Monday, September 29, 2008

AND she's 'Dorcus Malorcus', as well.

........................... FREE THE MOOSE!........................................


I read today that some Conservatives are urging McCain to stop pulling on Sarah's reins, to 'give her her head', so to speak. I'm with them. Unmuzzle her. Take the gag out. Loose the reins and let 'er fly! It would be.......glorious.

Yes, I ordered my pins a couple days ago and they said that they should ship within seven business days, so I'm hopeful that they'll be here on time. In any case, you'll be flying back with three shot glasses that I've collected for Chris over the years. (I'll get him one from Montauk too, and send it back with your mom. Oooh, I forgot to say; I love that 'Obama' button because it reminds me of your mural!

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Leftover chef's salad and leftover beef chop suey. This is what happens when you get to the point where you just don't care anymore. I remember (and it was a very long time ago) when it actually mattered to me whether or not the vegetables 'matched' the meat. Can you imagine that there was ever a time when I wouldn't serve brussels sprouts with chicken because they didn't 'go' together? I was insane. These days we eat lasagna with red cabbage, and we're thankful to have it! After all, there are polar bears cannibalizing each other in Alaska. (Another point for Sarah. "Ding")

I DO wish you didn't have to go right back to the PNW and could come to Montauk instead. (Although I understand how you feel. My heart starts missing Kurt before I've even left the house!) I intend to spend two full days up to my knees in water. I'll have to bring a BIG bucket for all the shells and rocks. Hey, remember when you and I were at 'Bee Sting Beach' with that Tupperware basin and the tide came in and the last we saw of it, it was scooting north to Orient Point? All by itself. I wonder whatever became of it. It looked like such a proud little vessel, sailing off on an adventure to parts unknown, laden only with a few seashells and some pretty rocks. (It's a good thing that we didn't put our shoes in there.)

Presently, I'm cleaning out and rearranging my big bag. I have to do it at least once a week, because I keep shoving stuff in there and then forgetting about it. The cats couldn't be happier. Every few minutes one of them leaps onto the desk and tries to make off with something, the sharper the better. Idiots! I wish I could get a picture of all five of them together. They're all ridiculous, but when you put them together, they equal more than the sum of their absurdity. It's weird!

- Maggie

It's a bummer. I woke up in the middle of the night, the radio on, and heard Mr. Newman had died. I am sorry to see him go.
I would not be sorry to see Sarah Palin go, as she is not a giving, talented person. She is a Fakey Fakertons! The things I hide from the public tend to be messy household items, underwear and bills with the AMOUNT I OWE written in big letters. So, if John feels the need to hide his Vice Pres., I shall equate her with these things.
Thanks for the button, Maggie! I will wear it proudly while I vote and pray that Americans are not as dumb as I think they are. I guess you will give it to me in less than 14 days.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

'Cool Hand Luke' Has Moved On.


And now the world's a poorer place.

Take a moment and watch a clip from one of his best films.

Clip from 'Cool Hand Luke'

(I've had this as an audio file on my mp3 player for years, but nothing beats watching him sing it. You have to see the raindrops and the teardrops.)

- Maggie

Have Pity on an Overworked Kitty

(Shadow is having to cover for Jabba, who's all worn out from his investigations!)

This is a subtle message to the MSM; get out there and do your own investigating! There's plenty to see, plenty to find. (Investigatin' Cat won't mind.) Tell us what WE rely on YOU to discover.

And keep your priorities straight. Cosmetics on a straw pig isn't news. A trillion dollars in bailouts IS news. The illegal arrest of peaceful demonstrators is news. Legally issued subpoenas being blown off and ignored by those receiving them IS news! You think anyone of "We The People" could get away with that nonsense? We're going DOWN, my friends, and 'Investigatin' Cat' is just a baby. He can't do it all!

Another thing: George Bush won't stop being President on November 4th. We still have months to get the Articles of Impeachment from under Nancy Pelosi's seat cushion or out of her lettuce crisper or wherever she's stashed them. Let's get crackin' on that, huh?

- Lois (Maggie) Carneiro

"Meh"


.....I did end up watching most of the debate. The New York Times streamed the debate live from their website.

McCain was not quite the drooling, cock-eyed doofus I'd expected him to be, though he did blink a lot and seemed to have something stuck in his teeth. (Corn, probably. Corn always gets stuck in MY teeth.) His presentation and demeanor were only a little bit like Dennis the Menace's mean neighbor, Mr Wilson. You'd think that he would have tried to lighten up the mood by telling his 'Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?' joke, but maybe he's saving that for the next debate.

However, the content of his remarks was pure McCain. I'm glad that Obama managed to fit in a reference to McCain's musical talents when he reminded us of "Bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran" I just wish he'd been able to wiggle in a little anecdote about the time that John McCain called his wife a cunt-faced trollop. Or was it a trollop-faced cunt? Six of one, half a dozen of the other, I guess.

I hope I get my Obama buttons in time for the next debate. I'll watch the whole thing next time, eating popcorn out of my button-covered hat.

- Maggie

Friday, September 26, 2008

The Naked Debate



It's no news by now that John McCain has re-changed his minds about suspending his campaign and postponing the debates. I'm beyond surprise as far as Mr. McCain and his cohorts are involved, but his announcement did spur me to action.

I've never contributed money to a political campaign in my long years as an intransigent independent (with a small 'i'). Yet today, I went onto the Obama campaign site and contributed $25.00 and bought $27.00 worth of campaign buttons, with free shipping and handling. (Including that stunningly perfect one pictured on top of this entry. Actually, I got three of them; one each for me, my sister and my niece.)

$52.00 may not seem like a lot, but it was a big move for me, who would never before have considered sending one thin dime to a politician, even back in the days when I was flush with gelt. But I consider this money well spent. It's a $52.00 "Piss off, you insane git!" to John McCain and all who run in his pack. It's the price of a tank of gas, if I wasn't quite on 'empty' to start with. It's the cost of two BIG bags of the good cat food. They'll just have to eat Purina for a month or two. (Even my Neo-Con cat, Tuna.) It's the price of three hardcover books at Barnes & Noble, if I use my discount card. So, I'll re-read 'The Alexandria Quartet' for awhile. (But not 'Justine'. I could never get into 'Justine'.) We all have to make sacrifices.

I don't intend to watch the debate tonight. I have a soft spot in my heart for loony people and the image of John (Droopy) McCain facing Barack Obama is too painful. I DO hope that the debate moderators remember to pat John down for the same audio receiver that George Bush famously sported in one of his debates with John Kerry. In the name of fairness, they should make them both strip down to their underwear for the event. It would illustrate which man possesses the most grace under pressure and might get Barack a few votes that are presently sitting on the fence.

- Maggie (Lois Carneiro)

The Late Great United States

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I've just read something interesting.
In the NYT today, Judith Warner's column is about Sarah Palin. Judith states that when she saw Palin's photo with Henry Kissinger she saw a woman who knew she was in way over her head and she went on to state that the GOP's selection of Palin was an act of cruelty. I certainly hadn't thought of that but afterwards I could picture some sleazy Republicans sitting down with the Governor of Alaska (and her delusions of grandeur) and sweet talking her into thinking the VP position wouldn't be that hard and if Old McCain did kick the bucket she would have a team of crack advisors to assist her (and they could tell her any damn thing because she knows nothing and she'd be left holding the bag).
This doesn't let Palin off the hook for being stupid enough to take the bait; neither does it let Republicans off the hook for underhanded, slimey politics--pulling the biggest fish out of the backwater and hanging her out to dry, wooed and screwed, so to speak.

AND...how about all these banks biting the dust?? How about the taxpayers footing the bill?? I really don't know anyway else out of it--although a damned good Great Depression might beat some sense into our collective heads--what about the heads of all those individuals who ran those banks? The Boards of Directors, CEO's, CFO's, COO's...how much money were they making while they were making off the all the cash?? And will they be called to account? Hell no, they're probably all Republicans!! (I don't know this...somebody check for me.) Conservative until they're using someone else's money.

AND...what about all those mortgagees losing their homes?? Stupid? Yes.
Wooed and screwed?
Definitely.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Don't you wish this were true???

Delayed Stupidity

I can't believe JMc wants to delay the debate just when he should be debating. What an ass! A frightened, transparent ass. Wake up, America! This man wants to be your president but now won't hold a debate because of the crisis that everyone saw coming. Arghhh!!!!

Here's Another Little Bit of Horror........


.....which I offer with no comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN7hJDS26

-Maggie

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

November 4th CANNOT Come Soon Enough!


For weeks, months and years I've been suitably horrified, infuriated and terrified by the various political and military shenanagins in which our duly elected (HAH!) administration has engaged.

But now it's just gotten silly! Were it not that so many people have died and are destined to die as a result of of the misuse of the US military, this entire mishigas would be hilarious. Were it not for the fact that so many people have seen their businesses fail, their retirement savings disappear and their houses foreclosed upon, this would seem like a peculiarly long Monty Python sketch. Were it not a part of the historical record that we've been aware of the effects of industrial pollution on the climate and that we experienced our first petroleum/gasoline shortages over 30 YEARS AGO yet we are still acting like it's all news to us, I would be laughing!

Poor Barack is going to win this election and then be immediately assigned the blame for decades of bad governance and astounding arrogance, (I think that he's already being blamed.) and that's just not fair.

What this country needs is a good dose of 'McPain'. REALLY! It would be the perfect cathartic/purgative for our collective constipation. It would spread the present administration's personal policies of chaos, lawlessness, entitlement and brutality from the Oval Office into our streets and into our homes. We would all be fully engaged in the consequences of greed and immorality; fighting and starving and dying along with the rest of the victims of the Bush Doctrine. And it would certainly disabuse anyone of the ridiculous notion that God is on our side.

I'm voting for Obama, but I'm rootin' for 'McPain', because I can't think of anything sillier to do.

- Maggie

Delaying the Debate




For the Repubicans, yes, this is a great time to delay the debates.

Too many people will be paying attention.


Monday, September 22, 2008

Passing along the 'Good Word'.


'Investigatin' Cat' wakes up to another Op-Ed source: Lutherans!

It is a wonderful world indeed when a Lutheran pastor happily 'introduces' one atheist to another. Among the most tolerant of men, Pastor Tim is also exceedingly cool.


Maggie - This was sent to me by Sandy Randall, who designed and oversaw the construction of the new church - at no charge! He is an atheist and I always kid him and tell him he'll get to heaven far before me (and if you don't mind, I feel the same about you). At any rate, he, like you, is very articulate. I thought you might appreciate his views.


I am writing this in open breach of the generally understood unspoken protocol against discussing politics other than with close friends and immediate family. I am sending this by "bcc" to everyone in my email address book and hope you will consider doing the same, possibly with minor or total rewrites.

The past eight years have been disastrous for the USA and as a result for the world. How, and even if the populace of this country elected George W. Bush to be president is incomprehensible to me. Now we are faced with a choice- an opportunity to begin the difficult process of cleaning up the mess he has made.

I have a lot of respect for John McCain, the sacrifices he has made, and his obvious deep devotion to our country. But there are many others who have made sacrifices which I was never called upon to make and who have repeatedly proven the depth of their patriotism. I'd point to my good old friends Ken Ashe and Bob MacDonald, to wit. But that does not mean they should be president.

I am prompted to write this message because a couple of earnest people of good intention have questioned the reasons for being a Barack Obama supporter, evidenced by my T-shirt, bumper sticker, and lawn sign. At those times I was not prepared to to respond well and I am concerned that there may be a lot of people who honestly are having trouble deciding. I want to present my reasons for what is a frighteningly clear choice.

Obama has consistently opposed the war in Iraq. Foisted upon us by Bush & Cheney under a cloud of lies and misrepresentation, with assurances from McCain that it would be a brief and successful intervention, this military action was represented as being somehow a decisive response to 9/11. What I predicted it would do, and what Carol and I joined hundreds of thousands of people in Rome and Madrid to protest, is to foment antagonism and foster terrorism, which is precisely what has happened. McCain was not as disgustingly cocky as Bush, with his staged posturing in a flight suit in front of a "mission accomplished" sign, but he was equally wrong then and now. By the way, this issue is why I could never have voted for Hillary Clinton.
McCain claims to "support our troops", but has voted against legislation which would do so. This is a transparent strategy to try to discredit as unpatriotic anyone who thoughtfully realizes that our "mission" in Iraq was a mirage all along and can neither be defined nor fulfilled. McCain's support is not for our troops but for our government's policy of military intervention. His threats about taking action in Georgia, his posturing about Iran, smiling proudly delivering the little ditty of "Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran... to the tune of Barbara Ann . This scares the hell out of me and it should you. Most of the world hates us already, with good reason, and this guy says that rather than trying diplomacy we should bomb anybody we don't like.

The Age Card: OK, its not "P C" to discuss this, but listen to McCain in interviews. He gets confused about geography, can't keep his countries straight. Gets names mixed up. Tells anecdotes about deceiving his captors in POW camp by reciting the names of the defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers when asked to identify his fellow soldiers. Or was it the Green Bay Packers? He's told it both ways. Decide for yourself whether he was getting drifty or merely lying. I am an "old guy" known to my kids and wife as "TOG" (The Old Guy), thanks to a line from Carol long ago. At 61 years old, I have to make an extra effort to be sure I don't leave things out of a report or repeat myself. At 61 years old, I find I sometimes repeat myself. Or leave things out of a report. Maybe forget some key calculation in a structural analysis. I've passed the baton to the next generation. In case you don't know it, Chris Randall is in fact the President of Randall Millennium Homes, which, incidentally, seems to have a greatly improved prospect based upon our recent successes at Browns Corner. I don't want somebody even more absent minded running this country.

On Elitism: I think it is shameful that anybody would try to discredit Obama as an "elitist" as has been done repeatedly. I may be a bit sensitive on that because of what my entire family has done academically. I guess I must have misunderstood what Mom and Dad meant when I assumed that to shoot high and to do the best you can was the model for how to live your life. I guess my opinion doesn't count, having been born with a silver spoon in my mouth like Obama, but I'm am in awe of a black guy of poor mixed race parents, raised by his grandparents of modest means, who somehow managed to be the president of the Harvard Law Review. Through the experiences of my kids at Ivy league schools, I believe I have better than average insight into what goes on there, and Barack's accomplishment is nothing short of astonishing. That he should leave that role for a career in public service instead of big bucks law practice is equally astonishing and says a world about his character. I wish I could be half the man he is. The McCain camp is sponsoring a guy who married an heiress and has stated publically that he believes the upper end of "middle class" is about $5 million dollar income. He can't recall the exact number of houses he owns and he thinks tax breaks for the rich (over $5 mil income !!!) is the key to our future. This is insane!

Medical Insurance: If you haven't seen Michael Moore's movie, Sicko, I think you should. I've heard from people whom I respect that he may have oversimplified matters, but it is clear to me that millions of people in this country are sick and dying of things which could be treated if it were not prohibitively expensive. Our present system is run by organizations which funnel money into the accounts of those lucky high achievers who have climbed above the magic $5 mil threshold and are thus entitled by McCain's logic to tax breaks.

Sarah Palin: We were Italy when the selection was announced. I simply could not believe it. Carol has cautioned me that If I say what I really think (you know I rarely do that) I may offend people. I'll just attach this link Samantha sent us http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check and ask you to consider whether you would hire this woman to provide day care for your child? I am aghast at the thought of the possibility of the old guy checking out and having her run our country.

Not "Change You Can Believe In" from the "Straight Talk Express" when you heard him say he doesn't care if our troops stay in Iraq for 100 years. Not "change" evidenced by a voting record of 90% in support of Bush policies. Not change from a guy who can't see that his public ditty about bombing Iran is flagrantly offensive to the rest of the world. Not change from a guy who has no clue about the realities of energy costs and energy policy and who ridicules Barack for suggesting we can all make the world a little better (or perhaps less worse) by implementing energy conservation in our daily lives.

I am urging you, if you have read this far, to do any of the following things:
If you think you favor McCain, please reconsider.
If undecided, do your homework before it is too late.
If you support Barack Obama, SHOW IT. Send money, volunteer, proudly sport your button, your T-shirt, banner, bumper sticker, yard sign, etc.
Carol has become a volunteer Barack's "Volunteers in Battleground States", where she will be working in Montgomery County, PA during October. I'll probably be there with her. Speak out. Help save this country and build a better world for our children and theirs.

Robert J Randall

Rainy Days


I don't have a thing to blog about. How can a girl compete when even the kittens in this family are writing odes and epics?

Fall has come to Tacoma after Summer finally arrived and stayed for 2 weeks. I turned the heat on yesterday for a couple of hours just to get the chill off the apartment.


I have 5 more days to work this month and then I'll be on vacation until the 24th of October. I'll be back East with Maggie and Patty and Judy until then.


Maggie and I will be in Montauk for a couple of days wine drinking and communing with the Atlantic.

Patty and I will talk about being fully retired and cruising the Mediterranean.

Judy and I will watch her young Robert get married and I will officially(but without comment or fanfare) pass the torch to Catherine and James Francis as Conservators of the O'Reilly Family Legacy, Memory and Future.

The Hatchling and her enormous extended family have something going on called the Family Fitness Challenge(FFC). I'll find out about it while I'm in Rochester. This family is not made up of individuals. They are an Organism--if any of you remember the '60's and the Kennedys of Hyannisport, MA--you know the Hatch/McGlynns. A teeming and teaming cell of intellectual, overachievers. (They even have a tiny little MATRIARCH) They are scattered thither and yon across this great USofA but are nonetheless seemingly always TOGETHER--a swirling mass of coming and going and doing. I'm really looking forward to the particulars of the FFC--when it is completed it will undoubtedly cause a shift in the Force.

As for myself, on these rainy days I think of the cosmic yesterday, today and the misty future of an old girl who's still ON THE ROAD. Right now I'm clueless. I'm seeing a quiet time after I get back from New York and I hope that it will gel into something solid and worldly. I'd like to BE for a while yet. But not what I've been.



Saturday, September 20, 2008

I'm the Investigatin' Cat, and I don't watch the news.....


.....watching the news just give you the blues. Instead,
I investigate here and there.
I investigate just about anywhere,
'Cause I'm the Investigatin' Cat.

There is no place too high or low,
That an Investigatin' Cat can't go.
Is it something big, or little bitty?
Oooh, let me look! I'm the Investigatin' Kitty.
Is it filled with water, is it easy to tip?
That's just the ticket for a little pip -
Squeek of a Cat,
Who's got nothing better to do,
Than investigate you,
And you,
And you,
And THAT!

I want no badge, no gun or hat.
(EVERYONE fears the Investigatin' Cat!)
Those things would just encumber me,
Get in my way. And I need to see!
I was made to poke and nose around,
From up on the ceiling, right down to the ground.

Just doin' my job, just earnin' my pay,
I investigate every day.
Earning my keep and following my bliss,
There's nothing an Investigatin' Cat will miss.

I check out the Big Ones, who pretend to be sleeping,
They think I'm cute, but I'm really just peeping,
Into their eyes.
Their big weird eyes.
Are they open? Are they shut?,
Either way, they've got to get up!

"We want new water, We want new food!
We want it now, cuz there's a 'tude,
Building an' a building in our feline brains.
Attica, Attica!", is the refrain.


But get me my breakfast and I'll desist,
(For as long as it takes me to eat.)
Then it's 'back to work' for the Investigatin' Cat,
Who knows what I might meet,
Or find, or dig out of a box?
I've got all day, and this job rocks!

Big Ones say, "Calm down, stop that!"
"Screw THEM", I say, cuz I'm the Investigatin' Cat.
My work here is not yet through.
There's always plenty left to do.

And if I feel contemplative or still,
I'll sit on my Mizpeh on top of the hill.
(A big, square, black hill: They call it TV.)
I don't care what they call it,
It's a great place to see,
Everyone and,
Everything that,
Passes me at my will.
Ain't no place better for an Investigatin' Cat,
Than the Mizpeh on the hill.

- Jabba Kampp (Now 16 weeks old!) 9/20/2008

Friday, September 19, 2008

I Lost my Bag o' Hammers Picture

So, we're circling the drain instead...

I heard GWB on the radio this morning on my way home from work. He say: "We cannot wait to mend this terrible financial situation, We must join together in a bi-partisan manner and bail the hell out of Wall St." ..or words to that effect.
GWB hasn't been reading the newspapers.
Merrill Lynch is dead as a doornail. Freddie, Fannie, WaMu, The Fanucci Brothers---all deceased. (GWB wanted to give these guys our Social Security money---probably still wants to)
Not only that but GWB has forgotten that these USt's of A are trillions of dollars in debt secondary to another issue he's got going. So what is he going to use to bail us the hell out of Wall Street?? Aside: in another 5 months or so GWB is going to be sitting on the back porch in Crawford, TX just watching those oil wells produce--no worries, son.
Ah well, none of the people I love have any money anyway--just like their mother (sister).

AND: McCain wants us to elect him to the US presidency so he can fix up the mess these DAMN LIBERALS have gotten us into.

None of this is news to you, I'm sure. I'm just venting.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I Could Have Sworn I'd Blogged.....


.....but I guess I didn't. I must have dreamt it.

I went to see my Personal Brain Care Specialist this morning and we talked about how he hosted a dinner for the 'local' members of the American Psychiatric Assoc. and chose a Buddhist, vegan restaurant down in the Village for the gathering. He said that all the other psychiatrists thought he was crazy. What a nut.

I have nothing to write about because I haven't read the newspapers in four days. The only 'news' I've gotten was in emails from Rich Simon and my sister, and they were depressing enough.

Whatever happened to that Sarah Palin person?

I honestly think that the Oktoberfest gives me jet lag. I slept yesterday until 3:50pm (!), answered 50 emails (all concerning the Oktoberfest) and then went right back to sleep. I got up at 6:30 this morning and I'm just beginning to feel normal again. But my 'counting thumb' is still numb.

I'd better go read the news. Smell ya later!

- Maggie

Monday, September 15, 2008

There goes my minimalist retirement.

I really want to go take all of my pitiful savings out of the bank right now. That makes me a panicky alarmist, yet would be so very comforting. Instead, I think I'll go buy some white wine and sit in the backyard. Imagine if more people handled the financial crisis this way! Think of the level heads that would prevail. Actually, maybe a lot of people spent too much time drunk in the backyard, thus all the foreclosures.

Into The Valley Of Death.....




.....Rode The Copper-Bottomed Bitches!

I was discussing our current blog subject today with a fairly liberal woman who teaches at Hunter College. She said, "Maggie, when are you going to stop fighting the hopeless battle?"

"Never!" I said. (I live to fight the hopeless battle.)

I'd answered her without thinking, but as I reflected on it later, I realized that fighting the hopeless battle is the very best way to engage in life. Certainly the most realistic way, since none of us are getting out of here alive, but also the most fulfilling way. The hopeless battle is the eternal question. Everything else is just a delusion or a big dead end.

I don't feel optimistic about the future we Americans are making, but I do feel exhilarated. It gives me something to push back against, something to mouth off about. I can DO that! It needs to be done and I'm good at it. I've always had contrarian tendencies, but I've never embraced them before. I think I've finally ripened.

I'm full of juice. Noli me tangere, unless you want to get all sticky.


- Maggie

Step one: Remove heads from ass.

I agree that Palin is a mania, not a candidate. People said this about Obama. Yet, Obama can speak at length about his ideas, policies and the the world at large. Palin is inexperienced. People said this about Obama. Yet, he has been through a campaign against Hillary. And he won. He has also been involved in Washington politics. Palin has been in Alaska.
I am concerned about Palin's lie. She seems to believe that she eradicated the Bridge to Nowhere. Alaska still got all that bridge money. They didn't build the bridge, but the money went there anyway. This seems like a major flaw in her plan to brag about her barracudaness. She's against earmarks, but will spend the cash anyway.
I am really sickened by blindness of whoever the hell out there is actually swayed by Palin. They must be the most simple-minded issue-phobes. The economy is in the crapper. The world wishes we didn't exist. Global warming inspired storms are erasing the gulf coast. BUT PALIN'S A WOMAN!!!! WOOO HOOOO!
Dear Uncommitted Voters:
Are you better off than you were 8 years ago? Do you feel safer when you travel? Would you like to buy or sell a home anytime soon? Do you think gas is expensive? Answer these questions, then vote accordingly. Love, Me.

This is the only good thing about Palin: http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20080913.html

Sunday, September 14, 2008

From GypsyJ....a young lady who thinks...

GypsyJ is a blonde....but she still thinks, hence: Madonna.

Gypsy's comment:


"McCain/Palin is an insult to the intelligence of the citizens of this country. And.... while we are dealing with that embarassment, here's something that's pretty BIG we might want to inform ourselves about. Lynden LaRouche is way out there, but it's worth reading his information on the so-called bailout of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac that is taking place. Dark ages, here we come. Via SUVs and Hummers we can all listen to that final sucking sound when the last usable oil is gone and we are wondering why no one developed solar power to an affordable level when we had the chance.Check out this website: http://www.larouchepac.com/files/pdfs/080911_tantamount_treason.pdf'"
September 13, 2008 9:01 PM


Too true, Gypsy, me love. There are a powerful lot of issues out there that we're missing because we've become obsessed with the whole Palin phantasmagoria.

It's all showbiz and diversion and I must admit I am having a hard time focusing.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Yeah---TacomaGals Kick Ass!!!

Hurricane Catherine and TyPhoon Maggie and Me.

I am proud to be associated with the very APEX of females.

The Multiverse needs more of us.

Alas, we are so few.


___________________


I can't write anymore about the campaign just yet--I'm still too raw--all nerve endings, don't you know, since I found out that McCain's VP person had never learned about the world at large (except for Canada and Mexico) either by going anywhere or learning another language or by studying anything pertinent to politics or culture in college or, God forbid, graduate school!
BUT--I can tell you to look this over:

http://sarahpalin.typepad.com/

Hah!!

Hurricane Catherine KICKS ASS!




Catherine, you're my hero! (And you're just a little girlie, not even a man!) I have become so disgusted with this whole 'Sideshow Sarah' act that I've been unable to find the words to express myself.

I still can't wrap my noggin around the idea that so many people are letting themselves be distracted by this circus freak and her assumed 'Little House on the Tundra' persona. She couldn't be more of a caricature if she tried. There are real issues to be discussed and they don't include her, no matter where she puts her lipstick! (I liked what Obama said about the lipstick on a pig thing. He said that Palin IS the lipstick. The pig is McCain!)

(See link below) Here's Sarah Palin. Nice, huh? This is what she spent almost half a million dollars of taxpayer money on. Cold-hearted bastard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGPFPBmzRrQ

We have to kick her back to Hooterville and start talking about the HUGE national debt and trade deficits. Let's talk about how all of our roads, bridges and tunnels are falling to pieces. Let's talk about the millions of citizens in this country that have insufficient health care coverage or none at all! Let's talk about how no candidate since Jimmy Carter has chided us about our profligate lifestyles, that domestic oil production PEAKED in the 1970's and that oil companies are not going to be building refineries for a product that will not exist (as we know it) in 30 years. Oil companies are no longer in this business for the long run. They are taking their profits now!

Sarah Palin is a no-nothing joke, a lizard in snake's clothing, a self-promoting Right-to Lifer-er, a pro-abstinence / anti-sex education creationist who speaks in tongues, for goodness sake. She's an insult to pigs, rottweilers AND lipstick. And she's a mortal danger to wolves and bears. If only wolves and bears could pilot airplanes and pull triggers, we'd never need to think about her again.

- Maggie

Also...

The Republicans dismiss everything said against Palin as sexism. Oh yeah? Well, I'll tell you what is sexist. It is representing my gender with this backwards, righteous hypocrite. It is sexist to give the impression that all working mothers should be cheerful exercise addicts who forgo sleep and a social life to care for their families.
How come no one complained when Palin said that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick? Isn't that just every bit as sexist as the lipstick on a pig thing? Her comment portrays working moms as ball-biting dogs who take a moment to smear on some Mary Kay in order to conceal their true selves from men. Sorry, Mrs. Palin, but I don't need to pretty up before I disagree with men.
Also, I don't think every woman who drives her kids to practice needs to be labeled by that action alone. Nobody calls women "A &P Moms", or "Six Hours in the ER for My Kid's Stitches Moms". Quit it with that spunky mom-on-the go rhetoric. All it makes me want to do is NEVER HAVE KIDS.
By the way, John McCain used that same lipstick on a pig thing when talking about Hillary Clinton.
Finally, I reject any criticism that comes from a group that needed to rename their own damn party as to not be associated with themselves. GOP=RNC=Both Suck Equally.

Palin' to impress me

This woman is an IDIOT. Americans are the lamest kind of sheep if they think this woman is the answer to any thing but "What has brown hair and is the governor of Alaska?"

Gibson: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?
Palin: In what respect, Charlie?
Gibson (refusing to give her a hint): What do you interpret it to be?
Palin: His worldview?
Gibson: No, the Bush Doctrine, enunciated in September 2002, before the Iraq War.

From Slate Mag. The whole article is here:http://www.slate.com/id/2199999/

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

It's the little things that make life worth living.


Teacher OK after striking bear while riding bike.


Published: September 10, 2008

Filed at 4:24 p.m. ET

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) -- A middle school teacher suffered some bruising and a big scratch on his back after he struck a bear while riding his bicycle to school.

Jim Litz said he was traveling about 25 mph Monday morning when he came upon a rise and spotted a black bear about 10 feet in front of him. He didn't have time to stop and T-boned the bruin.

He tumbled over the handlebars, his helmet hit the bear's back and the two went cartwheeling down the road.

The bear rolled over Litz's head, cracking his helmet, and scratched his back before scampering up a hill above the road.

Litz's wife drove by shortly after the crash and took her husband to the hospital. He hoped to be able to return to teaching science at Target Range Middle School on Friday.

------

Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com


I think that the best part of this is that the middle school he teaches at is named 'Target Range'! Is that perfect, or what? I'll bet the high school is named 'Arsenal'.

- Maggie

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Great White North - Then & Now.


Remember the good old days, when the only 'Palin' we knew in the Great North Woods, was Michael Palin? He stood there, with his best girlie at his side and proudly sang, "The Lumberjack Song"

And if you haven't already seen it, please watch Jon Stewart eviscerate the the 'Talking Heads' of the Republican Party. (Can you even eviscerate heads? I don't think so, but he does it brilliantly anyway.)

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Stewart_slams_hypocrisy

- Maggie

The Sign.


This is it. This is the sign that Kurt and I have spent a week and a half cobbling together. Take a good look at it now, because Frank and Kurt are hanging it up at the intersection of Mill St. and Rt 6 tomorrow morning. The forecast for tomorrow night? Heavy rain, possible thunderstorms. The forecast for Saturday: Heavy rain! I have high hopes that the sign will weather the storms, but a secret fear that the lettering is going to run like Tammy Faye's mascara.

Paul Scherer had a good idea. He suggested Scotch-Guarding it, so it would shed the water and not get too heavy. Good thinking, Methuselah!

Many, MANY thanks to Paul Geppert who not only cut me my length of pipe, but did it all over again when I decided I wanted a different pipe. Thanks to Frank S., who has indulged my whims regarding the sign with admirable forbearance.

And thanks to all you generous, kind and forgiving club members who are going to be merciful to me if the sign turns out to be a disaster. If it DOES turn out to be a disaster, I will stand at Mill St. & Rt. 6, holding a new sign all week long. (Which would get me out of doing the Money Room, so every cloud does indeed have a silver lining.)

Nervously Yours, - Maggie

My Last Shot....for now

It turns out that all those folks at the RNC are feeling mighty sheepish--- they've wasted a lot of good money on those high-falutin' elitist universities getting all those Master Degrees and Ph.D's and Doctors of Jurisprudences and such.
Turns out you don't need to be educated to be elected to the executive branch of this here gove'mint.
Mighty unwise of 'em. Real Americans don't throw good money away like that.
Education just gets you into trouble---look at GWB---his Daddy bought him that shiny degree and already Mr. Romney has forgotten GWB's ever been in that White House at all.
Yep. Last dollar those Conservatives will spend in those damned intellectual pursuits...never was no good....

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Sticks and Stones


From:
To: mkampp AT yahoo DOT com

Sam Harris: Sexist Pig and Liberal Shill

I've received more than the usual amount of criticism for my
recent opinion piece on Sarah Palin, most of it alleging sexism
and/or an unseemly infatuation with Barack Obama. For those
who care, I'd like to briefly respond:

My alleged sexism: It is true that I used some
hackneyed, gender-slanted language in the piece
("get sassy," "girl-next-door," etc.). This was deliberate.
Clearly, I played this game at my peril. I can say that if
Sarah Palin were a man of similar qualifications,
I would have used equally slanted language to describe
him. I might have called Mr. Palin a "frat-boy" or
a "lumberjack." I would have invoked some silly macho
phrasing like,"Watch Cousin Jim flip Putin the bird."
My concern is not that Mrs. Palin is a woman. My concern
is that she is a totally unqualified and poorly educated
woman who was added to the Republican ticket as a
token
woman (and Creationist wacko). For what it's worth,
the article was vetted by the two women closest to me
(wife and mother) and by two female editors at the LA Times.
If anything, the editing at the Times made the piece
even more "sexist."

My alleged Obamamania: Many McCain supporters have
written to say that (1) Obama is also unqualified (or even less
qualified than Palin) and (2) I have shown myself to be a
hypocrite by not objecting to Obama's religiosity. Briefly: My
criticism of Palin should not be construed as uncritical
acceptance of Obama. Needless to say, I find Obama's
religious pandering repulsive. The suspicion that he is
pandering, out of obvious necessity, and not quite as
religious as he makes out, is somewhat comforting, however.
But even if Obama were precisely as religious as he appears,
he is not a Creationist, Rapture-Ready blockhead. Palin,
by all appearances, seems to be one. This is a difference
worth noting. Whatever you may think of his politics,
Obama is very intelligent and reasonably well educated.
Palin thinks the universe is 6000 years old. Unfortunately,
I wrote my article before some of the most disturbing signs
of her religious extremism came to light.

So, let me simply declare that I would be overjoyed to
have a qualified woman in the White House. I would,
likewise, be overjoyed to have a qualified African American
in the White House. In fact, I would be overjoyed to have
a qualified WASP man in the White House. I will be
guardedly optimistic to have a very smart
(and somewhat qualified) Barack Obama in the White House.
And I would be frankly terrified to have a religious
bumpkin like Sarah Palin in the White House.
I think you should share this last conviction.
Hence my latest opinion piece.

Best, Sam

.




Dear Sam,

You are neither a sexist pig nor a liberal shill. I've seen you up against Chris Hitchens and Richard Dawkins; you're nobody's shill.

Sarah Palin is quoted as saying that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by the 'Founding Fathers', complete with the phrase "under God'. If I'm not mistaken, the Pledge was written in 1898 and the 'under God' part was added in the 1950's.

Sarah Palin, when asked about her possible nomination as the Republican candidate for Vice President, said that she couldn't answer until someone told her what the duties of the Vice President are!

Sarah Palin wanted to ban books from her local library. (If I were a person of religious faith, I'd believe that there must be some circle of Hell reserved for those who seek to ban books!)

And, yes, when Barack Obama said "God bless America" during his speech at the DNC, I wanted to puke. But I'm going to vote for him anyway, because I don't think that he will cite scripture as a rationale for policy decisions or claim that God whispers in his ear regarding international relations.

I hesitate to describe myself as a feminist because then I'll be perceived as someone else's definition of the word. But many people who know me would describe me as a feminist. Accepting that designation (for the moment) I can tell you that I found nothing offensive in your article about Sarah Palin. Keep writing, Sam.

- Maggie Carneiro (Hermana) http://tacomagalblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

September 2, 2008 - Reality Check



I guess we've laughed enough over Sarah Palin--it's been a raucous couple of days and a bit of hilarity is always welcome during a Presidential campaign but now its time to get serious.

Has Sarah Palin proved herself in the international political community? Not yet.

Has Sarah Palin prepared herself for 4 (possibly 8) years in the international political community? No. It's always nice to think about the little person from nowhere rising up to challenge the Big Boys but does that usually happen? It's another great American Dream--but its a dream nontheless.
Gomer Pyle and the Clampetts are the stuff sitcoms are made of and down the road the whole McCain/Palin situation may be good as a television show.

But this is Reality. http://gov.state.ak.us/bio.html (Alaska office of the Gov.)

I stole this from Wikipedia:

Palin was born Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter and third of four children of Sarah Heath (nee Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach.[7] Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.[7] As a child, she would sometimes go moose hunting with her father before school, and the family regularly ran 5K and 10K races.[7]
Palin attended Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska, where she was the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at the school and the point guard and captain of the school's basketball team.[7] She helped the team win the Alaska small-school basketball championship in 1982, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds of the game, despite having an ankle stress fracture at the time.[7] She earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play and was the leader of team prayer before games.[7]
In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest (according to most but not all sources, playing the flute and winning the "Miss Congeniality" award as well),[8][9] then finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant,[10] at which she won a college scholarship.[7] Palin attended Hawaii Pacific College in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1982 for a semester, where she majored in Business Administration, and transferred in 1983 to North Idaho College.[11] In 1987,[12] Palin received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho, where she also minored in political science.[13][14]
In 1988, she worked briefly as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska,[15] and also helped out in her husband’s family commercial fishing business.[16]

I got this from the US Congressional Directory:

OBAMA, Barack, a Senator from Illinois; born in Honolulu, Hawaii, August 4, 1961; obtained early education in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Hawaii; continued education at Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif.; received a B.A. in 1983 from Columbia University, New York City; worked as a community organizer in Chicago, Ill.; studied law at Harvard University, where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, and received J.D. in 1991; lecturer on constitutional law, University of Chicago; member, Illinois State senate 1997-2004; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2004 for term beginning January 3, 2005.


Bibliography
Obama, Barack. Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Times Books, 1995. Reprint 2004; Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.


From where I'm standing I'm liking the fellow who's been preparing for the international public office for most of his life.

Mrs. Palin was dropped into this presidential campaign as a ploy. Ploys are good if they're backed up by a solid long term strategy. I don't see that here.

My fellow Americans, do we dare drop Ms. Palin, and the Republicans who dreamed this bit of caprice up, onto the international stage?




Monday, September 1, 2008

Metamorphosis


Geez, it didn't take long for Sarah Palin to turn into Harriet Miers, did it? Did the McCain campaign take the time to learn anything at all about her? She thinks the Pledge of Allegiance was written by the same guys who signed the Declaration of Independence, for goodness sake! Next. we'll find out that she spells 'library' with only one 'r'. I wonder if she'll last as long as Harriet did?

Isn't it terribly condescending of political strategists to think that female voters will cast their ballot for anything wearing a pantsuit with a vagina in it?

Gotta go see what Gustav is doing to the Gulf Coast. Tune in at 11:00pm.

- Maggie

(....."Blogging Like We're Being Paid For It".....If only!)