These Are The Rules

The Rules
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random things. Humm. My whole life is random. Only six--this should be easy.

Kulkuri is the guy who tagged me. That Yooper in Crackerland. Link that! I'm very fond of Kulkuri, but he's a tease. One of his random facts is the tease that English is not his native language. Yes? Well? Does he tell us what his native language is/was? No. He does not. Now I have to research Yooper. Ok, that's done. Pennsylvania Dutch? So where in America does this transplanted Yooper live now? Sunbelt, I'm thinking. His avatar has him in a Hawaiian shirt sitting in a beach chair, reading. Clues everywhere, but no real answers. Shall I just give you clues? No random facts, just clues? That doesn't seem fair or in keeping with the whole idea of learning more about the someone through random things. So, here goes.

Random Things About Me:

1. I'm very emotional, a very difficult woman. That could count as two random things, but they are so interwoven that I think of them as one thing--the intensity of my emotionality makes me a difficult woman to be around. I do everything too passionately. I'm easy to anger, too.

2. I was raised by a woman who had mastered the resounding verbal "bitch slap" to such an extent that living with her made it impossible to avoid learning this nasty habit. So, given the right circumstances, I can deliver a verbal "bitch slap" effortlessly and with no thought at all--like a reflex. Impossible to stop once begun. I have lost friends over this dubious skill. I have gone one bitch slap too far more often than is seemly.

3. I have missed out on the love of a man with the strength and patience to keep me from running, make me want to stay. I know this deep in my core. It's a wound so deep I see myself as essentially unlovable. Maybe I make myself that way on purpose. But I have tried at times too hard and for too long to make myself lovable when I had chosen a man so shallow he wasn't worth more than a tumble.

4. I will miss lamb chops when I have to give up eating meat. I know this day is coming. It's the right thing to do. It may also be the economically necessary thing to do. That said, I just picked up a five pack of rib eye steaks in the reduced meat department, brought it home, individually wrapped each steak and frozen all but one. I'm having steak and beans, and salad for dinner tonight.

5. I'm a political news junky. And I'm proud of my girlfriend, Freida of the Bees, for becoming a regular contributer to one of the really good news sources, The Daily Kos. Go Freida! Politics and journalism are a sexy combo. And Math too? You're unstoppable. You're on fire.

6. I got an email yesterday from a boy I tried to have sex with when I was fourteen years old. (I probably looked closer to twenty when I decided I wanted him to be the boy who deflowered me, so to speak). He read my letter to the editor after Obama's primary win in North Carolina. He says he's been reading my blog since then. He left his phone number in his email. I called him. I like the idea of him. There is a short story in that early encounter. I remember it in great detail. Poor boy. I took him into my parent's bed when they were up at the cabin. I have to admit I have thought of him now and then over the long years of my life. What if...?

Well, I've shocked myself. Now I'm hoping you're going to shock me a bit back. I want these random things to give me real insight into who you are. Oh, there are those of you I think I know, Lisa. But some of you are real mysteries. I know that Randal will be tagged and bagged quickly so no point tagging Randal. There are a lot of men out there unwilling to play. Too bad. You're missing an opportunity for a little self expression and introspection. But you have your dignity at least.

1. Beach, because he has the soul of a writer and will engage and think more introspectively than any other man I've encountered out here in this bloggy world. Is that a bitch slap I hear landing on some unnamed man? If you felt it, you know who you are.

2. La Belette Rouge, because she is ingaged in the search for answers to the mysteries in her life. She has inspired me to buy myself a bouquet of lilies today. I thought of her when I saw then and remembered her unraveling of the symbolism that accompanies the lillie. It's a good omen.

3. TheMom, because she gave me my Obamicon without request and I'm delighted with it. She has been ill, but is indeed TheMom as she insisted I bundle up for the Thursday Matinee Movie date today. Baby it's cold out there. God bless nurturing woman. I lost mine somewhere.

4. Giggles, who I envision as a young woman, but really it's just an impression. Giggles appeared as a very good commenter without a real blog. Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Lisa and others, she now has a blog. I hope this is your first meme, Giggles. Tell all, darling, in six random things. Or leave us in the dark--your choice.

5. Darkblack, photoshopper to rival... Well I shall not say. Just this. Darkblack is very talented, and another complete mystery to me. I went to look at Darkblack's Obamicon and it's a poster of a good looking young woman. Did you know? Do you know? Is Darkblack a man or a woman? Does it matter? Only to inquiring minds I guess.

6. Comrade Kevin, because for the longest time I thought Comrade Kevin was a woman. And so I spoke to Comrade Kevin as a woman. Despite the podcasts of Comrade Kevin playing the guitar and singing his original songs, I thought that was Comrade Kevin's boy friend. Gawd. I'm so dense sometimes.

No rush. I do not wish to stress anyone or put you in a spotlight you do not seek at a personal level, but I am curious.

It's Thursday matinee Movie Day and Then Meme Time

Today Nick and I go to see Gran Torino. I love the title of the movie since in one of my stories, I drive a Gran Torino that pings when I turn off the engine. I called it a Grand Torino. Now I know I have to go back and fix that in the story. I'm sure the old bastard in this movie takes better care of his Gran Torino than I did of mine. Men sure do seem to lavish love on their cars.

Kulkuri that Yooper in Crackerland has tagged me. I thought I'd be able to duck and cover and miss this one, but no. Kulkuri, I'll get to you later. For now I have to get my huge dog to get out of his bed and go outside to pee so I can feed him. He's so neurotic he makes me look sane.

Here is your Gran Torino tease:

Let's See What the Super Rich Are Up To

Flinthills bailing out billionaires

An Update To the Citizens of Israel and America

With thanks to Freida of the Bees, who is now a regular contributer to The Daily Kos

Read it. Now. Seriously.

From My Friend and Fellow Writer, Naj

Naj writes a blog called Neo Resistance. She has asked for help from those of us willing to hear the cries of distress coming out of Gaza, so please follow this link and visit her here. She is far more knowledgeable about this horrible situation than I. I focus rather too narrowly on the politics that is my American life. I have Palestinian friends but rarely see them now, do to their family, social, work, and school commitments. But I love them no matter how seldom I see them.

Thank You, La Bellett Rouge

From The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

'The darling!' thought Newland Archer, his glance flitting back to the young girl with the lilies-of-the-valley. 'She doesn't even guess with it's all about.' and he contemplated her absorbed young face with a thrill of possessorship in which pride in his own masculine initiation was mingled with a tender reverence for her abysmal purity. 'We'll read Faust together...by the Italian lakes...' he thought somewhat hazily confusing the scene of his projected honeymoon with the masterpieces of literature which it would be his manly privilege to reveal to his bride. It was only that afternoon that May Welland had let him guess that she 'cared' (New York's consecrated phrase of maiden avowal), and already his imagination, leaping ahead of the engagement ring, the betrothal kiss and the march from Lohengrin, pictured her at his side in some scene of old European witchery.

I received this lovely award, meme, honor and prompt to be reminded that reading is sexy and we shall indulge and encourage it when and wherever we can. I am now gifted with the passing this award along to five reading bloggers, who may do with it what they will. La Ballette Rouge is the one to see if you are confused about the meme. I am not all about the rules today. You will make of it what you wish.
1. Lisa
2. Liberality
3. Beach
4. Aphrodite
5. Dusty

My Obamicon and Me

Marie took the initiative and using my banner made my Obamicon. Thank you Marie. I look rather dour, but that's how the old ones sometimes look. Get used to it kids, it's barraling down on you faster than you think.

Mathman's High School Marching Band Goes To Washington

When I read this the tears started flowing and now all I have to do is think about it and I cry all over again. I could not be prouder of these young people, or more thrilled at their adventure, their participation in the most important Inauguration in my lifetime. How proud they all must be, their excitement must be near excruciating. And our very own Mathman, teacher extraordinaire, will chaperone this fine group of student musicians as they travel together to the nation's capital to march in the grand parade. Congratulations! We are all so proud of you young people as if you are our very own children. Thank you, Mathman for being the chaperone to take them there, to keep them safe, to shepherd them into this amazing moment in History. They will never forget it. They will never forget you.

The Generosity of Friends

There are so many of you who have helped and encouraged me as the fledgling blogger I am. You have taught me much in the past year and even given me awards. I'm thrilled and honored. Thank you very much. Linda Sama The Ageless Hippie Chick and Linda's Yoga Journey for another award. Your kindness from the beginning has been a breathtaking gift from a fearless woman. It was from you I recieved the Rebel Girrrl Award. I was giddy with delight, but didn't even know how to bring it home and post it. Now I can grab the prize and run home to post it proudly on my sidebar as I think about its meaning before I compose a fitting thank you.


I have become a reclusive old woman, hiding behind locked gates, unwelcoming of the real world, alone with my crazy self and my neurotic old dog. But through you, I think of myself as a woman with friends in far flung places, some of you teetering on the brink of big changes brought about by failures not of your making. We now see the possibility for a new start on reclaiming our collective integrity with the inauguration of a new president, a new administration. As I type these words I hear Hillary Clinton answer questions during her confirmation hearings in the background and just the sound of her voice, the strength of her words, her confidence in her mission inspire confidence from me. So maybe this will be the year that I feel safe enough to walk around my peaceful neighborhood and speak to those I never see, feeling less a stranger in the place where I grew up. I know all my neighbors though I seldom see them. I hope when spring comes this year I will take those first steps out into the larger world.

I am finishing a book, trying to meet a deadline to submit this manuscript I have dragged from Springfield, Missouri to Santa Barbara, California and back to Salt Lake City waiting for the moment to pass it off to someone else to judge its merits. That time has finally come. And with it comes new hope and optimism that we will all be able to heal the wounds to our collective psyche. We have lost much the past eight years. Now let us all roll up our sleeves and get together to work our way out of the troubles of this recent past, to learn their lessons so we won't be condemned to repeat the past's mistakes.

I Want One Too

Everyone has one but me. This has got to be changed. I tried to get one, but had no luck. But I did pick this up on the way from here to there. And this, and this, and this.



Not one but two--take your pick.

The Savage Heart is a Glob of Jelly

I am trying to get my novel, Maggy, edited to it's white hot core, write a "pitch" and a cover letter. I have long to go before I sleep again for the next ten days or so. It doesn't help that I'm still on Prednisone. My fingers shake making typing difficult. And I grow a bit manic as well as panicked.

I have been inattentive to you. I apologize. Please bear with me as I pull my writing life together to send it out into the world to be judged by complete strangers. I have been told often that getting a first book published is damn near impossible, so cross your fingers for me as I hold my breath and take this dive into the chilly pond, mid-winter.

Obama Seeks Cooperation in Making Remaining Bailout Money Available

This morning, President-elect Obama asked President Bush to formally notify Congress, on his behalf, of his intent to exercise the authority under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to access the last tranche of $350 billion in funding for Treasury programs addressing the financial crisis,” Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “President Bush agree to the president-elect’s request.”

I'm thinking this comes under the heading "Don't hold your breath Barack" but think I'm so cynical I think it's all been moved to the the Bush Family Swiss Bank Account. Anyway, here's hoping.

Read This, There Will Be Video of Pickels

The Bush Legacy Project is in Full Swing. Check this out. From LA Times Top of the Ticket. Our twittering LA Times blogger.

A Sunday Song for All Of Us

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy


Because we're all going to need a lot of it.

Please Vote for My Friend and Mentor, Kathleen Maher

Note from Utah Savage--I was unable to link the weblog logo so linked the line I want you to vote for. Please support this fine writer. Without support from you and this generous, talented writer I'd still be writing in a vacuum, alone with my thoughts and thousands of words. Thank you for your support, Peggy

Diary of a Heretic is a finalist for Best Literature Blog. Voting is just a two-click process--no registration required. First click here, then click on the voting button for Diary of a Heretic. The polls are open through January 12. Please vote every day! And while you're at it, click here to vote for The View From Here as Best UK Blog. To read more about the contest and other notable entrants, click here.

Posted by Kathleen Maher on Jan 05, 2009 |

Presidential Records; Bush Wants Them Sealed Indefinitely

The Bush administration has been trying to seal presidential records since he first got into office. This must be stopped. It shows the nation the path to this economic disaster and the mistakes of three Republican administrations--St Ronnie, Pappa Bush, and Junior. This must be blocked and congress needs to act swiftly and decisively to keep Presidential Papers Public, for historians, for a guide for all to study as a way to prevent future economic disasters and horrible military blunders. We need to know what we've done and what the consequences were in order to set the record straight for historical reasons as well to put to bed the lie that unfettered corporate rule is the best way to grow and prosper. Perhaps it is if you're in the top 1% of the economy. For the rest of us, it's just corporate welfare at the expense of the taxpayer.

There are, of course, other reasons to have public access to these records and that's to know and understand how our civil rights have been stripped from us in the guise of keeping us safe.

Editorial posted below

Editorial
Who Owns White House History?


It’s time to remind President Bush as he leaves office that his White House records are not his personal property. They belong to the nation. The Presidential Records Act made that the law of the land after the Watergate scandal. Showing disturbing forethought, Mr. Bush signed an executive order in his first year, effectively decreeing that a sitting or former president can withhold his papers indefinitely

Congress is moving to strike down the Bush order. The House has overwhelmingly approved a corrective measure that has a good chance in the Senate. If there’s any delay, we urge President-elect Barack Obama to issue his own executive order restoring the Presidential Records Act as soon as he enters the White House.

When Mr. Bush signed his order, the speculation was that he was hoping to spare the disclosure of some inner-sanctum embarrassments committed by his father’s administration or perhaps Ronald Reagan’s. Now, with so much of the latest Bush history needing to be plumbed from Baghdad to Wall Street, a robust public records law is ever more crucial for robust democracy.

The law already provides former presidents reasonable protection, letting them withhold sensitive records, including advice from aides, for up to 12 years. While the the Bush White House claimed that the order merely put an organized process in place, the result was to gut the presumption of public access.

Under the current rules, requests for records require the concurrence of a concerned former president or his descendants plus the current president. They have unlimited time to judge the issue. Beyond that, historians must resort to litigation. This is a pathetic way to cheat history. As the poet Robert Lowell wrote, “All’s misalliance. Yet why not say what happened?”

This Is Why I'm In Love With Rachel Maddow

Paul Krugman Is Worried, So Am I

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 28, 2008

...as Washington tries to rescue the economy, the nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers — state governors who are slashing spending in a time of recession, often at the expense both of their most vulnerable constituents and of the nation’s economic future.

These state-level cutbacks range from small acts of cruelty to giant acts of panic — from cuts in South Carolina’s juvenile justice program, which will force young offenders out of group homes and into prison, to the decision by a committee that manages California state spending to halt all construction outlays for six months.

Now, state governors aren’t stupid (not all of them, anyway). They’re cutting back because they have to — because they’re caught in a fiscal trap. But let’s step back for a moment and contemplate just how crazy it is, from a national point of view, to be cutting public services and public investment right now.

Think about it: is America — not state governments, but the nation as a whole — less able to afford help to troubled teens, medical care for families, or repairs to decaying roads and bridges than it was one or two years ago? Of course not. Our capacity hasn’t been diminished; our workers haven’t lost their skills; our technological know-how is intact. Why can’t we keep doing good things?

It’s true that the economy is currently shrinking. But that’s the result of a slump in private spending. It makes no sense to add to the problem by cutting public spending, too.

In fact, the true cost of government programs, especially public investment, is much lower now than in more prosperous times. When the economy is booming, public investment competes with the private sector for scarce resources — for skilled construction workers, for capital. But right now many of the workers employed on infrastructure projects would otherwise be unemployed, and the money borrowed to pay for these projects would otherwise sit idle.

And shredding the social safety net at a moment when many more Americans need help isn’t just cruel. It adds to the sense of insecurity that is one important factor driving the economy down.

So why are we doing this to ourselves?

The answer, of course, is that state and local government revenues are plunging along with the economy — and unlike the federal government, lower-level governments can’t borrow their way through the crisis. Partly that’s because these governments, unlike the feds, are subject to balanced-budget rules. But even if they weren’t, running temporary deficits would be difficult. Investors, driven by fear, are refusing to buy anything except federal debt, and those states that can borrow at all are being forced to pay punitive interest rates.

Are governors responsible for their own predicament? To some extent. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in particular, deserves some jeers. He became governor in the first place because voters were outraged over his predecessor’s budget problems, but he did nothing to secure the state’s fiscal future — and he now faces a projected budget deficit bigger than the one that did in Gray Davis.

But even the best-run states are in deep trouble. Anyway, we shouldn’t punish our fellow citizens and our economy to spite a few local politicians.

What can be done? Ted Strickland, the governor of Ohio, is pushing for federal aid to the states on three fronts: help for the neediest, in the form of funding for food stamps and Medicaid; federal funding of state- and local-level infrastructure projects; and federal aid to education. That sounds right — and if the numbers Mr. Strickland proposes are huge, so is the crisis.

And once the crisis is behind us, we should rethink the way we pay for key public services.

As a nation, we don’t believe that our fellow citizens should go without essential health care. Why, then, does a large share of funding for Medicaid come from state governments, which are forced to cut the program precisely when it’s needed most?

An educated population is a national resource. Why, then, is basic education mainly paid for by local governments, which are forced to neglect the next generation every time the economy hits a rough patch?

And why should investments in infrastructure, which will serve the nation for decades, be at the mercy of short-run fluctuations in local budgets?

That’s for later. The priority right now is to fight off the attack of the 50 Herbert Hoovers, and make sure that the fiscal problems of the states don’t make the economic crisis even worse. »

Bush Finds New Ways to Ruin The Government on His Way Out the Door

Keep a close watch on the seemingly "small" things George "Wrecking-ball" Bush is doing as he gives us the finger on the way out the door. He's given our newly elected President Barack Obama and family the finger by refusing to let them move into Blair House during the transition, because some out of office jackass from Australia will be in town on the 15th go get one of Bush's medals of moral turpitude and stupidity or something. So the new President and his family are staying in a hotel. It's merely a slap in the face to the Obama's and we who elected him in overwhelming numbers, but take a listen to the other little goodies he's implementing on the way out of town. These are going to be difficult to undo. So listen and learn, because we'll need to be very smart to fix this cluster fuck.

I'm Sick, But Harry Reid is a Moron

I have an upper respiratory infection that seems better in the daytime and worse at night. Since I already had an appointment scheduled with my doctor to test my clotting factor, I called in Monday to let her know I might need a little more of her time. I'm having trouble sleeping--I wake up gasping for air with coughing fits. I needed a breathing treatment, plus a hefty dose of Prednisone for the next four days along with a Z-Pack. I should be better by Monday. If so, no more Prednisone; if not, I'll taper off the Prednisone gradually. My doctor says she's seeing so much of this infection in her older patients who wait too long to call in, and then end up in the hospital with pneumonia. So, caught early and treated, I should be fine, fast.


Harry Reid's problems are not so easily fixed. Reid is so annoyingly stupid we must find someone with a brain and a less annoying affect to be the Majority Leader of the Senate. Move over Harry, you're too dumb to lead anything. Yes, I know Blago offends us all, but he did one very smart thing in picking Roland Burris to fill Obama's vacant Senate seat.



Burris is qualified to fill the seat and he may be the only Chicago politician who could stand the scrutiny. He is not wealthy enough nor influential enough to buy the appointment, and he is a nice, charming, well spoken... Bla, bla, bla. Yes, Harry Reid has met with Burris and has pronounce him "a nice, charming, well spoken..." "Clean?" was clean the word you were looking for Harry? Yes, the photo ops abound today, more on that tomorrow. But really, Harry, when you put me to sleep while talking to David Gregory on Meet the Press, you're one very dull bit of Milk Toast. Milk-Toast Harry, the Mormon Male, it's time to move over.