A great story

Quote of the day

On Elisabeth Hasselbeck:

It must be hard to be both pro-war and pro-life at the same time and still look so perky that early in the morning. It’s as if she doesn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.

Priceless - if you know Canadian politics

This video makes me laugh, cringe, and blush

A Brighter Day Will Come

I think this is the best Obama music video I've ever seen:

From the archives

Several weeks ago, I finally added one of my Paul Simon CDs to my iPod. Now, every time I listen to "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", I think it doesn't get enough play these days. Enjoy:

Amen

Jackie and Luc's Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Wendy asked for this recipe, so I thought I'd share it with everyone. It's delicious!

You will need:

• 2 red peppers
• 3/4 (three-quarters) of a cup of feta cheese (the fresher the better)
• 1 tsp red win vinegar
• pinch of cayenne (or more, depending on your preferences)
• pinch of salt

Road the red peppers 15 - 20 minutes until they are fairly blackened. (I put them on a tray in the oven at 400F. I cover the tray with aluminum foil because the peppers will drip and the drippings, being high in sugar, will blacken and be hard to remove.)

When the peppers have been roasted, put them in cold water and peel their skins from them. Remove the stem, seeds, and veins. Coarsely chop the peppers and blend them in a food processor with all the other ingredients.

Serve chilled with pita bread that has been cut up into triangles for dipping.

This dip should keep for about a week (if properly refrigerated, of course).

Enjoy!

Republicans for Obama

Get the cool backstory on this video here.

I believe

Rick gets it right

Rick Mercer is not unlike Jon Stewart, but of Canada.

Gasp! Not a political post!!!

This song has become my new favourite in the past week:



UPDATE: Lyrics are here.

Holy cow

Look at the picture here. This is in a supposedly "red" state.

Incredible.

Who looks presidential now?

Palin as preznit

Funny website - check it out! Be sure to mouse over various parts of the picture, and click on things when your mouse cursor changes.

All about Biden

So Barack Obama's pretty awesome, isn't he? That guy is as cool as they come, and I cannot wait until he is the president of those United States.

How about Joe Biden? Do you know his story? He's pretty amazing too. If you don't know his story, here's a video of his son Beau introducing him and telling his story:



This short video is about Joe Biden's wife, Jill, but I think it indirectly says a lot of about Biden himself - the way he proudly introduces his wife as having a doctorate in education, and the way his son Beau is brought to tears calling Jill his "Mom":



(You can learn more about Jill Biden here - she is very cool too!)

Biden gets choked up in the VP debate recalling his family's tragedy



The day after his debate with Sarah Palin, Biden attended the deployment ceremony of his son, Beau, who, as a member of the National Guard, is being deployed to Iraq. The photo at the top of this diary pulls at my heartstrings.

These really are remarkable times in which we live, and some amazing people have stepped forward in this time of need. I think Joe Biden is one of the best, and I will be thrilled when he becomes vice president.

Obama/Biden '08!!!

Convergence

Hat-tip to ZenDenizen!

A website for you to add to your favourites

Have you heard about Margaret and Helen? They are American octagenarians who blog. Seriously. It is ridiculously awesome, and you should read it.

Exhibit A:

Did any of you watch the news shows this weekend? And I am not talking about Troopergate because everyone saw that coming. I’m talking about the video from the McCain rallies. Clearly we now have proof postive that you shouldn’t sleep with your cousin.

My hat’s off to McCain for trying to set the record straight about Obama not being an Arab, but what does it say about his judgment that he handed a live microphone to Ma and Pa Kettle in the first place? I mean what truck and tractor pull was cancelled to make room for that stop on the Straight Talk Express?

Now THAT'S some straight talkin', my friends ...

Amazing story on the new paradigm of leadership

Almost three years ago, I attended a leadership seminar at which Carly Fiorina was one of the speakers. Yes, she supports John McCain, and was one of his leading surrogates until she admitted on camera that neither Sarah Palin nor John McCain were qualified to be a CEO of a corporation. However, a lot of what she had to say about leadership three years ago made a lot of sense (maybe they were her ideas, maybe they weren't; I don't know). Here are a few points from the notes I made back then:

• She said that as we’ve entered the 21^st Century, we’ve entered unchartered territory.Up to and including the 20^th Century, leadership was vertical, or “mechanical.Information went up the vertical chain of command, and orders went back down it.This was inefficient, because it meant that the leader was responsible for knowing everything that was going on among the rank and file, and for arranging for the transfer of information between groups that eventually reported up to him/her.
• In academia today, the greatest innovations and breakthroughs now come through collaboration between different departments (I forget the example she used, but it was something like biology and mechanical physics).Today’s problems are more complex, and therefore horizontal collaboration (vs. vertical chain of command) is more important.
• Important questions yet to be answered in the 21^st Century: How do we share information/power? How do we enforce accountability?

This perspective on leadership fascinated me because I realized for the first time why the traditional management styles of the organizations in which I'd worked were so limited.

And tonight I've found an inspiring example of how this new paradigm of leadership has been successfully applied. You may not support Barack Obama, but this is really interesting reading. And if you get through the article and see how he's organised his campaign, you just might be converted into believing he should be running the United States.

Absolutely!

About farm animals

Do you really think about your food? Wonder about what kind of a life it had before it became a cellophane-wrapped package in your grocery store?

On November 4th, the citizens of California will be voting on a measure to legislate humane treatment of farm animals. This is important stuff, folks. Not just because animals in factory farms must suffer unimaginable levels of hell, but it also makes sense from a food safety perspective:

• Food animals who are treated well and provided with at least minimum accommodation of their natural behaviors and physical needs are healthier and safer for human consumption.
• Due to the large numbers of animals confined in close quarters in typical factory farms, there are many opportunities for animals to be infected by several strains of pathogens, leading to increased chance for a strain to emerge that can infect and spread in humans.
• Practices that restrict natural motion, such as sow gestation crates, induce high levels of stress in the animals and threaten their health, which in turn may threaten human health.

Honestly, watch this video and try to tell me that this isn't the right thing to do in California and all across North America.



I'm a staunch vegetarian partly for animal rights issues. I know there is some irony in asking for farm animals to have a healthy environment in which to grow before they're taken away for slaughter, but I see it as progress. I think it demeans and debases us as a people when we turn a blind eye to the suffering of another animal, regardless of how detached we may feel from agriculture. To do anything else is to be complicit in the abuse.

If you wouldn't allow a dog or a cat to be treated in this way, how is a cow, pig, or chicken any different?

Disgusting allegations from a bona fide crackpot

First, let me say that THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING MUSLIM. Or an Arab. They are people just like you and me, with families and hopes and dreams.

Nonetheless, there are people like the woman in this video who - in ignorance and due to hateful propaganda - are afraid of Muslims and Arabs. And there are also people who are claiming that Barack Obama is secretly an Arab or a Muslim, and has plans to somehow turn the U.S.A. into a Muslim nation when he is elected president.

Where does this crap come from? And who's pushing it??? The New York Times investigates:

Until this month, the man who is widely credited with starting the cyberwhisper campaign that still dogs Mr. Obama was a secondary character in news reports, with deep explorations of his background largely confined to liberal blogs.

But an appearance in a documentary-style program on the Fox News Channel watched by three million people last week thrust the man, Andy Martin, and his past into the foreground. The program allowed Mr. Martin to assert falsely and without challenge that Mr. Obama had once trained to overthrow the government.

While Andy Martin is definitely the story here, I don't want you to miss the fact that Fox "News" gave this idiot a platform to spew his false information, and did not challenge it. But back to Martin:

He is a law school graduate, but his admission to the Illinois bar was blocked in the 1970s after a psychiatric finding of “moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.”

Though he is not a lawyer, Mr. Martin went on to become a prodigious filer of lawsuits, and he made unsuccessful attempts to win public office for both parties in three states, as well as for president at least twice, in 1988 and 2000. Based in Chicago, he now identifies himself as a writer who focuses on his anti-Obama Web site and press releases.

Now I know right now you're probably thinking to yourself, "But I thought Republicans hate people who are constantly suing other people!" I guess it depends on whether they feel they have something to gain. But honestly, this man is as repulsive as they come:

In another motion, filed in 1983, Mr. Martin wrote, “I am able to understand how the Holocaust took place, and with every passing day feel less and less sorry that it did.”

In an interview, Mr. Martin denied some statements against Jews attributed to him in court papers, blaming malicious judges for inserting them.

But in his “48 Hours” interview in 1993, he affirmed a different anti-Semitic part of the affidavit that included the line about the Holocaust, saying, “The record speaks for itself.”

So if or when someone sends you an e-mail stating or implying that Barack Obama has some kind of secret Muslim or radical agenda, please think long and hard about who the source may be.

Another one just for me

Again, not suggesting you watch this video, as it is kind of long. But I do find it uplifting. My favourite parts are at the 3-minute and 9-minute points.

You don't have to watch this one

I am just putting it here so I can always find it.

Dangerous times

Betty White is a goddess!

Stories like this

... are why I am still hopeful about this world, and about the U.S. in particular.

Please sign this Avaaz petition for financial crisis response!

Dear [Avaaz] friends,

Over the next 48 hours, the world's leading finance ministers are meeting to thrash out our response to the financial crisis. Instead of bailing out reckless financiers again, we need a buy-in that gives us public ownership and strict new regulations to fix this broken system for good! -- Put your name here!

Watching the markets freefall, we know this crisis will utterly change our daily lives -- we're not just spectators any more, and we’re seeing something new –- people and governments directly intervening in the chaos that until now was controlled by reckless and greedy financiers.

Today and all weekend, extraordinary choices will be made by the world’s most powerful finance ministers, meeting to decide our response to the financial crisis. Together, we must make sure that governments don’t just use our money to bail out the banks, but claim a share of public ownership in these institutions for our future, and oversight powers to fundamentally fix the wider system.

We'll deliver our call for a global buy-in package in 36 hours to G7 finance ministers and again to a bigger Global Crisis Summit planned for November -- please sign the petition at the link below, and forward this email to everyone you know. The decisions made this week will shape our lives for years to come:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue

Three weeks ago our petition to regulate global finance was waved by Denmark's former prime minister as the European Parliament voted.[1] Two weeks ago our US members bombarded Congress with phone calls for a buy-in not a bailout -- investing in the banks so they stop choking off capital, while giving the public a share for their money and the power to fix the system -- and yesterday, as Britain launched a bold buy-in of its own, word is the United States might finally change course.[2]

Only concerted action by the global community can build a better system, and we can't leave it to the financiers -- so today, we're launching an emergency campaign calling on leaders for a global public rescue to save all our economies. This is what's needed -- a 'buy-in' to financial institutions not a reckless 'bailout', massive public investment stimulus to stave off global depression, temporary guarantee of loans/deposits, and strict new regulations to fix this broken system once and for all.[3] It's a sensible and public-spirited package supported by progressives and expert economists alike -- add your name here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue

Leading economists now agree that citizens and our governments are the only force powerful enough to solve this crisis -- only the public can mobilise the investment and oversight needed to fix the financiers' failings, get the economy moving and revive things on a sounder basis. The Great Depression of the 1930s teaches us that we cannot address this crisis with each acting alone -- only by acting together can countries head off disaster.

How we respond to this crisis will shape our lives for years to come. We're still a long way from tackling the fundamental problems of the global economy, but the tide is moving in our direction. So let's take control of our future in the interests of people not financiers, and raise a worldwide voice across borders for a global public rescue. 3.4 million of us in every nation of the world will get this email -- that's a start. Click below to sign, forward this email to all your friends and family, and let's raise a voice our leaders can't ignore:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue

With hope and determination,

Paul, Ricken, Graziela, Pascal, Veronique, Iain, Brett, Milena and the whole Avaaz team

PS Congratulations to all those who supported our phone and email campaign on Europe's climate and energy package this week -- it was a stunning victory, we won 95% of what we wanted and our sources say we made a big difference. More soon!

Sources:

1. Winning the vote on financial oversight and regulation in the European Parliament with Denmark's Poul Rasmussen:
http://www.pes.org/content/view/1401/1700098

Rasmussen's Parliament speech:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20080922+ITEMS+DOC+XML+V0//EN#creitem19

2. New York Times and NYU economist Paul Krugman on the UK plan and US shift:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/doing-the-right-thing/

"This would essentially be the plan supported by most economists":
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/10/ny-times-recapitalization-plan-being.html

3. 18 leading economists from across the political spectrum and around the world -- "Rescuing our jobs and savings: what G7/G8 leaders can do":
http://voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/2340

----------


ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva.

Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns.

Obama spoofed - before and after debate

McCain's temper

GOLD

Unbelievable, but hilarious

Via DailyKos.com, this story and video:

After the [vice presidential] debate started ... volunteers [were] swarming out of the McCain staff room. These volunteers all wore orange hats and they ran around the media center distributing blue sheets of paper with opposition research on it. Well, usually that's what they had:

For Jason

Because Jason wanted more from the Republican side:

Too awesome

Note to self: never - NEVER - piss off David Letterman.

McCain's Health Care Taxation

Don't vote

One of the craziest things I've ever seen

Have I posted this already?

For Vitaly

One-stop shopping for my friend Vitaly!



It's interesting to see these clips all together, just to compare the changes in her confidence and bravado.

Sarah Palin poetry

"On Good and Evil"

It is obvious to me
Who the good guys are in this one
And who the bad guys are.
The bad guys are the ones
Who say Israel is a stinking corpse,
And should be wiped off
The face of the earth.

That's not a good guy.

More here.

Outrageous

Here's one rape survivor's response.

Update: Sarah Palin had Wasilla buy $24000 SUV for her (while mayor) AT THE SAME TIME her government was charging victims for their own rape kits!

Totally cool website

This site offers Canadians comprehensive, up-to-date riding by riding information on how to defeat Harper and his anti-environment policies.

Honestly, is this SUCH a hard question???

The cost of the war

Excellent video that quickly and clearly lays out the direct and indirect costs of the war to the United States.

Comparing Palin to other U.S. VPs

If this is beating a dead horse (because NO ONE truly believes that Palin is fit to be vice-president of the United States), please forgive me. This video does an awesome job of comparing her experience to all other American veeps - in 12 minutes. Pretty interesting.

I like this sentence: "I reject this simplicitude." But I am a geek.

Wes Clark video on the economy

Wes Clark is the shit. Well worth watching this video:

Man, am I glad ...

... that I don't drink coffee.

Back to Bloggerland

Hey folks! Sorry for the extended absence. I was visiting my family last weekend, and I've been fighting a nasty cold ever since (like many of my relatives, apparently ... I guess we like to share!).

Anyway, not much has been going on here the last few days (other than mouth-breathing and feeling clammy), but hooo boy American politics has been INSANE!

The first thing you absolutely MUST do is watch this portion of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric. Seriously. WATCH IT. WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!!!



This woman makes George Bush look like a member of Mensa. Quite frankly I did not know that that was even possible. And for the life of me, I can't imagine how Couric kept a straight face.

So here's last night's Saturday Night Live skit about this interview:



If a lot of the skit sounds familiar, it's probably because the SNL writers figured that they couldn't make it any more ridiculously funny than the original.

I have lots more thoughts/links to share, but it's been almost a week since I've gone grocery shopping, and I'm starting to worry about the scurvy. Later!

Froth Moonshine Palin

... might be my name if I had happened to be born to VP-wannabe Sarah Palin.

Everyone knows she's had some interesting names for her kids, right? First there was Track, then Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. So now someone's invented a baby name generator so you too can "discover" your Palin name.

Enjoy.

A study in green

DSC_1372
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

Taken yesterday at the Silver Creek Conservation Area.

American politics soup du jour

Some random bits to share with you ...


This actually came out during the Democratic National Convention, which perhaps explains why McCain made such a desperate move by nominating the inexperienced and unqualified Sarah Palin as his running-mate. She certainly has added to the "excitement" of this race, but there are plenty of American women who are downright insulted. My proof? This website. Check it out - it's fantastic. If you happen to be an American woman, I'd encourage you to write in as well!



Folks, McCain has anywhere from a 1 in 6 to a 1 in 3 chance of dying in his first term, should he be elected as President. Palin as his successor would be a combination of the worst traits of George Bush and Dick Cheney:

At BalloonJuice.com, John Cole (a former Republican) writes -

And Sarah Palin is the distilled essence of wingnut. She has it all. She is dishonest. She is a religious nut. She is incurious. She is anti-science. She is inexperienced. She abuses her authority. She hides behind executive privilege. She is a big spender. She works from the gut and places a greater value on instinct than knowledge.

And most dangerous of all, she is supremely self-confident to the point of not recognizing how ill-equipped she is to lead the country. This from last night stood out for me:

Charles Gibson, the interviewer, asked her if she didn’t hesitate and question whether she was experienced enough.

“I didn’t hesitate, no,” she said.

He asked if that didn’t that take some hubris.

“I answered him yes,” Ms. Palin said, “because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”

George Bush in a dress. The Palin interview should be a gut-check for Republicans and conservatives who think the last eight years has been a perversion of conservative principles.

The New York Times -

When Ms. Palin had to cut her first state budget, she avoided the legion of frustrated legislators and mayors. Instead, she huddled with her budget director and her husband, Todd, an oil field worker who is not a state employee, and vetoed millions of dollars of legislative projects ...

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials ...

Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

:

And the lies coming from the Republican ticket! Their audacity is breathtaking!






Oh, and the documented McCain flip-flops too!

But Obama's campaign demonstrates consistently its focus on the REAL issues:




Please, please America - do not mess up yet another election.

I laughed so hard I cried

Why I'm voting Republican (as IF!)

I don't know who wrote these, but I found them here.

I'm voting Republican because being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

I'm voting Republican because Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.

I'm voting Republican because "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.

I'm voting Republican because a woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

I'm voting Republican because Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

I'm voting Republican because the best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

I'm voting Republican because group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.

I'm voting Republican because if condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

I'm voting Republican because a good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

I'm voting Republican because HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.

I'm voting Republican because providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

I'm voting Republican because global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

I'm voting Republican because Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

I'm voting Republican because a president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

I'm voting Republican because Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

I'm voting Republican because the public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

I'm voting Republican because what Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

I'm voting Republican because trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

God save us from these two

This vid rocks

Yet another "entertainer" who makes total sense, refreshingly:

As IF Zen and I needed another reason

... to lust after Matt Damon:



Okay, all kidding aside, doesn't this sound NORMAL? Like the sanest thing you've EVER heard????

Too funny

As someone who regularly writes/posts system maintenance notifications, I found this cute.

Speaking of elections

... have any of my fellow Canadians seen the new election ad for Stephen Harper, which is just him talking about parenthood (rather than any policy)?

It's like ... they're trying ... to make him ... seem human???

Great advice for my American friends

If you are an American looking forward to voting this November, please read this diary on things you can do to prepare.

Poor squirrel

As if any of us needed evidence that baseball is one of the most boring sports ever, regardez:



Seriously, it seems as though the squirrel is far more "entertaining" than the actual game. I say they just replace the stadium with the forest that was likely there originally.

"The Cream of the Republican Party"

The best segment of the Daily Show I can remember. Definitely not for you, Mom!

"Oh God it feels so good to be Republican!" ROTFL

He goosebumpified me

I need to clean up my Firefox tabs

As I've been reading various blogs and articles about the U.S. election, my browser has become increasingly crowded with tab after tab of information I think is helpful/important, so I'm going to slap it all - in no particular order - in this blog posting for future reference.

Obama Adviser Touts His Even Temper

Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, a senior national security adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, said that he has never seen Obama lose his temper, even in situations of "exceptional stress."

By comparison, Obama's GOP rival John McCain is known for "losing it." Danzig said McCain is known for forming an opinion or a decision quickly and then "digs in." McCain's volatile temper is well known to Beltway insiders ...

Danzig traveled with Obama on his recent trip to Europe and the Middle East. At some point in Jerusalem Obama was so tired that he said he could fall asleep on his feet, Danzig recalled. But despite the "extraordinary fatigue… I have never seen Barack Obama lose his temper; I have never seen him lose his balance," Danzig said.

Danzig added that he was also impressed by Obama's ability to listen.

On the claims that Barack Obama has "zero" experience:

Obviously, a legislator IS a leader ...

When Obama stood on the steps of the Illinois State Capitol to announce his candidacy, it wasn't just because the backdrop was nicely evocative of Lincoln. It was because he'd spent seven years inside that building, working hard. That had been followed by a briefer but equally-impressive productivity record as a U.S. senator. The guy gets stuff done.

The Republican strategy is, of course, to attack the opponent's strengths, not weaknesses. It's taking shape around the Big Lie that Palin mouthed: Obama's all talk, no action ...

820 is the number of laws Obama sponsored in the Illinois State Senate.

427 is the current count of the number of bills Obama has co-sponsored in the U.S. Senate.

And the final number, 152, is the most recent tally of the number of bills that Senator Obama has authored. You can see his current legislative record here. Three of them, including S. 3558 ("A bill to provide for enhanced food-borne illness surveillance and food safety capacity") were moved upon just last week.

On the claims that Republicans are fiscally responsible:

Finally, isn't this photo adorable? To me it speaks to the sweet nature that seems intact in the fully-grown man:

Too. Much. FUN!!!!

Makes me grin! :)

He makes me want to be a better person

This man has a unique gift to communicate truths about how the world can and should be.

Brilliant

This is so funny that I laughed out loud and snorted more than once.

The sad fact is it's based on what Sarah Palin herself claims happened when her youngest child was born.

This just makes me feel sorry for her

I love it!

My dog is more qualified to be Vice President than Sarah Palin

Understanding "Troopergate"

Josh Marshall summarizes several weeks of research into one of Sarah Palin's scandals in her home state of Alaska. I fully recommend reading the entire article, but the summary of the summary is as follows:

We rely on elected officials not to use the power of their office to pursue personal agendas or vendettas. It's called an abuse of power. There is ample evidence that Palin used her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. When his boss refused to fire him, she fired his boss. She first denied Monegan's claims of pressure to fire Wooten and then had to amend her story when evidence proved otherwise. The available evidence now suggests that she 1) tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, something that was clearly inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, though possibly understandable in human terms, 2) fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative, 3) lied to the public about what happened and 4) continues to lie about what happened.

These are, to put it mildly, not the traits or temperament you want in someone who could hold the executive power of the federal government.

John Kerry tells it like it is

Kerry discusses John McCain's selection of the woefully inexperienced Sarah Palin as his running mate, and questions McCain's judgment in this choice as well as many of his other flawed policies.

As Zen has said in a previous post, where was THIS John Kerry four years ago??? Ah well, I'm glad to see him now anyway ...

Absolutely ridiculous

What the ...????

A gift for the Democrats

If you somehow cannot see this as the perfect demonstration of McCain's total lack of judgment, I don't know what might convince you:

Incredible

Didn't see Obama's speech tonight? Then sit your fanny down and watch it now. Seriously.

Fantastic speech by John Kerry last night

So Awesome

Beautiful.

Very cool ...

Give this guy a few minutes. It's a great speech, but needs time to build.

I'm seriously jealous ...

... of those at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week.

Here's one reason why:

Wow, she's amazing

Still proudly looking on

43
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

Cheeky

So who's this Joe Biden guy?

A little look:






Ooh, and I like this smackdown:



It makes me laugh each time I watch it.


This is very cool, especially the very last part:



So Obama's VP pick isn't Wesley Clark ... but after a little research this morning, I'd have to say this pick is pretty darned good too! :)

Making a point on Fox "News"

Brilliant:



Read here how it all went down.

Fireworks at the Toronto Harbourfront

DSC_0930
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

Again, taken a few weeks ago from Jenn's rooftop.

Traffic in Toronto's downtown - night

DSC_0899
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

Taken a few weeks ago, with about a 10 second exposure.

Read, let it sink in, then CHOOSE

A very good friend forwarded this e-mail story to me, and I wanted to share:

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.'

‘Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point t out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.’

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Want to see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.

He continued, '... the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything. “Yes,” I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, “Gravity”.'

‘Over their laughter, I told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Summer night in Toronto

DSC_0885
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

Taken a few weeks ago from Jenn's rooftop. Colours are as taken by my camera.

Worth watching

Introducing Andre Brunet and Martine Billette

I saw this couple perform their traditional Quebecois music last year at the Celtic festival, and they really are the reason why I returned this year. Over the last year, Brunet's CD (with guitarist Eric Beaudry) was one of my favourites - relentlessly cheerful, energetic, and with equal dollops of innocence and mischevousness. Andre Brunet has the sweetest onstage presence of any performer I've ever seen; it is very clear that his passion is this music and sharing it with others.

Again, it might not be for everyone, but I hope you enjoy it.



I don't think you can buy any of their music online, but if you're interested, let me know and I'll send you the mailing address and phone number from their latest CD.

Horrible

A 34-year-old man, a husband and father of two small children died in jail this past week. He had suffered terribly from cancer and a broken back for months, but was denied medical treatment and diagnosis until days before the end. (Apparently his captors felt he was "faking it", even though he'd been emaciated and shrunken by his disease and unable to walk or stand.) He was in jail because he'd overstayed a visa years before. Before he died, his family was finally able to visit him, but only under armed guard.

Where was this? Cambodia? North Korea? Columbia? Some other shithole country? Nope, the U.S.A.

I hope every single sadistic son of a bitch involved in this tragic story loses his job and faces serious jail time of his own. It still won't be enough.

She dreams in kittens too

Okay, got an interesting comment from a reader on something I'd posted many moons ago. Basically, the post was about my recurring dreams of kittens. Bryn responds:

ok was googleing kitten dreams because i too dream of kittens, at least 3 times a week, sometimes every other night. and i am always worried about the kittens being too thin, getting enough to eat, getting crushed, etc. they are alternatly stressful but also can be sweet because i love kittens and cats. can anyone tell me what this means. every dream dictionary seems to tell me deceptions await, but i am not sure if that applies to my specific dream. any help would be greatly appreciated. Bryn

Seeing as I've never pretended to be a psychologist or dream expert, I'm not sure why Bryn would take anything I have to take seriously, but let's pretend that I am a dream expert for a moment (I do dream every night, after all), and I will give my take on this dream.

While I'm sure that there are things such as prophetic dreams, I've never had one, and perhaps this biases my interpretation of this dream. For me personally, I've often found that my dreams are a symbolic way in which my unconscious attempts to talk to my conscious self about stuff that it finds important.

For example, my friend Sophie once had a dream that she was in a room somewhere and these cockroaches kept coming out of the walls. She'd kill one and then there'd be another, and another. I suggested to her that this was a symbolic view of her life at the time - one problem after another. "Oh my God, that's true!!!" she said. (See? I'm an expert!)

So, Bryn, I think your dream is telling you that you are a very caring person who is very worried about others, perhaps people for whom you feel great fondness. This is causing you a certain amount of distress, and your unconscious was just playing that back to you. Maybe it's even telling you that you need to find better, healthier ways to deal with this worry and stress.

Anyone else want to share their interpretation? :) Or another dream for interpretation by the Great Eclecta??? :-P

A bad song in my head

When I was a kid, we used to watch the TV show "Hee Haw". (I know, I know, but it's too late to call the CAS on my parents ... LOL).

And this morning, the song in my head?

Where, where are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over and thought I'd found true love
You met another and plbbbttttt you were gone!

Obviously I haven't yet recovered from the trauma of watching that show ...

Introducing Emily Smith

This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Emily Smith is an artist I saw for the first time at last weekend's Celtic Festival, and I bought her album on the spot on the basis of just hearing the haunting song "Old Mortality". I'm really enjoying the whole CD, so I thought I'd offer some of her sounds:



And here she is with Jamie McLennan ... a fun piece by two very talented musicians:

To my dear American friends

You have a choice, an opportunity in November. Your options are really pretty clear. Please do not fuck this up.

Best Twitter update I've read so far

... is from Linda, of course:

Am fervently hoping Obama has a spotless record of marriage fidelity. KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS! KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS!

Amen.

Mini updates are to the right

So. I've joined the Twitter bandwagon. And I like it! I'm able to update this blog (see section to the right) and my Facebook status at the same time. And it's fun. You don't have to follow along if you find it insipid or pointless, feel free to ignore it, but just in case, I thought I'd point it out to all y'all ... :)

One more funny video

This one courtesy of Kevin:



(Though I have to pity the kid in the last spot - he's going to grow up as the kid who was in the sex toy commercial. LOL)

OMG so funny

One of the funniest segments on the Daily Show I've ever seen ... Unbelievably stupid people, but kudos to Jon Stewart!!!! :)

Cool video, rather black humour

Not for you, Mom ... sorry!

I'm totally surprised ...

... but it's actually kind of clever!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Do you think it's really Paris Hilton??? LOL

Yes, yes, YES!

Out of the ball park ... :)

Naked ambition: Olympic athletes

Cool photos! Great lighting.