November 2008 Archives

Bark Bark Woof Woof

Friday Blogaround
The turkey is in the fridge awaiting turkey tetrazini, turkey hash, turkey sandwiches, flaming turkey wings... Here's what the LC chewed on this week.

- A Blog Around The Clock: what's wrong with this picture?
- archy: punditry is fun.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: doing something.
- Bloggg: turkey lurkey.
- Collective Sigh: vacation!
- Dohiyi Mir: already a failure.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: opposition research.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: good news for adoption and families in Florida.
- Iddybud Journal: a Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving.
- Left Is Right: amazing prediction.
- Musing's musings: giving thanks.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: Happy Thanksgiving.
- Rook's Rant: A new concept.
- rubber hose: question authority.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: save some money.
- SoonerThought: McCain staffer impressed with Obama picks.
- Speedkill: bringing the crazy.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat: silence is golden.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: Michael Medved on history.
- The Invisible Library: Erin go Keith and Elvira.
- WTF Is It Now?? Holiday gift advice.

Now that you've read this, you can go shopping. Or not.

Woke up late. Not going Christmas shopping. I will have to run to Wal-Mart to get some special light bulbs for our chandelier that hangs over the dining room table. That's so The GirlFriend™ can wrap gifts later this evening.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the turkey, enjoy the ham, enjoy the company of loved ones, enjoy the political discussions with the wingnut relatives, and most important of all, enjoy the cranberry sauce. Jellied, of course.

You like whole cranberry sauce!?!?!? Seriously, what is wrong with you?

My heart and hope goes out to the victims of this horrible tragedy.

This, people, is what leadership looks like.

CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama is already making presidential history by naming -- or at least his transition team is leaking to the press -- his Cabinet picks faster than nearly all of his predecessors.

"If we do not act swiftly and boldly, most experts believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," Obama said Monday.

With an economic crisis spiraling out of control and a lame duck in the oval office, presidential scholars say the next commander in chief simply had no choice.

"This is really unprecedented. But it's an unprecedented situation," said Larry Sabato, a presidential scholar at the University of Virginia. "Obama is doing what the public and the markets demand be done -- and that is to show that the next president is really in charge before he even takes the oath of office."

CNN

(CNN) -- A Florida circuit judge declared unconstitutional Tuesday a 31-year-old state law that prevents gays and lesbians from adopting children, saying "the blanket exclusion" of gay applicants "defeated Florida's goal of providing dependent children a permanent family."

CNN

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Troubled singer Amy Winehouse has been admitted to a London hospital after suffering a bad reaction to medication, her representative said Tuesday.

CNN Money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The home price plunge stayed on a record pace this summer, according to a widely watched gauge of national real estate markets released Tuesday.

And as such, I get a charge out of stuff like this;



I grew up watching National Geographic Specials. It would really be nice if they would run some of the old shows from the 70s on their HD cable channel.

Some things are just way cool. This picture is one of them.

Yeah! I got up early enough to write a quick blog post. I've checked the news. It damn near put me back to sleep. What news that is out there is being pressed into service as the next worst thing to ever happen in our nation. It's a shtick that right wing radio has had down pat for decades, but now it seems as if the Legacy Media and the various blogs are flagging that old approach well past it's death.

Yeesh. It's just a slow news day. Seriously. After 7 plus years of BushCo™, I suspect we are going to find ourselves bored with the lack of sensationalism. No one, and I mean no one, is going to displace BushCo™ as the most controversial United States administration in modern times.

We are all going to be like drunks looking for that elusive intoxication. Try as we might, we will never feel that exhilaration we first felt as we published a post about the latest outrage from the impertinent son of a misplaced New Englander.

Our drug of choice has actually been gone for quite some time. He's gone into hiding now that his popularity has sunk lower then Nixon's.

So, like any good addict, we've switched; thus lies the explanation of our fascination with Sarah Palin. In my using days, if I couldn't get pot, I got drunk. In today's blogging milieu, if we can't have our BushCo™ story, by God, we've got Sarah to take it's place. It's the same cheap, tawdry content, only with a feminine label.

Soon, though, she'll be empty. Then what? Write outrage over Obama? Does anyone really think that Barack will be as incompetent, as amoral, as ignorant as George W. Bush? If anyone out there thinks that; put down the pipe, back away, and check yourself into treatment. Or the psych ward. Because, DAMN, your either high or psychotic. Or both.

Oh, okay. No one is after me. But I am writing this quick post from work. Not much really to say, other than I am alive, still. Also, still working on my novel. It's coming along nicely.

Well, I think so anyway. I am thinking of taking a picture of my notebook, just to show you how far the rough draft has come. It's quite impressive, to my standards. But than, my standards are relatively easy.

Bark Bark Woof Woof

Friday Blogaround
The election afterglow is fading...so what is the LC talking about this week?

- A Blog Around The Clock: light pollution.
- All Facts and Opinions protests against Prop 8
- archy: Armistice Day.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: No excuses.
- Bloggg: Normality sinking in.
- Dohiyi Mir: looking for work is tough.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: floating in weirdness.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: ten stories to read.
- Iddybud Journal reviews "When You Come Home."
- Left Is Right: what is "good" about our military?
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: medicine, seeing the Prop 8 protesters, and a song.
- Rick's Cafe Americain: the Yes men strike again.
- Rook's Rant: alive but not well.
- rubber hose: Michelle Malkin and William Ayers - the perfect couple.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: the fifty-state strategy worked.
- SoonerThought: cutting the Pentagon budget
- Speedkill: business opportunities for conservatives.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat: a tale of two prescriptions.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: go after the Bush lawbreakers?
- The Fulcrum: Purple haze.
- The Invisible Library: writing on writing.
- WTF Is It Now?? Mr. Bush regrets.

I'm already hearing Christmas music on the radio. Sheesh.

Update: Sorry, I left out The Fulcrum this morning. I have rectified that.

Yes, I know, I missed last week. You know; I was sick, was tired, was not in the mood, don't answer to you, you aren't the boss of me, leave me alone, for crying out loud - get a life!

Sheesh.

Mustang Bobby had a good QOTD over at BBWW. However, I decided to branch off from that and ask what few loyal readers I have to name what they think are the best movies about magic/magicians.

Two recent ones come to mind for me: The Illusionist and The Prestige.

I had thought of holding off for two more days and making it an even week without posting, but I just had to drop a note and let you all know I am alive. Barely, but still alive. I have been going steady at my novel, writing just about every morning. Most mornings for about 45 minutes. Over the weekend, I get in about two hours a day, give or take. And remember, I have three day weekends.

Anyway, this morning I woke up with a killer headache. Not quite a migraine, but a very painful sinus headache that is as much caused by the dry air as it is by my still lingering cold, which I've had for about two weeks now.

Seriously, two weeks is just too damn long to have a cold. The one redeeming factor is that it's fall, making the cold less of an insult than having it in the summer. There is just something inherently wrong with a summer cold. They feel worse. At least during the winter, you can make the claim of not going outside because of a cold. Not so in the summer. Supposedly, the warm weather should help get rid of your cold.

Yeah, right. Sell me a bridge.

So, right now I am struggling with calling in sick. More likely, I will be heading to work, despite feeling like crap. I'll just have to struggle.

There you go. Now you know I am alive, though not well. Life in Minnesota. No doubt Carl will come along and make some comment about the insanity of living in Minnesota. Thankfully, I have Sarah Palin to use as an example of where insanity truly arises. Honestly, Minnesota Nice surely trumps Alaskan PUMA age wrinkles any day of the year. Even if you have a cold.

There truly is no limits to the use of duct tape.

CNN Money

By Lara Moscrip, CNNMoney.com contributing writer

Last Updated: November 6, 2008: 9:28 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance last week was higher than economists expected, indicating continued weakness in the nation's economy.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial filings for state jobless benefits reached 481,000 for the week ended Nov. 1.

While that was down 4,000 from the revised 485,000 reported the week before, it was above the 476,000 claims expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com. The prior week was revised up by 1,000 to 479,000.

The report shows that more Americans are continuing to collect unemployment benefits in the face of a weak job market. The number increased by 122,000 to 3.84 million, for the week ended Oct .18, the most current data available. That number stood at 2.59 million a year ago.

It's great that Obama has been elected as the next president. Unfortunately, we have 8 years of incompetence, corruption, greed, and willful ignorance to overcome. And even more unfortunate, we still have 74 days left of BushCo™. Until January 20, there will be no movement away from this disaster. Even then, it will be a long, slow battle to undo the damage created by the last 8 years of George W. Bush.

Remember, Roosevelt didn't craft the New Deal in 100 days. I am pretty sure he didn't craft it in his first year as president. But than, I am not a historian. If anyone knows otherwise, educate me in the comments.

Someone needs to challenge me in a game of Blogger's Chess™! Let's make it interesting, I'll play against more than one opponent. Hell, I have 12 games going at ChessKnot.

I started reading blogs back in 2003, right after Rich Santorum uttered his famous term "man on dog." Then, there was the obviously deteriorating mess that is still Iraq. All in all, there were many issues to voice out about. But, after last night's victory for Obama, I am wonder "what for?"

My novel continues on at a reasonable pace, considering I have a full-time job and a family. I also believe I've lost the passion. I do not enjoy blogging like I use to. I am really thinking it's time to close the old Rant down. I would like to say I've achieved what I set out to do with this blog, but in reality, I never really had a set goal to achieve, other than to post my rants.

Well, I grew tired of posting rants a while ago. I also grew tired of writing about life. I am busy living it, I find it redundant to then write about it.

Now, I know better than to announce a hiatus, because I never actually last more than 24 hours. I go longer when I just say nothing. What I am debating, is whether or not to shut down this blog permanently. In the great scheme of things, I am but a small microbe on the ass of a flea. Visions of grandeur and greatness are tiring and require a level of denial I am loath to continue.

I do appreciate those few loyal readers that occasionally leave comments for me. And I am aware of my rather unreliable response; that is, I usually don't feel moved to respond to comments. Unless, of course, you piss me off. But than, none of my regulars ever have pissed me off.

Anyway, I am not sure what the hell I am trying to say. It just seems that Rook's Rant does not have a place in the approaching social and political changes of this country.

I have much to contemplate. But than, I think the whole nation does.

I wonder if anyone really is aware of the incredible level of change that has occurred, and that life as we knew it is about to radically change? I don't think any of us do. The initial amount of energy required to overcome stasis is always greater than what is necessary to continue momentum. Yet, from the look of things, there is still a lot of energy in this nation. I hope Barack Hussein Obama has the strength and ability to guide that energy towards positive and uplifting change.

Actually, I voted in the middle of the morning, before heading to work. I am just now taking the time to post about it this afternoon.

I've been checking the news sites, to see if any trends have become apparent, but there is not a peep about them. Damn, and I have to work until 9:00 PM, with group from 6 until then. That means I am going to be missing the meat of the returns. That really sucks.

Yes, that's me, a bi-polar blogger. You know the type. Days on end with no posts, then suddenly for one, two, or three days, an explosion of posts, long and short. And then, once again, days of silence.

Well, consider this a brief interruption of my down swing to let you know I am alive and well. Well, as well as I can be, considering I am a bi-polar blogger.