Category: Uncategorized

From the right-wing side of the aisle comes this absolutely fabulous quote (wonder how long his staff worked on this gem?). It’s off-the-charts hyperbole, infinitely untrue, but a classic, nonetheless. Is this really what you Republicans are reduced to? “You’ll be getting your pre-natal care from TurboTax!!” Awesome.

I was the first registered Republican in my family. I cast my first vote in a presidential election for Ronald Reagan, the second for George H.W. Bush. I listened to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, thought I was a Dittohead, and was one of the few who watched and liked his television show. I actually cried…

From the right-wing side of the aisle comes this absolutely fabulous quote (wonder how long his staff worked on this gem?). It’s off-the-charts hyperbole, infinitely untrue, but a classic, nonetheless. Is this really what you Republicans are reduced to? “You’ll be getting your pre-natal care from TurboTax!!” Awesome.

… to keep up a blog like this one, which has, at various times in the past, been chock-a-block with details and observations from our lives. Living two years back in California, with the attendant extreme stresses, drained the blogging impulse from both of us. Plus, there was the whole medical drama on my part….

They led us on a merry chase, but cold, dark, and snowy meant that they were soon back and wanting inside to their warm, priviliged lives.

After a dispute of a couple weeks, I’m finally rid of Facebook and all of its horrible, horrible design, navigation, usability, corporate snobbery, etc. It feels so good!

• In Minneapolis, the New York Times turns up «a fascinating, heartbreaking, and ultimately, important story» of povery, terrorism, Somalia, teenagers, Facebook, and oddly enough, the building used to depict Mary Richard’s later apartment on the Mary Tyler Moore Show back in the 1970s, all of which may add up to the “most significant domestic…

I’m reading, and enjoying, a new book:«Dog On It». I usually confine my mystery reading to James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux books, but I made an exception for this one, because the twist is that it’s told from the private eye’s dog’s perspective. Chet is a police dog helping his buddy find a missing girl….

28-Aug-1963: ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. … I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will…

I see I haven’t posted much since John Edwards, my ostensible choice for the nomination, was dethroned in the usual way … by horniness. So that post below? Well, ignore that. I still believe in the message; but as so often in life, the message is great, the man disappointing. Yeah, I’m on board with…

«Daryl Cagle, MSNBC» Every once in awhile, every great once in awhile, I … sort of like the «state of California»: ‘The California Supreme Court struck a historic but possibly short-lived blow for gay rights Thursday, overturning a state law that allowed only opposite-sex couples to marry. In a 4-3 ruling that elicited passionate responses…

Well, the big day finally went off without a hitch. My ‘diseased’ gall bladder (as the surgeon termed it) was removed in a quick, relatively painless, and easy operation this afternoon. I’m already back home and in my own bed and ready to get on with life. What’s really amazing is how quick and smooth…

A couple of hours from now, I head to the «hospital», where the «surgeon» will perform a «laparoscopic cholocystectomy« and thereby rid me of one of my internal problems. The worst part pre-operatively speaking is going without food and water after midnight. Since the procedure isn’t until 1 p.m., that’ s a long, long time…

About that previous entry … well, cancel that. My surgery was cancelled by the anesthesiologist, who is concerned that my high blood pressue could cause me to stroke out or have a heart attack on the table. He cancelled the surgery a mere 12 hours before it was supposed to start. Chalk up yet another…

Frank and I can relate (he’s the dog heading for the floor to get away from his snoring husband).    

What was originally described on local radio as a spill amounting to just “140 gallons of bunker oil” following the ramming of the Bay Bridge by a container ship last week rapidly turned into 58,000 gallons of oil spilled into San Francisco Bay, which will have «long-lasting effects»: ‘A major oil spill is making San…

It’s looking like Bayley was the victim of «rat poison»: ‘Rat poison was found in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure that killed at least 16 cats and dogs, but scientists still don’t know how it got there, state officials said Friday. The toxin was identified as aminopterin, which is used to kill…

Sad moments today: Bayley Murphey Beagle came home for the last time. I picked up his cremains at 11:30 this morning. Whoever did the work did a very nice job (except that they spelled his name, “Bailey” as usual). There is a paw print in plaster, and the cremains are in a very nice cedar…

While cleaning up and pruning the dead hedges that we lost to hard freezes this winter, a piece of branch flew off and hit me right in the eyeball. My vision got cloudy and I’ve got a very red eye. David ran me to the «eye doctor», which is just a couple of blocks away,…

Not only was Bayley’s passing painful, but I was also in the middle of the last two weeks of the quarter, getting ready for and in the middle of finals, as well as the evaluations for our school becoming a California Distinguished School (which we did accomplish), a very intense time. And now comes this…

‘Today, perhaps more than ever before, we face the task of determining what America truly is. So much of where we find ourselves now shows what we have failed to learn from mistakes of the past. Zealots, whose dream of Imperial America has led us to the brink of moral and economic bankruptcy, continue to spin the plates and deny reality. Stuck in Iraq, American kids in uniform have become our version of Israel’s “facts on the ground.”’

I received a call this evening from a nurse at the emergency hospital where we took Bayley when he had his seizure last week, the start of our horrifying ordeal. Seems his blood work revealed no evidence of bacterial infection. Which means that his kidneys failed from old age, most likely, according to the nurse…

Bayley Murphey Beagle 20-Aug-1994 — 2-Mar-2007 Dear Bayley Murphey, Thank you for being such a wonderful and good dog, a loving companion, for keeping us sane, for loving us unconditionally, for being such an incredibly important part of our lives for 12-and-a-half years. Thank you for putting up with all the picture-taking, ear rubbing, nail…

It is with tremendous sorrow that Frank and I (and Unca David) must tell you that our beloved beagle, Bayley Murphey, passed away this evening, at 5:35 p.m. PST, Friday, 2-March-07, age 12 years and 6 months. Bayley had been slowing down considerably in the last six months, but we chalked that up to advancing…

Says the Guardian: The Boy Emperor has a «one-track mind»: ‘George Bush is a man of conviction and clearly a hard man to change. When reality confronts his plans he does not alter them but instead alters his understanding of reality. … he stands with a tight band of followers, both deluded and determined, understanding…

I’ve decided to start posting political rants again. I don’t know why. I guess I’m bored.

«This joke» is, according to the IraqSlogger website (the new endeavor by illustrious former CNN-er Eason Jordan), making the rounds in Baghdad: ‘A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Suddenly a man knocks on his window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, “What’s going on?” “Terrorists down the road…

The last dying rays of 2006 in Brentwood. Happy new year, everyone!

The wingnuts are gonna love «this»: ‘In a case that could shape firearms laws nationwide, attorneys for the District of Columbia argued Thursday that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applies only to militias, not individuals. The city defended as constitutional its long-standing ban on handguns, a law that some gun opponents have advocated…

Thank god! And «don’t let the door hit you on the butt on the way out»: ‘Representative Charles B. Rangel tried to do something graceful on Friday. He wished a very public happy birthday to his longtime nemesis, Representative Bill Thomas, the departing chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. In an exchange on…

«It’s final» and historic: ‘Democrats wrested control of the Senate from Republicans Wednesday with an upset victory in Virginia, giving the party complete domination of Capitol Hill for the first time since 1994. Jim Webb’s squeaker win over incumbent Sen. George Allen gave Democrats their 51st seat in the Senate, an astonishing turnabout at the…

So, about that first week … yeah. First three days of school were good. Besides one little incident, things went well. My students did great on a reading assessment I did on Wednesday. We’re going to be fine, just have to adjust to the school, city and grade level. Will take some time. But. Increasingly…

If only …

I’d heard of this from somewhere before (definitely not in the main media). As as always, « Molly Ivins cuts to the chase » and gives us the info we need to know. Seems that our bribed and paid-for House of Representatives is stripping health safeguards after the food industry ‘spared no expense to ensure passage’ of…

1. Brokeback Mountain. In 30 seconds. « Re-enacted by bunnies ». Hilarious. 2. The opening of The Simpsons done in « live action ». Excellent. 3. Autistic basketball team manager enters game in final minutes, « scores 20 points ». Inspirational. 4. Me? I’m fine. Barely hanging in there. The whole grad school sucks thing. But graduation is less than two…

Molly Ivins … I’m more in love with her with every column she writes. « Her latest » shows why she’s a true journalist and all the others are just empty, meaningless hacks. She covers the story from an angle entirely missed by everyone else: ‘Not that I accuse Harry Whittington of being an actual liberal—only by…

David Brancaccio interviewed Lawrence B. Wilkerson this weekend in an interview that was completely ignored by a country which really should be paying attention. Wilkerson was Chief of Staff at the Department of State from August 2002 to January 2005 and helped Imperial Foreign Minister Colin Powell make the case for the invasion and occupation…

R.J. Eskow, writing in the Huffington Post, « puts forth a manifesto for ‘progressive conservatives », which has 13 points: ‘1. To conserve our traditional moral values by standing up for for our longstanding national mission – to protect the weak, house the homeless, and defend the powerless. ’2. To conserve our Constitution by protecting us from…

« Yet another reason to hate Ma Bell » ‘The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives. The executives asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the program….

It was interesting last night during the Golden Globes presentation of clips from Brokeback Mountain: scenes involving the two male leads involved them hitting each other or herding sheep or riding horses or solo shots; scenes involving the male leads’ interactions with the female characters involved weddings, kissing, hugging, etc.