Happy Thoughts

With all the misery I've been recording lately, I thought it might be good to share something (anything!) that has nothing to do with death and destruction.

Let me think:

• I made a deeeeelicious dinner tonight. It was a salmon salad recipe that I found online by googling "salmon" and "asparagus". I didn't put the eggs in, but added some great tomatoes fresh from the farmstand and some leftover croutons (from our trip to a favorite restaurant yesterday). And, we topped the salad off from corn on the cob from the same farmstand. Yum-o!
  
• When we joined the local Y back in April, I rediscovered my love of swimming. This morning, I did 45 minutes of laps before 9 AM. I try to swim at least 3 times a week and I can definitely tell that I'm getting better all the time. It's really amazing what a little invention called 'swimming goggles' does for a person. Can't say I'm a beauty queen in the water, but I guess that's not really the point, now is it?
  
• If you're looking for happy news, go here. It's amazingly boring and bland, but if sure beats the current news, now doesn't it?
  
• The Red Sox are still in first place by a game over the MFYs. That, in itself, is worth a little happy dance all on its own. ;-) Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there are no big trades coming down before the deadline tomorrow. (OOPS, sorry, that was a lapse into potential negativity, wasn't it?)

Well, on to the work week and other happy things, eh?

Dear Israel,

Please stop the bombing now. You've made your freakin' point. How many more innocent children will you kill?

Talk about encouraging terrorism...all Arabs will now be joining forces against the Israel and and the USA. It's hard to believe that anyone could feel sympathetic to Hezbollah, but I have a feeling that moderate Arabs are going to be joining them now.

Israel is being deliberately provocative and it's not helping anybody - especially themselves. And the US diplomacy would be a joke if it weren't so incompetent.

More Carnage

Did you know that 100 people are killed EVERY DAY in Iraq?

WTF?

The world is a bizarre place, isn't it?

On the TV, we see that the US has sold bombs to Israel. They are using them to bomb Lebanon Then, we send humanitarian relief for the victims.

*Insert rolling eyeballs here*

The US is supposed to be the "honest broker" in the Middle East negotiations. Yet, we refuse to ask Israel for an immediate ceasefire, but rather an urgent ceasefire. WTF? How the hell do we get anywhere in this world when people use war to solve disagreements? I know I'm naive, but hasn't civilization evolved any further than this?

Condi (aka "The Wicked Witch of the West") goes to Rome to participate in a supposed diplomatic mission. Nothing, of course, was accomplished. Yet, here's the headline on MSNBC: "Rice plans serious piano recital at summit." Kinda strikes a person as a bit too Nero-like, eh? Just insert a fiddle and some fire and you'd be all set. God, I hate that woman.

This is one fucked-up world.

Lieberman's Problem

There's a tight Democratic primary race going on in Connecticut this year. Bush's "favorite Democrat" Joe Lieberman is getting his ass kicked by a political newcomer, Ned Lamont. A lot of blogs are commenting on it - and I finally feel provoked to quote an article in the Hartford Courant because it says specifically why I agree that Lieberman should not be re-elected:

"...on the two biggest issues of our times, he [Lieberman] is dead wrong.

His blind support of the Iraq war, begun illegally and a continuing catastrophe, is monstrous.

And his defense of an incompetent president, a vice president who fits the dictionary definition of fascism and an extremist administration that has perpetrated torture, illegal eavesdropping and a general shredding of the Constitution is insulting to the people who elected him in the first place.

Joe's constituency is not Bush and Cheney; it is the progressives and moderates, the blacks and Hispanics who gave him his start in politics. We feel he has betrayed us by becoming "Bush's favorite Democrat."

His announcement that he will not support the winner of the Democratic primary but will seek election as an independent if he loses the primary seems to put self above principle. I thank Ned Lamont, a good and decent man, for giving the people of Connecticut a real choice. We need someone who will confront the Bush-Cheney evils of lies, manipulation and incompetence, which have done us so much harm at home and abroad."

And this specific op-ed piece was from a longtime friend of Joe's.

Ohio Update

In my small attempt to talk sense to my fellow Buckeyes, here's the latest on the Governor's race and the attempt to dethrone Mike Dewine - the nitwit senator, from the Columbus Dispatch:

"Democrat Ted Strickland has surged to a surprising lead of 20 percentage points in the first Dispatch Poll on Ohio’s Nov. 7 race for governor.

Meanwhile, Democrat Sherrod Brown holds an 8-point edge in his bid to unseat two-term Republican Sen. Mike DeWine.

Strickland’s 47-to-27 advantage over GOP rival J. Kenneth Blackwell is fueled by a more than 3-to-1 lead among independent voters, combined with Blackwell’s inability to sell himself to Ohio Republicans.

"I kind of feel like the Republican Party has run the state government like an old boys club for a long time" and it is time for a change, said poll participant Stuart Hinnefeld, 53, a federal worker from the Cincinnati area who backs De-Wine but not Blackwell."

There's hope for my home state, my friends!

Gentlemen: Start Your Engines

Well, the peace and quiet of a Saturday morning has just been broken with the sounds of the first lawn mower. Not bad....it's 10:19 a.m.

Valerie the Virginal

Here's an important, earth-shattering post:

I've noticed that every time I see a photograph of Valerie Plame Wilson, she's wearing white. Coincidence? PR plan? Who knows? Just seems odd that so blonde a woman would be that consistent. Unless, of course, she's not really blonde.

Oooops, did I say that?

Just one woman's snark. Anybody else wearing weird clothing choices?

The Anti-Fox Fox?

Well, calling him a fox may be overstating it a tad, but Keith Olbermann is the best thing to happen to cable news in a long, loooooooooooooooong time. This article in New York Times covers Keith's background, his time at ESPN, and, yes, his time at Fox.

Have You Heard the One About the Pig?

God, the president is stupid.

Check out how he represents us overseas.

Time for the Round-Up

Before the evening gets away from me, I wanted to post some links and thoughts about recent events. Here we go:

• Valerie and Joe Wilson are suing Rove, Libby and the wack-o Vice President for invasion of privacy and depriving her of her career at the CIA. I say good for them! I think history will prove the Wilson's are the wronged parties here and the evilness that is this Administration will be proved. Go here if you want to contribute to the Wilson's Legal Support fund (yeah, right).
  
  
• I know I’m a bit late on this one, but I wanted to weigh in on the changes the Chimp’s administration has been forced to make regarding executive power in wartime. It’s hard to believe that the leaders of the United States actually had to be forced into adhering to the Geneva Conventions. Americans are ingrained with this notion that we are fair and the country that holds the rest of the world to a higher standard when it comes to human rights. But clearly that has changed, since we have been reduced to being happy when courts force our leaders to do so. Amazin’, ain't it?
  
  Here’s the Washington Post:
  
  

  "Accustomed to having its way on matters related to the nation's security, the administration is being forced to respond to criticism that it once brushed aside. The high court ruling rejected the White House's assertion that the president has nearly unlimited executive powers during a time of war, and now executive branch lawyers are reviewing whether other rules adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will have to be revised, especially those concerning the Geneva Conventions."

  
  
• So, like me, do you find it interesting that the terror alerts rise and fall with the election cycles? The Chimp wouldn't be trying to scare us all into voting Republican, now would he? Here's a nice roundup of these alerts and how they are used to manipulate us.
  
  
• For my Ohio readers (like there are so many other readers!), I'm happy to report that "Mean Jean" is not doing well in the polls. Many will recall that Jean Schmidt was the Congresswoman who called Jack Murtha a coward in her first speech in the US House of Representatives earlier this year. She won the special election in Ohio's 2nd District - my HOME district - and doesn't look great for re-election. This is an extremely conservative district, so keep your fingers crossed. And for you HAMILTON COUNTY readers - do your part and REGISTER AND VOTE IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION! Don't complain about the state of things if you don't vote.
  

  SCHMIDT IN FREE-FALL; WULSIN EVEN WITH SCHMIDT IN OHIO 2nd
  New Poll Shows Ohio 2nd Congressional Race Tied
  Dr. Victoria Wulsin Poised for Major Upset of Unpopular Jean Schmidt
  Cincinnati, Ohio - A poll released today shows Rep. Jean Schmidt tied with Dr. Victoria Wulsin, her Democratic challenger, in their race for Congress. A mere 33% of likely voters in Ohio's 2nd District approve of Schmidt's job performance and 53% disapprove. Wulsin is tied with Schmidt in their head-to-head match up and poised for a major victory on November 7.
  
  The poll, conducted this past weekend by the Washington, D.C. firm Momentum Analysis, dispels any doubt about the competitiveness of the race. When asked whom they would vote for if the November 2006 elections were held today, 44% of respondents said they would vote for Wulsin, 44% would vote for Schmidt, and 11% were undecided. Despite the Republican voter registration advantage in the district, Schmidt's extremely low job approval ratings and personal approval ratings severely decrease her chances at re-election.

  
  
• If you have a chance to catch the PBS Frontline show called "The Dark Side" about the wars within the Administration over managing intelligence, you owe it to yourself. It's downright scary to see the documented evidence of the Cheney/Rumsfeld alliance that predates the Chimp. And, worst of all, you'll see the way they have planted their allies throughout the administration. Be afraid. Be very afraid. (But watch the show anyway, because it's worth it.)
  
  

Too Damn Tired

I have lots of posting material, but I'm too tired to put any coherent sentences together...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Stay tuned.

Later.

Report Card Time

Well, a few bumps in the road along the way, but the Sox end the first half of the baseball season in first place by three games over the MFY's. Cheers to one and all, particularly the Pap twins. Go Sox!

Accomplishments?

As we watch the USA continuue to go to hell in the proverbial handbasket, we ponder this question: Given that the Chimp has had the majority in both houses of Congress for his entire term-and-a-half, what has he actually accomplished?

I would appreciate an answer to this question. However, since it's my blog, I have one stipulation, you cannot mention tax breaks. They don't count because they have been directed overwhelmingly at the super-rich and may actually have done lasting damage to our economy by adding to the deficit.

On the other hand, the list of things that have truly gone wrong is quite long and astonishing. I won't recount all of them here - you can read them in past posts.

OK, so if anyone can give me an answer, I'm waiting.

Anyone?

For Animal Lovers

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. Go here and do your bit.

Getting Ready for Mid-Term Elections

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Desperate Housewife?

When you live in any neighborhood for long enough you get to know its rhythms. You know when the folks next door get a new car. You watch the latest renovations as they change the look of the house down the street. Over the years, you see the kids grow up and leave home. In New England, most of these neighborhood changes are noticed in the springtime, when we emerge from our long winter indoors. This year, there was a significant change next door, although it took several weeks to actually dawn on us.

These particular neighbors have a built-in swimming pool that requires regular maintenance once the cover comes off early in the swimming season. For the last several years, these duties were handled by a sandy-haired man, who would pace the sides of the pool with his long handled net, skimming the surface to lift out the occasional insect and leaf. At the same time, he would seemingly keep an eye on the two young kids and the pretty red-haired wife, who were often nearby.

This spring, several weeks of pool maintenance had passed when I began to notice a different guy performing these duties. He is dark haired and slender, and most definitely not the same person we've seen in the past. For a while I figured he was a house guest, but then I noticed the sandy-haired man was never there.

Wisteria Lane has had nothing on us over the past few weeks as we speculated on the missing man and the continuing presence of the mysterious new one. Where did he come from? What was his relationship to the family? Part of the mystery was solved about a week or so ago when I saw the dark haired man lean over to kiss the woman of the house as they did yardwork together - it wasn't a deep, soulful kiss, but rather the sweet peck of two people who are in a relationship.

So what happened to the first guy? Was he indeed the loving husband and father, as he appeared? Was she the wronged woman, or is she actually a floozie who takes up with a different man every few years? Whose fault is it that the first relationship fizzled? Did it actually fizzle? The various alternatives will keep us speculating for the rest of the summer. And, come the winter, I'll have to see who does the snow-blowing.

Now that is love.

Hot Time, Summer in the City?

We're enjoying a quiet long 4th of July weekend here in suburbia. It's nice to have a few days off to just hang out, especially since it took so long for real summer weather to arrive. I've been cooking some nice meals, doing a bit of yard work (featuring my yearly battle with the front hedge...not sure who's winning at this point), catching up on some DVDs and baseball games (Let's go Red Sox, clap, clap, CLAP, clap, clap!), etc. Best purchase of the weekend was a homemade blueberry pie from the local farm stand. Yummy!

Tomorrow, of course, we celebrate the 230th birthday of the good ole USofA. Along with Independence Day, we commemorate the 180th anniversary of the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams - two American presidents who actually understood words like patriotism, freedom and the rule of law. Here's hoping the Constitution survives the current administration so that we can mark many, many more Independence Days.

Happy Birthday, America!