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We had some neighbors over for dinner last night. Nothing fancy -- some snacks, a little salad and some pizza. They have kids, one of whom is The Peanut's age. After I got the dogs to (mostly) stop barking, we settled the kids in with a movie while we adults talked about life and politics and the craziness of it all right now.
It struck me how we all have so many of the same fears and concerns about so many of the same issues -- especially parents these days worrying about how things will be for their kids. Not just our company, but all of us here, too, in varying ways.
Maybe that always sticks out for me now that I'm a mom. But it's been nagging at me more of late as I watch The Peanut learn and grow, and become more of her own person...a little more independent every day.
I wonder who she will be as she matures. But, more than that lately, what opportunities she will or won't have based on decisions made for her future by others. Today and in the days ahead.
It's not new. I'm sure other folks think this about their own kids or relatives, or even about their own lives growing up. I know I did.
But that youthful hope of making the world a better place has faded to a worry that we won't be able to get things back to the "needs improvement" point. We are so far below the starting line that I'm not certain I see it any longer.
Maybe it's the melancholy of Fall. The crisp air this morning, coupled with the leaves turning and falling, leaving behind them bare branches and frigid chill to come. I'm feeling my age, and how few days there can be in any one lifetime to make things better for those who follow.
Tell me something cheery this morning. Share a moment of gratitude. Or a laugh. Something kind or caring. Give me some hope. Pull up a chair...
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I, too, need hope right now more than I know how to say.
I can’t do cheery, so let me just say I’ve been missing all of you.
(((Barbara and David))). You have been in my thoughts and prayers.
Morning, Christy, Barb. Grateful that it’s Saturday and PUAC. Too damned cold here this morning for Early Morning Swim.
The following came forwarded to me the other day and lifted my spirits:
There is a God in the Post Office. This is one of the kindest
things I’ve ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but
there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US
postal service.
Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she
died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talk ing about how
much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so
that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that
I thought we could so she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and
is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me
have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls
and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will
know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith.
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and
Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on
it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the e nvelope
because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the
way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the
post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter
yet. I told her that I thought He had.
Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our
front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith, ‘in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith
opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’
Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in
its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey
&Meredith and this note:
Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help.. I recognized Abbey right
away.
Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like
it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need
our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in,
so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and
have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for
helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you
have. I picked her especially for you.
I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you
very much.
By the way, I’m easy to find, I am wherever there is love.
Love, God
Hugs and Hugs to you barbara, and David.
These are the times to enjoy the really little things, grab each loving moment you can.
Good morning, Christie & Firepups. George Bush has crapped on our nation as he leaves it. Once there was a time when ’stealing the ‘Ws’ off the computer keyboard was considered traitorous, but today? Trillions missing from America’s coffers, two war fronts (one is illegal), and a White House who is NOT in prison. That said, I say we stare at the following picture until a smile appears on our faces:
http://i244.photobucket.com/al.....hiteSt.jpg
We’re going to survive and we’re going to color our brains out too! ;-)
This morning as I was reading news I came across this youtube someone left in the comments section of an article I read. It gave me hope and I literally cried. Here is the link.>www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50
Morning, Christy. Morning Barbara(a big hug for David). OK..so what do I have I got this morning? Well, my son drive home from college in New Jersey last night, so we have him for a whirlwind day of laundry, cooking, baking and errand running before he disappears tomorrow morning in a flurry of clean clothes, etc. And when he walked into the house, I was in the middle of making dinner and he put his arms around me, gave me a big smoochy kiss and said, “it’s great to be home.” I’ll take what I can get.
OT Saturday Mpls Star Tribune Yippeeeee!
“DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken has moved into his first solid lead — 43 to 34 percent — over incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll. Updated 11:59 PM “
I guess this is why I have been so disappointed by the constant railing here against Obama over the vote this week. I have written the story of my coal miner grandfather here more than once so I won’t bother again. Maybe a constant “critical” analysis of the world gives people meaning in life but I hope folks do find things in their lives that bring them joy. For me it’s my bride, family, friends and these stinky little pups that make it all worthwhile.
Here’s a Campaign Poster good for a smile
Happy news is hardly OT
I haven’t seen the story of your grandfather, Raven, and I’d like to. Could you provide a link to it?
What a beautiful story and thank you so much for sharing.
Okay, I’m balling now. Thanks Lambchops. LOL Excellent speech. Wow.
That’s a good speech.
This is what every person, working or retired, blue or white collar, needs to hear again and again. Great speech.
Short version. Shortly after my grandmother died in 1972 we were driving somewhere on the freeways in LA. I had been home from Nam for three years and the war was still raging despite all the efforts of the anti-war movement. He asked me what I thought of the world and I went off with a anti-capitalist, anti-materialist, and basically anti-American rant (sound familiar?) Without being judgmental he talked about his 35 years in the mines (where his father was killed when a cable snapped and basically cut him in half) in Southern Illinois, two world wars, and a depression. His contention was, that while there were many very real problems in the world there was also plenty of joy and beauty.
Gratitude? Oh, yeah, baby. For the kindness I find here, for hospital staff, newly engaged hospice workers that we will meet this week, friends, family. I am rediscovering that in this world of snark and snarl and snipe, most people are essentially decent and want to help. We really are all in this together, start to finish. Thank goodness we opted for absentee balloting! Obama, please and thank you. And a local poll shows Al Franken moving well ahead of Norm Colemeleon. Booyah! Keep kicking ass, FDLers. I’ll be checking your progress when I can! *g*
Maybe it’s the melancholy of Fall. The crisp air this morning, coupled with the leaves turning and falling, leaving behind them bare branches and frigid chill to come. I’m feeling my age, and how few days there can be in any one lifetime to make things better for those who follow.
——————-
way too many nay sayers here….let us try to getget behind Michelle ,and Barraks message of hope and change….he has kids Peanuts age (relatively)…It is because of him,and THEM i started to support him…LETS HELP HIM,bring some of the changes we want…..Biden also is a very decent man….so
LETS GODEMS…08
nice
oops owe you a fizzy…i feel the very sme way…it is VERY disconcerting to me,to have him torn apart here
(((Barbara and David, all your loved ones)))
My family is in a big transition too. My father will be leaving the earth soon. He says, “I don’t know how to die. I’ve never done it before.”
I am thinking of the changes ahead for all of us in our country. Not just the money, but the water, the animals, and our “way of life.”
Yet, I remain optimistic in the short run.
Love to all today.
Christy,
Morning to a mom.
My prayer for the Peanut would be a peaceable spirit in this ruthless world.
Think about the fact that our two vice presidential candidates both have raised their children to embrace military action against people who have endured so much of our shock and awe. This war has been unconstitutional from day one and these two are going to defend and protect that sacred document?
What other country bombs minority populations on daily basis?
The reason for our anxiety is the unacknowledged monetary support of random murder on a scale beyond any thing we see in our country.
The truth is we waste so much creation on destruction that it threatens creation itself. Between defense and homeland security we squander over $700 billion a year. Are we still willing to murder our way out of this mess?
Teach your children well ,indeed.
Wow, thanks so much for that.
Even though it is getting cold from the early fall it is absolutely beautiful here (NH) with the leaves turning. Campaigning today and then making doughnuts… what better way to spend a fall Saturday.
jomael@10 Great news about Franken. I can only hope the mood of the country turns solidly Dem after the Golden Parachute this week. My absolutely wonderful Congressperson, Carol Shea-Porter, voted NO to the damn thing both times.
Good Morning, This “cheery” has given me great smiles. I heard this morning from a very old, longtime friend. Formed by Goldwater, anti-
Social Security, etc. So I wondered what she thought of Palin. Her answer: She’s a “yellow dog Democrat; of course, Palin is not ready to be VP or Pres.” Halleluyah. That only took about 40 years. Off to be very cheerful.
thank you…some people do not realize the power of their words to depress the people working for change…we should all HANG TOGETHER,or we shall surely hang apart…”g”
McGiggollo/[edited by MOD] are two very vicious people…she in my opine is an UNFIT MOTHER
Well, it’s really only a couple of people and they’ll cop to the “our only chance to hold his feet to the fire” rap. I am sure these lengthy economic dissertations are valuable but I’m thinking maybe I need to just pass em by.
another VERY DECENT MAN!!! hooray
me too….i tradeed stocks for 8 years…its RIGGED its ALWAYS been rigged….we must press for pensions,unions,and universal HEALTHCARE…let the BIG PLAYERS like John McCain,and Paulson,and Buffet …have their rigged CASINO….but make them PAY TAXES
Good Morning all. Fall is one of my favorite times. Yes, the green of summer is leaving and the warm sun is getting scarce but it is also the time of harvest and preparation for the next turn of seasons. The hard work of summer is over and it is time to collect the rewards of summer and prepare for the winter. One of my favorite memories of fall in the West Virginia mountains where I grew up is the making of apple butter. To get you in the spirit of the season here is a short passage from the Genesse Farmer of 1839 which gives a lovely account of a rural farmstead during the fall when the apples are at their peak.
The host should in the autumn invite his neighbors, particularly the young men and maidens, to make up an apple butter party. Being assembled, let three bushels of fair sweet apples be pared, quartered and the cores removed. Meanwhile, let two barrels of new cider be boiled down to one half. When this is done, commit the prepared apples to the cider, and henceforth let the boiling go on briskly and systematically. But to accomplish the main design. the party must take turns at stirring the contents without cessation, that they do not become attached to the side of the kettle and be burned. Let this stirring go on till the liquid becomes concrete-in other words, till the amalgamated cider and apples become as thick as hasty pudding.
Christy -
Gotch’r hope rite c’here:
There IS. NOT. a bat’s prayer in hell or heaven that the Peanut will grow up to be a sarah palin airhead!
“You betcha!”
*G*
the beauty of nature, gardening, cats, kids come to mind. (not in that order)
thinking of you and david.
AND…OJ…convicted of a major crime 13 years to the day,of his MURDER AQUITTAL….JUSTICE MOVES SLOWLY…we must keep on keeping on!
And questionable issues about Palin’s tax returns….O good.
wonderful
Thanks,
I needed that story.
Those random acts of kindness get me misty every time.
Bluetooth
Yesterday I heard my son recite the alphabet for the first time. I was in the kitchen making some coffee, and he was at the table drawing and he just started singing the alphabet song. He even said the proper Canadian “zed” at the end, instead of the American “zee”. I was so proud of him.
Im off to breakfast with a lovely elderly woman who just got divorced,Ive helped her through her sorrows,and now she will take me to her sons NEW GYM….WATCH OUT WORLD….i will soon have muscles!!!…bye for now…keep smiling and ATTACKING the evils out there……..”G”
“till the liquid becomes concrete” — I know what the writer in 1939 meant, but that just struck me very funny.
I have remained upbeat since I lot my job last Friday, and will continue to do so. The prospects are decent,and I have a decent commission to get me through the next few months.
Fall is my favorite time of year…playoff baseball, college football, the early morning chill in the air, the smell of fall. Halloween, the pumpkin patch. I’m going to smoke some ribs today, drink some beer, watch the Wolverines and revel in it. What could be better than that?
Bah hahahahahahaha! Love it Elliott. Thanks for posting it. ;-)
GO Illini!
There is still some hope that Harper won’t form a majority govt. That’s something to grab on to.
Good morning Christy and pups. I’m off to the market, I’ll get some apples, and make the whole house smell like jelly, should be wonderful.
I love Fall. When I was a boy, we used to burn our leaves in a big pile in the street. The sweet aroma would hang in the air for days, and whenever I smell it, I am carried back.
Out my window at the office, the leaves are changing, from the vibrant green of summer to a paler shade, tinged with light brown, a warm color to go with the cooler air.
“Put Down The Duckie”
Watch this and not smile ~ I dare you :-)
Keep the faith Firedoglake people … sometimes it’s all we’ve got, and it’s nice to know this place is still here when I need to restore mine.
I find hope in the growing number of urban food systems and city gardens.
People are looking for alternatives to the current models and creating their own when nothing fits there needs.
It may because I live in Texas, where the fall, the end of the long hot summer, always seemed like the beginning of a new year to me. School started; the sky was bluer and clearer; light and shadow were more dramatically different; school and football season started again. I can remember my whole family going outside and cheering when the first cool front blew in and we heard leaves blowing down the street. I still feel that way about the fall.
This election gives us a chance to start to rebuild this country with new green industries which provide permanent employment opportunities for our children and grandchildren. We have a chance to put an end to race as a serious factor in national elections and have seriously dented gender as such a factor. We can reestablish this country as the great example, rather than the great exception.
A story of a small act that made my day yesterday.
I had taken my prodigal son for a quick lunch out. He’s recovering from being homeless for a several months and has a ton of catching up to do with the courts. It’s all traffic related stuff, but stuff he has failed to take responsibility for..ie. tickets gone to warrant which happen to total a couple grand. Also, he was asked to surrender his DL and his car was impounded, so to say he is “bumming” covers it well.
When another customer was leaving, I noticed his t-shirt which said Hungry and Homeless and Hardcore. Hungry Jimmy. I remarked how much I liked his shirt and he thanked me. A few minutes later he was back at our booth and handed us each a t-shirt. Said he does PR for a wrestler who uses that logo and keeps several in his truck to give to people.
Now, this is not a save the planet story, but my son was amazingly impressed. Said that this made him realize that there are nice and good people out there and that we should each pay that gesture forward.
A little hope is sometimes enough to make it through another day.
(Peace to Barbara and David today.)
This bailout bill has made my contract more secure for the near future. I’m not a billionaire, I’m main street who happens to work for a mortgage company that didn’t get involved in the subprime mess with their own lending practices.
The fallout from others who did has had a dramatic impact on the business however. I don’t think this bill was perfect, however in another month we will have a new president and larger majority in both houses. To me that’s progress.
Isn’t TX fall wonderful? Yes, the beginning of school and the end of punishing heat, even as I love that, too. Enjoy the day. (I saw a headline that Palin has good TX support….will have to go back and read the piece.;)
Oops…..no sorry ~ wrong link. *These* time call for the FULL therapeutic version:
Put Down the Duckie (with everybody)
All my high school girlfriends are coming over tonight for some eats, drinks, & 80’s Trivial Pursuit. LOL Can’t wait! Our friend Annie, who now lives in Alabama, is coming tonight too and we all just found out she’s pregnant for the first time in her life at the age of 41! We are so excited for her. I bought her a gallon of yummy Maine apple cider for her to take back to her mother’s tonight. She’s been missing & craving the cider up here. We will be laughing all night, but we will not be forgetting how much our country is suffering right now. I’ll be asking the girls if they could spare $5 or more for heating fuel to give to the extreme poor in my area ;-)
If you would like to help the poor in Androscoggin & Oxford County stay warm this winter, you can send a $5 or more tax-deductible donation to:
Community Concepts
Attn: Corporate Advancement Dept.
79 Main Street
Auburn, Maine 04210
or you can make a donation online at:
http://www.community-concepts.org
Thank you!
And if you want to put, “In care of Kay of White Noise Insanity”, that would be cool. It will make those damn community organizers scratch their heads! We need to keep them on their toes. LOL
Good Morning.
I was at the bar last night with my Republican, talk-radio listening colleague. He said the GOP had f*cked up and he wasn’t supporting them.
That made me smile. I hope it makes you all smile too.
I’m thrilled PeteCO!
We have 3 sons ranging in age from mid 20’s to early 30’s who have the “live & let live” attitude toward others. Our friend’s grown children are the same. It’s not even accurate to call it tolerance in respect to gay marriage, race, civil rights or any of those hot button topics that get ultra conservatives all riled up. Those conservative issues are non-issues to them.
There are plenty of ignorant, intolerant people in the small town/rural area our kids & our friend’s kids grew up in but all of them seem to have grown up to be informed, rational adults. I can’t help but feel optimistic when I am with that younger generation & believe that no matter how hard the extreme right try to push a flat earth mentality on americans, it is just not going to fly.
This thought is much too long to shoehorn into a comment, but I just woke up with the realization that the “Wall Street vs. Main Street” dichotomy that we heard once again in the VP debate is outmoded, because there is very little left of “Main Street”. What commercial activity there used to be along Main Street has moved outside town to the ‘roadside commercial zoning’ area, and whereas only 20 or 30 years ago, certainly 50 years ago, we would have known people who ran a store, now we would be hard-pressed to find an independent store-owner.
Nowadays, we do not even know who owns the franchise stores, but they have almost certainly put out of business the small stores that used to be locally owned. Your local hardware stores were crushed by the regional chain, which in turn was crushed by Home Depot, which is being squashed by Lowe’s.
There is no restraint when building these stores that destroy Main Street: every square inch of land must be used, and solely for the sake of competition, not for any improvement in goods or services.
A fine example of the destruction of Main Street and the land around the town in this manner is provided by Wasilla, Alaska, I hear.
Little sold in the stores outside of town is made locally; it is all shipped in, and not from other parts of the U.S., either. Most of it is “CCC”, “Cheap Chinese Crap”, guaranteed not to work or last more than a few months.
There is supposed to be something terrible about “redistribution of wealth”: “We are against it,” say the Republicans. Yet, they are responsible for the greatest redistribution of wealth in this country’s history.
There are people who make 1000 times as much a year as I do. They are not common, but they are do exist, and if there are 1000 people like me for every one of them, then if we all are taxed at the same rate it is 1000 times more important make sure that they pay their taxes than it is to see that I pay mine, from the point of view of revenue collected. If we decide that we would like to see our government be able to do some new task, it is going to be a lot more productive to see that the high income brackets pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes. And if it should seem that people with low income cannot pay more to the government without making the overall situation worse, then they might pay a higher fraction of their outsized income than the “middle” class.
And on and on.
If you’re in need of an uplifting read (gotta get off the political books for a while), I highly recommend the story of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. Just as one person can help change the direction of the world, so can one small (but large-hearted) animal.
Thanks Raven. That perspective helps today.
Christy, your dinner party last night reminds me of my life 20yrs ago. I have 3 children, my friend has 4. When they were young, we both gave up our jobs to stay home. This was in the 80’s when inflation was making things tough and our husbands were just starting out. There was no money, and very little going-out. So what evolved was Friday night pizza parties at one of our homes. The hostess made the salad and bought the pizza. The guest brought dessert. Our husbands worked together in sales. When they would get their commission check (if it was big enough) we would ’splurge’ and get chicken wings as a special treat (lol). Then, if there was no money or available babysitter for Saturday night, at least we had one night out. This went on for years even when we could afford to do more.
I’m sure she does. There was a spot on a Dallas TV station about her being there yesterday for a fundraiser. There were a few supporters and protestors lining the street around the hotel. I’m truly embarrassed about what Texas has “contributed” to the nation for the last several decades. I think a lot see world affairs as an extension of high school football. Ah well, there went my mood.
To get it back again, I can think about my visit to my son and his family in Colorado last week. My wife and I drove up HWY 24, to Eagle. I had never seen the Aspens changing before. I thought some of the Santa Fe artists school of painters exaggerated the intensity of yellows and golds. They don’t.
Check out this idiot in Maine…
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/033620.html
He pulled over a Federal Agent using a fake blue strobe light on his truck! Bah hahahahahahahaha! I love it when the assholes of our nation do crap like this. Makes me smile.
Mornin All,
Autumn Leaves - Paula Cole
(((barbara and David)))
Someone said at DKos that Obama said he would alter the bailout bill when he becomes pres. Is that true? I’ve stopped reading Ian. Head in the sand, I know, but I just couldn’t take it.
I’m with you there, Solai — Ian is brilliant, absolute genius - but every time I read something about the bailout recently(esp the most recent one), the message I got was “We’re all screwed; just shoot ourselves and be done with it.” I’m afraid I’m just shallow enough to enjoy stuff like this that comes in the email:
“For all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make some BIG bucks.
Watch for these consolidations later this year:
1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W R. Grace Co. Will merge and become:
Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.
2.) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become:
Poly, Warner Cracker.
3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become:
MMMGood.
4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and be come:
ZipAudiDoDa .
Barbara, saw your comments up top, and before reading the rest of the thread, wanted you to know that you have a powerfully caring friendship family here. You are in our hearts as well as our thoughts.
Wolcott weighs in on Stroker Ace -
(solai) - i don’t know if it is true that obama said that. but regardless of his intentions, there will mostly likely still be a senate capable of filibustering anything that wall street doesn’t like.
*snicker*
*snort*
Oh, to hell with it! LMAO
A lot of my colleagues who were default Republicans have gone a bit quiet lately. My tack is to say that I’m not trying to tell anyone how to vote. Just look at the candidates & issues and do a little research. Base your decision on evidence, not hearsay. I get the sense that some people are taking this more seriously.
Obviously this is anecdotal, but if this is a pattern, it’s important. These people live in Douglas, Jefferson, and Weld counties, the exurban ring around Denver. They were in the tank for Bush last time round, and are traditionally high turn out.
I guess we’ll find out soon.
Toby - 71’s for you.
POX on “reply”…….and my non-existent memory!
I’m thankful for Ian.
My son is a Finance major.
Here’s an email I wrote to him on September 16th.
Honey,
Remember the guy you caddied for who told you that his job was like stealing money from people legally?
The Bush administration allowed this to happen - virtually no regulation.
Regular people have lost more value than you can imagine. It was stolen - legally, but not morally - because this administration set it up to happen.
It was done by Finance people.
Please learn everything you can.
Please learn to live with less and live with honor.
Your country is going to need someone honorable like you to work with money that is not your own.
I love you,
Mom
—————–
That’s all I got for you this morning. I’m working on controlling my anxiety so I don’t spread it to the kids I work with.
Yes, this whole idea of accountability is vastly overrated. We should be able to ridicule the rightwing for their fact-free approach to politics and candidates while reserving the right to do the same thing ourselves.
Thank you. Lost our Marley last Monday and this has been a melancholy week. I’m going to borrow a bit of Abbey’s reply letter to boost my own spirits.
Every time I ride by a nearby house I have to laugh. There’s been a “For Sale” sign there for months, but they recently added another sign: McCain. Now that’s a great way of turning off half the potential buyers, just what is needed in a moribund market.
thanks, that helps me understand. been hard for me, because the message i get from ian’s threads is in many ways the most hopeful one - that we will not turn away into denial, that we will face and fight what is being done.
(Toby)
wish there was a way for us all to find what we need to not give up.
Hello FDL. While I still can’t see Alaska from my (Canadian) house, I can discern the outline of an Obama presidency, and for all the immense difficulties the man will face, the prospect of him winning comforts me. (I imagine it comforts much of the world, actually.)
Incidently, that Senator Biden of yours is an impressive chap.
A “must read” that might help shed light on economic “choices” we make and how to help government make saner, better ones:
Gordon Bigelow, from Let there be markets: the evangelical roots of economics [emph. added].
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/05/0080538
heh..I thought so..that was my response completely….
Interesting last night to hear Christiane Amanpour’s comments on Maher’s show about how badly the “bailout” was needed. ’twas a great show last night. Shandling, and Alex Baldwin, plus Bob Woodward.
Bob Woodward was so burstin’ his guts to make note that Bush’s idea of an Iran strategy was to call them assholes. And I think there’s more than we know of the Village that are contemptuous of the brush-cutter who is already so obviously out-the-door.
Gee-Dubya….soon gone. That’s hope to be realized.
A termite walks into a bar. No one is behind the bar to help him. He asks a fellow patron, “Where’s the bartender?”
“Tell me something cheery this morning. Share a moment of gratitude. Or a laugh. Something kind or caring. Give me some hope. Pull up a chair.”
Okay,Christy. I’m 69 and have shared your same concerns over the years. I have three “peanuts,” one son now 31, another 28, and the youngest, a daughter, who’s 14. I find myself filled with a mixture of anger and optimism, and enormous energy about the possibilities for the future. I’ve experienced numerous wars in my lifetime, several heartbreaking assassinations, and numerous liberation movements that have propelled me into the streets and into verbal battles with political opponents. I’ve reinvented myself several times and am on my third professional career.
I see life as a canvas. Living is a creative and joyful opportunity to put colors and shapes and lines and dimensions on that surface. No matter how bad or worrisome it has been at times in the past, the best thing we can give our children is a personal history. From all I’ve seen, you’re doing it right. Take heart. We’ll be fine. Just don’t lose hope. Or the energy to be involved.
Okay. Enough. Sorry.
I read and respect what you and others critical of Obama have to say. I particularly respect your analytical skills and would consult with similar very diligent and intelligent friends while selecting a brain surgeon. However, after I chose the surgeon, I would make sure they weren’t let into the operating room.
I don’t mean this in any unfriendly way at all. It is just an effort to explain the point of view of those who think there is a time for everything.
OT but hilarious
http://www.scholarsandrogues.c.....low-chart/
The world is watching. I’m talking to a friend on Facebook right now who is watching a recording of the Biden/Palin “debate”. He’s in London.
oh (((Prairie)))
was just watching last night’s New Rules and wondering about Ammanpour - we have to remember she and her husband James Rubell orbit the Clinton gravity field - probably has lots to do with the “badly needed” comments
I don’t think it’s autumn melancholy, Christy. It seems like realism to me and it’s deeply discouraging to infuriating.
((Barbara and David))
My Mom and Dad are here for their last visit to WI (from CA)–Mom has Alzheimers and her decline has been very fast. So, it’s heartbreaking, but not surprising.
But it’s a gorgeous Fall day so we’re going for a drive in countryside. The colors are just starting to turn and there’s definitely a chill. We’ll probably stop and get some funny-shaped pumpkins for my little cousins and watch them giggle when we give them to them tomorrow night, so that will be an instant of joy that cannot be purchased at any price.
We will have a new way forward in this country in the coming months. No person is perfect. Again: no person is perfect. I fear our expectations, after the last eight years, are so unrealistic, that we are setting ourselves up for disappointment, no matter what is done. I won’t go there. But then, I’m a realist.
um
Ahh, something hopeful…
Good morning, folks.
One of my favorite discoveries in my Cardiofeedback research was finding out that the harmonic waves, produced by the heart’s electromagnetic field, actually dance to music. If the music you’re listening to changes tempo, these harmonic waves automatically adjust and dance along.
Let’s say that you’re riding in a car listening to a music station on the radio. There may be thousands of people listening to the same song and all of their hearts are dancing in unison with yours.
So, when I perform in the subway, I am manipulating the heart waves of everyone who isn’t listening to music through their headphones. I find that pretty profound. My training in Cardiofeedback is also teaching me how to manipulate my own heart waves, and I’ve found that this has greatly increased my ability establish empathic connections with the folks who are listening to my music.
Getting hearts to learn to consciously dance in unison will bring about amazing changes in the human condition when Cardiofeedback is brought to its full potential. I’m thrilled to be ahead of the cutting edge on this.
Upon visiting “The Wall” in Israel I spoke to a relegious man as he ended his prayers. I asked him what he got out of these daily trips to pray at the wall. He said that he almost always comes away with the peace he was looking for and then he said something else. He said, “and sometimes it’s like talking to a wall”. He then smiled and walked away and I had the feeling that today he felt his prayres answered.
Pardon me….religious.
There is indeed a time and place for everything, but there always seems to be a place for double standards in politics, regardless of party. If our ideas are to have any legitimacy, then we need to apply a single fair-minded standard to all sides
bom dia pups
(((barbara & david))) - sending you peace, healing and love
A quote from MLK Jr that is seared in my heart:
Chris Matthews
yep, it was that kind of week, where we were counting on Issa and all the other Cheney Youth and Tweety of all people goes succinct X~o
I’m so grateful to Christy for hosting PUAC every Saturday morning. I know a lot of us look forward to a nice respite from the downers of the week.
And, it’s especially nice when she specifically asks for stories of hope and cheer.
For anyone here who doesn’t think they have their own personal upbeat story to share, may I suggest you can always go to Youtube and type any words like Hope, Kindness, Cheer and you’ll get to listen to something inspiring. And, if you like you, can share a link here.
Do what you want, I do.
Thanks for the article.
Some first rate grad students of Economics noticed a problem:
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But in reality even our purely “economic” choices are not made on the basis of pure autonomous selfhood; all of our choices are born out of layers of experience in contact with other people. What is entirely missing from the economic view of modern life is an understanding of the social world.
This was precisely the diagnosis made five years ago by a group of French graduate students in economics, who published their dissent in an open letter that soon made minor headlines around the world. In the letter the students declared that the economic theory taught in their courses was hopelessly out of touch, absorbed in its own private model of reality. They wrote:
We wish to escape from imaginary worlds! Most of us have chosen to study economics so as to acquire a deep understanding of the economic phenomena with which the citizens of today are confronted. But the teaching that is offered . . . does not generally answer this expectation. . . . [T]his gap in the teaching, this disregard for concrete realities, poses an enormous problem for those who would like to render themselves useful to economic and social actors.
The discipline of economics was ill, the letter claimed, pathologically distant from the problems of real markets and real people.
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This writer contends that today’s economic model is based on an evangelical world view. What is with evangelicals and train wrecks?
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/05/0080538
It would help, then, if each critique began or