What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. ~~ TS Eliot
Sunday, October 14, 2012
How to get through the next three weeks. . . years. . . decades. . . lifetimes. . . .
Listen
to your inner self....breathe in love, exhale love...let love embrace
all your worries, love for yourself, love for the peace your soul
craves...
Long time ago, my first post college, live on your own job, was with Marriott. Owned by the very same Willard Marriott that Mitt is named for. I worked in personnel records. Management records were separated, handled by its own department. One day, by accident, I got a resignation letter from a manager, who explained that since he was not allowed to staff according to his needs, he was quitting. He found it unconscionable that he was forced to staff for OFF PERIODS instead of rush periods *because* it was "the waitresses that ended up being penalized by angry customers for the "bad service" that resulted." Waitresses were already required to share tips with the busboys. The food was cheap enough that people would keep coming back, regardless. So this then multimillion dollar enterprise was running its profits of off the back of its lowest paid workers. . . . Willard Romney was aptly named, eh?
when I worked there (1962/63), there was an "old man" who kind of seemed to wander the halls. He didn't seem to have any thing to do. I asked who was that man? He was Willard's ex-partner, who'd gotten in trubble with the stock market, and had been bought out by Willard for pennies, and the promise of a job. . . . Seemed he had a title and a desk and a salary, but nothing to do.
The cleaned up business school version is that he sold out for his original investment of $3,000 cash. Have to say I wondered even in my twenties if Willard couldn't have *loaned* his childhood friend that money. . . .
I've decided that in the midst of sooo much grieving I need to do some things that are creative and concrete. First thing is a big reorg of my clothes closet situation. That might sound trite, but if it takes frustration out of life, it's worth it. My tolerance for frustration is too low right now. Next I'm thinking of painting the front hallway.
Small things and definitely not expensive. The closet reorg involves putting in two bars to hang clothes up on. The hallway is small enough to cover with one gallon of paint. But recalling that while Bush was bombing Iraq we redid our kitchen (all ourselves, even the plumbing!), I realised I need to do something creative to help balance out the loss.
I'm also taking a 4 week class on Science and Spirituality, and a 6 week Yoga class. Bit by bit.
Sorry to hear of your cold, Puddle. I've discovered something called, Emergence C, a supplement, health drink. It has a variety of flavors and vitamin ingredients, one being 1000 ml of Vitamin C. When I've had a cold or been low on energy, it's helped, I think. It's available at drugstores and supermarkets.
A beautiful fall day here. I'm so so so hoping that the American people bring their best thinking, their best selves to the election.
My husband told me that the Catholic Church in Colorado Springs has banned Biden from taking communion. They did the same thing with Kerry. Once again, rigid, totalitarian thinking. It just keeps getting worse and worse. I wonder if in a hundred years there'll be a Catholic Church. I won't cry if there isn't.
Also, on my home page, Romney is now more likeable. Right!
Have a good day, friends.
And, I finished Terry Tempest Williams' When Women Were Birds. I just loved it and have ordered it because I want to keep it. She gives us a deep, poignant, and real story of what it is to be woman.
I am at this very minute watching Howard Dean on TV...in the interview done a few Augusts ago by our friend (sailing buddy) Chris Graff. It's on Vermont Public Television.
Pat, *why* is the Vice President banned from Communion??
Shirlee, Thank-you! ♥ Mine is a two-week cold that is finally winding down. My heart is perking up a bit after a good meeting with my peers today and a very gentle meeting with my spiritual guide. Plus there was some good news in the family. Every little bit helps!
"In September 2008, Biden was barred, by Joseph Francis Martino, the bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, from receiving Holy Communion in the diocese because of his support for abortion rights."
A church that keeps people barred from receiving God will not stand. I have my issues with the Episcopal Church, in some ways, but at least they don't believe that it's their altar instead of God's.
Off the topic here--but do you all know there is a huge peanut butter and peanut products recall? Salmonella in a Trader Joe's plant in N.M. Had a call from Brenda--ditched what I had--not up for a huge intestinal distress.
Thanks, Listener for the link to the Howard interview. Very interesting for non-Vermonters to see how this principled man operated in office. Thanks so much.
Ribcage hurts from so much coughing, damn. Switched over from Contac to Benadryl this morning, and I think the drip thing is better. Can you tell I'm tarred of this? Am.
Gorgeous bright blue day. Was a bit of rose along the ridges this morning. Light Is waning. Gonna HATE the end of DST. . . . And oh, well.
Everyone's got lotsa advice for the Prez about his debate tonight. All of it pretty much about being someone he *isn't* ~~ As for me, I'm just praying he's his most self, and feeling good.
He must really feel somewhere in his gut, that we're all ingrates. . . .
Sorry you are still suffering, Puddle. Hang in there.
I have to smile because your observations and hopes are identical to mine and vice versa. I want him to be himself.
Remember how they were trying to make Gore more an alpha male and how phony that seemed, and how uncomfortable he appeared?
My hope is that Obama is Obama: smart, funny, genuine, confident, and honest.
What do we do about a Republican Party that has a policy and methodology of lying? How do we the American people call them out, hold them accountable, lay out the lies in clear detail and contrast?
How do we convince the American people that aggressiveness, lying, bullying, bragging, greed, and a no holds barred bid for power is not strength, but weakness that will end in pain, sorrow, and hurt for people?
I think of all the companies and people who have profited off the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, of the deception, corruption, and hurt they have caused.
The greed, lack of ethics and regulations have also caused pain, and Romney and cohorts are part and parcel of those kinds of practices.
Someone who won't reveal past tax returns, who offshores his money, who profited off bankruptcies, who outsourced companies at the expense of American workers is like putting the pirates in charge of the ship.
We must change. We must act now to save ourselves and the planet.
As always, Mitt the Bully's demeanor didn't change, but he was on the defensive, looked like the liar he is, the superficial, money-the-only-value politician.
Obama never lost his cook, was assertive, convincing, and is the good and ethical President I believe him to be.
Yea. Yea.
Good Night folks. There's nothing to be done about bullying in terms of changing them, but we can call them out. Obama did.
After the debate, audience members mobbed President Barack Obama while Mitt Romney was surrounded by just his family. He didn't last long, out of the hall as fast as he could. He has a hard time being around carbon-based life forms, you know?
On the other hand, Obama stuck around 10-15 minutes signing autographs and taking pictures. We saw our real president tonight, and we also saw the real dick Romney. The contrast couldn't be clearer.
Hi Puddle. Hope you are feeling better and the cold is fading.
Windy here, woke up at 4 AM, basement door wide open, breeze flushing through the house. Worried about crabby cat, Winter, but he was up in our bed. He loves David, is his dude. Relieved that a bobcat didn't get him (saw one in the meadow on Sunday).
Shut the door, fixed coffee, put on NPR.
Thank you for your report on the after debate behavior. Listening to Romney, those of us who are interested in psychology would have to conclude some things about his personality.
For me, Romney is a bully, immature, aggressive about dominance (can you imagine living in his family as a child or his wife?) creative in his ability to take a statement and interpret it in a variety of ways to his advantage (reminds me of a hyperactive student who does anything he/she can for attention). For instance, his reinterpreting his remarks about letting the car companies go bankrupt. As usual, it was not true. He would have abandoned the companies to bankruptcy and the loss of a million jobs, which Obama pointed out.
In short, my assessment is that he is immature, a bully, dishonest, almost pathologically so, and offers nothing of the circumspection and analysis so necessary for national issues. It's all about him all the time, and he hasn't the faintest idea of what it is for people to struggle against odds that overwhelm.
Frankly, he's not qualified for anything like public office. Let him go back to his venture capitalism, since that's about all he knows how to do.
And, what is it about people who support a third party that they don't remember Nader's run? Are they willing to take responsibility for the right wing takeover of this country and the election of this incompetent, shallow, dishonest man whose name is Romney?
wow what a debate - the media's fondness for comparing a debate to a prizefight almost manifested in front of our eyes. Obama was strong, smart and honest. he was calm when Romney was in his face, as rude and entitled as ever I've seen. UNTIL he accused the POTUS of being awol during the attack in Libya - there was a fiercness and protectiveness that we seldom see in our POTUS.
to answer your last question Pat, some so-called progs have been sprinkled with fairy dust. they think that we can change the two party system by sitting on their arses and whining and attacking the 'good guys'. and will run away from any responsibility if their shakey care for the country should tip the balance in this race. because if they really care about this country they would stop playing their games. and if they really wanted a third or fourth party they would get off their lazy asses and start to make the change that would allow that. but they feel they are victims and rather cast blame than to do anything to change it.
oh - and some just plain hate our POTUS, like seashell. she says she doesn't hate him but 5 years of her own statements show her to be in denial or else it's just a big fat lie.
I agree with your assessment. I'm disgusted because who we have in office is crucial to our future.
The whiny self-labeled "True Progressives" are nothing of the sort, rather reactionaries who take no responsibility for participation. They are also pretty much "know nothings" in the sense of history, how politics works, and the deep divisions that have put us into stalemate.
In fact, they are serving the right wing. There's an article in Harpers, actually several, about how the right wing has corrupted elections through electronic manipulation of votes through companies that provide the machines and who have hired Republican cronies who have actually served jail time for extortion and fraud.
The article is "How to Rig an Election: The G.O.P. Aims to Paint the Country Red" by Victoria Collier. The other is an essay by Thomas Frank on Ryan and the right wing takeover of this country, which he predicts will affect the next forty years. Truly scary.
I think of what happened to the Howard Dean blog and how the cranks took it over and ruined it. We have a Yahoo group in our community, and we are very careful how we discuss issues. I think the same is true here, Jo. You and the members have been very respectful, honest, and thoughtful in what is said. It makes a huge difference, a quality that makes for real discussion that brings knowledge and insight.
Not true of the cranks on the old blog.
Bless them, may they achieve some degree of maturity and responsibility some day.
Always good to be here, Jo. Thanks for providing the forum.
Would agree with all you have written, Pat. It crossed my mind several times while watching Romney that he was acting like a spoiled child. The condescending looks he constantly gave President Obama almost made me want to crack my computer screen--but then I wouldn't be able to communicate with you all.
I have to admit I felt the same way about Romney's behavior.
I looked at the New York Times blog, and most of the women and most of the men agree with your and my assessment.
Romney's remark about a "binder full of women" was a lie, as usual. Forty independent women's groups insisted that Romney include women in the interviews. They put the binder together, not Romney, and by the end of his term, the percentage of women in his administration went from over 45% to 27%. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.
Other snarks were that women had to have special treatment because they had to go home and cook dinner. One woman said, doesn't he know that men share the household tasks now?
I received a phone call asking me to canvass here. I said that we were going to lit drop in Estes Park this weekend, that I had some trepidation about canvassing where I live. Mountain folks can be persnickety about territory.
She told me that she has been working every week, that we are in a war for our democracy. I agreed with her completely. I've had that sense that we are in serious danger of losing our country to the fascist mentality, the moneyed powers, the deceivers and thieves, so yes, I'll do what I can.
What about the real dangers to this democracy don't people get? A third party is nice, and yes, maybe someday, but the crisis is now.
It's a little like a car racing at people as they walk on the sidewalk, and someone says, you know, I've never liked cars. Let's ignore it.
Why were people arrested, chained to chairs?
Snark gets old, old, old. Not productive.
Well, off now. Discuss and challenge, question, find the spirit to do what we need to do to save this republic.
Well, I have a band of very hurty muscles all around my ribcage, from hip top to arm pit. Ack and ick. The runny nose sneezies are dying out, but the coughing/chest congestion remain.
Did get to the local store this afternoon and got some cough medicine with an expectorant, so that should help some. Tired of this. Sleeping a lot though. Maybe too much?
Mitt's face when called on a lie is priceless. The faces of his wife and family are to die from. What a crew. I think they all really thought that their money was going to make this an easy peasy blowout. After all, the prez IS a black kid, eh?
Shirlee, here is a link to one of the polling places i use. http://today.yougov.com/opi/ I haven't looked it over very well, but I'm sure that somewhere on there is a place for you to join.
Just Googling for last night's debate and found a series of 86 photos taken during the debate. There are a fair number of photos of both Obama and Romney moving around and pointing at each other, etc. but there are a couple which get Romney's eyes--close up--and they are filled with the snakes Jo was describing--very, very scary.
I am going to utilize my free speech - I'll leave sea's post of the link up but am deleting any posts of her's from now on. she doesn't know how to play well with others and I have no patience with her bs.
puddle in less than an hour this comment on bfow has 2425 likes and 310 comments:
Instead of personal attacks, let's try a bit of civilized discourse. Rebut with facts. Cite sources. What are the candidates' track records on helping to close the wage gap? What are the candidates' track records on women's rights in general? What more can be done by both parties?
Daughter Brenda checking in to just say Hi! Hope everyone enjoyed the debate last night - Mr. O was awesome!!
Puddle -- I so enjoyed meeting you this past weekend and hope to be able to do it again! I'm sorry to hear that you are sick and have a nasty cough. A couple of winters ago I had a nasty cough and congestion. Learned this trick from a nurse -- it helped me, it sounds odd..but here it is. Mix equal portion of liquid benadryl syrup and hydrogen peroxide. Gargle with it -- make sure to spit it out. It tastes odd, but it works. They hydrogen peroxide helps kill the germs and the benadryl helps with the congestion and inflamation. That with plenty of hot lemon water got rid of my nasty bug! Ok, thats emough from Dr. Brenda.
You're welcome, Shirlee! The video gives you some idear of what we in Vermont sacrificed when Howard Dean left office here to campaign. We still miss him.
I watched some of the debate and was pleased to see the President be so strong and articulate. Nice that the next one is on foreign policy!
Super tired but slowly getting things done. My sister Patti's wedding is Saturday in NH. After breakfast then next day we're driving down to visit Bill's brother Larry one last time. He's failng fast.
I wrote a comment, tried to post it, received a message that asked if I wanted to leave the page, and then my post disappeared. Hmmm.
I wanted to tell you about our experience last night. We went to a small restaurant in Loveland, called Sofia's. It's in an old Victorian House they converted. The owner and chef came from Kansas.
The dinner was centered around the wines of Spain. It was a four course meal (absolutely delicious) with four different wines. A representative of the winery talked about each wine, the grapes, the region they came from, how the wine was made and aged.
We sat with four people who were old time farmers in Colorado. The conversation was an eye opener. We heard about their lives from their experiences. As small farmers, who are not organic, they were aggrieved at the slanted information the pubic receives. They said that there were no antibiotics or pesticides in their milk.
They talked of how the drought has cost them 30% of their profits this year. They hold the second oldest water right in the Front Range from the 1830's, but the water they receive goes through Denver's sewage system first.
One acre of farm land costs $10,000, and there isn't enough land in arid Colorado to graze cows. I had heard years ago from a rancher in western Colorado that one cow needs 30 acres.
Anyway, as you'd expect, they will likely vote for Romney. But, our conversation was informative, respectful, recognizing different perspectives,finding what we agreed on. One thing was that the issues facing us are complex and if we don't begin to try to solve them as a country, disaster looms.
It was a terrific evening, and we came away as acquaintances who hoped to have dinner together again sometime.
And, maybe that's exactly what we need to do as a country, is to recreate community, come together in conversation recognizing and respecting that we will have different perceptions and stakes in any issue, but that together we can find common ground, care about each other, listen and learn.
It was very informative, and now when I hear about overburdening regulations, I'll have more sympathy and interest. Further, I'll be aware of how one perspective such as organic foods isn't enough for a complete picture of what farmers deal with. I had a new sense of the care that farmers put into their work, and that foods that are not organic are not poison as the impression sometimes is.
I thought of Phil and the hardships he has and is enduring from the drought.
The small farmer is hurting, and as a society, I think we need to be informed and be willing for our government to help them.
Cold seems, finally, to be resolving to clean up stage. There was this awful cold medicine in China (came in a big blob and you had to roll smaller pills out of it), and they had a saying about it: If you don't take it, your cold will last 14 days. If you DO, it will only last two weeks!
Sounds like Pat met a few the remaining moderates that Republican party has. Glad they even still exist. Wish there were more: it would make losing SO much easier.
Gosh, what a gray and weary day to be feeling better, lol! No cooperation from Ma Nature going on here. All the near how trees are nearly nekid, but a solid wind is loosening enough that one gets the sense of birds flying by.
Love this from Maha:
Membranous Mendacious Mitt, Morloch of the Midwest Oct 17, 2012 maha --> Mittens, Obama Administration
Charles Pierce:
Those of us who lived under the barely distinguishable leadership of Willard Romney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (God save it!) know very well that the emotional membrane separating Lofty Willard from Snippy Willard is thin indeed, and that the membrane separating Snippy Willard from Dickhead Willard is well-nigh translucent. Both of those membranes were tested fully here on Tuesday night by the president, by Candy Crowley — who has clearly had enough of your bullshit, thank you very much — and by the simple fact that certain members of The Help tested the challenger’s ideas and found them wanting and, my dear young man, that simply is not done. And both of those membranes failed like rotting levees in a storm….
…But not even I expected Romney to let his entitled, Lord-of-the-Manor freak flag fly as proudly as he did on Tuesday night. He got in the president’s face. He got in Crowley’s face. That moment when he was hectoring the president about the president’s pension made him look like someone to whom the valet has brought the wrong Mercedes.
Really, I’m sorry I missed it. Pierce finished the post –
Put all those Romneys together and that’s what they sound like, even when they’re talking to the president of the United States. It’s the voice of the bloodless job-killer, the outsourcing Moloch of the industrial midwest, and the guy who poses with his Wall Street cronies with dollar bills in his mouth. People who claim to be interested in “character” should remember that.
The best part is not just that Mittens looked bad, but that he looked bad in ways that most folks who didn’t watch the debate are going to hear about. For example, the moment when Candy Crowley corrected Mitt on what the President said after the Benghazi Consulate attack was replayed on every news show on television, network and cable, I believe. It’s all over the Web as well. You’d have to be cloistered to miss it.
The Right, of course, thinks Crowley was behaving disgracefully by not letting Mittens get away with lying. Some are still arguing that the President didn’t say the consulate attack was an act of terrorism in his Rose Garden speech. Oh, sure, he said,
No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.
… but, they are whining, he didn’t explicitly say “The attack on the Benghazi Consulate was a terrorist act.” When he said “acts of terror,” he might have been referring to the 9/11 attacks of eleven years ago. And he said “terror,” not “terrorism,” so it doesn’t count.
Seriously. That’s what they’re going with. And then they get mad when normal people make fun of them.
Update: Josh Marshall found another rightie quibble –
Now Romney’s allies are trying to recover the fumble on his behalf by saying well, sure he uttered the word ‘terror’. But that’s just a word. Look at the context. He also mentioned the video. And videos don’t have anything to do with terror! In other words, but, but, but … the video!
More –
Through the lengthy and squalid effort of the Republican party and its press allies to exploit the attack last month in Libya, the centerpiece has been the alleged magical powers of the words ‘terror’ and ‘terrorist’. It’s reminiscent of Rudy Giuliani’s endless yakking in 2008 that the biggest problem with his Democratic opponents was that they didn’t say “9/11” enough, as though one grapples most effectively with the threats to the country by the endless repetition of buzzwords. … The Romney camp’s angle has been that Romney is Churchill incarnate because he’s saying terror, terror, terror and is too big a man to try to get a read on whether the video played any role.
Live by the buzzword, die by the buzzword. It’s been a nonsensical proposition from the start to imagine that foreign policy seriousness is defined by being the first one to hit the ‘terror’ buzzer like you’re a contestant on Jeopardy. But the Romney camp laid the trap. And tonight Mitt walked right into it.
Glad Pat has met some of the old time Republicans. I did some searching on George Romney--Mitt's father--found Mitt is the last of 4 children-- next up was a girl.
George Romney was governor of Michigan from 1962-69. According to the wiki article he got along well with the national Democratic administration in office at the time.
A long list of quite progressive things he did in Michigan--including some public housing--need to go back and re-read.
I know the R.s have changed a lot since then but Mitt seems to be the worst of the lot (maybe.)
I saw that piece by Pierce and loved it! I now love to read his stuff in Esquire and I swear to God the commeners there are some of the best around! they are right on, humorous, very witty!
I can't believe that the election is less than 3 weeks away - eek!
Pat I have been saying for years that there are still some good republicans out there - maybe because it has taken longer for the good ole Vermont repubs to take on the nastiness of the national crew. they may spout the general talking points but there are fewer of the nasties around here. our Dem governer just ran his very first ad today and it was 2 VT mayors speaking, a republican and an independent and they werer making the case for him, saying what a saviour he was during Irene, etc.
his opponent has been on the air for weeks and is spouting the same old lies and a bunch of regional ones, esp about Vermont's healthcare law that was passed but he doesn't have a chance, too many repubs and indies will vote for Gov Shumlin.
I 'wish' this were the case for all dems runnig for governor - as of 10/15:
Gov. Peter Shumlin, the incumbent Democrat, reigns supreme on the fundraising front with 10 times more money on hand than his opponent, Republican Randy Brock.
The Shumlin campaign reports $170,000 in new money this month. His war chest now tops $1.165 million, and he has $1 million on hand. With just three weeks left in the campaign, Shumlin has spent less than 15 percent of his total take so far in this election cycle on advertising, staff, mailings and polls.
Alex MacLean, his campaign manager, says “he will be on TV before the end of the campaign.”
In fact, the governor plans to make a mass media buy on Tuesday and an ad will be up later this week.
More than $20,000 of the governor’s most recent inflow of cash came from California donors who attended a LGBT fundraising event in Los Angeles in mid-September. Shumlin spearheaded the passage of the gay marriage bill in Vermont in 2009.
Randy Brock, the Republican candidate for governor, brought in just $45,000 in the last month, bringing his total to $692,322. Of that amount, the state senator gave himself $300,000. Brock hasn’t said whether he will self-fund another injection of cash. He has spent $585,325 so far and has roughly $100,000 on hand for the remaining three weeks of the campaign.
Thanks, Barb--I took a look--seems like an extensive polling and internet marketing site. Some intense Obama supporters and poll watchers over there. I think that was actually a link to Daily Kos from youguv. Will go back in the morning. Appreciate it---
58 comments:
Howard's first! Mitt's just about dead last.
Long time ago, my first post college, live on your own job, was with Marriott. Owned by the very same Willard Marriott that Mitt is named for. I worked in personnel records. Management records were separated, handled by its own department. One day, by accident, I got a resignation letter from a manager, who explained that since he was not allowed to staff according to his needs, he was quitting. He found it unconscionable that he was forced to staff for OFF PERIODS instead of rush periods *because* it was "the waitresses that ended up being penalized by angry customers for the "bad service" that resulted." Waitresses were already required to share tips with the busboys. The food was cheap enough that people would keep coming back, regardless. So this then multimillion dollar enterprise was running its profits of off the back of its lowest paid workers. . . . Willard Romney was aptly named, eh?
when I worked there (1962/63), there was an "old man" who kind of seemed to wander the halls. He didn't seem to have any thing to do. I asked who was that man? He was Willard's ex-partner, who'd gotten in trubble with the stock market, and had been bought out by Willard for pennies, and the promise of a job. . . . Seemed he had a title and a desk and a salary, but nothing to do.
The cleaned up business school version is that he sold out for his original investment of $3,000 cash. Have to say I wondered even in my twenties if Willard couldn't have *loaned* his childhood friend that money. . . .
Oops--just left a Trip to Puddle post at the end of the last thread!!!
Wonderful time.
Got it! I have a *most* lovely time. And clearly, wish it could have been longer, lol! Think we *must* do it, or something like it, again.
THIS is a beauty: http://www.politicususa.com/romneys-800-vetoes-governor-belie-claim-bipartisan.html
Wow, this is the perfect thread for me today!
I've decided that in the midst of sooo much grieving I need to do some things that are creative and concrete. First thing is a big reorg of my clothes closet situation. That might sound trite, but if it takes frustration out of life, it's worth it. My tolerance for frustration is too low right now. Next I'm thinking of painting the front hallway.
Small things and definitely not expensive. The closet reorg involves putting in two bars to hang clothes up on. The hallway is small enough to cover with one gallon of paint. But recalling that while Bush was bombing Iraq we redid our kitchen (all ourselves, even the plumbing!), I realised I need to do something creative to help balance out the loss.
I'm also taking a 4 week class on Science and Spirituality, and a 6 week Yoga class. Bit by bit.
Oboy, oboy, oh Boy!! I have come down with a world buster level cold! Can't deny it. So glad the onset held off till the day AFTER meeting Ms Shirlee!
And truth, since I only get them every decade or so, guess I was in the pipeline, lol! But pooh! Do NOT likee. (Sure, she laughs, who *does*?)
Good Morning,
Sorry to hear of your cold, Puddle. I've discovered something called, Emergence C, a supplement, health drink. It has a variety of flavors and vitamin ingredients, one being 1000 ml of Vitamin C. When I've had a cold or been low on energy, it's helped, I think. It's available at drugstores and supermarkets.
A beautiful fall day here. I'm so so so hoping that the American people bring their best thinking, their best selves to the election.
My husband told me that the Catholic Church in Colorado Springs has banned Biden from taking communion. They did the same thing with Kerry. Once again, rigid, totalitarian thinking. It just keeps getting worse and worse. I wonder if in a hundred years there'll be a Catholic Church. I won't cry if there isn't.
Also, on my home page, Romney is now more likeable. Right!
Have a good day, friends.
And, I finished Terry Tempest Williams' When Women Were Birds. I just loved it and have ordered it because I want to keep it. She gives us a deep, poignant, and real story of what it is to be woman.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, Puddle****
Good time to do nothing--but read. Well,that is always
my cure--keeps your body at rest anyway.
Well--THAT anonymous
was me--guess I checked the wrong box!!!
Off to bed with a book--hope both Puddle and Listener are feeling better tomorrow.
and still a big thank you to Jo for making this last week-end possible!!!!
I am at this very minute watching Howard Dean on TV...in the interview done a few Augusts ago by our friend (sailing buddy) Chris Graff. It's on Vermont Public Television.
Pat, *why* is the Vice President banned from Communion??
Shirlee, Thank-you! ♥ Mine is a two-week cold that is finally winding down. My heart is perking up a bit after a good meeting with my peers today and a very gentle meeting with my spiritual guide. Plus there was some good news in the family. Every little bit helps!
Take care, dear puddle! ♥♡♥
Oh wait. Here's a clue, Pat...
"In September 2008, Biden was barred, by Joseph Francis Martino, the bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, from receiving Holy Communion in the diocese because of his support for abortion rights."
A church that keeps people barred from receiving God will not stand. I have my issues with the Episcopal Church, in some ways, but at least they don't believe that it's their altar instead of God's.
BTW, here's the link you need to watch the interview:
http://www.vpt.org/show/19295/0
Off the topic here--but do you all know there is a huge peanut butter and peanut products recall? Salmonella in a Trader Joe's plant in N.M. Had a call from Brenda--ditched what I had--not up for a huge intestinal distress.
Thanks, Listener for the link to the Howard interview. Very interesting for non-Vermonters to see how this principled man operated in office. Thanks so much.
Anybody heard from Puddle?
Ribcage hurts from so much coughing, damn. Switched over from Contac to Benadryl this morning, and I think the drip thing is better. Can you tell I'm tarred of this? Am.
Gorgeous bright blue day. Was a bit of rose along the ridges this morning. Light Is waning. Gonna HATE the end of DST. . . . And oh, well.
Everyone's got lotsa advice for the Prez about his debate tonight. All of it pretty much about being someone he *isn't* ~~ As for me, I'm just praying he's his most self, and feeling good.
He must really feel somewhere in his gut, that we're all ingrates. . . .
HI Friends,
Sorry you are still suffering, Puddle. Hang in there.
I have to smile because your observations and hopes are identical to mine and vice versa. I want him to be himself.
Remember how they were trying to make Gore more an alpha male and how phony that seemed, and how uncomfortable he appeared?
My hope is that Obama is Obama: smart, funny, genuine, confident, and honest.
What do we do about a Republican Party that has a policy and methodology of lying? How do we the American people call them out, hold them accountable, lay out the lies in clear detail and contrast?
How do we convince the American people that aggressiveness, lying, bullying, bragging, greed, and a no holds barred bid for power is not strength, but weakness that will end in pain, sorrow, and hurt for people?
I think of all the companies and people who have profited off the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, of the deception, corruption, and hurt they have caused.
The greed, lack of ethics and regulations have also caused pain, and Romney and cohorts are part and parcel of those kinds of practices.
Someone who won't reveal past tax returns, who offshores his money, who profited off bankruptcies, who outsourced companies at the expense of American workers is like putting the pirates in charge of the ship.
We must change. We must act now to save ourselves and the planet.
hello Ladies! lots of good commentary here! Pat I am hoping that the people asking the questions tonight address Romney's lies... we'll see.
hope you feel better soon puddle! coughing is so tiring, makes it harder to get well when you're so darn tired. {{hugs}}!
Good to know the "thing" is perhaps running away and out!
Sending the Prez good wishes and love for tonight.
from Sea
Jill Stein and her running mate have been “detained” while on the way to the presidential town hall.
(per DemocracyNow)
http://www.livestream.com/democracynow
Sea
Well done, Mr. President. Well done.
As always, Mitt the Bully's demeanor didn't change, but he was on the defensive, looked like the liar he is, the superficial, money-the-only-value politician.
Obama never lost his cook, was assertive, convincing, and is the good and ethical President I believe him to be.
Yea. Yea.
Good Night folks. There's nothing to be done about bullying in terms of changing them, but we can call them out. Obama did.
Meant cool, but cook's okay too.
Thanks for your words, Pat--my impression also.
I love our Prez.
From Kos. . . .
After the debate, audience members mobbed President Barack Obama while Mitt Romney was surrounded by just his family. He didn't last long, out of the hall as fast as he could. He has a hard time being around carbon-based life forms, you know?
On the other hand, Obama stuck around 10-15 minutes signing autographs and taking pictures. We saw our real president tonight, and we also saw the real dick Romney. The contrast couldn't be clearer.
Good Morning,
Hi Puddle. Hope you are feeling better and the cold is fading.
Windy here, woke up at 4 AM, basement door wide open, breeze flushing through the house. Worried about crabby cat, Winter, but he was up in our bed. He loves David, is his dude. Relieved that a bobcat didn't get him (saw one in the meadow on Sunday).
Shut the door, fixed coffee, put on NPR.
Thank you for your report on the after debate behavior. Listening to Romney, those of us who are interested in psychology would have to conclude some things about his personality.
For me, Romney is a bully, immature, aggressive about dominance (can you imagine living in his family as a child or his wife?) creative in his ability to take a statement and interpret it in a variety of ways to his advantage (reminds me of a hyperactive student who does anything he/she can for attention). For instance, his reinterpreting his remarks about letting the car companies go bankrupt. As usual, it was not true. He would have abandoned the companies to bankruptcy and the loss of a million jobs, which Obama pointed out.
In short, my assessment is that he is immature, a bully, dishonest, almost pathologically so, and offers nothing of the circumspection and analysis so necessary for national issues. It's all about him all the time, and he hasn't the faintest idea of what it is for people to struggle against odds that overwhelm.
Frankly, he's not qualified for anything like public office. Let him go back to his venture capitalism, since that's about all he knows how to do.
And, what is it about people who support a third party that they don't remember Nader's run? Are they willing to take responsibility for the right wing takeover of this country and the election of this incompetent, shallow, dishonest man whose name is Romney?
What's wrong with their heads???
wow what a debate - the media's fondness for comparing a debate to a prizefight almost manifested in front of our eyes. Obama was strong, smart and honest. he was calm when Romney was in his face, as rude and entitled as ever I've seen. UNTIL he accused the POTUS of being awol during the attack in Libya - there was a fiercness and protectiveness that we seldom see in our POTUS.
to answer your last question Pat, some so-called progs have been sprinkled with fairy dust. they think that we can change the two party system by sitting on their arses and whining and attacking the 'good guys'. and will run away from any responsibility if their shakey care for the country should tip the balance in this race. because if they really care about this country they would stop playing their games. and if they really wanted a third or fourth party they would get off their lazy asses and start to make the change that would allow that. but they feel they are victims and rather cast blame than to do anything to change it.
oh - and some just plain hate our POTUS, like seashell. she says she doesn't hate him but 5 years of her own statements show her to be in denial or else it's just a big fat lie.
Hi Jo,
I agree with your assessment. I'm disgusted because who we have in office is crucial to our future.
The whiny self-labeled "True Progressives" are nothing of the sort, rather reactionaries who take no responsibility for participation. They are also pretty much "know nothings" in the sense of history, how politics works, and the deep divisions that have put us into stalemate.
In fact, they are serving the right wing. There's an article in Harpers, actually several, about how the right wing has corrupted elections through electronic manipulation of votes through companies that provide the machines and who have hired Republican cronies who have actually served jail time for extortion and fraud.
The article is "How to Rig an Election: The G.O.P. Aims to Paint the Country Red" by Victoria Collier. The other is an essay by Thomas Frank on Ryan and the right wing takeover of this country, which he predicts will affect the next forty years. Truly scary.
I think of what happened to the Howard Dean blog and how the cranks took it over and ruined it. We have a Yahoo group in our community, and we are very careful how we discuss issues. I think the same is true here, Jo. You and the members have been very respectful, honest, and thoughtful in what is said. It makes a huge difference, a quality that makes for real discussion that brings knowledge and insight.
Not true of the cranks on the old blog.
Bless them, may they achieve some degree of maturity and responsibility some day.
Always good to be here, Jo. Thanks for providing the forum.
Would agree with all you have written, Pat.
It crossed my mind several times while
watching Romney that he was acting like a
spoiled child. The condescending looks he constantly gave President Obama almost made me want to crack my computer screen--but then I wouldn't be able to communicate with you
all.
Hi Shirlee,
I have to admit I felt the same way about Romney's behavior.
I looked at the New York Times blog, and most of the women and most of the men agree with your and my assessment.
Romney's remark about a "binder full of women" was a lie, as usual. Forty independent women's groups insisted that Romney include women in the interviews. They put the binder together, not Romney, and by the end of his term, the percentage of women in his administration went from over 45% to 27%. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.
Other snarks were that women had to have special treatment because they had to go home and cook dinner. One woman said, doesn't he know that men share the household tasks now?
Anyway, I hope it woke up a lot of people.
I received a phone call asking me to canvass here. I said that we were going to lit drop in Estes Park this weekend, that I had some trepidation about canvassing where I live. Mountain folks can be persnickety about territory.
She told me that she has been working every week, that we are in a war for our democracy. I agreed with her completely. I've had that sense that we are in serious danger of losing our country to the fascist mentality, the moneyed powers, the deceivers and thieves, so yes, I'll do what I can.
What about the real dangers to this democracy don't people get? A third party is nice, and yes, maybe someday, but the crisis is now.
It's a little like a car racing at people as they walk on the sidewalk, and someone says, you know, I've never liked cars. Let's ignore it.
Why were people arrested, chained to chairs?
Snark gets old, old, old. Not productive.
Well, off now. Discuss and challenge, question, find the spirit to do what we need to do to save this republic.
Well, I have a band of very hurty muscles all around my ribcage, from hip top to arm pit. Ack and ick. The runny nose sneezies are dying out, but the coughing/chest congestion remain.
Did get to the local store this afternoon and got some cough medicine with an expectorant, so that should help some. Tired of this. Sleeping a lot though. Maybe too much?
Mitt's face when called on a lie is priceless. The faces of his wife and family are to die from. What a crew. I think they all really thought that their money was going to make this an easy peasy blowout. After all, the prez IS a black kid, eh?
Shirlee, here is a link to one of the polling places i use. http://today.yougov.com/opi/ I haven't looked it over very well, but I'm sure that somewhere on there is a place for you to join.
folks, you'll LOVE this graphic:
http://today.yougov.com/news/2012/10/16/2012-presidential-debate-ii/
It gives a lot of descriptive words and how the people taking the poll perceived each, Obama and Romney.
Binders Full Of Women
322,897 likes
Lol! This page isn't 24 hours old yet. . . .
http://www.livestream.com/democracynow
Here's the inclusive debate hosted by Amy. And you get to hear Obama again too.
Just Googling for last night's debate and found a series of 86 photos taken during the debate. There are a fair number of photos of both Obama and Romney
moving around and pointing at each other, etc. but there are a couple which get Romney's eyes--close up--and they are filled with
the snakes Jo was describing--very, very scary.
I am going to utilize my free speech - I'll leave sea's post of the link up but am deleting any posts of her's from now on. she doesn't know how to play well with others and I have no patience with her bs.
There, I feel like I just took a refreshing shower.
puddle in less than an hour this comment on bfow has 2425 likes and 310 comments:
Instead of personal attacks, let's try a bit of civilized discourse. Rebut with facts. Cite sources. What are the candidates' track records on helping to close the wage gap? What are the candidates' track records on women's rights in general? What more can be done by both parties?
Oh, Puddle--take care.
Hurting sounds awful, continued congestion not good --if we were nearer we would bring you some of Brenda's cure all soup.
Good Evening All
Daughter Brenda checking in to just say Hi! Hope everyone enjoyed the debate last night - Mr. O was awesome!!
Puddle -- I so enjoyed meeting you this past weekend and hope to be able to do it again! I'm sorry to hear that you are sick and have a nasty cough. A couple of winters ago I had a nasty cough and congestion. Learned this trick from a nurse -- it helped me, it sounds odd..but here it is. Mix equal portion of liquid benadryl syrup and hydrogen peroxide. Gargle with it -- make sure to spit it out. It tastes odd, but it works. They hydrogen peroxide helps kill the germs and the benadryl helps with the congestion and inflamation. That with plenty of hot lemon water got rid of my nasty bug! Ok, thats emough from Dr. Brenda.
Brenda, I'll get the makings. Cant hurt, lol! Thank you! Like I said, I get a cold so seldom, I'm never ready. . . .
The cough syrup has helped already: loosening and ejecting the gunk in my lungs, so the muscles are already beginning to feel better.
Jo: good on you. I was about to suggest pretty much the same. It's pretty clear our guest doesn't wish to play nicely. To say the least. Thank you.
You're welcome, Shirlee!
The video gives you some idear of what we in Vermont sacrificed when Howard Dean left office here to campaign. We still miss him.
I watched some of the debate and was pleased to see the President be so strong and articulate. Nice that the next one is on foreign policy!
Super tired but slowly getting things done. My sister Patti's wedding is Saturday in NH. After breakfast then next day we're driving down to visit Bill's brother Larry one last time. He's failng fast.
={♥} puddle! {♥}=
Good Morning.
Good Morning again,
I wrote a comment, tried to post it, received a message that asked if I wanted to leave the page, and then my post disappeared. Hmmm.
I wanted to tell you about our experience last night. We went to a small restaurant in Loveland, called Sofia's. It's in an old Victorian House they converted. The owner and chef came from Kansas.
The dinner was centered around the wines of Spain. It was a four course meal (absolutely delicious) with four different wines. A representative of the winery talked about each wine, the grapes, the region they came from, how the wine was made and aged.
We sat with four people who were old time farmers in Colorado. The conversation was an eye opener. We heard about their lives from their experiences. As small farmers, who are not organic, they were aggrieved at the slanted information the pubic receives. They said that there were no antibiotics or pesticides in their milk.
They talked of how the drought has cost them 30% of their profits this year. They hold the second oldest water right in the Front Range from the 1830's, but the water they receive goes through Denver's sewage system first.
One acre of farm land costs $10,000, and there isn't enough land in arid Colorado to graze cows. I had heard years ago from a rancher in western Colorado that one cow needs 30 acres.
Anyway, as you'd expect, they will likely vote for Romney. But, our conversation was informative, respectful, recognizing different perspectives,finding what we agreed on. One thing was that the issues facing us are complex and if we don't begin to try to solve them as a country, disaster looms.
It was a terrific evening, and we came away as acquaintances who hoped to have dinner together again sometime.
And, maybe that's exactly what we need to do as a country, is to recreate community, come together in conversation recognizing and respecting that we will have different perceptions and stakes in any issue, but that together we can find common ground, care about each other, listen and learn.
It was very informative, and now when I hear about overburdening regulations, I'll have more sympathy and interest. Further, I'll be aware of how one perspective such as organic foods isn't enough for a complete picture of what farmers deal with. I had a new sense of the care that farmers put into their work, and that foods that are not organic are not poison as the impression sometimes is.
I thought of Phil and the hardships he has and is enduring from the drought.
The small farmer is hurting, and as a society, I think we need to be informed and be willing for our government to help them.
Cold seems, finally, to be resolving to clean up stage. There was this awful cold medicine in China (came in a big blob and you had to roll smaller pills out of it), and they had a saying about it: If you don't take it, your cold will last 14 days. If you DO, it will only last two weeks!
Sounds like Pat met a few the remaining moderates that Republican party has. Glad they even still exist. Wish there were more: it would make losing SO much easier.
HAHA Puddle. That's what my favorite aunt (a nurse) always said.
Gosh, what a gray and weary day to be feeling better, lol! No cooperation from Ma Nature going on here. All the near how trees are nearly nekid, but a solid wind is loosening enough that one gets the sense of birds flying by.
Love this from Maha:
Membranous Mendacious Mitt, Morloch of the Midwest
Oct 17, 2012
maha
-->
Mittens, Obama Administration
Charles Pierce:
Those of us who lived under the barely distinguishable leadership of Willard Romney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (God save it!) know very well that the emotional membrane separating Lofty Willard from Snippy Willard is thin indeed, and that the membrane separating Snippy Willard from Dickhead Willard is well-nigh translucent. Both of those membranes were tested fully here on Tuesday night by the president, by Candy Crowley — who has clearly had enough of your bullshit, thank you very much — and by the simple fact that certain members of The Help tested the challenger’s ideas and found them wanting and, my dear young man, that simply is not done. And both of those membranes failed like rotting levees in a storm….
…But not even I expected Romney to let his entitled, Lord-of-the-Manor freak flag fly as proudly as he did on Tuesday night. He got in the president’s face. He got in Crowley’s face. That moment when he was hectoring the president about the president’s pension made him look like someone to whom the valet has brought the wrong Mercedes.
Really, I’m sorry I missed it. Pierce finished the post –
Put all those Romneys together and that’s what they sound like, even when they’re talking to the president of the United States. It’s the voice of the bloodless job-killer, the outsourcing Moloch of the industrial midwest, and the guy who poses with his Wall Street cronies with dollar bills in his mouth. People who claim to be interested in “character” should remember that.
The best part is not just that Mittens looked bad, but that he looked bad in ways that most folks who didn’t watch the debate are going to hear about. For example, the moment when Candy Crowley corrected Mitt on what the President said after the Benghazi Consulate attack was replayed on every news show on television, network and cable, I believe. It’s all over the Web as well. You’d have to be cloistered to miss it.
The Right, of course, thinks Crowley was behaving disgracefully by not letting Mittens get away with lying. Some are still arguing that the President didn’t say the consulate attack was an act of terrorism in his Rose Garden speech. Oh, sure, he said,
No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.
… but, they are whining, he didn’t explicitly say “The attack on the Benghazi Consulate was a terrorist act.” When he said “acts of terror,” he might have been referring to the 9/11 attacks of eleven years ago. And he said “terror,” not “terrorism,” so it doesn’t count.
Seriously. That’s what they’re going with. And then they get mad when normal people make fun of them.
Reminds me of …
(cont'd)
Update: Josh Marshall found another rightie quibble –
Now Romney’s allies are trying to recover the fumble on his behalf by saying well, sure he uttered the word ‘terror’. But that’s just a word. Look at the context. He also mentioned the video. And videos don’t have anything to do with terror! In other words, but, but, but … the video!
More –
Through the lengthy and squalid effort of the Republican party and its press allies to exploit the attack last month in Libya, the centerpiece has been the alleged magical powers of the words ‘terror’ and ‘terrorist’. It’s reminiscent of Rudy Giuliani’s endless yakking in 2008 that the biggest problem with his Democratic opponents was that they didn’t say “9/11” enough, as though one grapples most effectively with the threats to the country by the endless repetition of buzzwords. … The Romney camp’s angle has been that Romney is Churchill incarnate because he’s saying terror, terror, terror and is too big a man to try to get a read on whether the video played any role.
Live by the buzzword, die by the buzzword. It’s been a nonsensical proposition from the start to imagine that foreign policy seriousness is defined by being the first one to hit the ‘terror’ buzzer like you’re a contestant on Jeopardy. But the Romney camp laid the trap. And tonight Mitt walked right into it.
Glad Pat has met some of the old time Republicans. I did some searching on George Romney--Mitt's father--found Mitt is the last of 4 children-- next up was a girl.
George Romney was governor of Michigan from 1962-69. According to the wiki article he got along well with the national Democratic
administration in office at the time.
A long list of quite progressive things he did in Michigan--including some public housing--need to go back and re-read.
I know the R.s have changed a lot since then but Mitt seems to be the worst of the lot (maybe.)
I saw that piece by Pierce and loved it! I now love to read his stuff in Esquire and I swear to God the commeners there are some of the best around! they are right on, humorous, very witty!
I can't believe that the election is less than 3 weeks away - eek!
Pat I have been saying for years that there are still some good republicans out there - maybe because it has taken longer for the good ole Vermont repubs to take on the nastiness of the national crew. they may spout the general talking points but there are fewer of the nasties around here. our Dem governer just ran his very first ad today and it was 2 VT mayors speaking, a republican and an independent and they werer making the case for him, saying what a saviour he was during Irene, etc.
his opponent has been on the air for weeks and is spouting the same old lies and a bunch of regional ones, esp about Vermont's healthcare law that was passed but he doesn't have a chance, too many repubs and indies will vote for Gov Shumlin.
I 'wish' this were the case for all dems runnig for governor - as of 10/15:
Gov. Peter Shumlin, the incumbent Democrat, reigns supreme on the fundraising front with 10 times more money on hand than his opponent, Republican Randy Brock.
The Shumlin campaign reports $170,000 in new money this month. His war chest now tops $1.165 million, and he has $1 million on hand. With just three weeks left in the campaign, Shumlin has spent less than 15 percent of his total take so far in this election cycle on advertising, staff, mailings and polls.
Alex MacLean, his campaign manager, says “he will be on TV before the end of the campaign.”
In fact, the governor plans to make a mass media buy on Tuesday and an ad will be up later this week.
More than $20,000 of the governor’s most recent inflow of cash came from California donors who attended a LGBT fundraising event in Los Angeles in mid-September. Shumlin spearheaded the passage of the gay marriage bill in Vermont in 2009.
Randy Brock, the Republican candidate for governor, brought in just $45,000 in the last month, bringing his total to $692,322. Of that amount, the state senator gave himself $300,000. Brock hasn’t said whether he will self-fund another injection of cash. He has spent $585,325 so far and has roughly $100,000 on hand for the remaining three weeks of the campaign.
new thread!
Thanks, Barb--I took a look--seems like an extensive polling and internet marketing site. Some intense Obama supporters and poll watchers over there. I think that was actually a link to Daily Kos from youguv. Will go back in the morning.
Appreciate it---
Off to bed--good night all. Take care all.
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