Joe Lieberman's Day Off

Have been trying to post this UTube of Lamont's latest ad since last night. It involves a great scene from the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. My girls know the words to this all time classic movie, which is a favorite around the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods.

I have tried to post this short clip two times directly from the UTube page, which has always worked before. I don't know if this is a UTube or Blogger hiccup. I'm not sure if this third attempt will work, if not, just click on this link and it will take you to the video on the UTube site. This time, I am trying to post it from my Blogger Dashboard, cut and pasting the embedded link on the UTube page (for those tech minded who might want to know). Fingers and toes crossed.

It is a short commercial, less than a minute, for those of us on dialup who need to know these kinds of things. Definitely worth the time it takes to load on dialup.

Not In My Name

Print and mail to Senators/Congresscritters.


Dear Senator _________________:

Do you approve of this?




















Yes__________

No __________

Please select one and return to address on back.

I refuse to stand by and let America's current government approve torture without taking action.

Please join me.

Torture - Not In My Name.

Friday Funnies

Mary the Realtor came over yesterday. I've done a lot and she said it showed. She pointed out a couple more things that need to be done. Hopefully will be done, or near done, by the end of the weekend. The front bedroom wall and the bathroom has been primed and are awaiting their new paint. I've emptied out a dresser in my room and it will be out soon. Geez, even paring down what was in the dresser, I have no idea where I'll put the few necessary items I didn't box up. Mary and I talked more about lease/option and about even renting it - bottom line is that I am being as flexible as I can about all options.

From the email - These are too funny - I'm not this talented.

A local newspaper ran a competition asking for a rhyme with the most Romantic first line...but the least romantic second line. Here are some of the entries they received:

I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.

My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life.

I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, violets are dead, sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.

Oh loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face.

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.

I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off of your face.

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes -
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!

My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?

My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe "go to hell"

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime

=====

When Insults Had Class

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." -- Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -- Moses Hadas

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." -- Abraham Lincoln

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." -- Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -- Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second...if there is one." -- Winston Churchill, in response

"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." -- Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." -- John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -- Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." -- Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." -- Paul Keating

"He had delusions of adequacy." -- Walter Kerr

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure" -- Jack E. Leonard

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." -- Robert Redford

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed

"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -- Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." -- Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" -- Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -- Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts...for support rather than illumination." -- Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." -- Billy Wilder

=====

“You — the Voters — have ONE DAY to hold the Bush Administration accountable for what’s happened in Iraq, and here at home. ONE DAY — election day. If you like the way things are going, vote Republican. If you think things need to change, VOTE DEMOCRATIC. Seize the day. It’s your very last chance.”

M Word Day

It is that most dreaded of days - M-word Day. The start of the work week. I no longer work (outside of the home) but that does not lessen the sting M-word Day still leaves. I was supposed to meet with Mary the Realtor today but all the work I have been doing inside the home has had an impact on my old bones, not to mention what the dust kicked up has done to my sinuses. I've rescheduled the meeting until Thursday.

I've still got some work to do. Still have to paint the bathroom (alas, farewell gorgeous blue and hello boring neutral) and paint the front bedroom. Younger daughter had partially painted one wall a deep dark periwinkle-ish that will need to be primed over before re-painting that room yet another boring neutral.

The outside of the cottage by the creek in the redwoods looks lovely! Everything has been blown off, vacuumed, cleaned, and/or spot-painted where needed. I took these pictures this afternoon, showing the front. The side yards still need to be straightened up but the shed side yard is almost done. The other side yard is shared with B-man and N and it still needs a lot of cleaning up. B-man has been doing the majority of his construction stuff there. He still has a couple of things he needs to finish before the tools can be moved out and it put back to two side yards again.

It is a sad day when Amnesty International has to ask Americans to join them in denouncing torture - by Americans! Click on their Act Now link to see the full page ad that ran in the New York Times and to send a letter to your elected representatives that you do not want America to allow torture, indefinite detentions, and secret trials.

President Bush uses Little Richard as translator

To quote JS, I don't know why he doesn't do that for every speech.

Sure would make them a lot more palatable. The Daily Show can always make me laugh no matter the day but this clip made my sides hurt!
A must see, even on dialup. It is a very short clip, under a minute.

Dayamitalltohell!

Crap! Dayam, dayam, double dayam drat!

The man never came over to talk to me. He stayed next door talking to my neighbor and then left. He knew I was here. There was chit-chat through my kitchen window between my neighbor, the man, and I. He knew I was here and left without saying a word.

My neighbor is as baffled as I. He has no idea what happened. All I know is that I am sick and tired of this roller-coaster ride involving this man. That's it. He and any "deals" he has in mind are over. History.

AMF!

I'm moving on. Got the hutch emptied except for the papers that I need to keep here. Living room is starting to look bigger as it empties, which is the point. Kitchen floors are done except for around the desk/computer area or command central as it is called around here. B-man and N have almost all their dishes and cookware out. My kitchen cabinets and drawers are going to just have the bare minimum in them.

Tomorrow, N and I are going to tackle the front bedroom and bathroom. I've got a huge stack of boxes, pictures, and stuff stacked near the front door to go to storage. All the stuff that is going to the dump or to Mountain Thrift is being stacked on the deck.

So much to do. So little time.

Egad, my body is too dayam old for this crap!

Which Way Is Up?

Now I hear the man who was interested in the cottage by the creek in the redwoods (notice the name change as suggested by my realtor) is interested in an outright purchase as opposed to the lease/option that he was interested in before. He is stopping by tomorrow (Thurs) morning so keep those fingers and toes crossed!

Oy. My head is spinning with questions and numbers and questions about numbers. I know what the cottage cost me, what my payoff is, and the approximate value of it. The big question is how much do I reduce the cost of the cottage by to offset the costs of using real estate agents (one for me - one for the buyer) and reducing the time it would take to sell (which is currently 120 days in this market)?

How much am I willing to discount for an immediate sale? Last night talking with B-man, my head got woozy and I actually got nauseous trying to keep track of all the numbers tossed into the air.

Yesterday and today, I spent both afternoons on my hands and knees (yeah I know I'm not supposed to do that with the fake knee) with a scrub brush trying to bleach clean the frigging white brick pattern vinyl floor in the kitchen that dates back to 1970. I've been cleaning the cottage top to bottom in preparation of whichever way it goes. Either prep to sell and move or prep to move without having to do all that open house and showing stuff.

I'll be putting the majority of my stuff into storage, leaving just the essentials (sofa, bed, table, etc) if it is to be shown. If the cottage is sold immediately, then it will ALL go into storage until I move.

Oy, so much to go to the dump, to go to storage, to sort out what stays and what goes. I weeded out so much stuff when I moved up here. I also lost ALL my Christmas stuff in the process along with one box of kitchen things that naturally contained all my cooking pots and pans and my baking pans and trays. I'm trying real hard to not let anything get lost this time. The majority of the kitchen stuff was replaceable. My lifetime of Christmas things and baking pans from when I was a young thang were not.

B-man and N will be totally out by Friday and they will clean the front bedroom, leaving just paint to do in there. B-man and I are coordinating the dump runs and storage runs with the take to Mountain Thrift runs.

Decisions, decisions, double dayam decisions. My weak spot. My being a Libra and always trying to be fair to everyone. My being a second guesser about myself, always questioning my decisions. My first hand and up close experiences with my rat-bastoid cousin, Murphy and his dratted law. My being Irish on both sides. Egad!

The picture is looking down on the creek from the deck.

Keith Olbermann on 9/11

KO said it best, again. His thoughts today, 5 years after 9/11, mirror mine.
I'm sure Crooks & Liars will have the video up shortly. It is worth watching, even via dialup as I am, to watch a true American journalist, in the steps of Uncle Walter and Murrow.
UPDATE: C&L has it up. Go watch!

Full Transcript:
And lastly tonight a Special Comment on why we are here. Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space.

And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.

And all the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and — as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul — two more in the Towers.

And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me… this was, and is, and always shall be, personal. And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft", or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here — is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante — and at worst, an idiot — whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However. Of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast — of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds… none of us could have predicted… this.

Five years later this space… is still empty.
Five years later there is no Memorial to the dead.
Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards and criminals.
Five years later this country’s wound is still open.
Five years… later this country’s mass grave is still unmarked.
Five years later… this is still… just a background for a photo-op.
It is beyond shameful.
—
At the dedication of the Gettysburg Memorial — barely four months after the last soldier staggered from another Pennsylvania field, Mr. Lincoln said "we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

Lincoln used those words to immortalize their sacrifice. Today our leaders could use those same words to rationalize their reprehensible inaction. "We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground." So we won’t.

Instead they bicker and buck-pass. They thwart private efforts, and jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend the money on irrelevant wars, and elaborate self-congratulations, and buying off columnists to write how good a job they’re doing — instead of doing any job at all.

Five years later, Mr. Bush… we are still fighting the terrorists on these streets. And look carefully, sir — on these 16 empty acres, the terrorists… are clearly, still winning.

And, in a crime against every victim here and every patriotic sentiment you mouthed but did not enact, you have done nothing about it.
—
And there is something worse still than this vast gaping hole in this city, and in the fabric of our nation. There is, its symbolism — of the promise unfulfilled, the urgent oath, reduced to lazy execution.

The only positive on 9/11 and the days and weeks that so slowly and painfully followed it… was the unanimous humanity, here, and throughout the country. The government, the President in particular, was given every possible measure of support.

Those who did not belong to his party — tabled that.
Those who doubted the mechanics of his election — ignored that.
Those who wondered of his qualifications — forgot that.

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government, by its critics.

It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation’s wounds, but to take political advantage.

Terrorists did not come and steal our newly-regained sense of being American first, and political, fiftieth. Nor did the Democrats. Nor did the media. Nor did the people.

The President — and those around him — did that.

They promised bi-partisanship, and then showed that to them, "bi-partisanship" meant that their party would rule and the rest would have to follow, or be branded, with ever-escalating hysteria, as morally or intellectually confused; as appeasers; as those who, in the Vice President’s words yesterday, "validate the strategy of the terrorists."

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection" meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken… a despot who we now learn from our own Senate Intelligence Committee, hated Al-Qaeda as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had ’something to do’ with 9/11, is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase, is "impeachable offense."

Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space… and to this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.

Still, there is a last snapping flame from a final candle of respect and fairness: even his most virulent critics have never suggested he alone bears the full brunt of the blame for 9/11.

Half the time, in fact, this President has been so gently treated, that he has seemed not even to be the man most responsible — for anything — in his own administration.

Yet what is happening this very night? A mini-series, created, influenced — possibly financed by — the most radical and cold of domestic political Machiavellis, continues to be televised into our homes. The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted; the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem like the only option.

How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death… after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections… how dare you or those around you… ever "spin" 9/11.
—
Just as the terrorists have succeeded — are still succeeding — as long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero…

So too have they succeeded, and are still succeeding — as long as this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against Americans.

This is an odd point to cite a television program, especially one from March of 1960. But as Disney’s continuing sell-out of the truth (and this country) suggests, even television programs can be powerful things.

And long ago, a series called "The Twilight Zone" broadcast a riveting episode entitled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." In brief: a meteor sparks rumors of an invasion by extra-terrestrials disguised as humans. The electricity goes out. A neighbor pleads for calm. Suddenly his car — and only his car — starts. Someone suggests he must be the alien. Then another man’s lights go on. As charges and suspicion and panic overtake the street, guns are inevitably produced.

An "alien" is shot — but he turns out to be just another neighbor, returning from going for help.

The camera pulls back to a near-by hill, where two extra-terrestrials are seen, manipulating a small device that can jam electricity. The veteran tells his novice that there’s no need to actually attack, that you just turn off a few of the human machines and then, "they pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it’s themselves."

And then, in perhaps his finest piece of writing, Rod Serling sums it up with words of remarkable prescience, given where we find ourselves tonight.

"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men.
"For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own — for the children, and the children yet unborn."
—

When those who dissent are told time and time again — as we will be, if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public chorus — that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of it, we are somehow un-American…

When we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have "forgotten the lessons of 9/11"… look into this empty space behind me and the bi-partisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me:

Who has left this hole in the ground?

We have not forgotten, Mr. President.

You have.

May this country forgive you.

Screeching To A Stop

Ever have one of these pop up unexpectedly when ya least expect it? Almost as bad as that little plus sign on the p-stick results at my age. The results tend to be about the same - they tend to shred plans already made. What is that old saying about life is what happens while making those careful plans for life or some such?

I am NOT on the road to Oregon. I met with Mary-the-realtor for a good spell this morning. Now I have a list and am more confused than ever. So much paperwork to get in order. So many notifications to make. So many things to do around here. So much on hold and so much to do, I feel like I am standing in quicksand again - certainly don't feel like I am making progress.

I want to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich. I want to twitch my nose and make it all go away, or click my ruby slippers, or turn into pink smoke and disappear back inside that bottle Major Nelson found.

Home For Sale

There was a man interested in buying the little cabin by the creek in the redwoods. A friend of a friend. We talked last weekend and he was going to get back to me by Wednesday or Thursday. I did not hear from him either day. Nothing Friday either. Saturday, I heard from our mutual acquaintance that he will be coming by Sunday.

By this time, I already knew. It was going to be a no.

This morning, he did in fact stop in and say that "the market wasn't right". If he had really been interested in the little cabin by the creek in the redwoods, he would have contacted me when he said he would. His non-action was speaking volumes to me before he ever spoke a word.

I called Mary Wold, a Boulder Creek Realtor who was referred to me this past spring by my friend Ron. I met with her at that time and agree she is, as Ron put it, the hardest working real estate agent in the San Lorenzo Valley. My mom, who is the hardest working real estate agent in the Palm Springs area, would like her too.

Mary will be calling again later today with a preliminary market comparison. We are pricing it for a quick sale. Ha - have I mentioned that I am double Irish?

I need to be out fast. I would have liked to have the For Sale sign up before I leave but ...

Mary would prefer that I postpone my trip until Tuesday. We will set up an appointment for tomorrow morning to do the paperwork to sell. When I leave depends on what time we get done.

Hopefully, putting the place on the market will hold off any foreclosure until it sells. I was unable to make last month's mortgage payment and the prospects for this month's payment being made is nil.

Tomorrow (or perhaps Tuesday), I drive over the wood bridge and head up to Oregon. A part of me just wants to find the first place I can rent that is decent and move there with no pick and choose about what part of Oregon it is in. Another side of me hates moving and tells me to take my time and find something I will like. Another part of me says it really doesn't matter - I'm not going to find another little cabin by the creek in the redwoods to love.

Changes

Summer is coming to a close at the little cabin by the creek in the redwoods and I am cherishing each small milestone.

Last night, I saw Mama Deer and her two babies walking alongside the creek at dusk. They were on the deer path along the right side of the creek in this picture. The babies are getting big, almost as tall as Mama Deer. I hadn't seen them since spring when they were still quite small. My brother was up for a bbq Labor Day and, of course, the deer showed up the following night. The deer go elsewhere during the summer, returning to the creek for acorns in the fall.

Today, I saw a large yellow maple leaf slowly floating by in the creek. The water is only several inches deep in most spots but stays cold no matter how hot the temp gets.


A closeup of the first picture (using that nice little zoom feature). You can just barely see where the creek zags to the right before joining the San Lorenzo.

We hit 94 degrees here today but stayed comfy in the little cabin with the shutters all closed. Now all the doors and windows are open and it is 78 outside. Weather dude said we will be out of the 90's and back into our usual mid-80's tomorrow.

Seeing Mama Deer tells us fall is just around the corner, as did the yellow maple leaf in the creek. The brazen-hussy squirrels are checking out the oaks daily, waiting for this year's acorn crop.

This is the view as you cross the bridge and head up to the main road. I'll be heading across the bridge and over the hill to the freeway Monday as I start my road trip to Oregon. I was going to go this week but George the mechanic won't be able to fix my headlight and do the "going on a trip inspection" until Saturday.

On the plus side of delaying the trip, Jen, my oldest, is coming up Sunday for a visit (and dinner). Always good to see her face!

Unfortunately, my digital camera appears to be trying to die. It will only take 7 or 8 pictures now before declaring itself full.

I'm going to get one (or two) of those disposable cameras for the trip. Want to have lots of pictures to help in making my decision about where this old broad is going to hang her hat.

Resume of George W Bush

Resume

GEORGE W. BUSH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington , DC 20520

LAW ENFORCEMENT

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine , in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY

I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam

COLLEGE

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland , Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas . The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas .

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.

During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida , and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history. I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period. I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire", Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S . "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden [sic] to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. I am a member of the Republican Party.

PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN THE 2006 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW.

(thanks to Steve for sending me this)

Fall's Comin

There is a chill in the morning air now. The maples are just beginning to change color. I've had the wood stove going several nights this week but the weather dude said this weekend it will warm up. Our daytime temps have been in the 80's but it has dipped down into the low 50's and even a few high 40's at night. Once the sun sets behind the hill, it can get right chilly.

I've rediscovered how wonderful polar fleece is. I set up my sewing machine so N could work on reupholstering chair cushions. Been many years since I have had the urge to quilt but I feel the stirrings. No time for it now.

I'm trying to decide when to head up to Oregon to scout locations (and hopefully find a house to rent). My September deadline is here and I've got to act before the rains get here. I'm going to drive up 101 and give the Newport area a real close look. Also want to check out further north on the coast and then probably come down 5 to check out the Eugene area.


I'll let ya'll know when I do head up there and will be sure to take pictures this time instead of relying on my sometimer's memory. Right now, I'm looking at leaving maybe Thursday of next week but that is only a tentative date. My return is at this point open ended. I could be lucky (yeah right) and find what I am looking for my first day up there. Having been well acquainted with that rat-bastoid cousin Murphy for all of my life, I don't plan on it. Taking a "we shall see" attitude and walking the thin line between low expectations and hope.

I took the pictures of the view across the creek from in between my house and B-man's. So many greens!