Sunday, January 02, 2011

A toast to Howard Dean!


























*clink!*

36 comments:

  1. I'll drink to that!

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  2. My movie for the evening was "The Secret of Roan Inish." Very nice family film.

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  3. From politicalwire.com:

    "Davis Drops Out and Backs Braun

    Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun emerged as the sole major African-American candidate for Chicago mayor when Rep. Danny Davis dropped out in the name of unity, the Chicago Tribune reports.

    The shake-up came after meetings among African-American leaders attempting to field a single contender to improve the odds of electing a black mayor."

    I wrote in Howard Dean for President and Carol Mosley Braun for Vice President in 2004. Think I'll send a small contribution for her current campaign. [Can you spell "outside agitator?"] I sure won't do that for Rahm Emmanuel.

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  4. Bill Thomasson1/02/2011 12:44:00 PM

    It's clear that Emanuel has made a lot of enemies among Chicago's liberal community. And it may be significant that the one Illinois DFA chapter still going strong is on Chicago's North Side. They're backing Miguel del Valle, however. (Aside: What do others here know about local DFA chapters in their areas?)

    I'm not so sure about Braun. The most conspicuous feature of her Senate term was that she did not manage her office or her personal affairs efficiently. That's not a strong recommendation for Mayor.

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  5. We watched Catch Me if You Can. It's such a great film.

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  6. Awww. That Auld Lang Syne stuff really gets to a person this time of year, too.

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  7. This really makes me miss Howard Dean:
    http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/2/kaine-no-serious-primary-challenger-obama-12/

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  8. listener, that's funny. Sis and I were talking about that movie last night.

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  9. Great minds!

    We watched Sleepless in Seattle a few nights ago. I hadn't recalled it being so funny!
    I brought home from the Library Secondhand Lions, which we've seen before. We haven't watched that yet, though, as Hubby is feeling worse today. I'm nearly over it, but he's behind me, poor soul. He is usually such a calm, quiet patient but he hasn't been with this...despite the laryngitis. It makes me feel like I've been such a valiant patient all the past month. Ha!

    We have a version of Twelfth Night to watch on Wednesday evening.

    We like movies on cold, winter evenings.

    However, he is off for a needed nap and I am about to go back to reading! I'm halfway through Jan Karon's book In the Company of Others and give it the highest recommendation!! I believe it is her best work yet. She says it's her own favourite as well, so that's interesting. I got turned off to her writing when she seemed to lean fundy a bit, in one of her books...included a "altar call" which I felt was unnecessary to the story. But this is set in Ireland and there is some interplay of Protestant and Catholic (friendly, not divisive), and there are many wonderful nuggets of wisdom in the book, as well as an increasingly more complex and interesting plot. Well worth checking out.

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  10. Central Chile got hit with a 7.1 earthquake about 3 hours ago.
    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/c0000y49/index.html

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  11. Wow. They're calling this an "aftershock" of last February's 8.8 quake. No tsunami this time.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_chile_earthquake

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  12. Sen. Lindsay Graham (GOP) wants permanent US bases in Afghanistan.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_re_us/us_us_afghanistan

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  13. I have really had it with the GOP. I am so tired of them getting away with everything.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_re_us/us_health_care_republicans;_ylt=Ai8UhRWcvernuah2a8BB1IIUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTN0M3RuYXNrBGFzc2V0Ay9zL2FwLzIwMTEwMTAyL2FwX29uX3JlX3VzL3VzX2hlYWx0aF9jYXJlX3JlcHVibGljYW5zBGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDZ29wbGF3bWFrZXJn
    We have the power. Let's get creative. What would it take to stop them?

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  14. Since blowing them all to kingdom come is out, I don't know.

    Apparently the mainline GOP, what there is left of it, is kissing Tea Party ass bigtime. What can we do about that? I don't know. But, if you think of something, I'm in.

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  15. Speaking of friendly interplay reminds me of a joke I heard long ago from a Scotch Episcopal minister (studied to be a Jesuit but changed his mind). It is much better to hear than to read because of the intonation of the chants at the critical point, but I will give it a try.

    There was a newly built mining town, and it had both a Protestant and a Catholic church. As time went by the Catholic church attracted more and more parishioners, while the Protestant church was struggling to continue. Eventually the officials of the Protestant church decided to send a group over to the Catholic church to investigate. And so it was that a group of deacons attended Mass one Sunday. Afterwards they came hurrying back, exclaiming We know! We know! Now we know why they're so successful! And all the people who had been waiting clamored for them to tell, and the elder deacon spoke as his audience held their breaths:

    "Well, we went over quietly and waited until all the parishioners had entered; then we slipped in to the back of the church. There was a holy water fountain there, but not a one of us used it. The Catholics were crossing themselves, but you can be sure not a one of us did that either. After a little while the priest comes out, dressed in his magnificent robes decorated with gold, stands in front of the altar facing the congregation, and calls out:

    AHIII CAN PLAY DOOHMINOOS BETTER THAN YOUUU CAN!

    Then a fellow stands up out of the congregation and sings out:

    OOOH NOOO YOU CAAAHN'T!

    And all the time time men are going up and down the aisles with baskets on poles taking side bets on it!"

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  16. That is probably fair, but she has that ten thousand candlepower smile!

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  17. Didn't work very well for the Brits or the Russians, now, did it?

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  18. Dunno. But I still wonder if we might not see the rise of a new second party in our lifetimes. The old, pre-radical, GOP wasn't by and large my piece of cake, but they were a pretty reasonable bunch. These characters seem hell-bent on galloping over the cliff. Considering how quickly the Whigs came a cropper a century and a half ago, in these days might not things go even faster once the situation becomes stressful enough? Some "Republicans" want to (and probably will) put an Arizona-style anti-immigrant initiative on the 2012 ballot. That could very well exterminate the Republican Party as a significant political force in California.

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  19. On the 2012 CALIFORNIA ballot, that is.

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  20. And, as California goes, so goes the nation?

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  21. Home, safe and sound. Nice trip on the whole. Warm and only the tiniest smattering of rain. Got a really good grocery shopping done in Harrisonburg on the way back. Including some very good yummies for a pretty patient puss cat.

    Grand playing with the grandbebes.

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  22. Evening all. I kept my "to do" list pretty short today and "tah dahed" my way through it.

    Youngest grandson asked me to knit a green turtleneck sweater for him. He added he'd like two lightning bolts on the front "or however many you think is cool". Mr. 6-years-old next week. :)

    I've got the sweater finished all but the sleeves and -wouldn't you know - I finally found a knitting chart for a lightning bolt TODAY. I can still put it on with duplicate stitch, so not the disaster it might have been.

    Politically I don't know what the hell we're going to do. The Democrats never found their spines even after the wins of '06 and '08. And the ones who never lost their spines are out of the arena, as in Dean and Feingold. When you can't find anyone to listen what's the use of shouting? I just wish the people who've been trained to hate the "socialist, communist Democrats" would figure out that the Republicans are just as eager to screw them over as anyone. They're not exempt from suffering because they vote for Republicans, but they never seem to figure that out.

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  23. Ohhh, that's old....was told around Boston when I was a pup.

    As I recall it was an account of how a non-Catholic decided to leave a Catholic service. After the bets were placed he knew he'd lost because he heard the priest say, "Benny's got all the dominoes" or something to that effect. LOL!

    If you can find it there was a related book from 1981:
    Benny's got the dominoes: An uninformed appreciation of the mass
    by Robert E Massmann

    Incase you can't find it, though, check out this site:
    Super Secret Catholic Code
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2244241/posts

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  24. Welcome home, wayfarer! ♥
    I'll bet you have a Happy Cat tonight! =^. .^=
    Once you're settled in, I want to hear a lot more about playing with the grands! :-)

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  25. It used to be that way, Cat. Then Vermont took the lead. I hope we can continue to lead the nation. Sure do wish there was a viable new party. Prayers ensuing.

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  26. A green sweater with a lightning bolt on? Do I detect a Harry Potter fan in your vicinity, Susan?

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  27. I think "Should I lie?" is finished. That's good, because it means I can move on to work on other things without that song nagging at the back of my mind.

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  28. Bill Thomasson1/02/2011 11:47:00 PM

    Don't believe everything every Republican says. That guy is essentially blowing hot air. I'm not saying the Republicans won't make some sort of political gesture along those lines, but they know a gesture is all it can ever be. Unless, by some chance, they win the 2012 elections. And that's exactly what many of us are determined to stop.

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  29. Hi Puddle. Glad you had a good time and are now home. I bet Kitty is glad too. *meow*

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  30. Bill Thomasson1/02/2011 11:50:00 PM

    "An enduring relationship." That's a desirable goal. Air bases? Makes no sense at all.

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  31. Nope, I think he just has Super Hero dreams.

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  32. 6? So, 6 lightning bolts? LOL!
    You are awesome to grant his wish.
    Grammie needs a magic wand!

    Heck, we all need one.
    As I see it, there is a culture in the South as strong as any ethnic religion
    that preaches/teaches to each new generation the Republican playbook.
    Kids get it with their mother's milk and at Daddy's knee.
    It's all tied up with parental affection, and quite a few have large families.

    Those with more progressive views are more likely to limit family size
    (not always, as I am an example, with our 5 kiddos),
    and they are more likely to teach them to think for themselves.

    So I think we need to put up a bat to create scholarships for southerners at northern universities. ;-) Hey, I'm just brainstorming.

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  33. GOP agenda: Major impact may be on 2012 election
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_congress_returns;_ylt=AinMuzxCNrcpWkNpY_D4gtNH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTMxdDRhNGdqBGFzc2V0Ay9zL2FwL3VzX2NvbmdyZXNzX3JldHVybnMEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzcEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNnb3BhZ2VuZGFtYWo-

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