more of cindy's little white lies

ok, so this from crooks and liars about cindy mccain....

You know what we find 'offensive'?

Cindy's propensity to lie!

In addition to lying about her recipes and her sister, looks like she also likes to lie about the circumstances that surrounded the adoption of her daughter from Bangladesh.

Cindy and her people changed the story just in time for the presidential campaign.

How convenient!

Apparently, she's been telling people that Mother Teresa herself urged her to adopt during a trip to Bangladesh.

Turns out Stepford McCain never met or even spoke with Mother Teresa on that trip.

more scary stuff about the wing-nut from alaska

ok so this from moveon.org....Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

* She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.
* How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.

The last bullet-piint distresses me most- that McCain may only have met this woman once face-to-face before choosing her.....omg...

scandals in alaska

ok, so this from wonkette....Wonkette’s favorite GILF has now graduated to a losing ticket for vice president. Hooray for Sarah Palin, the new fake Hillary Clinton! And like the Clintons, Palin and her husband, “Todd,” are involved in a horrible scandal in their corrupt nothing state, and it’s about troopers. So let’s offer a brief background about this epic scandal which has ruined her reputation in Alaska, where she used to have 90% approval ratings. And then you will realize exactly how creepy Alaska is where they would care about such a thing.

The basic idea of the scandal is that she and her husband pressured the commissioner of the state Public Safety Department to fire a state trooper named Mike Wooten, Palin’s former brother-in-law, who has been in a nasty custody battle with Palin’s sister. Then when the commissioner refused, Palin fired him and replaced him with an idiot who then left a couple of weeks later.

In other words, it was any day in Alaskan politics, where doing something corrupt is like eating a can of beans. Just think about all the cans of beans you eat all the time, and yes, it’s that frequent.

political word twist....

ok, so this from wonkette....Wonkette linguistics operative “Shih Tzu” sends us a variety of hilarious anagrams for “Sarah Palin” and “Sarah Heath Palin.” (She is named after the dead joker, Heath Ledger, which is offensive.) “Sarah Palin gets you Sharia Plan — Palin is clearly a stealth Muslim radical. Sarah Heath Palin gets you Ha Ha, Alpine Trash, which is kind of mean. It also gets you Ahh Shit, Anal Rape.” Well my stars, this Sarah Palin is no role model for our daughters.

gop vp choice unsure what vp does....

ok, so this from crooks and liars..... Ms. Palin was quoted in july: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does everyday?”

Do we really need someone like this a heartbeat away from the Presidency? Especially given that McCain turned 72 today? Especially someone under investigation for abuse of power less than two years into office? That really is more of the same.

One dKos commenter answers Sarah’s question:

1. Leaves undisclosed location for the White House.

2. Tells the President what to do.

3. Orders Chief of Staff to obstruct a series of investigations.

4. Snarls a few times.

5. Returns to undisclosed location.

Heh.

more about sarah palin

ok ,so...this from the www.......Sarah Palin had political experience only as a small town mayor until less than two years ago. What we don't know about her could fill a book. Here are a few things we're learning about Palin.

Sarah Palin left the finances of her town Wasilla in tatters when she moved on in 2002. She wanted a legacy as mayor, it seems, and pushed hard for the town to build a hyper-expensive sports complex. But Palin screwed the process up badly. Instead of buying the land for the complex when it was offered, her administration allowed a developer named Gary Lundgren to snap it up. Then Wasilla tried to seize the land from Lundgren through eminent domain. In the end, what with court costs Wasilla paid at least $ 1.7 million for land it could have bought for less than one tenth that sum - if the purchase had been handled properly. For this incompetence, Wasilla is still paying a steep price: higher taxes and cutbacks in services. In other words Palin is about as efficient as Michael Brown, onetime head of FEMA.

yeah...sounds like the perfect GOP candidate to me.....

dedicated to eliminating reproductive choice

ok, so....the republicans have offered up a wolf in sheep's clothing....a woman who neither believes in a woman's right to choose, or a woman's right to control the spacing of her children through legal birth control methods.....which is why she not only has 5 children but has a child with a birth defect that she was surely told of long before delivery.....a child no doubt using up govt funded benefits that she likely opposes as a fiscal conservative......and this is the point that really gets my blood pressure arising......fiscal conservatives hate the notion of deeming anybody disabled....my sister-in-law, while going through chemotherapy for her third brain tumor, had to prove to a panel of 'experts' that she was too disabled to work.... .but i assure you, gentle reader, that the child of this vp candidate will have no problem maintaining disability until death....and all her barbie smiles and passive-aggressive comments will not sway my opinion otherwise....

only child cindy mccains's sister won't be voting for her spouse...

ok, so this from us magazine....Cindy McCain's half sister is planning on voting for Barack Obama, she tells Usmagazine.com.

"I'm not voting for McCain," Kathleen Hensley Portalski tells Us. "I have a different political standpoint.

"I'm voting for Obama," the Phoenix resident says. "I think his proposals to improve the country are more positive and I'm not a big war believer."

Portalski, 65, and the potential first lady, 54, have the same father: Jim Hensley, the founder of the beer distributor Hensley and Co. that Cindy McCain now chairs.

In an interview with NPR News' All Things Considered last week, Portalski said she felt "like a non-person" after Cindy McCain described herself as an "only child."

Portalski's mother is Hensley's first wife; Cindy McCain's mother, Marguerite Hensley, also had another daughter from her first marriage.

"She's kinda cool, standoffish," Portalski tells Us of her half sister.

Portalski also doesn't expect Cindy McCain to make an effort to reconcile their relationship.

"She never has, and I doubt that she ever will," she tells Us.

Portalski's son Nathan, a 45-year-old aerospace machinist, is also backing Obama.

"I wouldn't vote for John McCain if he was a Democrat," he tells Us. "I would not vote at all before I'd vote for him.

"I question whether Cindy is someone I'd want to see in the White House as first lady," he adds.

from jezebel.com

ok, so this from jezebel.com.....Remember that Wisconsin woman arrested for overdue books? Well Mainer JoAn Karkos is also in trouble for keeping her library books, but she held onto two copies of It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health for reasons other than forgetfulness. You see, Karkos didn't return the books because she thought they were obscene. According to BoingBoing, "In September, Karkos sent letters to the libraries, including checks to pay for the cost of the books. The letters said, in part, 'I have been sufficiently horrified of the illustrations and sexually graphic, amoral, abnormal contents. I will not be returning the books.'" A judge has ordered Karkos to return the books by tomorrow at 4 and pay a $100 fine, or she'll be arrested.

stealing books so nobody else can read them?

sorry i went to bed a bit too early

ok, so i watched Biden's speech, then got up and went to bed...and missed Obama's surprise appearance....

extra-large magnums....

ok, so this from the nypost about the democratic national convention...HERE'S something you won't see at the Republican convention - dueling condom giveaways. Trojan has a large tent inside the DNC's official Pepsi Center perimeter where volunteers hand out extra-large, Magnum condoms. Meanwhile, in the streets of Denver, comely Planned Parenthood volunteers are handing out anti-John McCain condom packets. They include a pamphlet titled "Ten Reasons to Protect Yourself From John McCain," detailing his votes against women's reproductive rights. "People are lovin' it," said one condom-wielding cutie.

on 1-94 on the way into town from airport

ok, so....this from crooks and liars..the daily show billboard welcoming republican conventioneers in minnesota....

michelle

ok, so...the mm says wow to michelle obama, who gave a moving tribute to her roots and to her family's values at tonight's opening of the democratic convention.....i am saddened that protesters for the war bothered to show up in denver...they need to fastforward to the republican convention and stir thing sup there instead..... anti-war protests with the current crowd is like preaching to the choir.....i was also moved by caroline kennedy's introduction to her uncle teddy...and i will admit to feeling smug at noticing that she borrowed many elements of her intro from her nytimes endorsement of obama.....that is ok, because her nytimes piece was brilliant and still makes me cry so many months later.....

fans of good grammer fined....

ok, so this from cnn.... PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense.
Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson corrected the grammar in the first paragraph of this sign.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson corrected the grammar in the first paragraph of this sign.

Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty August 11 for the damage done March 28 at the park's Desert View Watchtower. The sign was made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon-area landmarks.

Deck and Herson, both 28, toured the United States this spring, wiping out errors on government and private signs. They were interviewed by NPR and the Chicago Tribune, which called them "a pair of Kerouacs armed with Sharpies and erasers and righteous indignation."

An affidavit by National Park Service agent Christopher A. Smith said investigators learned of the vandalism from an Internet site operated by Deck on behalf of the Typo Eradication Advancement League.

Authorities said a diary written by Deck reported that while visiting the watchtower, he and Herson "discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, contained a few errors."

The fiberboard sign has yellow lettering with a black background. Deck wrote that they used a marker to cover an erroneous apostrophe, put the apostrophe in its proper place with correction fluid and added a comma.

The misspelled word "emense" was not fixed, Deck wrote, because "I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further. ... Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight."

Deck and Herson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property.

They were sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park or modify any public signs. They were also ordered to pay $3,035 to repair the watchtower sign.

more mulch

ok, so.....i unloaded another truckload of mulch today.....over a 6 hour period due to the intense heat......i had illusions that this would be the last load.....but now that it is spread i could really use another truckload.....ah well.....if i had no intentions of flying to austria sometime soon i would invest in some shade-tolerant shrubberies and re-think the planting areas along the fence and along the hedge......these are vast wastelands when the daylilies die back.....sometime today i scratched the heck out of my chin and cheeks.....i must have been miserable enough as to not notice..must have been one of the rose bushes i tried to tie-back......go figure...i'd hate to miss church over a face-full of scratches, but i really do look like a victim of abuse...i located a pair of slide sandals in the gardening shoe basket.....hopefully these will not be as tempting to the pup as the leather sandals seem to have been.....the dog did manage to chew up my rick steves paris guide that was on the porch on a chair.....it was old enough to list francs rather than euros....but it the notion that this dog seeks to chew up my favorite things that is the issue.....ah well.....my eldest is fixing to leave paris tomorrow for amsterdam.....he took the train to chartres today....and happened upon a wedding in the cathedral....he said that he sat down and took it all in- the nuptials, the stained glass, the majesty that is chartres.....and considered it a good day.....now that i am showered and hydrated and the truck has been put up (put up means back in grandma's garage...) i feel the urge to check out plane fares to munich (the closest airport to branau-am-inn).....i'd like to go over the veteran's day weekend.....and then again over spring break.....thankfully my eku class starts on thursday so my cash-flow will seem more conducive to multiple european excursions.....i went to an annual staff meeting for the health class just this past week...and was reminded that they really do mean for class to last over 2 hours....go figure.....some lessons just do not last that long.....ah well...must find videos to make up the time....as i do not want to lose this teaching gig....that so nicely funds my travels....so...a blog about mulch ends up with a dissertation about the funding of travel.....and so it goes....

ok, so this from crooks and liars....

7 houses....

ok, so this from wonkette.....The DNC has sent us this lovely map of John McCain’s houses and airplanes and gnome slaves. Since they’ve made it terribly unreadable, you may view it full size in right here. But to the point: this is devastating you see! Because most of his properties are “condominiums,” a fancy rich word that the well-to-do use when referring to what common folks call “apartments.” And can you even believe this Fun Fact that one of McCain’s “condos” — that is rich slang for “condominiums” — has a concierge, a French word meaning, “house slave who shows rich people the least congested route to the airport during rush hour.”

my friend gail

ok, so i heard early on today that my friend gail had an aneurysm was wasn't expected to survive, but it wasn't until after lunch that my friend joni called to tell me that gail's family had opted to pull life support....so gail passed on at age 43.....she had already several close kin to death......her father died suddenly at their place of work, which prompted her to seek employment elsewhere....and she lost a sister to sudden death earlier this year.....thankfully my memories of gail from our restaurant days are upbeat and hopeful.....she loved her daughters, and she was optimistic about their futures....she was a good woman....

ok, so my boy is no longer in venice, but this photo just arrived in my in-box.....ah, to be young and footloose....

puppy

ok, so....i was philosophical when the puppy chewed up 2 pairs of sandals in so many days.....because they were cast-offs brought home from the store- sandals that were returned for whatever reason, and were worn because they were available...but this last pair of black merrills ...and i do mean my last pair....were near and dear to my heart- they fit perfectly, and were in great shape despite their age....danged dog.....somehow sneaked back upstairs last night while he was supposed to be chilling out while my spouse read the newspaper....i must have been asleep while he fished them out from just under the bed, as i never heard a thing....

154 more days...

ok, so this from crooks and liars

mccain did not approve this message

ok, so this video from crooks and liars...

running on empty

ok, so this from the latimes...Jackson Browne is suing John McCain for using the song “Running on Empty” in a campaign ad — and the veteran rocker is also calling the candidate a great pretender when it comes to standing up for constitutional rights.

Browne, one of rock music’s most famous activists for liberal causes, is “incensed” that the presumptive Republican candidate for president has been using Browne’s signature 1977 song “Running on Empty” in campaign commercials, according to the singer-songwriter’s attorney. Browne filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against both McCain and the Republican National Committee on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of the forlorn arena anthem or any other Browne compositions, as well as damages.

another vote for obama...

ok, so this from crooks and liars....The pastor who presided over the Texas-trash nuptials between Jenna Bush and her husband is a long-time friend of George W. Bush, but man oh man, he hates the crap out of John McCain. This pastor — a Reverend Kirbyjon(!) Caldwell — supports Barack Obama, weird, and told a bunch of reporters yesterday that John McCain is the worst person in the world — mostly because of that time he suggested his wife join the Miss Bison Shit contest before a crowd of gangbanging bikers, as well as all the crippled wives he’s cheated on in his life.

ok, so this from crooks and liars.....

all-around....

ok, so i stayed up til 1:30 am watching the americans go 1-2 in the women's gymnastic competition.....the performances were stellar....just lovely.....and even in my sleep-deprived stupor i recall the effort to stay awake worth my time.....especially given that i have watched women's gymnastics faithfully since 1972 when olga korbut dazzled the world with her backflip from the uneven bars.....wow......still gives me pause to consider just how much skill and nerve these tricks require.....

fatigue

ok, so.....i have stayed up late too many days in a row.....mostly watching gymnastics...there is something compelling about seeing an event that is happening tomorrow rather than today.....well....something compelling about watching miraculous physical stunts.....with uncommon gracefulness.......mostly we amble about from here to there....gymnasts manage to get from point a to point b in a much more interesting manner.....the men's all-around competition is late this evening......i may just forego this event so i can rest-up for the women's all-round.....i say women's event loosely, as i have a hard time believing that the chinese women are women in the developmental sense......as opposed to little girls.....

soundtrack.....

ok, so....my daughter purchased the soundtrack of the movie musical mamma mia......with her own money....and i have grown tired of listening to abba songs over and over......not that we have heard the entire soundtrack yet.....no...she mostly plays the same 2 songs over and over.....oy....it all reminds me of my college roommate, who played the soundtrack for saturday night fever over and over for weeks and maybe months..over the span of an especially emotional summer.so much so that i have not been able to actually watch the movie...i kinda know what happens, but i do not think i could survive the deju evoked by the musical numbers at this late date.....i suppose this is why one so prefers mixes.....a little of this and a little of that...and no repeats.....

seep hoses.....

ok, so.....i finally engaged my spouse in the seep-hose problem.....the problem being that they did not seem to seep......he was able to repair several large gashes, and ultimately discovered that water did not flow well due to small blue disks inside the ends of each segment that narrowed the available circumference from 1 inch down to less than 1/8th inch.....no wonder the water wouldn't flow past the first hose....we have been able to get decent water flow all the way to the end of the hose....and now it is clear that i need to dig up all of the hose and lay the hose in concentric circles to maximize the coverage......luckily i have a few extra rolls of the hose in the garage....

ok, so...i have kept my tongue about the whole edwards infidelity thing...but this excerpt from maureen dowd in the nytimes was too witty to pass up..... The stunning admission Edwards made to ABC’s Bob Woodruff, and in a written statement from Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon, was that he’s a narcissist.

He admitted that wallowing in “self-focus” out on the trail and thinking you’re “special” can result in a solipsism that “leads you to believe you can do whatever you want, you’re invincible and there’ll be no consequences.”

Auto-psychoanalysis by the perp. That’s really rich. When Bill Clinton acknowledged an affair, after equally adamant denials, he simply went into an old-fashioned spiral of penitence, his allegedly long, dark night of his alleged soul.

Even in confessing to preening, Edwards was preening. His diagnosis of narcissism was weirdly narcissistic, or was it self-narcissistic? Given his diagnosis, I’m sure his H.M.O. would pay.

The creepiest part of his creepy confession was when he stressed to Woodruff that he cheated on Elizabeth in 2006 when her cancer was in remission. His infidelity was oncologically correct.

i especially like the part about his HMO paying for treatment for his self-absorption.....wasn't health care one of his signature issues.....?.......predictably his wife is standing behind him on this one.....it is worth one's time to go back and read the rest of what maureen had to say......

ok, so this was the shirt-of-the-day on crooks and iiars.....

worth the wait.....

ok, so...i am and some special family and friends stayed up long past out bedtime to watch the opening ceremonies.....i will freely admit that watching the chinese delegation march was moving, headed up by 7.5 foot yao minh (sp) walking beside a 9-year old fellow who not only survived the earthquake but rescued 2 of his classmates from the rubble simply because he was hall monitor for the week and saw that as his job.....wow....and the torch lap paired with the spectacular torch-lighting sequence was also special.....and worth the staying awake.....

i'll take the tax and spend liberal anyday....

ok, so this from crooks and liars....

young man

ok, so.....with some family members, our new pup's name has morphed from buddy into young man....not sure where the young man came from, but i am certain it was not from anger over puppy behavior.....so far about all the pup has done in a destructive manner is to rip up the new yorker cover because i left it on the porch after grilling supper......my bad.....he is inching closer to making peace with the cat...they have yet to be int he same room together, and when i carried the cat past him to her new haven in the guest room window for her supper, she hissed at him and he cowered.....maybe she will ease up when she figures out that she holds the upper paw in this relationship.....our middle child has been quite tender with her during these changin' times....coddling her and whispering sweet cat sentiments to her while she eats.....

heels...

ok, so...i went to a training in frankfort yesterday (and will go again today) and was amazed at how many women in the massive 'dph' building were wearing uncomfortable-looking footwear.....especially given that one must park fairly far away unless one arrives for work at the crack of dawn.....i wore a pair of kitten-heeled pumps...the heel being no higher than 1.5 inches....on monday to a meeting, and i now have a blister from where my smaller foot rubbed the side.....and so i am torn at this moment that precedes my getting up and getting dressed...on what sort of shoes to wear today.....my comfy merril sandals or dressier but less comfortable shoes.....sandals may look too casual for the appearance of competence i am working toward.....but heels may make me look shallow and foolish.....quite the conundrum.....

127 yardsale...

ok, so....the long north-south connector that bisects much of these parts is hosting an annual even this week...the 127 yard sale.....i was amused this morning driving to frankfort for a training just how many impromptu car-lots had sprung up in front yards...i counted 29 vehicles for sale on my commute...mostly monster trucks and r.v.'s......go figure.....numerous other sites are ready to sell stuff dragged out of closets and storage bins.....and i have no need of any of that these days....folks saving to visit small Austrian towns have no business perusing yardsales....

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

ok, so...i just love politics in an election year.....

walking the dog....

ok, so....i walked the dog directly after doing the dishes this evening.....1/2 mile around the circle.....i usually do not get the opportunity, but the usual dog-walker was having a drama-queen moment...not a full-fledged award-winning moment...but enough to divert her attentions to privacy in her room and away from the dog.....we learned today that she must meet her bus at 7:10 am at the place where the circle meets up with the main road.....which means she will have to get up at 6:30 am....well before her preferred time-frame.....ah well.....this should be an interesting school year.....

not for the squeamish....

ok, so.....i had bouts of both boiling over heat and chills last evening as i tossed and turned......which either means i in still hormonally fragile, or i have some dread disease like histoplasmosis or tuberculosis that feature night sweats as part of their destructive process.......somehow menopause doesn't sound so bad as compared to the alternative.....sadly, when i wake up either too hot or too cold, i have difficulty falling back to sleep as i run through all of the worries that i could worry about further rather than fall back asleep.....i have taken to chanting....in my head.....a mantra about how it will all be ok.......

3 loads, before 2010

ok, so.....i hung three loads of laundry out to dry in the afternoon heat......in between bursts of trimming out dead stems and weeds from the planting beds..... and when it dawned on me that i would be late for the library...i quickly cleaned up and drove into town.....it was just before i turned into the interim library that i saw the van......with religious graffiti all over it...mostly about jesus coming very soon.....on top of the van was the three-sided placard that assured me that he would return before 2010.....that is less than 2 years from now.....which could either mean that i have wasted my time weeding my planting beds.....or worse.....washing my sheets and towels.....if the world were really coming to an end i suppose i would find better things to do with my time....alas....the world has been coming to an end for since the year 32 AD.....paul's letters are mostly about trying to roust the faithful to do more than lay about waiting for jesus to return.....just in case...i'll put it on my calendar.....luckily my phone calendar can be accessed to infinity....

lacking consistency....

ok, so...it has come to my attention that my avatars are now decidedly random across my many medias......this blog still has the rose stanwell perpetual, while my facebook picture has been updated to buddy, and my original cat-in-a-cape remains on our computer menu.....to be fair, none of the rest of my family members have changed their menu avatar........our flickr account has yellow's picture, which i shall leave untouched lest i hurt his feelings.....all well.....meanmamma's persona these days is all over the place.....

confirmation

ok, so....our eldest has emailed that he is safely in berlin, and that he can ship his large suitcase directly to his house-sitting location by dhl......this is good news.....as he really didn't want to drag a large case on a train journey....or take a detour to branau-am-inn to drop it off....for this mm.....these confirmations reduce my list if things to worry about....