Yoga

Oh my goodness. I went to Total Body Yoga for the first time this evening.

Absolutely wonderful! The first class for new people is free. It was so relaxing and calming. Not that I don't love my video, but it's nice to have an actual instructor(s), that will walk around and correct your posture when needed.

Also funny? One of my high school classmates is an assistant instructor. I was like "hey!" And also got an impromptu quick neck massage with something that smelled fantastic. Whatever it was is apparently from the Bath and Body Works.


I signed up for a ten class pack. I really want to go as much as I can so I can learn to do more. I asked my mom to get me another pack of classes for Christmas. Yaaaah!

Xmas ornaments

I think I got the Irish dancer as a present from one of my friends.




This is one of the ornaments I purchased while over in England (last Christmas time). I probably got it at the gift shop next to Westminster. I'm now regretting that I didn't buy other ornaments while I was there in September. Damnit! My set of Henry VIII and his six wives are now my favorite ornaments. (But I've had them since 1999, I think.)

Cookie Recipes - My Favorites

Spreading holiday cheer and fat hips everywhere. Have
fun jogging. And for the love of god, don't ever let
me catch anyone using imitation almond or vanilla
flavoring.

If you're in a hurry like I usually am, you can chill
doughs in the freezer in a third of the time normally
required.

This is the Pillsbury Recipe my mom has had forever.

MAKE-AHEAD COOKIE MIX

1 1/2 cups Butter, softened
1 Tblspn Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
6 cups All Purpose Flour

In very large bowl, combine butter, salt and baking
powder; using electric mixer, blend well. Lightly
spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. (Do NOT
scoop or sift flour.) Add flour to butter mixture;
blend until fine crumbs form, scraping bowl often.
Store tightly covered in refrigerator up to 4 weeks.
YIELD: 8 CUPS MIX.

There are about 10 different cookies you can make out
of this, but we always made the almond butter sticks
and peanut blossoms since they were the most popular.

ALMOND BUTTER STICKS

3/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp Almond Extract
1/3 cup + 1 Tblspn Butter, softened
6 oz cream cheese
2 cups MIX
1 egg, separated (reserve white for glazing)
1/4 cup sliced Almonds (I typically use more)

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a cookie sheet (long
rectangle works best). In small bowl, stir together
sugar and almond flaoring; cover and set aside. In
medium bowl, combine 1/3 cup butter, cream cheese, and
egg yolk; blend until smooth. (Dip measuring cup into
cookie mix; level off.) Stir in mix. Knead on floured
surface about 25 strokes until pliable. Roll or press
out to a 12x12 inch square. Spread with 1 tablespoon
butter. Cut dough in half*; place one half on greased
cookie sheet. Spoon sugar mixture to within 1/2 inch
of dough edges. Place remaining dough half, buttered
side down, over sugar. Press edges tightly to seal.
Brush with slightly beaten egg white; sprinkle with
almonds.

Bake 22 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Cool at least
30 minutes, remove from cookie sheet.

Cut pastry in half lengthwise and in 1/2 inch strips
crosswise. 48 cookies.

* My mom and I never cut the dough in half. We just
make sure to cover half with sugar, then fold the
unsugared half over and seal down: similar to calzone
or empanada. Less to fuss with this way.

PEANUT BUTTER (and PEANUT BLOSSOM)

2 cups Mix
1 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Solid Shortening
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg

Preheat oven to 375F. (Dip measuring cup into cookie
mix; level off.) In large bowl, combine all
ingredients; blend until smooth. Shape dough into 1
inch balls; place on ungreased cookie sheets and
flatten with fork crisscross fashion. Bake 7-11
minutes until edges are golden brown. Cool slightly;
remove from cookie sheet. About 4 dozen.

PEANUT BLOSSOMS: Roll balls in sugar; place on
ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-12 minutes until light
golden brown. Remove from oven; immediately top each
cookie with a HERSHEY'S KISS, pressing down firmly so
cookie cracks around edge. About 4 dozen, which will
disappear quickly...

*****end of Pilsbury Mix*****

SUGAR COOKIES
1 Cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Confectioners Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Mix thoroughly butter, egg, sugar and flavorings.
Blend in flour, soda and cream of tartar. Refrigerate
2-3 hours. Heat oven to 375F. Roll dough to 1/8 inch
thick and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased
cookie sheets for 7-8 minutes or until golden brown at
edges.

I like to eat the raw dough. My mom said it would kill
me. I'm still alive, so there.

CANDY CANES (for Tania)

These are a pain to make. MAKE SURE THE DOUGH IS
CHILLED or forget it. Work very quickly with the dough
or your hands will warm it too much (run your hands
under cold water and then pat dry to keep them cool).
Also, I have never been able to make just one teaspoon
stretch into a four inch rope without it ripping.

1 cup butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
dash salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp red food coloring
peppermint glaze (optional, recipe follows)

In a large mixer bowl beat butter till softened. Add
powdered sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg, vanilla,
peppermint extract and salt. Beat well. Add flour and
beat till well mixed. Divide dough in half. Stir food
coloring into one half. Cover each half and chill
about 30 minutes or till easy to handle.

For each cookie, on a lightly floured surface shape a
teaspoonful of plain dough into a 4 inch rope. Repeat
with a teaspoonful of red dough. Place ropes side by
side and twist together. Pinch ends to seal. Form
twisted ropes into a cane. Place canes 2 inches apart
on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 375F oven for 8-10 minutes or till done.
Remove and cool. If desired, brush with Peppermint
Glaze. Makes 48.

PEPPERMINT GLAZE: Stir together 1 cup sifted powdered
sugar, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract, and enough water
(4-5 tsp) to make of brushing consistency.

GINGERBREAD TEDDY BEARS

Good for stress relief. Pretend they're someone who's
ticking you off: bite off their heads. I think using
molasses gives a more interesting flavor.

1 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup dark corn syrup, light corn syrup OR molasses
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
miniature chocolate chip pieces
decorating icing (optional)

In a saucepan combine butter, brown sugar, and corn
syrup or molasses. Cook and stir over medium heat till
butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Pour into a
large mixing bowl and cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile,
combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, soda and cloves.

Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture and mix well.
Add the flour mixture and beat till well mixed. Divide
the dough in half. Cover and chill at least two hours
or overnight.

To make each teddy bear, shape dough into one 1 inch
ball, one 3/4 inch ball, six 1/2 inch balls, and five
1/4 inch balls. On an ungreased cookie sheet, flatten
the 1 inch ball to 1/2 inch for body. Attach the 3/4
inch ball for head and flatten to 1/2 inch. Attach the
1/2 inch balls for arms, legs and ears. Place one of
the 1/4 inch balls on head for nose. Arrange remaining
1/4 inch balls atop ends of arms and legs for paws.
Use miniature chocolate pieces for eyes and navel.

Bake in a 350F oven for 8-10 minutes or till done.
Carefully remove and cool. If desired, pipe on bow
ties with Decorating icing. Makes 16.

DECORATING ICING: Combine 1/2 cup sifted powdered
sugar and enough milk or light cream (about 2 tsp) to
make of piping consistency. Tint with one or two drops
food coloring.

MERINGUE TURTLEDOVES

People with think you're a freaking genius, but it's
easy. If your store has them, buy a jar of just egg
whites. Better and easier than cracking a whole bunch
of eggs and not knowing what to do with the yolks.

2 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

Line a large cookie sheet with brown paper, parchment,
or foil. In a small mixer bowl beat egg whites,
vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Put egg white mixture in a decorating bag fitted with
a 1/2 inch round tip, filling bag half full. Beginning
at head end, squeeze bag gently, moving tip in a
clockwise direction to form a question mark with egg
white mixture. For lower body/wing, continue squeezing
as you move tip about 2 1/2 inches to the right, back
left, then right again, releasing pressure as you pull
up tip. Repeat with remaining mixture. Place miniature
chocolate pieces on head for eye and beak.

Bake in a 300F oven about 15 minutes or till done -
EDGES SHOULD BARELY BE BROWN. Turn off oven and let
cookies dry in the oven with the door closed about 30
minutes. Makes about 24.

Sick of making doves? Just pipe big rounds and bake as
usual. Better: Pipe a bit, stick in some chocolate
pieces, pipe over. Chocolate meringue surprise.

Little Known Fact

When I was in ballet, I was cast as Happy in our recital production of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves.

 

What a miscast. I should have been Grumpy.

 

If they'd had "Bitchy, Fuck the World", I should have been that, too.

Can't sleep

I've been sleeping like crap lately. My brain is too
full. And I don't want to go to work tomorrow. I hate
it. I hate my team. It's going nowhere, our project is
dead in the water (even if others refuse to see it),
and our so-called leader...isn't.

And my co-worker and fellow admin got a promotion to
another department while I got turned down. I feel
trapped. Every time I've thought about it this
weekend, I've wanted to burst into tears and
hyperventilate. I haven't felt this bad about work
since I used to work at WaMu back in 02-03.

I have utterly no desire to do the admin gig anymore -
not even until next August when I'll student teach.
Who in their right mind wants to stay and admin
assistant? It's a dead end mindless job. I am far too
smart for it; and that's not meant as a boast. Just
statement of fact: I'm bored out of my fucking mind
and hate picking up other people's stupid shit.
Baby-sitting for adults.

And school is just depressing the hell out of me right
now as well. Two dumb classes this semester. I pray
next semester is better, but I have to figure some way
of passing this one first. Once I found out I was
going to be ridiculously bored this semester, my brain
tuned out and I haven't learned a damn thing.

I've been watching an episode and Prime Suspect and
then Wooster & Jeeves. Send me to England, please.

I am going to finish this teacher program and then
some how, some way I am clawing my way into a teaching
position overseas.

Last night

Close up of a tree in Deerfield Commons.

Turkey and Po-Tay-Toes

Turkey Time is almost upon us all. Last night I asked my mom what the plan is for next week.

 

The dreaded response: going over to my brother's. Gaaah. My sister-in-law cannot cook. Well, she can, it's just not up to my standards. About ten minutes after being told this, I whined: ARE YOU MAKING THE STUFFING? to my mom. Her response: I don't know. Me: *desperate intonation* YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS???

 

I can cope with whatever turkey my SIL makes - the turkey doesn't really matter to me. I don't eat too much of it. Besides which, my mom is going to be helping her make most of it anywya.

 

I may have to sneak in and do a covert mashed potatoes rescue operation. That's another thing that amazes me, my SIL makes mashed potatoes that are the separated at birth twin to Elmers Glue. Disgusting. And my brother likes them too. Mashed potatoes are supposed to be FLUFFY!

 

But then again, they also like Republicans. Republicans=Gluey Mashed Potatoes, Gluey Mashed Potatoes=Republicans. I see a depravity correlation, don't you? It's so obvious.

 

My mom, or me probably, will also be making the pies because we always do. SIL doesn't even make those at all - she usually winds up with a pie from the Jewel. Blech.

 

Yes, I am being a food snob. But it's THANKSGIVING. One of two times per American calendar year where if you're going to pig out, it should be on really good food. Embrace your inner food snob.

 

SO:

 

Stuffing must be made by the mom.

Pies: me or the mom.

Mashed taters: sneak save by moi.

Red wine: ME

Roasted parsnips and carrots (seriously so good): me

and maybe some of Giada's Green Beans: me

 

Those who bring that damned green bean casserole with the onion thingies MUST DIE.

Money money money (I don't got any)

I have just paid off my Target credit card. The evilness is no more! I couldn't schedule it online though - it kept giving me an error because it hadn't fully processed the one payment I made the other day. I had to call up account services and schedule it over the phone.

 

The good news is that, since I got it scheduled today, I don't have to pay a finance charge. Woot.

 

Of course this means I am broke for the week, but...NO MORE FINANCE CHARGE!

 

Now I just need to tackle the BoA loan. The finance charges on that piece of shit are ridiculous. I just got my new statement online today and it slapped back on a ridiculous amount of money in financing. I hate not getting to spend it on something fun, but this makes me more determined than ever to use my profit-sharing check from work against this in a couple weeks. That will knock out a little more than half the outstanding balance and kill a good bit of that financing.

 

CAN'T I STILL WIN THE LOTTO?

Mac

I want a new Mac! Damnit.

I heard choirs of angels while reading this. For real.

There are just some damn funny bits in this write up. My favs in bold.

IN OTHER NEWS: I migrated to the beta version. NOW they tell me I can't post comments on non-migrated blogs. Thanks jackasses.

Bears have horses to win in slop

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- At least there should have been mud. It could have flown up from behind the shoes of rookie Bears kick returner Devin Hester like pixie dust from the hooves of a Kentucky Derby winner.

Hester's 108-yard hesitation touchdown return of Giants kicker Jay Feely's missed field goal in the fourth quarter made the score of this huge game 31-20 Bears, and it stunned the Giants into submission.

The final score would be 38-20 as the Giants had nothing left.

''They're supposed to be the best team in the NFC, according to some people,'' said Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, speaking snarkily of the Giants. ''I guess we are now.'' [OOh, I think Brian is feeling testy.]

No kidding.

On this nasty night with diehard fans at Giants Stadium wearing everything from winter parkas to garbage bags to ward off hypothermia, the erratic early play by both teams would have gone better with muck.

But there was Hester, catching the field-goal attempt at the back of the end zone, then standing like a statue for one terrifying beat, then two beats, messing with the Giants' minds, scaring Bears observers half to death, looking indecisive and innocent, then setting sail up the right sideline, riding a tidal wave of Bears blockers to the house. [No shit. I was watching and going 'WTF is he doing?']

''I probably wouldn't have done it if I saw them coming after me,'' said Hester, meaning the lulled-to-sleep Giants field-goal blockers.

''He had to stay there a while to set up his blocks, he told me,'' is how coach Lovie Smith put it.

''No! Absolutely not!'' said Bears general manager Jeranted Hester to run out of the end zone rather than safely down the ball. ''When he got to the 50, oh, yeah, I was all behind him.''

The 7-1 Bears were in a showdown with the 6-2 Giants, and everybody knew this was serious.

The big injuries have started to occur for all NFL teams, the halfway point is past and people would like to know who has actual Super Bowl aspirations.

Maybe it was the odd footing on the fiber-and-rubber-pellet turf here in the Meadowlands that made the Bears look so feeble at the start.

The cold rain came down sporadically, and there were fumbles all night long.

But the Bears moved for one whole yard on their first series, before quarterback Rex Grossman was intercepted by Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who ran the ball back to the Bears' 1.

This looked like Wrong Rex all over again.

Right Rex, the quarterback who sparkled in five of the Bears' seven previous wins, seemed nowhere to be found.

The Grossman who had stunk it up against the Cardinals and Dolphins, who looked weak in the win against the Vikings in Week 3, seemed back for a permanent stay.

But ''we weathered the storm,'' noted Grossman, who finished with 246 net passing yards, three touchdowns and a 105.7 passer rating.

At the start, the Bears' ground game was absent, as well.

In that first quarter, running backs Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson combined for a grand total of one yard.

If there had been mud, it could have partially obscured the fact that after Jones gained 13 yards on the first three carries, he and Benson went backward 12 yards on the next four carries.

When the Giants moved ahead 13-3 with a little over two minutes left in the half, it seemed the Bears, who have a lot fewer injured starters than the Giants, were done.

Without a running game, and without a quarterback who can produce points in bad weather, how is any Bears team supposed to flourish?

The seven wins had come against teams that had losing records as of last week.

The first eight games may have been nice for the Bears, said the Sunday New York Times, but this contest ''is their true unveiling.''

Forgive New Yorkers for thinking everything is about them, that nothing matters until it's done on their stage. [Blah, blah, blah New York New Schmork. We've got better pizza, too.]

But why not go along with the sentiment?

With less than two minutes to go in the first half, Grossman abruptly shed his ugly suit and put his victory clothes back on.

He hit wide receiver Mark Bradley with a two-yard touchdown pass to cut the Giants' lead to 13-10, and after that he and his mates were smoking in the rain.

Message sent''It was a strange game,'' Grossman said of the slow start, strong finish, frequent turnovers. ''But the weather being what it was, the level of intensity, the promotion -- all that was part of it.''

It's possible the Giants, who lost star offensive tackle Luke Petitgout to a broken leg during the game, were already minus so many key players that this was an unfair match from the start.

But young Eli Manning looked far less competent than young Grossman, and, as far as we know, there was nothing wrong with Eli's body. [Young? YOUNG? Eli looks like he's twelve and his teeth are fucking atrocious. As someone commented to me: you have a bajillion dollars and you can't go to a DENTIST?]

Grossman ran some plays from the shotgun, and it seemed he might want to put the thing in his mouth and pull the trigger because the Bears looked out of sync in that formation. [Ouch. True dat.]

But the Hester return -- so reminiscent of Nate Vasher's 108-yard, wait-a-moment-then-run-for-a-TD return from last season -- was the explosion that put New York and everyone else on notice.

Injuries are part of this brutal game.

The Bears will get their share, and more.

But at 8-1, the Bears are for real, for sure.

And clean as can be.

DA BEARS!

THAT'S MY BOOOOOOY!!! HESTER AND VASHAR! WE OWN YOUR MOTHERFUCKING LONG ASS RETURNS FOR 108 A PIECE, BITCHES!

OMG, now it's like we can do no fucking wrong. It's like two different Bears teams took the field, 1st half vs 2nd....fucking hell.

Oedipus Rex Redux

Patti Davis: Bush’s Father Issues - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

Duh Factor (out of 10): 11 (a la Spinal Tap)

I knew this a long time ago. Many others did. Where have you been? Junior has always been trying to prove his pee-pee is bigger than Daddy's.

WOD: Subpoena

Subpoena is a sexy word, isn't it? I can just imagine it strutting in to a room, untz-untz music thumping, wearing a garter belt and black fishnet pantyhose (the kind with the black line up the back), and then proceeding to whip the shit out of evil GOoPers. Of course, half of them are probably secretly into the whole S&M thing and they might actually like having to be dominated by Mistress Subpoena.

*cough*

Election leaves Bush to bob on blue wave - Politics - MSNBC.com: "More troubling for the White House is that with control of the House, Democrats will now be in control of the committees with oversight of its operations, a function they accused Republican chairmen of abdicating. Those committees will be led by some of the most senior Democrats hailing from the party’s liberal wing, and they will have subpoena power."

Today's word "Subpoena"! Brought to you by the letters "S" and "M" and partially funded by Latex.

Vaya Con Dios

This? Is Fucking HYSTERICAL. If you're not laughing with the tears streaming down your face at "Turn over a new page", you should be dead and buried. Because that is satire GOLD.




*Cough*

Democrats, Number One with a Bullet.

Na na na naaaa, na na na naaaa, hey hey heeeey good bye!

NY TIMES: There was only one explanation for the crazy-quilt combination of victories around the country that gave the Democrats control of the House of Representatives last night: an angry shout of repudiation of the Bush White House and the abysmal way the Republican majority has run Congress.

Like many of my friends (and fellow Americans), I am ECSTATIC at the election results. Absolutely ECSTATIC. It even looks like we will have a slim majority in the Senate. I don't believe Virginia has officially been called for Webb, but it's looking better and better. IT'S OFFICIAL: VIRGINNY IS OURS, BAYBEE! AND SO IS THE SENATE!

The media coverage is right: this vote was a repudiation and punishment of the radical right and especially Bush. I haven't looked at voter turnout numbers, but my gut tells me that Bush and his cronies finally pushed moderate Americans too far. Far enough so that we had a high turnout.

Let's face it: American voters are lazy. If *anything* good could be considered to come out of Bush's hateful tenure, it's that people might have finally woken up to the fact that if you don't participate in democracy, it dies - horribly - and that leaves you vulnerable to being steamrolled by a corrupt cabal. PEOPLE, VOTE. This is your right and people have died, and continue to die, for that right.

NY TIMES: The Republicans created their defeat by focusing obsessively on the right-wing “base,” ostracizing not only the Democrats but their own party’s more moderate legislators. The conflict between the extremist House and the conservative Senate created a phony center, far to the right of the general public’s idea of where the middle ought to be. Yesterday, moderate Republicans in heavily Democratic states were done in by their party’s excesses. In Rhode Island, more than 60 percent of the voters told pollsters that they liked their Republican senator, Lincoln Chafee. But he was soundly defeated anyway....

Low turnout by the average, middle of the road American, is the only explanation (other than YES, I still believe the GOP stole and lied heavily in the last major election) I have for how such a small, angry and out of touch group of so-called religious extremists managed to vote in these Republican psychos. Too bad those people are finding out that their officials only played them for fools. Those officials weren't interested in being religious or morally upstanding. They just wanted power. This is why you keep religion and the state separate: because it is all too easily corruptable and alienates the rights of countless others.

What else? Rumsfeld resigns. HA HA HA. Not that I feel sorry for the bastard, but he's being made into a scapegoat. I bet Bush is thinking if he sacrifices Rummy, the heat will be off of him. WRONG. Bush is still responsible.

Also: Bush now talking "bipartisanship" and "cooperation"? Give me a fucking break. If you were so interested in bipartisanship, you would have been working with Dems when you first started! You're only doing it now because you got spanked by the American voting public, YOU GODDAMNED FUCKING USELESS TWIT. Jackass. You've ignored the wishes of the public - the public you are supposed to be a SERVANT of - because you wanted your own little dictatorship. Bush is still a hypocrite and a lying sack of shit. Georgie, this is what you call a "reality check". Welcome to it, jackass!

I'm excited for "Madame" Speaker Pelosi. It's about damn time for the ladies. However, I disagree with her heartily about: any effort to impeach the president "is off the table," she assured the nation before TV cameras, but she also said American voters "spoke for change and they spoke for a new direction for all Americans." Madame, this man is a criminal who has broken nearly every law we have. He has spit upon the Constitution. He should be tried for treason.

If Madame Pelosi and the Democrats can take power without "rancor" as she put it, and work with the GOP...more power to them. I just wouldn't trust those bastards any further than I could throw them. Remember, these are the same assholes who held power for 12 years through treachery and deceit, who laughed at you and the American public in the open. Twelve long years of making this nation the hated laughing stock of the entire world. It's going to be hard to win people's trust again.

Someone posted Dear Dismayed Conservatives over at DU.

I think I can agree with nearly every one of those statements. (With the exception of "respecting [certain] beliefs". As someone pointed out in a reply, I sure as hell wouldn't respect someone spouting racist or sexist beliefs, for example.) Sure, I want to rub people's noses in it a little (after TWELVE LONG YEARS OF BULLSHIT, who can blame me?), but come on. WE are not the enemy. We never have been. We're Americans as well. Those idiot politicians played us off eachother for their own personal benefit.

I just want clean government. I want to be able to live my life as I see fit, without government needlessly getting involved. I sincerely hope the Democrats act better with power than these sorry elephant's asses ever did.

You can call me a "bleeding heart liberal" if you like, but guess what: at least that means I have a heart.

I'm so BLUUUUUUUUE!

*screams happily* DEMS WON THE HOUSE! DEMS WON THE HOUSE!

 

I would be happier if Duckworth had beaten that shit Roskam, and Seals had beaten Kirk (?).

 

Apparently, we're doing a recount in Montana for the Senate? We may yet win that one, but we'd still need Virginia and I haven't heard about that state.

 

To my Euro friends: guess what? We may actually have some brains left in this country!! *screams and dances again*

 

I saw one post of a Brit newspaper: damning verdict on Bush. You damn right. Bush SUCKS ASS. But I knew that before it became the popular thing to hate Bush.

 

I am so freakin happy.

 

I am "amused" (in the bloodthirsty way) at how Bush is now calling for Democrats and Republicans to work together. Yearh right, you fucking meglomaniac bastard. Where was cooperation for the past EIGHT YEARS from Republicans since the GOoPers took control of the houses in 94? It's always been "me me me!" I highly doubt they'll change. THey'll probably be MORE babyish and evil than ever...

In the "AWESOME DITTY CATEGORY": Daily Kos: Voting Experiences Open Thread #6

Daily Kos: Voting Experiences Open Thread #6: "A short Ode to Karl 'Guy' Rove (1+ / 0-)
Remember remember the 7th of November,
Voter suppresion and plot.
I see no reason why voter suppresion
should ever be forgot...
I know, I know I've posted this before, but I think this should be our mantra come tomorrow even if the Dems take the House and Senate by a landslide.
by londubh on Tue Nov 07, 2006 at 01:23:08 PM PST
[ Reply to This |Recommend ]"

Taking a break from the serious...

Report: Britney Spears files for divorce - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

Well, took her long enough.

Hughes for America - Ohio once again fails its voters

Hughes for America - Ohio once again fails its voters

Ohio, Ohio. Goddamn Republicans.

GET OUT THE VOTE!

What are you doing reading my blog?

GO OUT AND VOTE, DAMNIT! DEMOCRACY NEEDS YOU!

In other news: more of the same old shit. Republicans are acting like thugs, par for the course, in an attempt to suppress the vote. If we don't boot them now, fight them tooth and nail, we'll probably wind up having to right-hand-salute like the Nazis. (Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, after all.)

GET RID OF THE RETHUGS!

SAVE THE COUNTRY: VOTE DEMOCRAT TOMORROW

Sick of the lying, the thieving, the deception...the murdering and mayhem brought on by Bush Co? THEN VOTE DEMOCRAT TUESDAY!

And if you're living in an area that's getting "robocalled" : REPORT IT! Here's how: STOP ROBO CALLING BY THE RNCC. This is voter suppression! Make em do the perp walk!

Looking for reasons to vote DEM? Visit: Democratic Underground.

When a party or person is so caught up with absolute power that they will lie and cheat their way through an election (oh hell, it's plural elections by this point), it is time for them to go [to jail]!

"Stay the Course"? Bush and his cronies don't give a damn what real people care about. They just want power. Kick them out. Our country can be so much better!

I continue to love Keith Olbermann at MSNBC.


Olbermann: Where are the checks, balances?

Bush has been 'making it up' for too long, and the people have let him

Updated: 10:02 p.m. MT Nov 6, 2006

We are, as every generation, inseparable from our own time.

Thus is our perspective, inevitably that of the explorer looking into the wrong end of the telescope.

But even accounting for our myopia, it’s hard to imagine there have been many elections more important than this one, certainly not in non-presidential years.

And so we look at the verdict in the trial of Saddam Hussein yesterday, and, with the very phrase “October, or November, Surprise” now a part of our vernacular, and the chest-thumping coming from so many of the Republican campaigners today, each of us must wonder about the convenience of the timing of his conviction and sentencing.

But let us give history and coincidence the benefit of the doubt—let’s say it’s just “happened” that way—and for a moment not look into the wrong end of the telescope.

Let’s perceive instead the bigger picture:

Saddam Hussein, found guilty in an Iraqi court.

Who can argue against that?

He is officially, what the world always knew he was: a war criminal.

Mr. Bush, was this imprimatur, worth the cost of 2,832 American lives, and thousands more American lives yet to be lost?

Is the conviction of Saddam Hussein the reason you went to war in Iraq?

Or did you go to war in Iraq because of the weapons of mass destruction that did not exist?

Or did you go to war in Iraq because of the connection between Iraq and al-Qaida that did not exist?

Or did you go to war in Iraq to break the bonds of tyranny there, while installing the mechanisms of tyranny here?

Or did you go to war in Iraq because you felt the need to wreak vengeance against somebody, anybody?

Or did you go to war in Iraq to contain a rogue state which, months earlier, your own administration had declared had been fully contained by sanctions?

Or did you go to war in Iraq to keep gas prices down?

How startling it was, sir, to hear you introduce oil to your stump speeches over the weekend.

Not four years removed from the most dismissive, the most condescending, the most ridiculing denials of the very hint at, as Mr. Rumsfeld put it, this “nonsense.”

There you were, campaigning in Colorado, in Nebraska, in Florida, in Kansas -- suddenly turning this ‘unpatriotic idea’ into a platform plank.

"You can imagine a world in which these extremists and radicals got control of energy resources," you told us. "And then you can imagine them saying, 'We're going to pull a bunch of oil off the market to run your price of oil up unless you do the following.'"

Having frightened us, having bullied us, having lied to us, having ignored and rewritten the Constitution under our noses, having stayed the course, having denied you’ve stayed the course, having belittled us about "timelines" but instead extolled "benchmarks," you’ve now resorted, sir, to this?

We must stay in Iraq to save the $2 gallon of gas?

Mr. President, there is no other conclusion we can draw as we go to the polls tomorrow.

Sir, you have been making this up as you went along.

This country was founded to prevent anybody from making it up as they went along.

Those vaunted Founding Fathers of ours have been so quoted up, that they appear as marble statues: like the chiseled guards of China, or the faces on Mount Rushmore. But in fact they were practical people and the thing they obviously feared most was a government of men and not laws.

They provided the checks and balances for a reason.

No one man could run the government the way he saw fit -- unless he, at the least, took into consideration what those he governed saw.

A House of Representatives would be the people's eyes.

A Senate would be the corrective force on that House.

An executive would do the work, and hold the Constitution to his chest like his child.

A Supreme Court would oversee it all.

Checks and balances.

Where did that go, Mr. Bush?

And what price did we pay because we have let it go?

Saddam Hussein will get out of Iraq the same way 2,832 Americans have and thousands more.

He’ll get out faster than we will.

And if nothing changes tomorrow, you, sir, will be out of the White House long before the rest of us can say we are out of Iraq.

And whose fault is this?

Not truly yours. You took advantage of those of us who were afraid, and those of us who believed unity and nation took precedence over all else.

But we let you take that advantage.

And so we let you go to war in Iraq to oust Saddam or find non-existant weapons or avenge 9/11 or fight terrorists who only got there after we did or as cover to change the fabric of our Constitution or for lower prices at The Texaco or…?

There are still a few hours left before the polls open, sir. There are many rationalizations still untried.

And whatever your motives of the moment, we the people have, in true good faith and with the genuine patriotism of self-sacrifice (of which you have shown you know nothing), we have let you go on making it up as you went along.

Unchecked and unbalanced.

Vote.

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

London

You'd think in one of my past lives that I lived in London, for how much I fucking love it, but so far no word on that!

I'm finally going through my shutterfly account and trying to organize a photo book. God, looking through those pictures makes me feel so nostalgic. I adore London. I was looking through the pictures saying SEND ME BACK!!

*sigh*

British Mum, I miss you!

A lesson for the Right Wingers out there...

With all the noble and virtous right wingers out there dropping like flies, I feel now is a good time to make a suggestion.

Perhaps we should send them all a copy of a play by Moliere that points out the definition of hypocrisy.


Moliere's Tartuffe:

"CLEANTE
That is the usual strain of all your kind;
They must have every one as blind as they.
They call you atheist if you have good eyes;
And if you don't adore their vain grimaces,
You've neither faith nor care for sacred things.
No, no; such talk can't frighten me; I know
What I am saying; heaven sees my heart.
We're not the dupes of all your canting mummers;
There are false heroes--and false devotees;
And as true heroes never are the ones
Who make much noise about their deeds of honour,
Just so true devotees, whom we should follow,
Are not the ones who make so much vain show.
What! Will you find no difference between
Hypocrisy and genuine devoutness?
And will you treat them both alike, and pay
The self-same honour both to masks and faces
Set artifice beside sincerity,
Confuse the semblance with reality,
Esteem a phantom like a living person,
And counterfeit as good as honest coin?
Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, truly!
You never find them keep the golden mean;
The limits of good sense, too narrow for them,
Must always be passed by, in each direction;
They often spoil the noblest things, because
They go too far, and push them to extremes.
I merely say this by the way, good brother."

IF

If I had a fucking DOLLAR for every time I saw the Repukelicans use the following in their ads against Democrats:

 

"Will raise taxes!!!"

 

"Is soft on terror!!"

 

Jesus Christ. These asswipes really don't get it, do they?

 

I'm sorry, who are the assholes spending billions of dollars on a farce of a war - one we have to moral justification for? And who have no fucking plan to end it? No bid contracts for Halliburton, etc., etc., etc.?! Who impedes investigations of corruption even now?

 

Who said "Mission Accomplished" THREE YEARS AGO? Nothing has been accomplished, unless you count Iraq spiraling into civil war and creating a terrorist recruitment hotbed an "accomplishment"?

 

Who are the ones who still haven't found Osama Bin Laden -- years after our fearless leader said "wanted dead or alive"? Yeah, we've been super focused on that.

 

Who are the ones who verbally attack and malign respected war veterans and fucking cripples who dare question their absolute immoral "authority"? Who dodged service while advocating war (i.e., chickenhawking) Yeah, that's right: Republicans. (And for those of you who think Kerry was mocking the troops, get real. He was mocking the President.)

 

Who are the biggest self-hating closet homosexuals ever? Ha ha, those would be Republicans, too. See, if people would just mind their own bedroom business and/or admit they like a little assfucking every now and then, I really think the world would be a happier place.

 

*drum roll*

 

Thank you, I'll be here through November 7th...and beyond.

Money (changes everything)

I love figuring out bills on payday...NOT. At least I've got most of my shit sorted and dated for the month.

 

I finally picked a new mobile phone for my "new every 2" plan with Verizon. I got a RAZR phone for free (my company gets a discount on plans as well). Schweet. Looks like I can even get a plan with 50 more minutes at the same price of my current plan.

 

Our company profit sharing statements came out today. We don't actually get the money until December 7th, which is stupid if you ask me. Most people use that for holiday gifts; it should come out the week before Thanksgiving so people can use it on the mega-sales. I thought I wasn't going to do as well as last year, but our profit percentage was up and I forgot that I had a full year in whereas last year I did not. (Gets determined from Oct-Oct, not Jan-Jan.) It seems like a nice chunk of change...until you realize the fucking rethug government has yet to take out their 40%. FUCKING BASTARDS.

 

If I actually received what is on my statement, I would have booked my next trip to England and it would have been swank. Now, I'm so disheartened I will just pay down one loan I have.

 

Did a tarot reading for myself last night about whether or not I have a shot at that other job as a document specialist. Keep your fingers crossed, that's all I'm saying.

 

And your toes.

Keith Olberman For Prez

Crooks and Liars » Olbermann’s Special Comment : There is no line this President has not crossed — nor will not cross — to keep one political party, in power.

Oh my god. Seriously, Keith Olberman? I think I love him. This should be shouted from every rooftop. And every rabid right winger should be shown this non-stop until they finally get some sort of clue of how evil Bush Co is, and how they are partly to blame for following him like a pack of bitches.

Silly, silly Cheeseheads

Clark developing into one of NFL's top tight ends - Chicago Bears: "Packer backer: Green Bay receiver Donald Driver told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the Packers (3-4) still can make up a four-game deficit in the NFC North and catch the first-place Bears (7-0), who he believes were exposed two weeks ago in a one-point Monday night victory over the Cardinals.
“It’s never over,” Driver said. “(The only team) really playing well is Chicago and I think Arizona showed they're not that good of a team, either. It's a battle. But sooner or later if we have to meet them again, that's the last game of the season, that's Chicago, so we're hoping by that time they lose five or six games and we're right in the hunt with them.”"

Someone's brains have got more holes than Swiss CHEESE.