Another reason to dislike Sarah Palin

OMG, I was just reading in the NYT quotes from the Couric interview w/ Palin and now it's personal.

And on gays, Governor Palin said: “But what you’re talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don’t know what prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice I would have made. But I am not going to judge people.”

Excuse me, Mrs. Palin but I didn't choose to be gay (not that if someone were to "choose" being gay there would be anything wrong with that...we are fabulous). I was born gay just like you were apparently born with limited capacity for knowledge.

I'm sorry, what?

Sherri Shepherd is one of the women on The View. I haven't seen many of the "she said WHAT" type headlines from that show recently. When Rosie was on, she seemed to make the entertainment page about once a day or so. That's why I wasn't prepared for the few clips I just watched featuring Sherri Shepherd.

To set the scene, Sherri is a devout Christian that was "saved" in recent years. She gave an interview in a Christian magazine saying she "had more abortions that [she] would like to count" prior to finding Jesus. She also "doesn't know" if the world is flat. During a discussion about Epicurus, she argued with Whoopi and Joy saying that Christians pre-date the BC philosopher. It's no secret that I'm not a religious person, and I certainly don't judge anyone who does have faith. I should say I don't judge most people that have faith. What Ms. Shepherd has is a case of faith turned insanity. Much of what she vehemently defends has already been disproven.

• The world is not flat -- that much is pretty clear, no? To anyone that isn't blind and has an understanding of basic shapes? I'll bet if I had asked the little boy that was sitting behind me today on the train what shape the Earth was, he'd get the answer right. He's learning shapes in school right now.
• B.C. stands for "before Christ". That means if someone was born in 341 B.C., they certainly predate Christ and His teachings.
• These are just two of her ravings. I'm sure I'll find more. I won't promise to point them out since this post has already made me exasperated.

The clip below is Sherri talking about how Sarah Palin being a mother of five qualifies her to be Vice President (and potentially President) of the United States. Really? That's what it takes, huh? My Mom is one of six kids, and I don't plan to nominate my grandmother to run for public office. I have a great deal of respect for parents, and I may even be one someday. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be qualified to run for public office. I'm not suggesting that this is the only argument that Sherri can make re: Palin's qualifications, but she needs to stop using this one.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/sherri-shepherd-palins-fi_n_123281.html

Not surprisingly, she doesn't believe in evolution either... aaaaaaand I'm spent. I need to go read a book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNC117UYsHs

Can't we all just get along?

So I've noticed that there is some tension going down on the blog. And so I'm gonna go all Edna Garrett on this blog's ass. "GURRRRLS! GURRRLS!" (and guys)... can we agree to disagree on some things and keep it civil? Thanks!

Now I know that this blog has a very liberal slant. And right now is a touchy time with an election only weeks away. But that doesn't mean that we can't get along. Some of my best friends are conservatives. I disagree with them regularly. But an incident with my very conservative family at the start of the Iraq War involving e-mail forwards and responses taught me how sticky politics is - especially amongst friends and family. So while I'm not calling for an end to ideological slant to this blog or any comments, let's not get personal or slanderous. Not that it's been that bad but I know things can deteriorate as quickly as Rush Limbaugh's OxyContin high (oh, I couldn't resist).

It's either we all get along or I'm going to make you paint your bedroom in a ploy to get you to work things out. And we all know that will end in messy hilarity!

Fashion Critique of the Candidates

I thought this was funny. And informative. Like John McCain, I, too, struggle to avoid "looking like a rectangle."

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/galleries/frontrunners

Thoughts on the Debate

It's hard for me to be objective, but watching John McCain leaves me wondering:

is McCain deaf in his left ear? He never looked at Senator Obama. At best, it made him seem old and deaf, at worst, it made him seem dismissive and rude.

every answer of McCain's involved his opponent. Defensive, much? I imagine if I were undecided I would have been put off by it. It just made McCain seem petty and like he was avoiding representing his own ideas.

Also, what is with Republicans being so snotty and condescending (see debate tonight and their entire convention).

I don't know. I feel like I got more substantive info from Barack Obama. At different times when McCain was speaking, I kept thinking he sounded like a sedated Kasey Kasem.

Ooooh, BURN!

Reid: "We have Sen. Bennett who is a high-ranking Republican Senator standing before all of you saying, 'We've got a deal in principle. All we have to do is put it down in writing and this is almost over with.' And then Guess Who came to town, and that completely fell apart.

...people who constructively engaged in the process were castigated in the Republican Caucus by people who aren't here a lot, at least a person who isn't here a lot of time..."

Now I am REALLY Scared

Palin doesn't think the U.S. should ever second-guess Israel. Because we don't want a second Holocaust. Because if Israel acts agressively, "we know who the good guys are". *grimace*

Crab on a Jellyfish

I don't why, but this really cracks me up. It's just a crab on a giant jellyfish.

Volunteering

I just want to urge Obama supporters to get online and volunteer. I realize you're in a blue state, but you could reach out to people in purple states and really help, I believe. Dave's aunt is in Ohio (she lives in Mass.) volunteering all day long! Karen and I just made a few calls last night. The thing is, there are people out there who need to be reminded about educating themselves and voting. I am not saying "call them and convince them to vote for Obama"--I am saying "call them and make them think about the issues most important to them. Then remind them there are resources for getting the facts about the policies of each of the candidates. Then remind them how and when to register to vote and that voting by absentee ballot is the easiest."

I spoke with a Hillary supporter who had "no idea" who she's going to vote for. I asked her what her concerns are and she said the economy. I asked her who she thought would best handle the economic problems we're facing. "Oh, Obama for sure" We kept talking, but I think it made her realize that neither candidate is perfect, but you exercise your vote with the faith that the person you vote for will do the best job.

I also spoke with someone who enthusiastically answered "Oberack" to my question. Me: "uuuuhhh... do you mean Barack Obama?" Her: "*laughing* I can't say the guy's name, but you know who I mean!" (funny especially since I told her I was a volunteer with the Barack Obama campaign in Colorado. She might have also been the one who asked, "Who's that?" hahahaha--oh, PEOPLE!)

Conservative Racist Bastards

I am not saying all conservatives are racist. But the history of the Republican Party since the 1960s speaks for itself.

Dave put together this blog post after seeing news stories on the subject below.

Jenn,

There is a new conservative meme out there trying to explain the financial meltdown on, get this... black folks.

Yes, you read that correctly. The poorest segment of the American population has apparently outwitted America's great financial institutions, and took them for all their worth.

This is the new talking point initiated by Neil Cavuto at Faux News. A few days ago, he suggested that giving home mortgages to minorities was the underlying problem. Since the same argument was parroted by both Laura Ingram and John Stossel this evening, discussed at length by the ultra-conservative Investor's Business Daily, and traceable to a Cato Institute rag from January 2008, I thought I ought to look into the matter a bit.

The argument suggests that the Community Reinvestment Act (first passed in 1977, and strengthened in 1995) is responsible for much of the crisis because it supposed "empowered banking regulators to punish banks which do not lend to the poor and minorities at the level that Obama's fellow community organizers would like." Banks were thus given "numerical quotas," which made our powerful financial corporations quake in their boots. Oh no, Big Gummit is comin' to town. And so, the argument goes, "loans started being made on the basis of race, and often little else"

(Pause for laughter and ridicule.)

What was the result? According to conservatives, them minorities just jumped into the market and diluted all our good mortgages with their own bad juju. Since those ingrates refuse to pay back their loans, good white folk are left high and dry.

Here are a few useful and brief responses:

1) "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa! What a joke. Oh my god, you CAN'T be serious!"

2) "Black folks owned 9% of the homes in 1994. Eleven years later, they owned the exact same percentage. So there really wasn't any huge racial disparity. And if there wasn't a huge racial disparity, you can't really blame blacks can you? Sorry, no."

3) "Of the subprime loans, only 20% were connected with the Community Revitalization Agency. In other words, 80% of these 'bad' loans had little to no connection to the agency you said caused this thing. Now don't you feel silly?"

4) "If risky loans were a problem, why did Bush change FHA rules in 2005 to allow the government to provide federally-backed, zero-money-down loans for the first time ever? Man, that would have been exceedingly dumb."

5) "The loans themselves aren't the problem; the problem is what happened after the loans were made. Thanks to new rules, loans were swapped and resold dozens of times over, and that's how $1 trillion in subprime loans become a $40 trillion house of cards."

6) "The financial industry earned $3.5 trillion in profits from 1995 to 2007, yet now cry about $2 billion in potentially-bad loans. Since all those profits went in their pockets, shouldn't the bailout come from the same place?"

Oh, those crazy Republicans. They sure know how to divert attention, play on racial stereotypes, and stick their snouts into the public trough, don't they? They'll tell you that the market is king and government should stay out of it, but when those salad days end, they're first in line for a handout. Instead of "trickle down" economics, we just get to "trickle up" our tax dollars.And then magically, the government should just stay out of the market again.

I say no! No to the Wall Street bailout, and yes to helping borrowers and ordinary folks as needed. We really don't need to pay the fat cats first, or listen to claptrap about deregulation. Greed can be both helpful and doleful, which is why regulations are essential for a well-ordered market that serves society.

McCain campaign meltdown

OMG, the last 2 weeks have been BAAAAADDDD for McCain but it just got horrendous in the last 24 hours. Suspending your campaign? REALLY? Skipping the debate? WHAT?

Perhaps 2 things will go down in history as the beginning of the end for the McCain / Palin ticket: McCain canceling his appearance on Letterman and Palin's interview with Katie Couric.

I will pretty much let the clips speak for themselves. First, Letterman. If you haven't seen this, you must.



Some of my favorite things that Letterman said:

"Are we suspending [our campaign] because there is an economic crisis or because our poll numbers are sliding?" To which the audience responds with "Oooooohhhh!" and Paul Schaffer says, "Oops! Oops oops!"

"And let's say there's a time of crisis...and then Sarah Palin takes over as president, well she ought to be ready because she's handled crises like this in the past...oh wait a minute, she really hasn't handled a crisis like this in the past."

And the interview of Sarah Palin with Katie Couric speaks for itself. Here is the worst of it - what will go down in history as "the Russia question":



I am blown away by how...DUMB she sounds. I almost feel sorry for her because I think the McCain campaign really wanted to beef up her foreign policy credentials and they've made her tout the Russia thing even though it sounds SO STUPID.

Goodbye, John McCain & Sarah Palin. Thanks for the blog fodder.

Joining the Apple revolution

So I broke down and just got an iPod nano last night. It's the 16gb in blue, the latest and greatest 4th generation, natch. The iPhone will have to wait till June (so D, quit the hysterical whining about how you want an iPhone before me...we both have to wait now).

But anyhoo...I started the process of preparing my music for an iPod last night. I have a TON of music that is inconveniently not in the correct format (they are mostly WMAs...stupid Windows) and so much to my surprise the latest version of iTunes started to automatically convert these files to types that are okay for an iPod. The process started last night around 630 pm and as of 730 am this morning, it was only about 60% finished with the process. OMG, I have a ton of music. So far, playback time of my library is over 1 week...meaning if I were to listen continuously, it would play for over a week. That's some crazy sh**. So I left my computer running so that it could finish this process. Keep your fingers crossed that this doesn't crash my poor PC laptop! Or that once I get my fancy new nano that it doesn't crash itself or the laptop. Of course, if it did I would have an excuse to get a MacBook.

I'm ridiculous.

Some things you should know re: previous post

Just two weekends ago, I was threatening to break my contract with Verizon just so I could get an iPhone.  

P: "You're going to pay $100 just do you can get an iPhone" *dripping with judgement*

Needless to say, I did not switch.  

Also, my contract should have been up ~8 months ago.  Guess why it's not!  Because P made a change to our contract.  That means I am bound by the new contract (and the new dates).  

AND, I can't afford an iPhone any longer, so if he switches: (1) my monthly plan price will increase, (2) I will have to take over the billing because it is under his name right now, and (3) I will be stuck under his contract until June.

The second day the music died

So I was on my way home from work yesterday (here's your expected response: "OMG, you were working ANOTHER weekend?" Me, indignant and mad, through gritted teeth: "YES") and all of a sudden my stupid Gigabeat (Toshiba's NO LONGER MADE MP3 player) just stopped working. All of a sudden, a screen came up that said, "Send me the f*** back to Toshiba, bitch!" Well, not exactly but you get the gist of it.

I had to send it back once before (see previous blog entry entitled "The day the music died"...too lazy to link you back to it...). So now I'm thinking that I'm done with this and it's time, ladies and gentlemen, to make the switch to Apple. Yes, I want an iPhone. But there are several problems with that and this whole endeavor could be a MAJOR mess:

1) I have been on a PC forEVER and my music collection is huge (yes, you may not know this about me but I am a huge music lover and have A TON of it). It is basically all on there as MP3s that are in Windows Media Player. To boot, I know that iPods and iPhones tend to have trough sync'ing to Toshibas. So how much of a hassle is it going to be to transfer all of that over to a Mac...who knows... and can the "genius bar" at the Apple Store help me? But that brings me to another problem...

2) I want a Mac. My Toshiba laptop has pissed me off more times than I care to count and it's SOOOO SLOW. So can I justify spending about $2500 to get a MacBook Pro? I don't know.

3) I am currently under contract with Verizon and to break my contract (and D's...we are on a Family Share Plan) before June of next year would cost $100 EACH! Apparently there are websites dedicated to swapping with people to get out of your contract but is it worth it? Maybe...

4) I want something now. After all, I am an American and I want NOW NOW NOW! I can't wait for anything! Certainly not till June...and I can't go for even A WEEK without some sort of MP3 device.

OMG! HELP! WHAT SHOULD I DO?

My Crush on Michelle

This is Michelle on Ellen. First of all, I think she is GORGEOUS, secondly, she seems really nice and thirdly, she obviously has a great sense of humor. = *crush*



Here is the intro to the show--it's really cute:

Apt

I was just reading this op-ed piece by The World Is Flat author Thomas Friedman. The part that really struck me (and speaks to my issue):

"there is no sustainable political/military power without economic power, and talking about one without the other is nonsense. Unless we make America the country most able to innovate, compete and win in the age of globalization, our leverage in the world will continue to slowly erode. Those are the issues this election needs to be about, because that is what the next four years need to be about."

You can read the entire article here.

Getting it Together

Dave and I have been watching Design on a Dime. I must say, the ideas on that show are truly inspiring.

This post would be a lot better if I had a picture, so I will try to remember to take one. BUT, I think the next room we will be focusing on (which is funny bc I think my problem is as we are working on one room, I am fantasizing about another and Dave often has to clap to make me focus again) is downstairs.

Challenges: this is our tv room. it is also the cats' bathroom. It's small and dark and the stairs are precarious. There are also a ton of spider sightings this time of year.

Goals: make it cozy and inviting and not smelly or scary.

We've made good headway in that we tore up the old carpet and Dave plugged in some air fresheners. What a difference that all made! Now, we just have to "bring it all together" and add in a few design elements that make it more cozy.

Will report back soon!

One more thing--as Dave and I (okay, more me than him) realize that simplicity is best (ie, not keeping everything), my q for you is: what the heck do we do with all our books?!

My electoral map

The Washington Post has started a contest for people to predict the 2008 election by filling out their own electoral map. Here's a link to mine:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/3907/

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!!

Watch SNL this weekend

2 Reasons:

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Oh, and something about some guy named Michael Phelps. Who's that? The Olympics? That's SO 3 weeks ago!

P.S. Did anyone see Sarah Palin's first interview? She sucked. Obviously not ready to be VP. Don't let those Kool Aid drinkers tell you she did well...

Confession

I started another blog.