JKL

Since my last post inspired more comments than any in recent memory, I thought I'd go ahead and post a more provocative picture of my current crush. Wow is he dreamy or what?

Oh, and I got my nipple pierced today, Randy talked me into it. What can I say, I am weak. I have had my ear pierced 2x but this hurt a bit more. I took the opportunity to badger him about the Mormons and prop 8., At least he admitted that he voted for Obama, so there is hope for him.

No Dreams to report...

...for a change!

Instead, we have actually had several days of beautiful dry weather with highs in the 70's F. Unfortunately, it also triggers a sore throat and allergy cough. And on one level I love the shorter days, but on another, I suspect I have a little bit of SAD which exacerbates my dysthymia. Ah, well.

On the brighter side, I have almost no money in the stock market. I have a job that I actually like, I pay my nice low fixed-rate mortgage on time. I feel bad for middle-class retirees with money in stocks who are seeing their money evaporate, but there is a certain amount of schadenfreude in thinking about a lot of the really wealthy also seeing their value plummet. Though some people never learn. Apparently AIG spent some of its government loan cash to take its 'best performers' (huh?) out on a spa trip. Grrr.

I almost feel sorry for Barack Obama if he wins the election, because he is going to inherit a complete mess. On the other hand, there is a very good possibility that the Dems will capture 60+ seats in the Senate, which (assuming they vote as a block, which they rarely do) is a filibuster-proof supermajority, and actually get things done. Oh and I hope they kick that traitor Leiberman off his committee.

Dreams again

I had a very strange dream involving ferrets last week. Semi-intelligent, scheming, mean, biting ferrets. WTF?

Actually had some fun over the weekend... between spin classes. I'm still kind of sleepy though. I woke up at 2:00 am today and watched TV for a couple hours. I need to get out of that bad cycle.

I can't believe that the McCain/Palin campaign is so desperate that they are harping on this strange old alleged association Obama had with a Weather Underground guy. Palin makes me sick.

Obama needs the Colbert Bounce

The McCain rise in the polls since the Wicked Witch of the North was named as his running mate has me worried. Scared even. Obama should have picked Hillary, but it's too late for that. I was cheered to hear this morning that McCain might be sinking again though, with the latest poll showing Obama leading by 5 points. Still, couldn't hurt for Barack or Biden or Hillary to appear on Colbert... McCain goes on the Tonight Show with that buffoon Leno.

There has been a lot of talk about the huge voter turnout, and polling places being overwhelmed. I'm thinking about requesting an absentee ballot, since supposedly all you have to do here in Arlington is say you work outside the county. Plus I would bypass those questionable electronic voting machines...

In a world... where Sarah Palin is Vice President

Sarah Palin as McCain's VP choice? What a cynical, hypocritical choice. After slamming Obama as inexperienced, he picks this person with even less experience. It's obvious to anyone with a brain that he is going after the Hillary voters by naming a woman... any woman. And we're not supposed to talk about her family, but here she is, a glaring example of why abstinence-only sex ed (which she strongly advocates) just doesn't work. And yet all these socially conservative women seem to choose to ignore this and are all excited about Palin. I heard them this morning on NPR just dismissing that issue by saying "Teenagers will do what they do no matter what." How convenient.

All this is Very bad for Obama. But maybe she'll get up on that stage and completely freeze up, or say something that will completely alienate those conservative women. I can always hope.

All that said, Obama will have no one to blame but himself for his arrogance in not asking Hillary Clinton to be his running mate, then this Palin disaster woudn't have happened.

In unrelated news, sadly, Don LaFontaine, the movie-trailer voice-over guy who immortalized the phrase "In a world..." with his distinctive sound, has died. Note in the Wiki article that a few years ago he appeared on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me to play Not My Job. He didn't win Carl Kassel's voice for the contestant, but offered to do the voice himself! Nothing against Carl, but I think I would rather have had Don's voice! "In a world... where TK can't come to the phone..."

TGIF

It's been a bumpy week, and it's not over yet. Oh and George W., where the hell is my rebate check? I got direct deposit!

I almost hate to say it (just out of some misguided loyalty), but Hillary needs to pack it in. The gas-tax suspension is a stupid idea, and only Barack is brave enough to not go along, and to point out that it is just a gimmick, and probably wouldn't do any good anyway. The Dems just need to unite behind him and move on.

Oh, and why didn't the geniuses realize what a disaster corn ethanol would turn out to be? Now everyone is chanting "We're sacrificing food for fuel! That's bad!" Duh. One more thing to be grateful for: I have easy access to mass transit, and if I need to, I can walk to work in 45 minutes. I fill up the tank of my car about once every 60 days, if that. I use it to get groceries and drive to 2 of my spin classes.

Barack; and Pope Dreams

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
--Barack Obama

You know, as someone who used to live in central Virginia and surrounded by some pretty rural areas, I think he is totally right. It just wasn't the most prudent thing in the world to say out loud.

In other news, I had totally weird dreams about the Pope last night. I'll do the surreal details later if I have time.

And on Idol last night, what was up with tarting-up little David Archedorable? Isn't he a little young for those tight leather pants?

Five Friday Things

It's Friday, so time for Five Random things:

1. I meant to blog this way back when it first appeared on NPR, but I forgot. Today's religious holiday brought it back. It's a story about how Huckabee used all these bible fable references in his speeches, and how few supposedly religious people had any idea what he was talking about. THey asked all these people on the street who identified as pretty serious christians, and most of them could not identify his bible references. Ironically, atheist me knew them all (though I was shaky on the widow's mite one). What does that tell us about these evangelicals?

2. On Colbert Report the other night, he exposed some McCain hypocricy. He played the infamous clip of Falwell after 9/11 blaming it on the abortionists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU, etc., and Falwell agreed. McCain, back in 2000:

Speaking with reporters aboard his bus, the "Straight Talk Express," after his loss in three state primary elections, McCain referred to Baptist evangelists Pat Robertson and the Rev. Jerry Falwell as "evil." At an earlier speech in Virginia Beach he dubbed the same men "agents of intolerance."

Then in 2006,

McCain gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. During his 2000 presidential bid, McCain called the Fundamentalist Baptist pastor, Falwell, an “agent of intolerance.” With significant coverage during the campaign, McCain said that he would never back down from his earlier statement. His later appearance at Liberty University prompted questions about the McCain-Falwell relationship and a possible presidential run in 2008. McCain stated that Falwell is no longer that divisive figure and the two have discussed their shared values.

Right.

3. I'm feeling much better, though still kind of tired. I'm actually excited that Sunday is Easter. Not because of the whole undead thing, but because my spin class is cancelled. I'll probably go in a work out anyway though.

4. With gas prices spiking, have I mentioned lately how I so do not miss the Mac consulting job with all the driving (not the least of which the really stressful 40 min each way commute through stop-n-go traffic that I did not get reimbursed for)?

5. I've started doing the layout for my latest book! I love doing layout, and I'm learning new InDesign stuff as I go.

Let's not Fight

I didn't watch the Hillary/Barack debate last night; there wasn't much point since I already voted in the primary, and there isn't much doubt which way I am going in the general election. But I heard that Hillary was gracious and didn't really go on the attack. I was glad to hear that, because I've been afraid that if they went after each other it would leave whoever won damaged. I would really would have preferred her, but I'm perfectly fine with him.

Actually, walking to the gym today I imagined each of them behind that desk in theoval office saying "My fellow Americans..." And I got a little chill of pleasure each time. I can't wait.

Hucka-whacko

From Newsweek:

"I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God."
--Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, calling for two new constitutional amendments banning abortion and same-sex marriage in order to bring U.S. law in line wiith "God's standards."

That really scares me. Yes I voted, for Hillary. I'm perfectly happy with Barack though.

Political Experience

Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek has a similar take on Hillary vs. Barack to mine, but in his mind it's more of a negative that she has more experience working in a more conservative world.

There was an article in the Washington Post today about how one little word changed not only Virginia's but the country's political landscape. When George Allen showed his true racist colors and called a young southeast asian man 'Macaca' he ruined his political career. It was soon all over the internet and old-guard media. He lost the U.S. Senate race to a Democrat, and any hopes for a presidential run were over. Hah! I always knew he was an ass.

And finally on a lighter note, my favorite CNN anchor Don L., (see older pic at left; sorry couldn't find one with him in his polo) yesterday afternoon reporting from a diner in a polo shirt. He looked so cute. Though I do think he's putting on some weight...

Later on CNN for the primary reporting, god that Wolf Blitzer gets annoying the way he repeats everything over and over...

Hillary vs. Barack

I don't usually talk much about politics here, but on the eve of Super Tuesday I thought I'd share a little.

Barack or Hillary? Really, I'd be fine with either one at this point. Both together would be a dream ticket, but neither would be willing to play second fiddle.

I like Barack. He's certainly charismatic, and if anything I think he's more liberal than Hillary. I like her health care plan better though. And I think Obama is a little naive. Hillary has been in the trenches and she knows what it's like. Remember when Bill (and she) came to power, they had an ambitious agenda. They tried to revamp health care and got stopped. Bill tried to allow gays to serve openly in the military and he was shut down. And this was by a congress controlled by Democrats! I remember Sam Nunn put a stop to Bill's gay plan, and the result was this unsatisfactory 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.

I think Hillary's experience makes her a better candidate. She's certainly tough enough. Now if she did win, what will she do with Bill? He need's something to keep him busy... Secretary of State? He'd love that I bet. I'd love to see Al Gore back as Secretary of the Environment or something.

Weirdness

Okay I had really weird dreams last night. I dreamed about my dog (who died 6 years ago next month) and I dreamed about Seung-Hui Cho. I dreamed I was his roomate in college at Va Tech, and I tried to get him to see a counselor. In the dream, he kept staring at me with that blank look like in his high school picture. Yeesh.

On an unrelated front, who else is really, really scared about Pakistan? And what is Benazir Bhutto gonna do? If I were her, I'd be... nervous.

Did I mention...

That it is just a gorgeous day outside? Mid 60's, mostly sunny, breezy and dry. We'll have about a week of this before cold sleety nasty D.C. 'winter' hits.

And Al Gore is up for the Nobel Peace Prize! Hm, I wonder if George W. is too? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Another one down...

Karl Rove resigned! One of the things that creeped me out the most about him (and there were many things) was the fact that he used a Mac. People like him should not be allowed to use Macs.

Delicious

It's not nice to gloat...

...but watching the Bush administration implode is just too much fun. The Dems in Congress are having a field day. The FBI has been abusing the Patriot Act (surprise!). Gonzales is going down, and it sounds like they are finally going to go after Rove. Can Cheney be next? (yes, please!).

It's sad that young American soldiers (not to mention Iraqis) continue to die while this goes on, though).

About that Gays in the Military thing...

For a republican, our Virginia Senator John Warner has shown himself to actually be a pretty thoughtful and reasonable man on many occassions. In here's another one, in response to that fool Marine General Peter Pace's comments about homosexuality being essentially the same immiral act as adultery (how can you commit adultery if you can't get married? Warner hits Pace on Gay Remarks

NPR : U.S. Intel Alleges Iran Smuggling Bombs into Iraq

Yah know, on the one hand, this wouldn't surprise me at all. On the other hand... I am remembering Colin Powell at the U. N. trying to claim some satellite pics of trailers were proof of WMDs. WMDs that we all know didn't exist.

There's a parable about this... something about the boy who cried 'wolf!' Maybe someone should have read it to Georgie back when he was a kid.

Payback's a bitch, and we are the ones who are gonna pay for this. I wish the idiots who voted for Bush would have to foot the bill. Wouldn't that be a nice change.

Cheney is behind this

What realy pisses me off is when Bush Administration people accuse dissenters of 'endangering the troops' or, in this case, from a story coming from NPR, emboldening the enemy:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday an effort in Congress to pass a resolution opposing President Bush's troop buildup undercuts U.S. commanders in Iraq and "emboldens the enemy."

What a crock of sh*t. No, this is not emboldening the enemy, this is freakin' democracy at work. Freedom of speech, and a Legislative Branch that is finally (with poll numbers to back them up) showing the spine to stand up to the prez, at least symbolically.

I saw part of Wolf Blitzer's (can that name be real?) railroad job, I mean talking point airing um, I really mean interview with Darth Dick Cheney this week. Wolf asked Dick if he was worried that the US was arming and training a force that might eventually turn against us. Dick (surprisingly, not) said "That's not going to happen, Wolf." I love how these people think and talk in absolutes.

Anyway, of course, later CNN had on a parade of talking heads who opined everything from "Yes, it's quite possible that down the road they could turn against us" to "I'm surprised it hasn't already happened on a larger scale; it's inevitable." Then the CNN reporter mentioned that at one time way back in the 80's, we backed Saddam against Iran. Oopsie.