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It's been a strange week, getting used to the new MacBook Pro while trying to carry on my normal tasks. So far I'm loving most things about it...I don't like the fact that some of my treasured programs won't run on a Mac and so I'm forced to decide between trying to shuttle back and forth between two computers or putting software on the Mac which will run Windows. Neither seems a happy prospect, given what I've heard and read from all but one person about the Windows for Mac option. So. My decisions aren't all behind me yet.Labels: Books, Church, Food, Grandparenting, Homeschooling, Music, Political Humor, Sundays, Technology, TV
Labels: Political Humor, Theater of the Absurd
Labels: Political Humor, Political Observation
Labels: Political Humor, Political Observation
(2009-12-02) — A day after a televised address about his plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in order to bring them home again soon, President Barack Obama announced he would apply his Afghanistan war strategy to domestic health care reform.“It’s important that we seize the initiative,” the president said, “and put the resources in place so that we can withdraw them in 18 months, leaving the uninsured with the capacity to take care of themselves, to buy their own health insurance on the open market.”
The president said he’ll commit 30,000 new bureaucrats to this effort, who will begin deploying in early 2010, to train the uninsured in how to buy health insurance, and to equip the unemployed to find work, or to start businesses, so that they, too, can buy health insurance.
The president said the entire objective of his health care reform plan is to “hand over responsibility to the people, and then get our government forces out of their lives as quickly as possible.”
“This effort must be based on performance,” said Mr. Obama. “The days of providing a blank check are over. And going forward, we will be clear about what we expect from those who receive our assistance."
Obama Brings Afghan Strategy to Health Care Reform
Labels: ObamaNation, Political Humor
Obama fails to win Nobel prize in economics
Labels: ObamaNation, Political Humor, Political Observation
Labels: ObamaNation, Political Humor
"PLEASE, God, I have just two requests. Don't let them cut the Harry M. Reid School of Demagoguery from the stimulus package. And please don't let the Guantanamo detainees get sent to Nevada. Colorado is SO beautiful this time of year..."Amen.
Labels: Political Humor
There are issues facing this great nation which outweigh even the economy and Iraq.
In at least one respect, President Barack Obama is not bringing change to Washington. Just like the Bush administration, and the Clintons, Nixons and Johnsons before that, Obama will oversee a White House unencumbered by male children. In the 80 years before the Obama administration, only the Kennedys brought a boy into the White House.
In some countries, being son-less would be considered a weakness, especially in a leader. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has two sons. So does Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, while French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has three. Even his Majesty King Letsie III, potentate of Lesotho, has a son. (See TIME's Top Ten Photos of 2008)
American voters apparently have evolved beyond such simplistic notions of what makes a good head of state, but they were not ever thus. In the 19th century, the occupants of the White House had herds of boys. The Lincolns had four. The Grants had three sons and a daughter. The Hayeses had seven sons and a daughter. The Garfields had seven kids, five of them sons. Not all of these male heirs lived in the White House - many died young, or were too old to be living with their parents - but several did.
So why no modern manlings in the east wing? I have a theory, born of careful historical analysis and solipsism: It's impossible to be elected to the White House if you have young sons, because that would mean you have to campaign with them.
Please go ahead and read the rest here, especially if you're the mother of boys. I would finish reading it with you but my son has locked the cat in the pantry.
hat tip: Trish
Labels: Political Humor, Political Observation
See folks? Sometimes politics is downright fun! Get in the kitchen now and get ready for tonight :-)
Partisan Party Food
Labels: Food, Fun, Political Humor
How Come I Would Make the Economy Better?
hat tip: anne w.
Labels: Political Humor
(2008-09-12) — Jeremy Kleckner, a junior at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., said today that Sen. Barack Obama’s efforts to ignite a wave of young volunteers across the nation is succeeding beyond the Democrat presidential candidate’s wildest dreams.“He hasn’t even touched the bully pulpit in the White House yet,” said Mr. Kleckner, “and already Obama’s got me excited about volunteering. I heard him talking last night about how we need to give back to our country and he just touched my heart. First thing this morning, I called the Lehigh County Republican committee and asked them how I could help get John McCain and Sarah Palin elected.”
Even funnier if you caught any of last night's forum:
Sen. Obama has made his ability to inspire national service a pillar of his plan to change America — a commitment that he reinforced during The 9/11 Presidential Forum last night at Columbia University.
Unfortunately, viewership of the interview was relatively low, since many Americans were away from their televisions, coaching little league soccer and football, leading scouting programs, attending PTA and church committee meetings, planning community clean up days, participating in a wide-variety of efforts to help people in the U.S. and abroad, or simply helping their children with homework.
Of course, most U.S. public high schools already have a forced-volunteerism program as a graduation requirement to teach young people the joy of altruism, but President Obama’s plan would go further, offering a powerful combination of soaring rhetoric, cash payments and free health insurance to induce people to selflessly sacrifice for their country.
Finish reading here:
Obama Inspires Local Man to Volunteer for McCain
Labels: Political Humor
RIGHT ON TIME, PAM--THANK YOU!! I'll wear it proudly during the festivities tonight!
Labels: Political Humor, Political Observation
This is perhaps the funniest piece of political satire so far this election season.
HE VENTURED FORTH TO BRING LIGHT TO THE WORLD
Gerard Baker, The (UK) Times Online
The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”
The only thing that takes away from its humor is that so many people take it seriously! Read the rest here:
He ventured forth
Double hat tip: Pam and The Papa
Labels: Political Humor, Political Observation
LEAKED: Hillary’s Concession Speech, Endorsement
by Scott Ott for ScrappleFace
(2008-06-04) — A draft copy of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s planned concession speech leaked this morning after the candidate inadvertently emailed it to her entire “buddy list” and both copies then fell into the hands of the news media.
In the speech, Sen. Clinton attempts to lay the groundwork for Democrat unity, based on what she calls “a kind of unshakable bond that can only be sustained by proper treatment of one’s defeated adversaries.”
Here are some excerpts from the speech which Sen. Clinton is expected to deliver this weekend.
“No matter the outcome of the presidential race this November, the year 2008 is a watershed for Democrats. For the first time in the history of either party, a woman selflessly withdrew from a race she was winning to lend a merciful, helping hand to a young African-American in his time of need.”
“We have both broken down barriers, Sen. Obama and I, in this historic race. However, since he is only half black, but I am all woman, it goes without saying that my accomplishment in nearly winning is the greater civil rights triumph, mathematically speaking.”
“I will campaign vigorously for the party’s nominee, whoever that may be. I do it out of a sense of noblesse oblige — my nobility obligates me. I hope Sen. Obama sees my endorsement, and pledge of delegates, as a hand up, not a hand out.”
“If Barack Obama becomes the next president of the United States, let it never be said that he won only because he’s black, but rather that he won because a gracious white woman sacrificed her own ambitions for the good of humanity.”
“In closing, I want to personally address Sen. Obama by paraphrasing President John F. Kennedy, who, coincidentally, was assassinated like his brother Robert was: Sen. Obama, ask not what Hillary Clinton can do for you. Ask what you can do for the woman who was almost the first female president of the United States.”
ScrappleFace
Labels: Political Humor
I had a lovely Mother's Day visit with my mom. I was only there for 24 hours, but she says it's just the kind of Mother's Day present she loves. I'm very glad I went. Got back last night very tired but it was well worth it.
And then I got to spend Mother's Day evening with MY kids and some of the grandkids. How blessed I am to have so many of them here!
On the car trip I listened to all of Into Thin Air and then started one that John Caleb has been after me to read: The Westing Game. This title, a Newbery winner, has been a favorite of several of my children, one that some of them have read half a dozen times. So I downloaded it from Audible.com and I'm about halfway through it.
Speaking of books, John got me two for Mother's Day: The Strangeness of Beauty, and Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. On my stack they go! Oh, I need to read SO much faster...
This morning was my first physical therapy appointment after the March surgery. The goal will be to strengthen my quad muscles and reverse the atrophy so we can determine whether my pain is muscular or whether it's related directly to the bone graft. And that will probably take about six weeks of 2-3 visits a week.
We woke this morning to news of yet another natural disaster--a 7.8 earthquake in China that was felt in several different countries and has reportedly killed thousands and trapped many people alive. And this as the magnitude of the cyclone in Myanmar is still not even understood yet. And the photos of the destruction caused by tornadoes right here in the U.S. reminds us that no one is immune. I realize that there's a tremendous amount suffering in this world even on a "good" day...but these tragedies bring truth right to our faces and give perspective to our petty dissatisfactions with our lives...
Nathan is home from school! It's remarkable what a semester away can do for a young man, and this is no exception. I'm very glad to have him home for the summer, but it's clear that college has been good for him.
This will be our next-to-last week of school! We can all smell summer and I'm no exception. I'm making my list of all those little projects I'd like to get accomplished. Well, okay, all the BIG projects I'd like to get accomplished. The summer months never seem to last as long as I need them to!
Did you see the clip of SNL doing Hillary this weekend? Oh my goodness, I'd say the tide has really turned...especially since a couple of months ago SNL was doing skits that helped her! Anyway, here it is if you didn't see it elsewhere:
(More and more the "sore loser" theme is coming through in editorials, blogs, and from the TV talking heads. I feel kind of sorry for Lanny Davis, out there limping along with the Clinton talking points, knowing deep in his heart that it's over.)
This week I'm going to go and buy several shrubs to grow in containers on the deck. I've done some research to see which ones should survive the scorching summer and found some I really like. I cannot, will not succumb to cactus. Nope, I'd rather have a naked deck.
I've also just bought one of these...an Electrolux Pronto cordless stick vacuum. Knowing my horrible luck with all kinds of vacuums I don't know how successful this will be, but I'll let you know. If it works as it should, it will be particularly helpful for stairs and other hard-to-access areas, and I love the fact that it has a built-in "dustbuster" type tool.
Hope all of you have a nice spring week!
Labels: Books, Health, Homeschooling, Kids, News, Political Humor, Political Observation, Sundays
Hillary Clinton, 60, Illinois native and Arkansas lawyer, became, retroactively, a lifelong Yankee fan at age 52 when, shopping for a U.S. Senate seat, she adopted New York state as home sweet home. She may think, or at least would argue, that when she was 12 her Yankees really won the 1960 World Series, by standards of "fairness," because they trounced the Pirates in runs scored, 55-27, over seven games, so there.
Unfortunately, baseball's rules -- pesky nuisances, rules -- say it matters how runs are distributed during a World Series. The Pirates won four games, which is the point of the exercise, by a total margin of seven runs, while the Yankees were winning three by a total of 35 runs. You can look it up.
After Tuesday's split decisions in Indiana and North Carolina, Clinton, the Yankee Clipperette, can, and hence eventually will, creatively argue that she is really ahead of Barack Obama, or at any rate she is sort of tied, mathematically or morally or something, in popular votes, or delegates, or some combination of the two, as determined by Fermat's Last Theorem, or something, in states whose names begin with vowels, or maybe consonants, or perhaps some mixture of the two as determined by listening to a recording of the Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda" played backward, or whatever other formula is most helpful to her, and counting the votes she received in Michigan, where hers was the only contending name on the ballot (her chief rivals, quaintly obeying their party's rules, boycotted the state, which had violated the party's rules for scheduling primaries), and counting the votes she received in Florida, which, like Michigan, was a scofflaw and where no one campaigned, and dividing Obama's delegate advantage in caucus states by pi multiplied by the square root of Yankee Stadium's ZIP code.
Labels: Political Humor, Political Observation