the baby is born and sacrificing your own interests to see that they get the best care...THAT makes you a hero. I question whether Sarah is truly doing that.

My heart breaks for any mother or father who is faced with this, or with other health issues that are life-threatening to their unborn child, or to the health of the mother. I know people for whom this has been a wrenching decision. None of this....NONE of this should be a factor that is trumpeted from the political stage as making one candidate superior to another.

And please, Sarah, and the evangelical base who support you, please don't dare suggest you are more "pro-family" than I am.