And that's a wrap folks!

I can't believe I actually pulled off making one political post a day for the last 31 days!! This has been really fun! So thanks to those who have read my rantings every day, I feel like I've learned a lot in this past month and hope you have too. I'll probably keep up my political ramblings into November since the election is on the 4th, and after that will get back to what I usually do, which is ramble on about anything that comes to mind. Be afraid, be very afraid... ;-P

My last post of the month will end the way my first one started--encouraging you to vote. VOTE people, please, vote. I may have my opinions about who needs to be the next POTUS and you don't have to agree with me, all I ask is that you make yourself informed of the issues, take a good hard look at the candidates before you and what an administration with them at the top of it will look like, and at what direction it will take this country in. Then vote your conscience. But when you do that, please think not only of the things that matter in your own life, but in the lives of those around you, both in the US and abroad. The choice you make in that voting booth DOES affect the entire world.

And that's a wrap folks! I leave you with this quote, have a think on it, eh?

"One voice can change a room.
And if one voice can change a room
then it can change a city.
And if it can change a city,
it can change a state.
And if it can change a state,
it can change a nation.
And if it can change a nation,
it can change the world.
Your voice can change the world."

-Barack Obama

Alright, I've gone and done it now...

Yes I did, I've joined NaNoWriMo! So anyone who happens to read this and is in NaNo land, let me know we can hook up and whinge over our writing together!

Check it out:


That says "Rebel" because I don't know that what I'm writing will qualify as fiction, although to be honest parts of my life sure do read like it! *snort*

The Final Countdown

Less than a week to go! A little scary, isn't it?

As this final week passes by, Obama is making his closing plea to the American people. As this election season has played out he has kept his campaign moving forward slow and steady, building a massive network of supporters that have worked hard to bring us to this moment. And now? Time is getting short! Our job as supporters is to keep pushing this campaign forward, keep talking, keep encouraging people to make their voices heard and vote, keep discussing the issues! Obama's job is to make the most convincing closing arguments possible as the clock ticks down.

I don't know the man personally, but my observation of him these past months is that he's probably one formidable opponent in the courtroom. Why? He has one hell of a poker face, can deliver a convincing argument, and I swear he's a skilled closer.

Check out his closing speech in Canton, Ohio. Sharply on point, all business, ready to bring this campaign to an end and effect positive change in America. Although I must say I think he's already brought change to America, just look at the number of people active in this election, because they have HOPE that better days are ahead. YES WE CAN!

Strange times we're living in...

A friend posted this on Facebook and I watched it and was actually speechless for a moment!

Good 'ole "Joe the Plumber" had a gem of an interview with Shepard Smith of Fox News. Apparently Joe thinks that a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel! When asked by Smith to back up exactly why he agreed with that statement, his response was something to he effect of '...I think everyone should go figure out what would make me say something like that!'

I need to remember that line the next time someone expects me to back up some claim I've made! *snort*

Have a look at the video, even better than Joe sticking his foot in his mouth as usual, is watching someone at Fox News actually defend Obama against those comments and seem rather unsettled with what he had just heard.



"Some things....well, it's just gets frightening sometimes."

Exactly Shepard, exactly.

California isn't the only one...

While reading yet another blog entry about Prop 8 I followed a link that led to an article in USA Today that reminded me of something I'd totally forgot-- Florida and Arizona also have proposed state Constitutional Amendments on the ballot to permit statewide discrimination on those not engaged in a "traditional marriage" (whatever that is *eyes rolling*), and Arkansas has a proposed Adoption Ban!

Floridians will be voting on Proposition 2, an amendment that states "Inasmuch as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized." Many are concerned that the wording of this amendment if passed would impact all cohabiting couples regardless of sexual orientation, including many seniors.

Arizonans will be voting on Proposition 102, an amendment that states "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."

Californians will be voting on Proposition 8, an amendment that states "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California"

Last but certainly not least, Arkansas has a state statue (Act 1) proposed that will ban individuals cohabiting outside of a valid marriage from adopting a child or providing foster care! This is not targeted only at homosexual couples, but at anyone not married and living with someone! Way to go Arkansas, you already have a horrifying record as far as your state's Child Welfare Agency is concerned, but now you want to ban people who may have stable homes, finances, and relationships but aren't married? Fuck you.

So please, if you live in Florida, Arizona, California, or Arkansas, vote NO to state legislated discrimination!

And if you're not in one of those states, that's okay, we can all still do something. Blog, donate money, talk to anyone you know in those states who does have the power to vote against them. There is (thankfully) a lot out there about Prop 8 in California, but I've read almost nothing about the other states and today was the first I read about Act 1 in Arkansas!

Let's hope that the record turn out of voters this year will support equal rights for everyone. We all deserve equality and the freedom to marry whom we chose and create a family.

To write or not to write...

that is the question of the week.

I've been thinking about NaNoWriMo as I've been encouraging others I know to give it a go. I personally didn't intend to do it since I'm not a fiction writer. When I feel the urge to write it's more from a reflective non-fiction place, know what I mean? And since the "No" part stands for "novel", which to me means fiction, I figured there was no way to participate in it.

BUT, while hunting through the NaNoWriMo site I found this area in their forum for "NaNo Rebels", i.e. those who are writing, but are in some way rebelling against the rules. Apparently the creator of NaNoWriMo didn't want them to feel totally left out this year, even though they are not "technically" meeting the requirements. So, some of them join to hang out in the forum and plan to write the 50,000 words, but not validate and get a badge at the end since they aren't following the rules.

And then I saw my Daily Om for yesterday, titled "Personal Tales: Writing Your Story" which made me do a double take because the only thing on my "to write" list is a memoir of sorts. Not really for anyone to read, just for me, because I feel like life is passing so fast that things I want to remember are fading from my memory and if I don't take the time to get them down soon, they'll be gone forever.

Do you think it's all a sign that I should join to participate and just not validate in the end? I mean, the real prize in the whole thing is the manuscript you have at the end and I don't feel the need to have a badge from it. So what say the few of you who read my blog??

Best "Vote" Promotion Ever!

Look at what showed up in my Inbox today! This is put out by MoveOn.org which I'm a member of.

I swear people, this is so fucking funny I had to watch it twice...and resist the urge to spam everyone I know with it!

PTPD

Isn't it awful that many of us have become so jaded in the last 8 years that we can't actually sit back and enjoy the fact that Obama might actually win?

I've decided it's not simply my inner cynic's fault that I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's not our fault, we're all just suffering from trauma inflicted by a President who has pretty much allowed all his cronies to run rampant and damage our country!

It's almost like we are as a nation suffering from some form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), or should I say PTPD (Post Traumatic President Disorder)... 84 days 'til the next president takes over. I have to believe our country has better days ahead. These are all just birthing pains, right?

Is it all over yet?

I am a "Doubting Thomas" type. No matter how much evidence you present me with, I still have an inner cynic in the back of my mind going "Yeah, but....". To be honest, it drives me batty, however I can see how in some circumstances it's a good trait to have, so I strive to make peace with that part of myself.

But OMG people, it is overactive in this whole election thing. I can read all sorts of articles about how Obama has a significant lead and McCain's ratings are dropping and part of me hangs onto that as proof that my hope of this election ending with Obama in the White House is not in vain. And then the voice starts rambling on about how it could all just be a ploy to make us overconfident and that we know the vote has been stolen before, so who's to say it won't happen again this year. So I pace, and fret, and my nails are long gone. We're in the homestretch people, in little more than a week we will (hopefully) know the outcome of this election! And damn it, this HAS to turn out better than 4 years ago because I don't know if I can psychologically recover if it doesn't.

But oh the things a week could bring... *shudders* See! There I go again! Meh! Okay, time to beat that part of my brain into submission with some humor.

SNL was in a bit of a scramble this weekend because Amy Poehler went into labor and gave birth to a healthy baby boy hours before the broadcast! This week the joke is on Biden. LOL



This one is not really political, but for some reason I just can't stop laughing at it!

Eric Hirshberg blogged recently on Huffington Post about the Conservatives For Change video he created after observing the conservatives in his life deciding to vote for Obama. Their reasons are all a bit different, but they reflect one thing IMO, a willingness to have an open mind and to judge the candidates based on who they are and what they say, not just what party they are with.



It's unfortunate that almost every conservative I know refuses to put aside party allegiance or one issue voting to have a calm discussion about the important things in this race. *sighs*

My brain hurts!

As interesting as the political news of the day has been (what with the fake claims from a McCain volunteer of being assaulted by a big, bad, black robber who carved a B into her face and with McCain's brother calling 911 and the police department to complain about a traffic jam and cuss at them) I've got more pressing matters on my mind. I've been sitting here trying to understand concepts that go way, WAY over my head. Why do money issues have to be so damned complicated, huh? I need some explanations in simple terms. Is there a financial analyst in the audience? Please?

Here is my dilemma, perhaps someone can shed some light on the mystery for me. The problem? Currency!! In preparation for moving to the US, Chris and I have been watching the currency values go up and down. A while back the NZ dollar was pretty high in relation to the US dollar, something like .78, which was great, considering often it's more like .64, meaning for every $1.00 NZ dollar we could buy $0.78 US dollar. Now, when thinking about this in pocket change, it doesn't seem like much, since that was a difference of about $0.12 USD. But imagine how it affects much bigger numbers, say $10,000 NZD. The difference in the two rates would then be about $1,200 USD!! Nice chunk of change, isn't it? So as you can imagine, we decided to convert much of our NZD to USD. Granted, we aren't rich by any stretch of the imagination, but every little bit counts if you know what I mean, so we were pretty happy to have shifted it over while the exchange rate was so good.

Happy that is, until now. With the market being so volatile and other countries feeling the shock waves from it all, things have definitely been affected down here. Working with similar figures to the above example but in the opposite direction, $0.56 USD will buy $1.00 NZD. Scale it up and that means you could buy $10,000 NZD for about $5,600 USD. And NZ banks pay a good amount of interest, far more than the US does.

Now, I'm not one to convert back and forth as the rates go up and down. It's too stressful. watching currency will make you insane! But, with some money experts in the US telling people to spread their savings over several banks and several accounts in order to protect it if they have a large amount in savings, I have to admit having our money in USD is a bit scary. The USD is doing fine now, but what if it drops? Good for other countries looking to buy USD, bad for those of us who have to spend USD! Is my money safe in USD? Would it be safer in NZD? The dollar here is not likely to go much lower. It may not rebound for a bit, but it hasn't been this low in years and since the interest rate here was cut from 7.5% to 6.5% here two days ago, the dollar is bound to climb up before long.

So I sit here wishing I had nails left to bite, wishing it wasn't a long weekend (Monday is Labour Day here), and wishing I knew a lot more about what's going on in the financial world. I don't want to make a ton of money, I just want to know that what savings we do have is going to be there tomorrow.

See why my brain hurts right now??

The best thing about an election year?

All the political comedy!

First They Came...

Words from this poem have been itching the back of my mind for weeks now and just a few minutes ago when reading the last post I wrote, I remembered it in full. Here is the translation from the original:

First They Came... By Martin Niemöller

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Socialist!

Socialist!

Why is that such a dirty word? Please, will someone tell me why that is such an insult? I know the logical reasons for it--because people are clueless and think socialist=communist=Russia or socialist=Hitler, but it's really starting to get on my last nerve people! Why no talk of FASCISTS? Hmm?

I googled "socialist" and know what the first video result I got was??



Oh yeah. That expression you have on your face right now, I had it too. Doesn't it make you just want to reach out and slap someone? Mainly yourself, on the forehead, over and over repeatedly until you lose consciousness for a minute to shut out the rampant stupidity assaulting your poor, defenseless brain courtesy of brilliant people like the one who posted that video with the title "BHO Admits He's a Socialist"?

Even better??
I googled "definition of socialist" for shits and giggles to see what would come up, and this was the third hit:

Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.
Pat Robertson

I know, I know, me too...

I VOTED TODAY!!

Today I exercised my right to vote, half a world away from my country. Granted, the process I went through to cast that vote was not a quick one. But in the end, that's okay, because there is only one thing that truly matters in any of that. This:

For the first time in my life I've been not just "okay" with a candidate, but inspired. No, I don't think the man is the Messiah or anything, but the two of them and the administration they bring with them will hopefully bring some much needed change to the current status quo in the White House.

So today I voted for CHANGE. I voted for all the women who deserve to have rights to their own bodies. I voted for the children our education system is failing. I voted for the struggling parents that can't even afford to have health insurance for their children. I voted for the men and women in our armed forces that deserve to have someone in office that won't be sending them into a war for less than honest reasons. I voted for healing those international relationships that have been so damaged in these last 8 years. I voted for diplomacy before use of force. I voted for those less fortunate than me because I believe that when even one of us is oppressed, we all are. I voted for equality regardless of gender. I voted in hopes that equality in other areas will one day lead to the equality all of us in the gay community wait for. I voted because our country can be so much better than it is right now. I voted for more reasons than I can list in this space.

I voted for OBAMA and BIDEN.

Hannity Hates Me?

I was surfing the web last night trying to find another source for this claim (which I figured, if true, Faux News would be foaming at the mouth over) and clicked on a link from Google and was met with this:
Hah! I'm banned from the site! I guess Sean Hannity hates me or something... Maybe foreign IP addresses are restricted from viewing the site, or maybe he's a reader of my blog and I'm on his shit list? *falls over laughing*

I'm sure there's a logical reason for it, but I'm going to stick with the "he hates me" reasoning, 'cause it amuses me more.

Oh, forgot one....it's a big one too.

I forgot the BAD drama after the doctor's office and before the veggie shop!

Absentee ballot drama. I have to have 2 witnesses sign, right? We tried to catch up with a friend for dinner, but she wasn't feeling well, so we were about to call and see if Chris' sister would be game to sign, when I logged on to the Fed Ex site to see where to drop my parcel. Scanning the list of "participating states" as the page processed my request, I noticed Alabama missing from the top of the list... After a few more clicks I found out why. Some states have requirements for the mailing of ballots that FedEx doesn't meet. Now what requirement Alabama has I don't know, I can't seem to find it, but I recall reading that a few states require your ballot package be postmarked by the US mail service, you can't send it special courier! So, I'm assuming that's the problem, although I'll keep trying to find an official explanation tomorrow.

Yeah, so, if that's true, I'm going to have to pay like $30 to have it sent and hope it gets there in time, where it belongs!

Upon doing more reading I noticed that some states that require witness signatures or notarization, say the witnesses have to be US citizens, which for me will be impossible, and while the paperwork I have doesn't have that stipulation, I don't feel like risking it. So I've decided to try and see if the Justice of the Peace is in at the Citizen's Advice Bureau tomorrow, if she is, I can go and have her notarize my envelope.

This whole process is making me loopy.... HAH! Guess what song is playing through the headphones at the moment??

"You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals so lets do it like they do on the Discovery Channel!"

And on that note, I'm off to bed, to sleep, but hopefully not have any odd dreams... Well, I could make an exception if it involves this song and say.... Vin Diesel? *blinks innocently*

My day was....eh.

WHAT THE FUCK? Blogger is so dumb ass I swear. I typed that title and then hit "enter" instead of "tab" and what did the stupid thing do?? SUBMIT THE POST! *falls over* I guess it decided that was going to be the permanent title of today's blog post and although I could delete it so it would disappear and no one would know, I'm not gonna do it, because this is just another example of what a winner day I've had!

Ever had one of those days that volley back and forth between bad and good so you can't really label it either one? Yeah, that was today. Lemme see if I can break it down for ya!

BAD: Stayed up 'til 4 am listening to playlist.com and typing a blog post because Chris was finishing up some computer work and really, any excuse to listen to more music is good with me, even though I KNEW 4 am was a bad idea because it will knock me off for days sleep-wise.

GOOD: Tomorrow is my 5th acupuncture/chinese medicine treatment (I've been at it for 4 weeks total now) and things seem to be working because I started my period today! I know, TMI for some, but I'm not one of those prim women who never speak of such things, so eh. 3 years ago periods would have definitely been in the "bad" category, but since I've only had an non-medically induced period twice in the past 2 years, that's a pretty big fucking deal and since the acupuncture treats pain and such, no "shoot me now I'll give you all the money I have" endometriosis cramps, shocking, eh? And hopefully this means my ovaries haven't given up on ever working again. I may not ever use them for baby making, but god is life hell when they aren't working properly.

GOOD: I talked to my brother on the phone today, he makes me laugh, that boy is so full of shit.

BAD: I talked to my brother today, he doesn't know when to shut up, wouldn't listen when I said I wasn't talking politics with him, and at one point was talking so loud that I could hold the phone 2 feet away from me and still hear him. When he started yelling at me about being a baby killer I'd had more than I could take and handed the phone to Chris because I had to get ready to go to a doctor's appointment and the ranting made me cry (which REALLY pissed me off). Why can't people respect other's boundaries?

BAD: The doctor was almost 45 minutes behind schedule.

GOOD: My GP has the best sense of humor, so we always have good chats and he's good natured about being joked on for running late (he's always running late). We've decided I seem to be holding my own with all the health drama.

BAD: My monthly blood work came back with my iron lower, again. It drops every month since the last infusion. I even started eating red meat again 6 weeks ago to try and boost up the levels since doctors are stubborn and don't get that nothing I eat is going to fix this. So, before we leave NZ in January I'll probably be looking at another 8 hour infusion at the hospital to top up my levels again. YAY! The stain from when the IV infiltrated last time is pretty much faded away...hopefully it won't do that this time.

GOOD: We're going to tweak the meds the Rheumatologist put me on to try and restore the rhythm of my sleep cycle. It's working at the really low dose, but not as much as they want, so we'll go up a tiny bit, starting tonight, so that'll remedy the 4 am rebound shit. I have to get to bed by midnight though. *sighs*

BAD: My blood pressure was still up from that bloody phone call with my brother! The doctor laughed and said he knew I must have been really agitated about something since it's never high any other time. Siblings are a joy, aren't they?

BAD: Drivers on the road acting stupid and trying to get into an accident.

GOOD: Went to the veggie shop and loaded up on all the pretty spring produce!! I know, it's strange, but fresh food makes me happy.

BAD: We ate dinner out because I had no energy after the appointment and errands. But the food was GOOD, so I guess it's a draw? LOL

BAD: When we got home I opened my Inbox and there were non-happy things in there that reminded me way too much of the earlier conversation with my brother, as well as other conversations like it, which made me upset, and since the girlie hormones are doing their thing in my blood, I ended up in tears again!

GOOD: More music, LOUD music, to help the thoughts in my head flow better. Rock music helps when I'm angsty.

BAD: I have to address the emails at some point, but to be honest I just don't know where to begin anymore. I'm so tired of this. So. Damn. Tired.

OH YEAH, and if one more person tells me that pro-choice = pro-abortion, or insinuates that pro-choice means I'm a happy baby killer, I might physically harm them (and I'm not sure I'd label that one BAD either... ;-P)

So depending on how I tally things up, it comes out to BAD: 8-9 GOOD:6-8

Yeah, like I said to begin with, the day was....EH!

Thank You

Thank you Jason Linkins for noting a particularly moving part of Powell's interview on Meet the Press. Before you read the rest of this blog post, please follow the link to that post.

Thank you Colin Powell for saying what needed to be said, and what many of us have been trying to say for a long time.

Thank you Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, for being so passionate about serving your country, and for giving your life to fight in the Army while some of your fellow countrymen cannot bring themselves to see you as their brother.

And to Elsheba Khan, I am so sorry for the loss of your son's life as he proudly served a country where some of the "leaders" and your fellow citizens say "Arab", "Islam" and "Muslim" like they are dirty, hate filled words. Please know that there are many among you who believe you have as much right to your religious beliefs as the rest of us do, who mourn the loss of lives in Iraq no matter what race, religion, nationality, or "side" they are on, and who fight the racial/religious profiling and stereotyping of people within our borders.

---

To those who may be tempted to make some snarky comment about this post, say what you will, but let me just clarify something for you. I personally am proud of our men and women in uniform and support them wholeheartedly. It IS possible to support our troops and yet not support the war. My heart breaks for every family who have had their loved one deployed for months at a time, 2, 3, 4 times in a row, just as it breaks for those whose loved ones come home in a box, and those in Iraq who lose loved ones every day that the media forgets about. As a Democrat I do believe there is a time and a place for the use of our military, I just believe in this case the government got it wrong and a lot of people have paid the ultimate price for it.

I post things like this because unfortunately there are too many people in this country who seem to forget that our military is happy to enlist you, regardless of your race, religion, gender, and often even your sexual orientation. Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Wiccans, Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, and Pagans (as well as numerous other religions) serve side by side every day. Caucasians, Indians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and yes, even Arabs (as well as other ethnicities), give of their time in service to our country, and some their very lives. Immigrants are enlisted to fight in our armed forces when they don't yet have the right to even vote for their Commander in Chief!

Seems to me it's high time we learned to embrace each other, celebrate the things we have in common, enjoy our differences, put an end to discrimination, and treat one another as equals, no matter what faith, skin color, ethnic background, gender, or sexual orientation we have.

Odds and Ends

I woke up to news of Colin Powell endorsing Obama so that was a nice boost to my morning! I don't think it makes this an ace to win, but I'm glad he had the balls to join others of his party in making an endorsement for Obama, and his added commentary on the McCain campaign's turn for the worse was needed IMO. I think Powell has witnessed the same thing the rest of us have, a man we used to have respect for turn into someone who will do anything to get his way...it's sad.

In other news. I broke Chris' favorite bowl this morning while washing dishes, along with a huge glass mixing bowl and small rice dish. They were nested one inside the other and I knocked over the whole stack while trying to move them from one spot to the other. The whole mess crashed into the floor at my feet, I'm actually really lucky I didn't end up with my foot sliced open since they were quite big pieces of glass (thick bowls). I am SUCH a fucking klutz I swear. So I shrieked as I dropped them, then burst into tears and started cussing hysterically, which caused Chris to come running from the back of the flat to make sure I was okay. Of course I felt SOOO horrible because Chris' favorite bowl was handmade by the pottery club here in thanks for Chris doing some computer work for them, so it's irreplaceable. =/ Being the calm, sane, zen-like person in the house, Chris asked if I was okay, and when I instead kept rambling on about how sorry I was, said "Ah well, these things happen." then proceeded to help me pick up the mess (and ultimately banned me from touching it because a shard cut the back of my finger). Where do calm people like this come from and how the hell did I end up with one??

Oh, and I'm ridiculously addicted to playlist.com since the New Zealand music download scene is SO shitty that they don't have any music subscription service and I refuse to pay iTunes NZ almost $2 per song because I think they are screwing NZlanders over just because they can. So fuck you iTunes, I'll just stay tied to the damn computer to hear my music! Between that and the price of CDs here (well over $20 for most music) I'm just going to keep on with my no new music buying strike here. I MIGHT give in and buy some CDs done by indie NZ artists before we move, but other than that, nope!

Oh the joys of voting absentee!

Guess what I did today? Tried to sort out the whole absentee voting thing! I got my ballot in the mail like 2-3 weeks ago, and it's been sitting, staring at me ever since. Being the queen of procrastination, I kept putting off figuring it out. But it's crunch time now, and although Fed-Ex will so thoughtfully ship it back to the US overnight for FREE (yes, for free, how kick ass is that?) I still need to get it sent off so I don't stress over it anymore.

I think I should preface this rant with a little warning: Government forms piss me off! I have seen so bloody many of them in my life that I've reached my saturation limit. The immigration process of both the US and NZ have just pushed me way over the edge and I have no tolerance for these things anymore! I even start to squirm and scrunch up my face when I have to fill out one of those stupid "entry cards" they give you on the airplane when you're flying internationally! It's a serious problem.

So today I sat down with all the stuff and the ballot. For some reason I thought it would be as easy as connecting the lines, stuffing it all in an envelope, and taking it to the Fed-Ex place, thereby not triggering my government forms rage, right? WRONG!

First off, I don't do "straight party vote" because I don't trust the machine/a person to automatically count the votes properly. A few places have had problems with it in past elections and I'm far too paranoid to go with it, so I'll sit and connect every line.

Second, I forgot I've got to send them a copy of my state issued driver's license or Social Security card for identification purposes, or at least I THINK it can be a copy. It better be, they aren't getting the real thing, they'll lose it!

Third, I did not realise that I apparently have to get 2 witnesses to sign or a notary to affirm that I am who I am and it's my form! *snort*

Fourth, what is up with all the Constitutional Amendments in Alabama? Huh? Freakin' 6 of them this time! So thank you very much, now I have to go hunt down information on them to inform my vote. *grumbling* And besides that, what's with the offices up for election that only have one person running for them, or in one case, NO PERSON listed on them? How does that happen? Now I have to go find people worthy of being written in? *scratches head*

All in all it'll be worth it once I have everything sorted out, because I truly believe in exercising my right to vote (it's a privilege many in this world don't have!). But that doesn't stop the process from being annoying at times. ;-p

October Surprise?

As we head into the homestretch of this election season, many political commentators are on the look out for what they call the "October Surprise". The rumors are all over the place! Some think Dubbya will pull Osama bin Laden out of a hat right before election day, giving McCain a massive boost and carrying him all the way to the White House. Others postulate it may be a tape from bin Laden, ala the 2004 election, or perhaps even another terrorist attack on American soil, since that would be bound to boost McCain's ratings. Personally if any of the above happened I wouldn't be surprised. Those in power are often known for using skirmishes both in and out of the country in order to divert our attention from the things that matter, and I wouldn't put it past Dubbya or Cheney to get a good screw in before election day.

One writer jokes that perhaps McCain is going to come out and drop a 'flat tax' plan on us in hopes of wooing those in the money to vote for him. I'm still chuckling over that one.

However, the one I've been reading about most in the last two days is the purported upcoming endorsement by Colin Powell. Some say his endorsement wouldn't mean much, but Jon Soltz at Huffington Post wrote an interesting piece on why he thinks it matters to this election, and I have to say I agree with him in many ways. Although Powell obviously fucked up with the Bush Administration/UN "weapons of mass destruction" thing, he is still viewed by many to be a well respected military man with impressive foreign relations cred. Having someone like that back Obama would be significant, and his voice speaking out against the attacks coming from the Palin/McCain camp like Obama 'hanging out with terrorists' and being 'unpatriotic' would make some (at least a handful) of undecideds sit up and take notice.

Do I think it would make this election a slam dunk for Obama? NO. There are still a whole lotta ways this race could be lost, but it could make things a bit more interesting. What if Powell instead decides to endorse McCain? Well then, that would say a whole lot about the man, wouldn't it? For some reason I've always admired him, even while being part of the Bush debacle, and I've hoped a time would come that would allow him to redeem himself even just a little bit for the part he played.

I know what some are thinking, a man considered a strong Republican, coming out and endorsing a Democrat, and one as 'liberal' as Obama? Well I say, stranger things have happened (like McCain picking an unknown for VP!). I mean, just today I've read the scathing commentary on "Palin's Failin' " by none other than Peggy Noonan, news of conservative talk radio host Michael Smerconish out of Philly backing Obama, and the LA Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune have added their names to the list of papers backing the Democratic ticket.

Sunday morning, Meet the Press. Guess I'll wake up early Monday morning here to be greeted with his choice--or lack there of. He could come out and refuse to endorse anyone at all, go right for the center, but still, I'm holding out hope he'll do better than that. Time will tell I suppose.

What It's Like

I can't get over the "woman's life" air-quotes bull shit from last night's debate. To me, it was a glaring example of what I feel a lot of people in this world lack, UNDERSTANDING and COMPASSION.

For the last two weeks this song has been playing through my mind every day. Every day. I remember when it came out vividly because I was still a "pro-life, anti-abortion Christian". However, I was deeply struggling with the things that I'd been taught were "absolutely wrong", like homosexuality, sex before marriage, and abortion. I listened to the lyrics in this song and they really, really got to me. For an instant I was that girl, being ambushed by protesters while trying to get to the clinic, agonising over the choice I was left to make by the "man" who helped me get into this situation. Then I thought about a woman that was raped and how she would feel, pregnant with the child of her attacker. Or a young girl barely past puberty, her womb violated and impregnated by her father, uncle, the guy next door.

In putting on their shoes and walking for a minute, it all became so clear. What right to we have to judge that which most of us will never have to go through? What right do we have to take away their rights to their bodies? If it were me, would I want people to make that choice for me? NO.

And there you have it, the shift....that moment when the earth shifts beneath you and you know without a doubt that your perspective has been forever altered and you can't go back to the way you were before.

I sincerely wish people would take a moment to step outside their comfort zone and put on the shoes of another in a situation much different than the one they live in. Then maybe, just maybe they could imagine what it's like.

Never enough time in the day...

Yes, blog, sorry, don't have much time to now condense the political happenings of today into some snarky post that takes me forever to write! Between reading and cooking and obsessing over the dentist appointment tomorrow that has me freaking the hell out, I totally forgot to come here and have a good laugh over things!

So instead, here are some excerpts from my responses to the debate as I was watching/listening to it! I mostly do this so that a close friend of mine who finds my commentary amusing, can read it later as she watches the debates she recorded, and feel like I'm sitting right there running my mouth. Keep in mind this is on NZ time, so 2 pm is when it started. It may not be the most grammatically correct thing, but remember, I'm typing while watching, listening, yelling at the screen, and chatting on IM, so I don't think I did too bad...

2:04 He's just said angry 5 times. I predict this will be his word for the night!

2:20 Ohhhhh McCain, nice one! That's your "whoop his ass" approach, right? You're not Bush, but you've supported him 90% of the time!! Oh there we go, we're angry again. That's his catch line this time! "Americans are angry".

2:27 OH MY GOD he's playing the sympathy card! The "I'm not a racist, you hurt my feelings, I'm gonna cry now, you wouldn't do town hall meetings with me so all the mean ads are your fault, I had to air them 'cause you wouldn't come play by my made up rules!"

2:36 OH HE DID IT!! Slandered ACORN AND AYERS all in the same breath!!! SCORE! AND McCain said he doesn't care about any terrorists? *snort*

2:40 THANK YOU! God moderator, you rock! Thank you so fucking much, I could kiss you right now! --why is your VP pick better than the other party's.

2:42 She's a role model to women?? She's a reformer? "she makes me feel all tingly in my pants"

2:43 OH EVEN HE PLAYED THE BABY!! OMG, it's better than I even hoped!

2:55 YAY, PRECONDITIONS!!! Good thing I don't drink during these things, I'd be shitfaced long before now... Comes on McCain, say it, M-A-V-E-R-I-C-K! Please?? What, are we not your "friends" anymore?

3:02 John, I really hope your "whoop his you-know-what" strategy backfires on you, because your lame accusations are such BS. That's right, $5,000 won't pay for a $12,000 a year policy! Some of us have preconditions that make it so insurance companies charge us shit loads, and we're not asking for "luxuries".

3:05 SENATOR GOVERNMENT!! Woo HOO!!! That's a sound bite from this debate baby! Sounds like some sort of super hero.

3:11 Haha, equal pay for equal work! Obama supports, McCain opposes, because he doesn't agree with it and neither does his super woman, role model for all, PALIN.

3:12 Pro-abortion movement? Oh, see, you KNOW the truth on the matter, and you worked your weasel words to scare the pro-lifers and cause them to ignore his explanation! Fuck you McCain, really, fuck you. Yeah, the doctors were against it as well, because it was already on the books!!!! The exception of "in the case of a woman's life in danger" IS AN IMPORTANT CLAUSE!

3:14 Yes, PREVENTION through education, improve options for adoptions, and YES YES YES, NOBODY IS PRO-ABORTION!

3:19 McCain says 'this is the civil rights issue of the 21st century'. We've achieved equal access in schools? Competition between schools? How are people supposed to take their kids to better schools when they cannot afford it? No certifications for teaching for military members? Did I just hear that right? *scratches head*

3:21 Hahahaha... Bush's no child left behind left behind the money for it... Good one Obama!

3:27 McCain's closing word. "I have a record of reform, I take on my party all the time, I'll buck those Republicans at every turn if I have to, I'm good with your money, I spend it on what I want to, I can't say Senator Obama clearly most of the time because behind his back I call him Senator Osama, I'm a POW, my family has a history of serving this country, let me continue to serve, in fact you have to vote for me 'cause I was in the Navy and a POW, so I deserve it god damn it!" What a wanker.

3:29 Obama's closing. "No more of the same, we need change, I believe in the decency and generosity of the American people, I will invest in you, our best days are ahead, health care, tax cuts, better education, growing the middle class, this is what I've been doing in my career, this is what I'm going to do, this takes all of us, no matter what party, vote for me, I promise if I get to be president I will work every single day tirelessly on your behalf and on behalf of your children." Why do people find this scary?

3:31 Last word from Moderator. As my momma always said "Go vote now, it'll make you feel big and strong."

So there you have it! Register to vote people and then actually GO VOTE!!

Say it ain't so John!

Brainwashing their volunteers with misinformation before sending them out to rally votes for McCain? Why yes they do...at least one organiser does in Virginia!

It amuses me that people claim over and over again these lies aren't coming from the McCain campaign and that they are not inciting people to spread lies and cause panic.....and yet we read about that very thing in a Time article!

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Check out this post on Gawker. The guy whose post they are referring to has removed the posts he made on politicalbyline.com swearing that he didn't mean any harm to Obama with creating that picture. Oh really? Does he really want us to think he is so stupid that he didn't realise the things he was hinting at by putting the picture of Obama next to a noose? He also posted it at sayanything.com but the moderator removed it and wrote a response that I have to admit just doesn't do it for me. The original post is preserved here at Washington Scandal.

When will people get that two wrongs don't make a right? I'm so sick of the tit for tat game being played by people on both sides of this issue. One hates Obama, one hates Palin, and they go back and forth, each becoming more depraved in their behaviours. Someone has to be the bigger man and put a stop to it.

How about this people! If one doesn't like the graphics being posted or rants being written about Palin (or any other political figure), then address it in a sane, rational manner. Talk about the reasons you feel they are in the wrong for expressing their opinions in such ways. Address the errors you see in their thinking. Attempt constructive dialogue. Refute the things you don't agree with in your own blog. Talk about the issues you have with other politicians that you don't care for. Scream, rant, yell, throw a fit if need be. But creating a picture to post to a blog like the one mentioned that insinuates Obama needs to meet up with a noose is not the answer, because in that moment you become far worse than the people you are pointing your finger at.

We need to remember that no matter how frustrated we are, or how convinced we are that the other side is wrong and blind to their own flaws, we are still dealing with human beings. Not "that one", but an actual person with thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, and reasons they have for holding the opinions they do. You can vehemently disagree with someone and still treat them like a human being. Don't you get it? This is why dehumanising your opponent is so dangerous, because it then makes it oh so easy to treat them as the dirt beneath your feet.

I don't endorse racism, I think it's disgusting and it deeply offends me. I see images like that and it makes me cry in anger, hurt, and frustration because my mind cannot comprehend the hate that one must possess to act that way toward another person. I don't believe we have to turn a blind eye and let those actions go unnoticed and unchallenged. However, I'll be damned if the actions of someone like that cause me to act in a way that is untrue to myself and my ideals.

So, sorry angry racist guy, but I won't be creating a picture with your face next to the noose because while you may think that is the right way to deal with someone who has offended you, I do not, and even though at times I rant and rave and throw a fit over the actions of others I deeply disagree with, I will not allow disgust for you to turn me into your mirror image.

Many thanks to the several blogs I read that made note of this blog post so the rest of us could speak out against it.

Let It Be

Yesterday and today have been crazy as hell and I've got nothing to write tonight. Well, that's not entirely true, I have plenty I could write about, but to be honest, after reading news and updates and watching video of a person who is obviously full of hate, I'm just too damn weary of it all to get anything worthwhile out. I guess you could say my soul is vexed.

So I'm going to play my favorite music with hope it'll relax me enough to eventually sleep...and leave you with this video to ponder.



It's going to be alright...it has to be, because there are still a shit load of people out there who give a fuck and are not hate filled bigots.

Connecticut

The last few days have found me thinking of Connecticut. Not because I used to live there, I've never set foot in the state. Not because I know someone who lives there, because, well, I don't. And not because I have some particular need to visit there either, to be honest it's never been on my list of places to visit.

Connecticut is on my mind because last week they overturned a ban on same-sex marriages. In doing so they've become the third state to allow same sex couples to marry, the others being Massachusetts and California. Reading about the ruling was a bright spot in my week, but was quickly tempered with the concern I've had while reading news like this coming out of California. On Nov. 4th they will vote on Proposition 8, an amendment to the state Constitution that would outlaw gay marriage.

As a woman whose sexuality and choice of life partner have been repeatedly discriminated against by 'family', 'friends', and the world I grew up in, this issue hits really close to home. Once again I find myself asking the same question I always do. Why? Why is love between consenting adults so threatening to people? I cannot understand it. Even when I was younger and trying to play the role of the good little conservative Christian girl, I never understood why gay people were seen as so bad. But boy did living in that environment do a number on me as I got older and realised not only was I seen as inferior because I was a woman, but that I had....preferences that others around me didn't, and I had no clue how to deal with them.

And that's another thing....how is it that the same people that vote Republican because they think the government is too involved in things and scream if their guns or businesses are affected in any way, are the same ones that want the government to ban things like abortion, homosexuality, and books/media galore? Seems like the two contradict themselves.

I don't get it people, I just don't get it. With all the hate, anger, war, and human atrocities in this world, don't we all need to encourage as much love as possible?? Why legislate deliberate discrimination borne out of hate?

I had a point to this blog post when I started, but my brain has become so fried with the 'why' question that I can't make sense of anything I've written in the last 30 minutes. So instead I'll leave my ramblings as is and end with this:



Visit noonprop8.com for more information on how you can help with either your time or donations.

Barack Osama?

Come on people, what were the editors of the ballot doing, sleeping? Of all the misspellings you could have on that name, it had to be Osama. *shakes head* Somewhere in NY a radical right wing nut is scared to death after seeing that on their absentee ballot. LOL

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

...when first we practice to deceive.* And deceive the McCain/Palin ticket has been doing up a storm in this campaign season, and particularly this last week.

By now we all know about the increasingly angry, aggressive crowds at some McCain rallies and most Palin participates in. I blogged about that a few days ago so I'm not going to rehash it again, but I've felt strongly that McCain and Palin both need to step up and calm down the supporters they've spurred on with all their misrepresentations of Obama. Listening to clips of some of their speeches (particularly Palin's) makes it clear that they are intentionally using those little weasel words to scare people into voting for them instead of "that one". The xenophobia has got to stop people!

Today I read this article about how McCain has recently tried to correct some of the angry shouting and panicked questions by supporters at his rallies, only to be repeatedly booed for trying to bring things back to a respectful place and explain to a supporter that Obama is in fact not an Arab. Sorry McCain, once you've opened Pandora's Box it's a bit difficult to stuff everything back inside.

What I find interesting though, is while McCain is putting on a show of trying to soothe the fervor, his campaign says it will continue to push ads that continue in the same vein as they have lately. And we've not seen Palin telling people they don't have to be afraid of Obama and that he's a good, respectable citizen--good on you Biden for calling her out on it too!

I'd like to believe that somewhere inside McCain is that same person that 8 years ago I had great respect for. I'd like to believe that he's genuinely concerned about the direction things have taken and is worried about the damage this rabid divisiveness will do to our country if and when Obama wins the election. I'd like to believe that he truly feels his campaign has stepped over the line and they need to get back on track. But I think I'm too jaded to. I'll still say kudos to the man for trying to correct some of the people at his recent rally. However, I think this is just a ploy to look good while Palin and others on his campaign continue to fan the flames in any way they can.

And speaking of Palin. Two days ago the McCain campaign attempted to pre-empt the expected findings of the ongoing ethics probe in Alaska by stating they'd done an investigation into the accusations made against her and their findings cleared her of any wrongdoing! Turns out the Alaskan legislative panel doesn't agree. And remember, this was a BIPARTISAN panel. I find it ironic that McCain wants to jump into a character and judgement debate with Obama, and yet the VP on his ticket abused her power as Governor to try and get her sister's ex fired! And not just her, but her aides as well as her husband. Oh yes. A vote for Sarah is a vote for her husband Todd obviously. Wonder what lovely things they'll get up to with the additional expansion of the VP role Sarah feels is needed. Cheney must be so proud of her.

And as if we haven't heard enough about the Ayers thing, apparently now the McCain campaign has felt the need to drag Michelle Obama into the whole mess! Even though McCain has stated repeatedly that the spouses should be off limits during the campaign. Come on John, do you control anything that goes on in that campaign anymore, or are you really that low??

Exactly. That's what I thought.

*quote by Sir Walter Scott

Wanted: Clever Title

(The hardest part of writing is the damn title, so I've given up changing it for today. One will come to me like 2 weeks from now I bet, unless someone else wants to name it for me! Anyway, on with the post...)

The way I see US politics, people usually fall into one of 5 categories (I'm sure there are more, but for the sake of this blog not taking me days to write, I'm gonna stick to these 5). Disciples, Intellectuals, Sheeple, Apathetics, and the Write-Ins. I'm sure most of us with a diverse friend base know people in each camp. People from every party fall inside these camps. There are Sheeple that will vote for Obama, there are Intellectuals who will vote for McCain. You will also run across articles, podcasts, videos, and blogs by people in all of these categories, isn't the internet great! *snort*

The Apathetic are the ones that either don't care about the election at all, hate politics, fail to see the reason for being politically active and voting, or they are so jaded about politics in general that they refuse to vote because they think it won't have any effect on the outcome. They may talk about The Man keeping them down, or they're too occupied with the latest episode of the OC to think about anything else. These are the people who won't vote. Unfortunately they make up a good portion of the population.

The Write-Ins are those whose candidate of choice either didn't get the mainstream nomination (Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, etc...), are a member of a 'non-mainstream' parties whose candidate will not be put on the ballot in some states (Libertarians, Greens, etc...), or they loathe all the people running so much that they'll write in their dog's name in protest. These people are politically active and will vote, just not for either of the main contenders.

The Intellectuals are those voters who make an effort to inform themselves of the candidates' positions on both sides. They're probably politically aware enough that they have opinions of their own and choose the candidate that is most in line with them, or they pick the lesser of two evils because they feel that while they don't fully agree with either side, one candidate would be more preferable than the other. They are likely to feel frustrated with people in the other categories for various reasons, a major one being that it seems the bulk of the population doesn't know how to use their brains anymore.

(One moment, fruit break, blogging uses up so much damn energy!)

The Sheeple. Everybody knows these. The Sheeple are those that vote with a party because their parents, pastor, best friend, or scary emails tell them to. They are the ones who think a salmonella outbreak from fresh tomatoes means they can't eat spaghetti and that we should ban all tomato products. One-issue voters often fall into either this category or are Disciples. The ones who think voting in Obama/Biden means all guns will be banned, or that voting in McCain/Palin will automatically ban abortion and 'stop the genocide of babies'. They will vote for a candidate because they look sexier in a suit, talk like the "average Joe Six Pack", are adorable, or are one specific race or gender. They refuse to talk politics most of the time because they really don't know much about the issues other than what MTV or Pat Robertson tell them, and they'll assume you're a Disciple for "the other side" if you try to engage them in logical conversation.

Last but not least, the Disciples. Disciples were at one time one of the other categories, but for whatever reason have taken the religion of politics to the extreme. There is no reasoning with them, they don't hear you, all they're thinking is how to "covert you" to their side. These aren't the people that will have a frank discussion with you about the flaws in both party's candidates, they believe their choice for President is in effect, the Messiah that will right everything that is wrong with this world and magically make the entire US into what they want it to be. Their eyes look just as glazed over as the Sheeple's do, in fact, many of them are Sheeple on steroids out to save your political soul!

Now that you're all hip with my lingo, I can ramble on in another blog about my mental musings these last few days.

Rednecks for Obama

Yes, it's true, there are some out there that support Obama despite the assumptions many have made that no redneck would vote for him.

The two men in this article that started the Rednecks for Obama group remind me of a good friend's PawPaw in Alabama. I can't remember how old he is, but he' says he doesn't like McCain and although the whole family is staunchly Republican he's decided to vote for Obama and nobody is going to change his mind! How great is that?

It gives me hope people...and that is a beautiful thing.

Obama reads and conservative are scared.

A friend forwarded an email to me this morning. We're of the same political opinions and she thought I'd find the subject of the email interesting. I have to put it here because the hilarity of it is too much for me to keep to myself, and it's after 2 am here, and my brain won't be quiet. I've posted it in all it's odd caps, colorised font, panicky glory!!

---

It's titled: Thought you might like to see what OBAMA likes to read!!

(Not found on Snopes.com or TruthOrFiction.com)

CHECK OUT THE PIC-- IT IS NOT A PHOTOSHOP PIC! SEND THIS ON OR PRINT THIS AND HAND OUT COPIES TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO DO NOT HAVE EMAIL.

LET AMERICANS KNOW WHAT WE'LL GET IF WE VOTE FOR OBAMA.

Do YOU See what he's reading? Pass this on!

This certainly makes me question the whole candidate and what he says!

This SHOULD open your eyes! What IS IT THAT Obama does read?


...is reading "The Post-American World"--- IT IS THE MUSLIM/ISLAMIC VIEW TO DESTROY AMERICAN FROM WITHIN.

---

OMG, it's so scary, I don't know how I'll be able to sleep tonight...err...this morning!! How dare he read books! What is this world coming to when a politician voluntarily reads, and reads thought provoking books at that!

Check out the book on Amazon.com. I guess the writer of this email probably figures those 141 people who wrote reviews must be Islamic terrorists in disguise too, right? Hmmmm...people who think like that, forwarding this email, now THAT is something to keep you awake at night!

Not feelin' the blog thing tonight...

That's right, I got nothin'. I've been putting off writing today because I was sure I'd find something to spark some rambling bit in my head, but nope, nothing that would make any sense to anyone.

So some videos, eh? Odd that I post video on my blog since I don't even watch television. Seriously people, the TV is in the junk room, unplugged, with god knows what piled on it. I'm not saying there is nothing good on TV, but here in NZ there is no PBS, and since I watched that more than anything in the US, yeah, TV ceased to interest me.

Anyway, I'm rambling. See, that's the problem with these NaBloPoMo, a junk post because I gotta post something today. But I won't be compete junk because this video is interesting:



He gets angry. NO DUH!

In all the drama of yesterday I totally forgot Michelle Obama was going to be on the Daily Show! Damn how I love this woman. Really, I do. I can't believe we actually have a shot at having her in the White House! Obama's choice in a life partner clearly reflects the kind of person he is, as does her choice of him.



Jon Stewart amuses me SO fucking much.

THERE! In right before midnight! Now I'm off to find the full Daily Show episode that has that interview, laugh, and eventually attempt sleep. Hah, imagine that, sleep.

Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones....

....but words will never hurt me.

Or can they?

"Terrorist!"

"Kill Him!"

"Treason!"

A racial epithet yelled at an African American sound guy followed by "Sit down, boy!" amid slurs hurled at members of the media after Palin riles the crowd up with how unjustly she was treated by Couric in her interview.

That old childhood rhyme was off a bit. Certain words used carefully can incite people to react with violence, which DOES hurt us!

Now I'm not accusing McCain and Palin of openly encouraging the members in attendance at their rallies to scream the things above. If this was only one isolated incident I probably wouldn't be writing this. But it seems to me a pattern is starting to emerge as the McCain/Palin campaign "takes the gloves off" for the final days of this election.

One of the most concerning things to me is both McCain AND Palin have not addressed these incidents. Not once. Of the 4 comments listed above, at least two have been caught on video. How many others at events within the last week have not? These are people we are supposed to be voting for to lead our country and they can't pause their speech for a minute to say, "Now there's no cause to be yelling things like that. We may not agree with our opponent's stance on things, but calling them a terrorist or suggesting we kill them or that they are guilty of treason is rather over the top. We're all Americans and love our country. We can disagree with people and still show respect for them."

But no, of course we wouldn't hear that. Why, during tonight's debate when commenting on something Obama voted for instead of saying "Senator Obama" or "Barack", McCain instead pointed in the direction of Obama and said "...THAT ONE!"

Referring to a person you are running against as "THAT ONE" has some dangerous connotations. When we cannot look someone in the eye, refer to them by name, or acknowledge they are a human being that deserves to be treated with respect and decency no matter how much we disagree with them, we have begun to dehumanize them. Dehumanizing our rivals makes it that much easier to excuse hate crimes, names, slurs, and acts of violence against them. Think about how that tactic is used now and how it was used in places like Nazi Germany to transform the "enemy" from humans to "vermin".

Is this the kind of change the McCain campaign seeks to bring us? Violence, aggression, hate, fear of those different from us, lies? How sick has our country become that this is acceptable behaviour?

Perhaps this is the new McCain/Palin tactic? If they can't take the White House they'll make sure as many people as possible are so fearful of Obama that his days in office won't last very long?

Unfortunately in the US we have a tendency to kill the visionaries that seek to transform our nation. And to be perfectly honest that is a deep, legitimate fear that sits in the heart of this supporter of CHANGE.

Alexander and Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Oh yes, it's been one of those days...wish fixing it were as easy as moving to Australia!

Chris has never heard of that book! What a deprived childhood;-P I loved it as a child and think of it every time I have a shit day. Today I tried reciting the book to Chris since parts of it are programmed in my head from my days as a pre-school teacher, laugh all you want to, I do one mean reading of Cat in the Hat! But alas I couldn't remember it all. Never fear, YouTube is here! Who would have thought to look there for children's books? Craziness. I checked out a few readings and found this one, which isn't what most people would call child friendly, but watching the first few minutes of it made me laugh and reminded me of something entirely different, a Mad TV spoof of Jackass.

But my favorite Mad TV clip is this one, it NEVER fails to make me laugh!



"I'm sick of The Man giving me the finger! Well here's your finger, BIATCH!! Take a picture!"

Guess he got poked in the tummy one too many times, can't say I blame him. LOL!!

Ahhh...after all that laughing I can almost forget the kind of day I had.

And I just realised tomorrow is the next presidential debate! Town Hall style. This should be interesting. Will we see McCain blow his top live on national TV?? One has to wonder...

Oooo...we're in trouble now!

While at a rally in California yesterday, Palin thought she'd share the quote by Madeline Albright she found on the side of her Starbuck's cup.

"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."

Except for that's not quite what Albright said. The correct quote is:

"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

Freudian slip maybe?

As the crowd cheered in response to Palin's comment she then said, "Okay, now, thank you so much for receiving that well. I didn't know how that was gonna go over. And now, California, let's see what a comment like I just made, how that is turned into whatever it'll be turned into tomorrow with the newspaper."

Ahhh yes, playing that 'mainstream media are a bunch of bullies' card an awful lot aren't ya Sarah! And right on top of playing the gender card! That oughta get you triple points or something!

Damn you Starbucks for tripping her up! We know you put that quote there just so she'd misread it and misquote it at her rally that morning! Don't worry, we're on to you, we know you're gunning for Obama. ;-P

Next I suppose McCain will have to screen each coffee cup to ensure the quote has been blacked out before she gets a hold of it and we have yet another misquote on our hands. *shakes head*

Or, she could just say she meant to do that...you know, it was a joke, we just didn't catch on 'cause we're humorless or something.

It's okay Sarah, don't worry. I'll bring the marshmallows and you can bring the graham crackers and with all the women that'll be in hell with us there's sure to be chocolate around. We'll have ourselves a grand time around the ole hell fire!

Stress Relief

Mmmm mmm, Tina Fey and Queen Latifah. Gotta love those women.



Oh, and in case you missed it, check out SNL's take on the Couric interview, the first presidential debate, and of course, Fey's first Palin sketch.

Some people really should be smacked.

I cherish freedom of speech, freedom of religion and all the others freedoms that we're supposed to have in the USA (never mind the idiots constantly chipping away at those things). I myself am no longer affiliated with any organised religions even though I definitely grew up in them, so being non-churchy I often find myself in debates with people who feel that all religions are dangerous and should be banned because of the extremists they breed. Being the rabid liberal I am, I wholeheartedly defend what I believe should be everyone's right to practice the religion of their choosing and talk about it all they want, even if I don't agree with them. Extremists can form out of any ideology, that's no reason to start banning things. When we restrict the freedoms of others we are really imprisoning ourselves.

I guess that's why when people use their freedom of speech to spew such vile hatred about another person I get frustrated. No, frustrated is not a strong enough word. I get pissed, abso-fucking-lutely pissed off. You can disagree with someone's political views and/or the things they say and do all you want, but comments like the ones in the above video go way beyond disagreement or sarcastic ranting.

Meh. I'm so mad about it I don't even want it embedded on my blog, it'll pollute my space too much.

Now for what made me smile this evening:



Homer definitely should sue. :-P

Of course, tampering with the vote is not a laughing matter, but I think I'll save that topic for another time and go watch The Daily Show to try and rid my mind of other things I've seen today.

2 down, 2 to go!

I'm still trying to recover the brain cells I lost listening to Palin's ramblings that have nothing to do with the questions directed at her. Why the hell is it so hard to stay on point? I know the answer to that question, I mean, it's difficult to answer a question you don't have a canned response for, but really, WTF!?!

Her hairstyle amused me, had to let that hair down to seem even more the little woman next to the big, bad, Biden (plus it's easier to hide an ear piece that way). And the winking? Good god people, a candidate for VP winking at the audience repeatedly while spouting off folksy talk, cute little jabs, and why oh why do we have yet another person who cannot say NUCLEAR?? In all that debate practice could they not correct her on that?

Biden did as good as could be expected, in fact he did better than I thought he would. I'm proud of him, that practicing sure paid off. I mean, he did sigh a lot and laugh a few times, but can you blame the man? How frustrating must it be to have to debate with a person who several months ago hadn't a thought in her head about running as VP? I'm surprised he didn't totally lose his temper at some point and crush her for that "you're an idiot" voice she kept using over and over and over again with her condescending attitude! If he had spoken to her in the same way she was speaking to him, the media and the Republican party would have thrown a huge fit! But she can play the gender card, so gets away with whatever the hell she wants.

I hate that the moderator didn't push to get a straight answer out of her. But I guess that's not her fault really, her hands were tied thanks to McSame's whine-fest of the last few days over her book, as if he just now found out about it. *eyes rolling*

The scariest thing about the whole evening is that I know people who will come away from it with a glowing opinion of Palin because they aren't current enough with the facts to see through the lies upon lies she spouts off on a regular basis. Since after all, she said it on national TV, so it must be right....right?

When will people wake up and realise that we've already tried the "elect someone like your pal next door" approach and we got 8 bloody (literally) years of DUBBYA! Do we really want more of the same? I don't want someone in office like the soccer mom next door, I want some one who has spent a good part of their life in politics/law/community service. Someone who is smarter than me, more educated politically than me, who can pronounce the names of world leaders correctly, and who can say NEW-CLEAR instead of NU-CU-LUR!! I want someone who is calm, deliberate, open-minded, who doesn't foam at the mouth with the thought of going to war, who doesn't see all Muslims as the enemy, and who believes that we all deserve jobs with living wages, affordable health care, the right to decide what to do with our own bodies, and accessible education at all levels for EVERYBODY, not just the ones who have parents that can afford it!

I know, I know, I'm showing my idealistic tendencies, but I don't believe those things are so far out of our reach that we cannot attain them. They will be though if we keep electing power hungry idiots to the White House.

Quote of the Day

"I’m not saying this is the perfect answer. If I were dictator, which I always aspire to be, I would write it a little bit differently."



Isn't he just a ray of sunshine! And that's how he speaks to people just conducting an interview? I'd hate to see how he'd talk to a world leader he doesn't care too much for... As if 8 years of Bush haven't damaged our international standing enough, people want to vote him in to finish off the job?

The VP Debate: Sure to be cringeworthy no matter who wins.

Political blogs and news sites have been abuzz this week with (among other things) their predictions for the upcoming VP debates. Considering Biden's knack for rambling on far longer than he should and at times sticking his foot in his mouth, paired with Palin's um...well...ah...habit of repeating the same lines over and over again mixed in with phrases that are utter nonsense, most people will be glued to their TV sets (or computer screens) to see how it all plays out.

The McCain campaign has been negotiating strict rules about how things will go in this debate, so if Biden strays from the format at all I'm sure we'll all be hearing spin on it for days. Which strikes me as funny considering it was painfully obvious McCain refused to stick to the format decided on for the last Presidential debate!

Personally the whole thing makes me nervous. On the one hand she could give the same performance she has in the few interviews she's done and we'll all cringe our way through the debates, hoping everyone else wakes up and realises McCain's first executive decision was a disaster. Or she could come out so well rehearsed that all she has to do is stick to her coached answers, not be caught off guard by something she doesn't have a canned answer to, maybe even throw in a few feisty digs at Biden and Obama to get brownie points, and it'll be seen as a "win" for nothing more than the fact she made it through without falling on her face. Isn't that a little scary? The average American has set their expectations so low that anything less than a monumental disaster will be a win. *shakes head*

So Joe, please, for the sake of all, make your answers short and to the point. I know it'll be hard, but the less you say, the better you'll look. Talk in calm tones, be respectful, and try to not look like you think Palin is clueless, but don't look like you're trying to go easy on her 'cause she's a woman. Believe me, I would love to see you talk circles around her and have a real honest to goodness debate with her, but let's face it, people are a little too squeamish for that and hate you for picking on the little woman. She'll trash talk at you in that saccharine manner and everyone will let it go without blinking an eye, but if you fight back you'll look like the big, bad man. I guess what I'm trying to say is, give her enough rope and hopefully she'll hang herself.

It's pretty bad when a woman who just months ago criticised Hillary Clinton for not bucking up enough and giving all women in politics a bad name, is getting a free pass by so many voters because they either want to be her, be her best friend, or fuck her. Talk about sexism.

Somebody find my blankie, I don't know if I can watch this...

Vote!

Topic of the month for NaBloPoMo is "Vote". As an American living outside the US, voting this year will be an entirely different experience than it was 4 years ago!

My last Presidential vote was cast in a tiny volunteer fire department building, with a pen and a paper ballot, sitting at a table with partitions that no one seemed to use. The woman who handed me the ballot and asked if it was the first time I'd voted (it was), smiled, and made a comment about how great it was to see young people coming out to give that good man another 4 years for the sake of our country. This was rural Alabama after all, so her comment came as no surprise. I smiled back and didn't have the heart to tell her I was one of those dreaded Democrats and there was no way in hell I'd willingly give that "good man" another 4 years to screw over our country. But believe me, I thoroughly enjoyed sitting there and casting one of the only votes for Kerry that probably came from that little polling place!

We all know how the election turned out, but I still remember that proud feeling I had as I placed my ballot in the box and stepped out into the early November rain. It makes think of all the new voters that have been registered this year through all the organisations working to ensure that everyone has a say and every vote is counted.

Today early voting starts in 8 states in the US, and absentee voters from around the world will also be voting this month(including me). Some states will close their voter registration soon (if they haven't already), while others allow registering up to the day of the election.

Have you registered to vote this year? If not, check out what your state requirements are and if still permitted, I encourage you to register and make your vote count! Don't know if you're registered or not? This site will hook you up with the info you need to find out if you are. Overseas? Try this site and be sure to check out the special shipping deals FedEx is offering for mailing your ballot to the US, in some places (like New Zealand) it's even free!

Is there such a thing as blog fright?

"Do one thing every day that scares you." -Eleanor Roosevelt

That quote has been running through my mind for the past 20 minutes as I sit here staring at the empty text box on my screen. From the previous posts in this blog I'm sure anyone can tell I'm not the type that never has much to say, so the sudden loss of words has been a bit puzzling to say the least.

And then it hit me.

I have stage fright! Errr, or blog fright (if there is such a thing).

Usually I have no problem coming up with something to ramble about, but that's because not many people read my blog and most of the few that do I know personally, so having them read my writing is no big deal. But while trying to write this post it suddenly occurred to me that since I've decided to try the "post every day for a month" thing, once I'm added to the blogroll other people might stop by to have a read! Don't get me wrong, that's cool, I love to read other's blogs and have them respond to mine (I blog elsewhere on occasion with more readers), but somehow this is different.

I know it seems silly to have stage fright over such a thing, but since those kind of fears aren't rational to begin with, it is what it is. Standing on a stage about to give a speech is one of the only things that consistently leaves me speechless!

Surely it's just a passing thing, but 'til it goes I'll just have to do what they say to do when staring out at the mass of people before you:

Picture you all in your underwear. ;-P