Oh Please, You Can’t Be Serious?

Tags

Berlusconi, consumer fraud, HCA, Humor, Italy, lifestyle, Mitt Romney, SCOTUS, self-help, social media

Willard went to the NAACP and gave a speech. He was booed about three times.

His first words in were “oh how I love the organ!” I guess the NAACP organ, much like Michigan trees, was “just right.”

He said he’d revoke “Obama Care”. That got  a boo.

He reminded everybody about how his dad had done much for the black community. I kept expecting somebody to shout out, “too bad you aren’t a chip off the old block!”

Most of the applause, when it occurred, was sparse.

Nobody cared.

It ended badly:

“If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him,” Romney said, causing many in crowd, which stayed silent through much of his speech, to boo.

∞

The screwy Right, which is ironically always wrong, still can’t let go of the SCOTUS decision on AHC. One political pundit from the Washington Post went so far as to call Roberts a “Judas” who sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver. Of course, this election will mark the last chance to save America from that frightful descent into, as he puts it, “creeping, soft, socialist tyranny.” Dude, get a life. Get over it. You lost. Live with it. Or choose another country? That would be good.

∞

From time to time there is luscious proof that we here in Merika ain’t the only screwballs in the universe. Take Berlusconi, erstwhile prime minister of Italy–the land of love. Problem was Silvio indulged in the love just a tad too much and with girls a bit too young. But the Italian stud-muffin thinks that he can convince Italians to give him another go round. Now, it may be that Italians as too busy shoring up Roman ruins and making gnocchi to notice, but I don’t think so.

Word is that Berlusconi’s election team consists of The Donald, The Mooselini, and long-forgotten Glenn Beck–all proven political in-the-knows. Doncha believe me?

∞

They have a product on the infomercials called, “stretch genie”. You spray it in your shoes and it makes them bigger.

I wonder if it will work on my jeans?

Just sayin’.

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Everybody who goes to a supermarket has had the experience of finding that the size of boxes shrinks while the price stays the same. Your 16 oz suddenly are 14 1/2 oz. A cute what to try to fake you out.

Well it turns out that we humans (most of us at least) are crummy when it comes to figuring out when we are getting shafted or when we are getting a real bargain. The Atlantic has a neat little post about how we consumers are cheated. Best to take a look so you can avoid the pitfalls of shopping.

Oh gosh, I thought I was supposed to be thanking the job creators for everything. I thought they were benevolent helpful smarter than I persons who were looking out for me, and trickling down help for all my faith in them. Darn, foiled again.

∞

While we are on the self-help kick, go on over to Mark and Angel Hack Life and find out what not to do.  What are the 17 deadliest decisions you can make? Go find out, and don’t make ’em.

∞

As some of you know, the Contrarian and I are now firmly in the 21st century when it comes to technology. At least fairly so. We have cell phones, one of which is a smart phone, two lap tops, one desk top, and a Nook. We can run most of them fairly competently now. However. . .

There is much being said about how these devices potentially harm us, as we spend more of our time relating to them instead of the rest of the world. The Contrarian sat in a dealership yesterday for several hours, and watched one waiter, literally take out his phone and “check it” about once every five minutes. I’m told that people who are guesting on talk shows rush to “check” during commercials.

Our friend Squatlo has something to say on the subject and you better go read it.

∞

Willard is taking a beating for his off-shore accounts, and his refusal to disclose his past tax returns. Since he’s really taking a beating over this, more and more comes the suggestion that there is REALLY something he doesn’t want people to know about.

But he continues to stonewall, and frankly with friends like this, who needs enemies?

Lindsay Graham, brown-nose whose nose is usually up the behind of John S. McCain, defended Willard thusly:

“It’s really American to avoid paying taxes, legally.”

Yep Lindsay, you tell ’em.

∞

It’s always the next exit isn’t it?

Related articles

• Silvio Berlusconi set to run again to become Italian prime minister (telegraph.co.uk)
• Romney to NAACP: Voting GOP good for your families (sfgate.com)
• Romney to NAACP: Obama made it worse for you ‘in almost every way’ (thehill.com)

Into the Belly of the Beast

Tags

abortion rights, astronomy, cosmology, Election 2012, GOP, Herman Cain, Italy, life in the meadow, Politics, theoretical physics, Women's issues

We drove into the belly of the beast 130 miles to a courthouse in up-state Iowa.  We came, we saw, we think we conquered. Meaning the judge will issue his findings and order within thirty days.

We have been involved in a claim for money. It was claimed we (my husband actually) owed almost all of a legal debt going back THIRTY YEARS. We claimed and provided documents to prove that every single penny had been paid. The other side provided no documents to the contrary. Confronted with this, admissions were made that we were correct. The claim is now, “Well, I want so more anyway” or words to that effect.

The questions of the judge make it quite clear to me that we will be fully vindicated.  Phrases about “woman scorned” and “filthy lucre” and “money-grubbing” and so forth would be inappropriate, unless you choose to use them by reading between the lines. It’s not worth further explanation.

These things happen to us all, usually more than once in a lifetime. We are happily going along our merry way, when somebody or some entity (usually some government bureaucracy) stands up between us and our goal and demands we spend time, and often money to prove what we know to be true, and what we often believe the other person does as well. It amounts to using legal means to exact retribution emotionally. It’s call harassment.

As I said, whatever happens, we are done with it. And I have a confidence (as does our lawyer whose documents and law went in unopposed) that we will be completely vindicated. We are feeling as if a burden has been removed. We turn our attention to plans for our future.

♦

Well, it was a busy day in the world of politics. We returned to the home front and dashed off to vote for our state senate race. This was a critical one because if our candidate didn’t win, the Senate in Iowa would be tied between the two parties. Happily, the Democratic candidate did win.

The Mississippi referendum to declare a fetus a “person” was defeated. The draconian laws passed in Ohio to take away the rights of unions was soundly recalled. The  Republican creator of the Arizonan immigration act, Russell Pearce,  was recalled in a special election. In New Jersey, voters increased the majority of the Democrats in the Jersey legislature. In Maine, voters restored a “same-day” registration to vote that had been repealed by the GOP controlled legislature.  All in all, a pretty good night for the cause of right (left) versus wrong (right).

♦

Speaking of the Mississippi referendum, the wackos on the extreme right are already promising “God’s wrath.” So I guess we should be looking for earthquakes, off-season hurricanes and other such “natural” disasters to befall the Mississippian populace. Or perhaps only the 58% of them that soundly defeated the act.

♦

Perhaps it might be fun to recall what one can get away with saying today but would have cost you your head in centuries past?  Such a thing happened to one Dominican friar Giordano Bruno in 1600 who dared to suggest that our sun was likely no different from other stars, and that they too might well have planets about them. The Inquisition did not tolerate such obvious claptrap.

Nowadays, we talk about multiverses, dark matter, string theory, and inflation (not the money kind!). A nice article in Discovery Magazine, should you be sick and tired of politics.

♦

Notorious womanizer and all-around harass-master, Herman Cain, Silvio Berlusconi is set to resign as Italian Prime Minister. Un-named sources claim that Mr. Cain, sent  a telegram to the beleaguered Italian Stallion-in-his-own-mind: “Dude you are screwed. Stop.”

♦

Let me just say this about that. The that? The Penn State scandal. What the f**k were you ADULT men thinking? How many wrongs does it take before you step up and PROTECT CHILDREN? And I don’t care how big an idol that Joe Paterno is. Simply advising somebody of the problem (don’t tell ME any details) is not enough. Did anybody ever think to call the POLICE? This reminds me for all the world like the hideous scandal in my own Church and its utter failure to act immediately to stop the abuse.

♦

It appears that Herm Cain’s defense to sexual harassment charges are quite simple. “Her claims were found baseless because she was unable to bring forth any corroborating witness.” Yes, every time that a man has tried to man-handle me, he waited until there were plenty of witnesses around. You are a pig Herm.

♦

And that’s all I got today. So you know you got it all. HA!

 

 

Drunk on an Apple

Tags

American History, Arabs, Archaeology, Barack Obama, Bush, cake, Catholicism, dessert, Election 2008, embroidery, farming, fruit, History, ice cream, immigration, Iraq, Italy, John McCain, Latino, Lebanon, Media, Medici, Myanmar, paleontology, quilting, Rumsfeld, torture, Truman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This a sculpture from the Louvre and is called Hermes a la sandale. It is a Roman replica by Lysippus of a Greek piece now lost. It is of Hermes, tying his sandal while listening to his father Zeus. The head is too small for the body and the tree stump under the leg is not part of the original work.

It’s gloomy and overcast with sprinklings of rain now and then. It’s thoroughly depressing and the Contrarian is simply beside himself with disgust at  his Iowa which has turned so nasty to us all this year. I fear that spring will escape us with nary a pleasantry. I can count perhaps on one hand the number of nice days we have had. The water just seems to sit everywhere with no where to go any more. It’s just impossible to work outside.

Given that scenario, I’ve done little today but pack up some things in the kitchen that I want to throw out. I find that if I don’t use things with in a year, then I probably don’t need them. Five extra carafes for coffee would suggest I don’t need at least four of them. LOL. Dinner is leftover meatloaf with gravy and biscuits, a veggie of some sort and probably a salad. I baked a loaf of bread. Whoopee what a day. Oh and we had three orioles at the feeder today. They love the apple. They go mad. I wonder if they get drunk or something?

If you are interested in new blogs, you might want to check out the sidebar, I’ve added a few over the last few days, mostly in history, politics and columnists I believe.

On to the news:

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This is one of those stories that slip through the cracks. Last week I reported on the release of a journalist Sami al Haj who had been detained for six years and then released without charges from Gitmo. It seems  al Haji’s arrest was not a fluke, but part of a pattern of intimidation launched primarily at Al Jazeera. Bombings, shootings and arrests are commonly used against them, all because the Bushites don’t like their reporting. Read about it from Amy Goodman at Alternet.

Today is the anniversary of President Harry Truman’s birth. American Presidents Blog has a nice piece on his trip to Europe in 1945, before the full end of all hostilities in WWII. Truman traveled by ship to Europe for a meeting with the allies, Britain and  the Soviets. This must havebeen some kind of surreal experience for Truman, given that Roosevelt had just died. Lots of links to his library and a day to day log of his trip.

A couple of things are really on my nerves today. One is Myanmar. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands are at risk of dying in what was formerly called Burma. Supplies are available, but the ruling junta refuses most of it because they are afraid of being toppled by aide workers and I guess the supplies themselves. I’m saying that I think the UN ought to just invade the country with a world force and take them down and save the people. This is genocide of a new flavor. It cannot go on. It is a crime against humanity. Read more at Blue Girl, Red State.

More and more people are talking about the “dream ticket”again. The one with both Democratic candidates. It would be Obama/Clinton of course. I can imagine Obama is not so happy about this, Clinton may be more so, given the bottom line now. I think it might be a worthwhile idea. I’ll vote for Obama in any case, but I think this could do a lot to heal some wounds. Britannica blog has an opinion on the issue, and it’s worth listening to.

C’est La Vie has a lovely tribute to mothers everywhere. The post consists of questions answered by second graders about what mothers are. It’s the usual chuckling and tender sweet post that you might want to send along to mothers you know and love.

Ben and Jerry  Cherry Garcia’s Ice cream. Okay. You want the recipe? I got it for you, or Copycat Restaurant Recipes does. Go and take a look. This is an odd one, no cooking before hand, and it has raw eggs, so be forewarned. I’m not a bit scared of eggs so I think it’s one I’ll try when it warms up a bit if it ever does.

Feeling stitchy has a nice little tutorial on embellishing things with embroidery. I tended to think of the usual things, pillowcases, and such, but her ideas definitely showed me a broader view of what can be done. Take a look and see if you get some ideas!

Warm Rhubarb compote with Walnut coconut crunch sounds especially nice on a day like this. Gloomy and cool and wet, begs for comfort food, and this recipe from Epicurious is sure to do just that–comfort you. A tad on the foo foo side with the ingredients, but I think you can substitute some of the high end ones easily enough.

I Just had to show you this one from Inspired by antique quilts. This is a quilt I have always wanted to make, but it is one that takes forever to make, years in fact. I have always wanted to make it using no duplicate fabrics at all. She has limited herself to no duplicates in every 100 piece block. The achievement is just mind boggling, and I really am going to start. My stash of fabric is not nearly as big as hers, no doubt, and it will never be, but I can start, and her 100 different pieces per block is a great idea! Recently when I was doing my craft room and working with my fabric, I made a special point of saving in a plastic bag all the tiny scraps that are just perfect for this kind of thing. I hear people send small scraps of their stash to others in a give-around and the end result is called a “friendship” quilt.

A new farm bill has been approved and is being sent to Dubya. He’s going to veto it of course. Tom Harkin is pretty ticked off, and so will Iowa farmers be. I guess the GOP has written off Iowa this election cycle. We are gonna be a blue state once again!

The Medici, that great Italian family from Florence, saved the day, helping to bring Europe out the of the Dark Ages. Remember, they weren’t quite as dark as portrayed. Both Arabs, Jews and Christians did much during those years to advance science, and preserve history. But the Medici’s no doubt had a great impact on art, science and culture as they pushed forth into the Renaissance. Read more about the family and its impact at Live Science.

Paul Krugman has some very thoughtful observations aboutthe impending Obama candidacy. I tend to agree with him. Most important is his statement that the various polls that seem to suggest that John McCain has a chance are wildly wrong, and common at this point in the cycle. They do not reflect in any way what will happen in November. Better predictors are all highly in favor of the Democrats. Read his post and see if you agree.

Things seem to be deteriorating in Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah seems in control of  parts of Beirut, and a civil war is threatening. More bad news for the beleaguered Middle East. Of course the usual charges of who’s the bad guy abound. The link by the way has little additional information. This link from the Washington Independent has a bit more.

Louis Bayard has a review of Tony Horwitz’s new book, “A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World.” It will, so Mr. Bayard says, tell you a bit of a different story about the settling of America. Not quite the flag waving stuff from high school. The bottom line, much of what you think you know is flat out wrong.

Do you know where the earliest human settlement in the Americas is? Americas should give you a hint its not in the US. It’s in Chile, and is somewhere in the vicinity of 14,000 years old. It is now believe that they migrated across the Bering Straits, and the date has been moved back to 16,000 years ago.

This is certainly discouraging. There are Catholic fanatics in the US, and they are no better than the wingnuts of the ultra reactionary right of other Christian denominations. One of the worst places for fairness is in Minnesota where a reactionary archdiocese holds sway. Recently a professor of Minnesota was denied the right to speak at a local parish adult education class on the issue of torture, simply because he is pro-choice on abortion. Such religious censorship is to be condemned wherever it raises its ugly head. His full remarks are included in the link. Talk to Action brings the story our way. This is how it starts folks. Misguided people under the shield of religion start to trample upon the rights of others.

I errrrr, did mention that I love chocolate? Once or twice maybe? I thought this recipe for a chocolate cake sounded decadent as heck and delicious sounding. It is done in pesky grams but remember the old site has the converter for you to use. I love the idea of the jam under the frosting. I’m gonna try this one. Dark Chocolate Layer Cake.

Jim Crow is back. Yes, given that we have new folks to hate with impunity, things are starting to get tough for Latinos in this country, especially now we find in Georgia. Resurgence of the KKK, and a plethora of all new Hate groups are thriving. They are breaking down doors and terrifying populations, often of US citizens of Latino descent. I am again, sickened by this type of thing. We are, through religion and political rhetoric, finding it all too easy to hate people who are not “like us” again.

Remember way back when Rumsfeld claimed that more troops weren’t sent to Iraq because the “generals didn’t ask for them?” Well, of course, most of us assumed he was lying to cover up his own incompetence, and guess what? Turns out we were dead on right. He lied. What’s new?

Urantia Sojourn has a good post on the Rev. Wright controversy and the fact that hopefully the intense spotlight will now shift to John McCain and his unholy alliance with Hagee and also Parsley another wingnut of similar flavor. McCain of course has lots of ties to the weird right, including Copeland who is now under investigation by our own Sen. Grassley for his interesting bookkeeping techniques. I’ve taken you to the main site, because for reasons I have no clue to, I can’t bring up the individu posts, they just don’t highlight or give me the hand. It’s the second post from the top.

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“No wise man ever wished to be younger.”  Jonathan Swift

“Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people.” Philip Guedella

“There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.”  Steven Wright

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New excuses to: I’d love to but…..

I’m teaching my cat to sing.

I have constipation.

I have to tape the official Boy George fan club meeting tonight on the TV.

my orange juice box said concentrate.

I’m having my ingrown toenail removed. Wanna see?

I gotta go walk my turtle.

I have to iron my sheets.

it’s evil.

my mom said I have to rub her feet tonight.

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This weekend at the Bush family ranch, one of President Bush’s daughters will be getting married. And I thought this was cute. The groom went to President Bush and asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. And President Bush said, “Well, it’s O.K. with me, but you got to run it by Cheney.” David Letterman

John McCain’s wife was recently overheard saying that they own eight or nine homes. Yeah, McCain’s wife denied this, however, and stated, “What I said is I’ve tried to put him in a home eight or nine times.” Conan O’Brien

A new poll came out today. It says conservatives like Rush Limbaugh are happier than liberals. Although it might not be happiness. In Limbaugh’s case, it might just be the OxyContin kicking in. Chris Ferguson

Say what you will about George Bush: He has driven us into an economic hole, making us less attractive as an immigration destination, thereby raising the quality of life for those of us still stuck here. – Will Durst