The Past Week: January 4-January 10, 2009 (Donor Fatigue among Obamacrats; Wes Clark; Ms. Magazine–Total Sellout; Tess; Street Numbers Man; “Grounding” with Harvesting; Betta Fish Drama)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

It’s  just over a week before the Obama juggernaut is officially in office. I’m trying to put it out of my mind. Every morning my mother comes into the kitchen fresh from listening to the radio. She’s armed with the latest news.  I usually know about it, but the little report from my “mother-who-doesn’t-like-Bush-anymore-but-still-defends-him” always manages to get me bugged. And no matter how many times I tell her I don’t want to hear it, I wind up hearing it because she thinks it’s a delightful game to taunt me about the demise of the Democratic Party…the REAL Democratic Party.

***

Chicago Correspondent Leslie sent this along…the SHOCKING NEWS that Obama has actually sent out an email message WITHOUT asking for money!

The LA Times “Top of the Ticket” blog snarks:

Breaking: Obama sends national e-mail with NO plea for money!

This is no Friday joke.

Word has just been received at The Ticket that President-elect Barack Obama sent out an actual e-mail today without asking for more money from tired donors. No, really.

The N.Y. Times’ Katharine Seelye recently reported growing donor fatigue among eager and happy Obamaites to whom it has occurred that they’ve already given nearly $1 billion to buy all this change to believe in, even many long weeks after the ex-freshman senator won the White House already.

See the rest of the story on the $$ that Obama has raked in, including post-election,  as well as details on the email that was sent out in praise of “ideal leader” Tim Kaine after he was named part-time DNC head–without any begging for cash.  Bush also appointed a part-time party chair because he had Karl Rove hanging around in the White House.  Obama is following the same pattern, but we’ve got David Axelrod pulling the puppet strings now.  Big change, huh?

Anyway, doesn’t this pair inspire you??

Obama & Kaine, Perfect Together

As for Kaine, I recall how often he campaigned in Virginia to get Kaine elected governor of Virginia and how I already had misgivings about Kaine  (I was separating myself from Clark by then.)  By the way, what’s Clark up to now?

***

Well, after campaigning for Obama he made appearances on the Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz shows in late November. More recently, he wrote a column for the Washington Post entitled “Taking Command”  [12/21/2008] discussing how Democrats and the military can get along. His message concludes:

We have a president-elect who has set out a pragmatic, nonpartisan, visionary course. It’s time to lay to rest the old stereotypes about feckless, pacifist Democrats and authoritarian, war-mongering soldiers. If there were ever a time to get the relationship between Democrats and the military right, this is it.

Clark brownies up everyone in sight and now he’s following Obama and embracing “nonpartisanship” and Obama’s VISION.  Clark mentions “authoritarian soldiers”–I guess he doesn’t see that characteristic in his new “leader”?? To think I once actually worked for his campaign for President…

***

Recently, we’ve posted quite a few entries about women and the treatment we receive, so Ms. Magazine’s cover on their “Inaugural Issue” really turned our stomachs.  Heidi Li broke the news on Friday.  Go over to her site read her story, but I’m posting  the cover art here just to give you an idea of why she (and we) are so aghast!  The hits just keep coming…Honest to Goddess, are these people NUTS???

Delusion or Dementia??

***

Tonight (1/11) is the concluding segment of the BBC production of  Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’ubervilles” (link takes you to the BBC site).  Part 1 was SO DEPRESSING, especially in light of what women have put up with this year.  I almost can’t bear to watch Part 2.  Let me tell you, we’re heading back to Tess’ world at the rate we’re going…

***

UPDATE on The Man Who Paints Street Numbers…(Final Installment in Our “Season of the Heart” Series) (1/1/09)

I emailed the story and link to the local “Life” reporter on Monday 1/5 as planned…but still, no response!!!  Fingers still crossed …

***

Enough news, it’s onto more important things like gardens and betta fish!  Seriously, without the plants and the dogs and fish, I think I’d go nuts myself.  There’s nothing more “grounding” than harvesting fresh broccoli, feeding the birds, and loving the family fauna.

The pak choi was eaten last week and I’ve got to plant something else one of these days. Today I had delicious collards and harvested a second batch of  broccoli. Tomorrow it will be steamed, then sauteed with garlic and olive oil and served with pasta.  Oh, that’s SUBLIME!   The mustard is still going strong after multiple cuttings…nothing better than steamed mustard drizzled with olive oil, topping a sweet potato pizza crust that’s been baked with olive oil and garlic.  Amazing!

Betta Drama

The betta looked sickly a few days ago and I did tons of research. Bought a Master Kit for testing the water and did a few partial water changes and he’s looking 100% better.  There’s a lot of conflicting info out there on bettas, tanks and how to keep them clean…the stumbling block for me was the issue of cycling the tank (mine is probably too small to do it correctly) versus just changing the water the old-fashioned way. I’ve mastered the vacuum so today the partial change I did took only about 15 minutes.   I’m doing several until the ammonia levels reach “O”  and then will clean the tank the old-fashioned way and forget about cycling.   The cam is back on betta (still haven’t named him!) since he is back to acting like a happy fish, so he’ll be featured during the evenings.  The camera angle catches the doorway and you might catch the dogs wandering in an out, too!

THE PAST WEEK

*By American Lassie

Obama “Media Advisory”: Groups Being Used to Build Public Pressure for “Recovery Plan”

Used Body Parts (Female)

Women in Power: The Example of Prime Ministers in Bangladesh, “A No-Casserole Zone”

Make Your Plans for Inauguration Day NOW!! Important Info on Alternate Events to Help Get Through the Day!!

*KING HARRY SAYS “HE’S NOT WELCOME” (UPDATE 1X) Burris Stopped by “Paperwork”

The Past Week: December 28, 2008-January 3, 2009 (Court Dates; Barnicle on Bloggers; Burris-Delmarie Cobb Connection [Clinton Supporter]; Economic Collapse; The Feeding Machine)

The Past Week: November 30-December 6, Recaps and Random Thoughts (Freepers “Heart” GG; Obama & Chester Arthur; Healthcare “Reform”; Montana-Yes, MONTANA-Legalizes Assisted-Suicide; Greens Pic)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

I’m going to start the roundup today with an announcement of MAJOR IMPORTANCE!  Actually, two…

1) Thanks to WordPress, we now have SNOW falling at IA through the holiday season! I got brave and took them up on their suggestion to check out “Extras” and went for the snow!  It doesn’t really accumulate on the mountain masthead, but that’s OK.  At least we’ve got snow down here in southern NM for the holidays! Sometimes we get a dusting here at about 4500 ft.  with a spectacular blanket on the peaks, which are over 8000 ft. high…but, alas,  it doesn’t last very long when we see it on the driveway here. The sun melts it very quickly. So, I’ll be happy with the “computer-generated” snow for now. THANKS, WORDPRESS!!

2) A member of our illustrious team has finally gotten the recognition she deserves. Hats off  to Grail Guardian on her much-deserved recognition over at…Free Republic!  Yup, her dictionary of English-Obamese (see link below) was picked up by someone there in full and got a huge bunch of hits in Freeperland.  I don’t know if she’s thrilled by the honor, but, hey…there aren’t many “progressive” sites these days that would want her!! LOL!!  By the way, we’d like to thank all the visitors who suggested “additions” to the dictionary. I don’t know if Grail plans to publish a second edition, but maybe we can persuade her on that score?

Now, on to the roundup…

***

On the subject of the lawsuit filed re: Obama’s eligibility to be President…

CaffineQueen had a very interesting slant on the subject this week in a post entitled This is NOT the first time this country has faced this issue.

CQ writes:

Like many people I thought this case of the “certificate gate” or whatever was unique and the first time we as a country had faced this particular challenge. Wrong!

Over the course of our history this issue has come up before. (Yet no one has done anything about creating a method for preventing it.)

I’m not talking about Roger Calero, the candidate from the Socialist Workers Party, who has been on the ballot in the previous two elections in spite of the fact that it is well known that he was born in Nicaragua and is not even a citizen but a permanent resident alien and therefore ineligible. (He has a green card) That is a different story. Though one can’t help but wonder why would he run knowing he is ineligible and why would his party put him on the ballot knowing this? (Shouldn’t there be some recourse against this as it is fraud of the highest degree?)

I’m referring to President #21, Chester Arthur, who apparently became President when one of his ardent supporters shot and killed President Garfield making Arthur, then Vice President, the President.

Apparently there was some question as to whether or not he met the “natural born” qualification and it was a very similar argument to the one the Supreme Court Justices are hearing in a conference today. Eerily similar in many ways.

(MORE)

Head on over to read the whole piece.  It’s really fascinating!

***

Health issues are back on the frontburner these days, and it looks like we’re heading down the wrong road already.  Over at Not Your Sweetie there’ a must read post which details how the insurance companies are going to be directing “reform.”  The same thing happened with Medicare Part D; Big Pharma was in charge then.  As I recall, Ted Kennedy was going to “fix” all this when the Democrats took the Senate back.   Well, that didn’t go anywhere, of course…and now it seems Ted is embracing what he railed against before:

“There’s a spirit of optimism about our work to ensure quality, affordable health care for all Americans — and today’s announcement adds to that optimism,” said Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley. “The insurance industry has advanced serious proposals that deserve serious analysis and consideration.”

Having  just forked over $700 for inhalers thanks to the donut hole, I had a few choice words on the subject which I’m posting here:

Teddy Kennedy bloviated about saving Medicare Part D when the Dems took over Congress, then …crickets! Because it would be “too hard,” all those companies already being set up with their crummy marketing and all…
I’ve ranted about Medicare Part D before at IA, but I will rant again now…It is just an exercise in pushing papers around so that the companies remain “whole” and we foot the bill for the honor of supporting THEM! Meanwhile, it’s donut hole bigtime if you need an inhaler…

Recently I found out that about a month or so ago, you couldn’t try to avoid the donut hole anymore by purchasing cheap prescriptions at places like Kmart or Walmart! Nope, we are now FORCED to have all prescriptions processed through Part D so more of us can get into the donut hole! Who snuck that in?? Must have been the Democrats!!!!!!!

PS–monthly premiums are almost DOUBLING this year on my “cheap” plan…for the honor of getting a “discount” that is equivalent to the card I had BEFORE Medicare Part D.

It’s a TOTAL RIP OFF!

PS–If they stick Caroline Kennedy into Clinton’s vacated seat to muster public “empathy” for any shitty bill coming out of Teddy et al’s plotting, I will throw up!! Gosh, I hope the lack of a super-majority can convince enough Republicans to block this crap! But I wouldn’t bet on it, considering how they all gave us Part D!!!! (a pox on Olympia Snowe, who had the swing vote on that…remember how the GOP held the vote open and was coercing members to vote for it??)

Sorry for the salty language, but Medicare Part D is one of my pet peeves…the original way the bill was put together by Bushco, the lack of action by the Democrats after they took over in 2006, and now, the apparent willingness to do business just like the Republicans, by handing over legislating to big companies.

Meanwhile, there’s a new twist about the public relations onslaught that’s gearing up.  I’ll be writing more on the subject next week…stay tuned.

By the way, Ted…any plans for No Child Left Behind? Isn’t that another one of the issues you’ve “crusaded” about??

***

Just in case all this healthcare reform doesn’t work out for all of us, we can at least rest assured that we have another out.

Montana, of all places, has become the 3rd state to declare “assisted suicide” legal…

Montana third state to legalize assisted suicide

Ruling states that terminally ill can self-administer drugs to end own life

HELENA, Mont. – A Montana judge has issued a ruling saying residents of the state have the right to doctor-assisted suicide.

The ruling issued late Friday by state District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter makes Montana the third state in which doctor-assisted suicide is legal.

The judge said Saturday she ruled in a lawsuit filed by a terminally ill Billings man, four physicians and a nonprofit patients rights group, Compassion & Choices.

MORE

Montana?

***

This week in the garden: Harvesting collards this week.  I cut it into small pieces, steam it, and add it to pasta with lots of  olive oil. Yummy! The broccoli heads are about the size of 50 cent pieces now and I’m going to start picking arugula tomorrow! I still have way too much mustard for two people, but we’ll soldier on! I may have to freeze some.  Some of the peppers in pots are still growing little peppers and I’ve almost got at least one fig about to be harvested. Here’s a pic from a few days ago of the mustard (foreground) and the collards (background).

***

THIS WEEK’S POSTS

*With a contribution from kenosha Marge

**By Grail Guardian

Will Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State Be Undermined by the Appointment of a Middle East Envoy? See What MESH Thinks…

The Scanner–Politics 12/5/08 (Obama…Vagus Nerve “Elevation” Superstar?; Obama-Clinton Contemplate a Jump (see awesome video!); Hands Like Butter; “Conscience”; Politically-Motivated Abortion “Science” Blasted by Johns Hopkins Researchers

*Martinis with Michelle, 2nd Round: Ladies,There IS a Different Way to Join the Post-Modern Feminist Party!~~

Martinis with Michelle–A Times (UK) Writer Jumps the Shark as Palin Helps Block a Senate Super-Majority

The Other Side of the Mountain

**How To Communicate with an Obot: The **OFFICIAL** English to Obamese Dictionary

The Past Week: November 23-29, Recaps and Random Thoughts (Dogs; Obamabilia and “Mt. Crapmore”; Jobs; Black Politics; CNN Delivers In-Depth Report on Our Best Hope to Save Us from “First Lady Fashion Fumbles”)

The Past Week: November 16-22, Recaps & Random Thoughts (Critical Thinking vs. Elation; Pics from “Elation Central”; Drying the Tears of Progressive Groups; Medicare Part D Surprise from the Democrats; Face Reading; Housewives & Ludacris; Stray Dog Update)(UPDATE 1X–Dog)

~~Posted by InsightAnalytical-GRL

What is this, Week 2 of Clinton SOS speculation?  Which now seems to be moving toward a YES, she’s accepting it?

***

Over at the Black Agenda Report, we get to see what thinking citizens are mulling over. They’ve been holding Obama’s feet to the fire for months now, so it is not a sudden shift in their assessment.

Take a look at the piece this week entitled “Critical Thinking Amid the Elation.” Shannon Joyce Prince writes:

Obamist sections of the Left seem to believe it “doesn’t matter who Obama is, what he does, says, or stands for – he represents hope and change and that’s good enough.” Some folks are simply misinformed, and therefore blissful. “Many of the people that danced in the streets haven’t taken the time to do any research on Obama, so part of their euphoria is based on ignorance.” One is expected to partake in the party. “Those who castigate folks for not being appropriately jubilant at Obama’s election are insisting that blacks content themselves, in perpetuity, with symbolism instead of real change.”

MORE

***

But over at “Elation Central” (home office, Chicago) we see that there’s all elation, with not much thinking. Thanks to Chicago Correspondent Leslie for these items. She comments:

Honestly, I don’t think I can take much more of this

The larger picture was the front page of the RedEye today.

The smaller was in the Tribune.  I beg of whatever god(dess) there may be to rescue us from the madness.

(The larger picture shows people wearing tee shirts with a photo of that couple looking like they posed for the cover of vanity fair or glamour magazines)

***

We posted this week about how the Organic Consumers Association is already upset with Obama and Leslie sent us another set of messages from groups that are feeling a bit…consternated.  They include:

Peace Action which is upset about any possible “dial back” of Iraq withdrawal plans and the folks over at “The Progressive”:

“Dear Progressive Reader:

I imagine you’re feeling somewhere between exultant and ecstatic right now after Obama’s historic triumph. (I know that’s the reaction in my family, with my wife, daughter, and one of my sons all having knocked on doors for Obama.)

I want to take this moment to assure you that The Progressive and progressive.org will give you the crucial news about Obama in the days ahead.

The Obama Administration is taking shape before our eyes, and it is consisting largely of Clinton retreads.

As I point out in one of my postings this week, he has yet to throw a bone to progressives who helped elect him.” (big snip)

Matthew Rothschild
Editor, The Progressive”

Sincerely,

Gee, if this keeps up, I’m going to run out of thosed tissues that I’m using to help all these disappointed Obamacrats dry their tears…

***

Here in the reality-based section of what we call “life,” I had an infuriating moment when I went up to pick up my formerly $4/3 months supply of medication that I was buying “outside” Medicare Part D in a well-thought out plan to avoid the infamous “donut hole.”  Remember how Ted Kennedy et al vowed to change Medicare Part D for the better…then chickened out because it was just too darned hard to let the drug and insurance companies down easy??

Well, I had my 4 bucks out but was informed that it was no longer possible to buy outside Medicare Part D.  About a month ago, apparently, a directive came from on high that ALL prescriptions MUST go through Part D if you’ve got it.  I was entirely aggravated, wondering when all this had changed!  I then focused my hostility on the Democratically-controlled Congress, because who else would have been responsible for this change??  When did they slip it in and what was the deal?  I’ve been too busy to research it, but at this point, maybe it doesn’t matter…Democrats were in charge and approved. And, we pay more as a result…

Does this give you ANY confidence in what they will be doing for to us again in January?

***

Here’s something you might want to try out on all the bright lights now populating the skies of the incoming Obama administration.  It’s a new way to analyze personality, based on “face reading.”  Try it out!!

Check out this nifty free analysis tool here.  When I get some time I’m going to see how the results for Obama compare to what we wrote about here on Obama’s handwriting and manipulative skills via hypnosis/NLP techniques.

****

Now we enter the hazy depths of “American culture” (or whatever passes for it these days) with the news that the “Housewives of Atlanta” drew huge ratings, even beating the “Housewives of Orange County” series. I glimpsed at some moments of HOA and was rather grossed out by the blatant adoration of really gross bling and the mostly uncouth group of women passing for Atlanta society.  But I see from the previews that HOC is also going to get a lot trashier.  Ah, womanhood!  This is what American seems to accept as normal and admirable, or at the very least, worth wasting a lot of time watching, while Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton get crucified.  We truly are a “trash country,” it seems.  I’m waiting to see what shows up at the White House…If I see Ludacris show up, I’ll want to know if he sleeps in the Lincoln Bedroom.  Clinton had donors in there, but I don’t think any were of the same ilk as Ludacris…

Maybe he’ll do his Obama is Here opus at a State Dinner…

***

For you cooking fans, here’s something that I don’t know quite what to make of.  See what you think about “The Spon.”

***

Finally, a garden and stray dog update…

The garden took a few real cold nights and I finally put up my plastic “greenhouse.” Have no pics yet, maybe next week.  I harvested the last peppers, or so I thought. I’ve been covering the plants in the pots and there are actually a few more big enough to be worth harvesting.  The mustard has gone crazy and I’ve spotted a few tiny broccoli heads already!

News on the stray dog….well, I actually went out a cam a couple of days ago and never caught anything although the food disappeared as usual.  I was thinking the dog came in from the side of the house to eat because I didn’t see any activity coming up the driveway.  The dishes weren’t visible, so today I moved them so I can actually see who’s eating the food! I’m wondering if it’s the white doves or crows, but it just doesn’t seem to be their work. And what about that black hair?  Unless it’s a cat who likes dog food?  That would explain a visitor coming up over the wall from the arroyo and visiting the water and food in the front of the house. And, there are cats who roam the nearby streets here and then go home.  But, who knows? I have a bunch of video I have to review, so I may have an answer tomorrow.  I’ll update this when I find out for sure!

UPDATE 1X

Well, it looks like yesterday’s afternoon visit was by…BIRDS!  I think they drank a bit and played around with the kibble!  Hard to tell if they were all doves or grackles…some were definitely dark, but not as big as crows.  I’ve got the camera on this morning so we’ll see if someone else shows up. Yesterday, you could tell from the messy area and one of the kibbles in the water that it was most likely birds.  But in the AM especially, the dish is cleaned with nothing left behind, so we’ll have to see if it’s the birds that are more polite eaters in the AM or whether it is a dog!!!

THIS MORNING…There were birds on the AM video and when I got the paper at 8:30 AM I saw the bowl was completely empty, except for crumbs. The birds were on the video so they may have been pecking at those crumbs. So, if it’s a dog, it is coming before 7:45 when I turned on the cam…I thought originally that it was coming between 6:30 AM and 7:45 (about about 7:45 kids start walking past on the way to the school bus stop).  I’ve been getting up later the last few days, so I haven’t been out to check at 6:30. With Sunrise at about 6:45, I’m  not sure the cam will catch anything because the area where I have the food is in the shadows as well…so, it may be too dark to see anything!  I’ll just have to get very early tomorrow to turn on the cam and see if it’s too dark to be useful…or post myself by the window and do a low-tech observation!!

THIS WEEK’S POSTS

*Submitted by Chicago Correspondent Leslie

**By Grail Guardian

***By Kenosha Marge

*Saturday “Toons” from Our Chicago Correspondent Leslie

**Howard’s Agony: Seems Like We’ve Been Here Before

The Scanner-Politics 11/20/08 (CHANGE?? Daschle at HHS, His Wife and Lobbying; Organic Consumers Org. So Ticked at the Thought of Vilsack at Agriculture That Their Petition is Already Going Strong; Froma Harrop on “Palin’s Next Career Move” Will Raise Your Blood Pressure) (Updated 1X)

Find the Sexism in the Picture, Learn “The Code”

**Attention NeoProgs: You DID NOT Defeat the PUMAs!

***The Rise and Fall of Great Expectations

The Past Week: November 9-15, Recaps & Random Thoughts (Suddenly Soiled Sarah Gets Advice from Katie Couric, Joke “Journalist”; Gov Luv; Sunday Telegraph, UK Previews More Clinton Trashing?; Major Stray Dog Update (Update 1X–Clinton Trashing in Progress in U.S. via AP)