Once Upon A Time

Plame-gate

If lying to this country about reasons for going to war weren't enough, now we see how the Bush Administration deals with people who speak out. They rat out their wives. Joseph Wilson, who determined that the yellow cake uranium was not being sold to Iraq by Niger and who spoke out to say that the Bush contention was false, found his wife's name leaked to the press as a CIA agent, probably in retalliation.

Wilson's wife (Plame) was a covert op for the CIA, and not 'just an analyst' as some Republicans tried to spin. Having her cover blown puts many of her contacts in jeopardy. And blowing the cover of an operative is a federal offense, punishable by 10 years in prison.

So while the Repubs may be whining that this is a partison attack on the White House, this is no laughing matter. Especially since Plame specialized in tracking WMD. The loss of her cover is huge. And this story could get even huger.

Might wake up some sleeping Americans as to the real intents of the Bush Adminstration. If we're lucky.

Sleeping on the job

I guess I've been a little lax on posting the last few weeks. In addition to Isabel and having a cold, I've been involved the the campaign of Howard Dean. I've volunteered (passed out flyers), gone to a houseparty for Dean, and been trying to make more people aware of Howard Dean and his bid for the presidency.

Today is the end of the the quarter in terms of fundraising. If you haven't been to the Howard Dean homepage, I urge you to take a look.

If you already are a supporter, I urge you to donate to the campaign, if you haven't already or if you'd like to donate more.

Any candidate that is to have a legitimate shot at winning the presidency needs a warchest of funds to run their campaign against Bush who is the GOP's best fundraiser. It sucks that money appears to be able to buy elections, but in the past it has.

It should be about the candidates message. So to switch that around, if you like Dean's message, donate to his campaign. Just think of it as buying lottery tickets (people throw away their money on them ALL the time), just with a MUCH better chance of winning and a higher rate of return. (The future of our country and our children) I don't know if that's the best analogy...but oh well. LOL.

As for posting, I'll try to improve my frequency and quality. :)

Hell hath frozen over

My brother told me last night that he, my SIL and the kids are moving out of my parents house! They are going to be renting a townhouse starting in November. It's only taken them nearly 4 years to get their shit together.

Hallejuah. My mother will have peace in her house--finally!

Understand, I love my brother. But the situation has been fucked up from the start. My parents deserve to have an empty nest. They deserve to have some peace and quiet.

I suspect Mom will begin the remodeling now. The house has direly needed new carpets for the four years, but she refused to change the carpets until the kids were out of the house. I couldn't blame her. And she'll be getting new furnature. LOL. I suspect my Mom is doing the happy dance today. :)

Stupid is as stupid does

Back a month or so ago, I had someone email me a racist joke--a poem about welfare and Pakistanis coming here for free money. It pissed me off then. And I deleted it.

This was the same joke some CEO was asked to resign over because he forwarded it to his employees. So I'm not overreacting.

Now the same person emailed it to me AGAIN and titles it 'oldie, but goodie.' WTF? I wrote back to her, this time indicating that it was racist. That it's the type of thing that incites hate. There is already tension between the Arabic and Western world...why fan the flames more? I asked her how she would feel if that poem was about Africans, Haitians, or Jamaicans coming over to live off welfare. I'm sure she'd see it as racist then.

Amazing. *shakes head*

This and That

My cold continues to linger on, interfering with my workout schedule. I had hoped to go to the gym tonight, but a coughing fit in the last hour of work convinced me that it might not be a good idea.

And tomorrow night I shall not be working out either. I have a hair appointment. It's time to get my highlights done again. The question remains if I shall stick to the colors I currently have or will I try something different. I'm still undecided. :)

Home Improvement

This weekend was spent doing things around the house. My dad and brother worked on painting some of the wood on the exterior of the house. Mom and I went running around time trying to match the paint I have, and had no luck at Sears or Lowes. Duron, where the paint was originally from, is closed on Sundays and has limited hours on Saturdays. So they painted with the small amount that we had from the previous owners. The rest will have to be completed at another time. I will probably have to hire a painter, since my Dad informed me he doesn't go up that high on a ladder. I have to admit, I wouldn't be comfortable going up that high either. LOL.

Mom and I did some gardening. I had purchased more bulbs. I got a set of 10 bulbs of what are called Lily Tulips. They are red star shaped tulips that open much more than your typical tulip. I liked them because they looked different. Also I bought a set of 30 mixed narcissi bulbs. (narcissi = smaller daffodils)

On Saturday, we ripped out my portulaccas which looked to be in poor health and weeded the back garden. Brian raked up the leaves that littered the yard from Isabel. Basically we accomplished a lot this weekend...it's quite satisfying.

For all the hard work Dad (and Mom) put in, Brian and I treated them to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. It wasn't the best Outback experience we've had, but I think they were recovering from the Power Outage caused by Isabel. Again, I'm thankful we didn't lose power at my house. :)

You Have the Power

I've been fortunate in that we never lost power here during the storm. Other folks in my area have not been so fortunate. I know of one person who was told it could take up to a week to restore his power. Uggh.

And when I was passing out flyers to people [as part of Dean visibility day] several asked if Dean could get their power back on and if so...they'd vote for him, LOL.

While several folks felt the need to tell me how they are Republicans and are proud to be Americans under the Bush administration, I had many more who voiced their support of Dean. One in fact told me that she had been a Republican, but Bush angered her so much with his policies that she had recently switched to being a registered Democrat just so she could vote for Dean in the primaries. I encouraged her to sign up at DeanforAmerica.com as a Dean supporter since the goal set for September is to sign up 450,000 Dean supporters. Currently that number is at over 410,000 people. She said she hadn't signed up yet and she would!

In passing out flyers today, I told people what information the flyers had on them and asked if they were interested in receiving one. I see no point in giving out flyers to those with no interest. There were plenty of folks who had heard of Howard Dean or who were interested in a Democratic Presidential candidate and eagerly took a flyer. Those were the folks I was interested in targeting. I find that it's important to be polite to everyone including those who did not wish to take a flyer. Pestering people will certainly not make a good impression upon them.

In all I think our group of three handed out nearly all of the 200 flyers that I had copied at Kinkos. I feel fairly satisfied that we reached some people who had never heard of Howard Dean. :)

Sick of Isabel

I had written a new entry for today. But MT and my host conspired together to eat it. *sigh*

Now you'll get the short version: I'm getting sick. (sore throat continues...) And Isabel is eyeing DC. Therefore I may not go to work. And DC will be closed. LOL.

Actually my lab is mostly prepared for the storm. We covered almost all of our major equipment with plastic in case the roof leaks. And we are planning to unplug all unnecessary equipment in case there is a power surge. Those are likely scenarios. Not much we can do about worst-case scenarios.

And at home I've brought in most everything that can blow away. I'm about as ready as I'm gonna be. Now it's time to take the Nyquil...Good night Gracie, LOL.

When it Rains...you get the idea...

In addition to anticipating lots of wind and rain, I'm now coming down with a cold. At least I think I am. So far I have a sore throat. If I'm lucky it's just allergy related. But there's been a cold bug going around work, so I'm not so sure. Lucky me....

Supplies

Since Isabel is likely to come for an unwanted visit Thursday or Friday, I have to go shopping. I'm not panicked or anything. It's just I didn't bother to get a loaf of bread when I was at the store Sunday. Now additionally I need to buy some batteries for my radio and a gallon jug of water. And maybe some more snacking food. Otherwise, there is no point in buying more stuff to put in my fridge or my freezer if in fact the lights do go out.

I'll probably gas up my car tomorrow. That about covers it. With all that in place, Isabel will likely go up to Jersey or Long Island and bother folks up there and leave me the hell alone. LOL. :)

Hurricane Isabel

Figures. I schedule with my parents to finally come down this upcoming weekend so we can paint the trim on my house and now there is a hurricane taking aim on the East Coast. Just my luck. I'll have to watch this storm closely...*sigh* She's a category 5, which is not good for the East Coast if she comes our way and stays at that intensity. (Though she'll probably downgrade some before she gets here.)

Granted my house is much further inland than my parents. (They live in South Jersey.) I remember Hurricane Gloria in the '80s....lotta rain and wind. We got the day off from school. Gloria came within 50 miles of the Jersey coast...something like that. And she was no category 5. I think she might have been category 3 at best.

At most, we lost a tree in our front yard. The sole pine tree, my dad was thrilled to be rid of it. Gave him an excuse to cut it down. I remember him and the neighbors cutting it down during the storm, admist all the rain. It had broken a major root and had started to lean badly and sway. So they took it down before it came down on the house or on other trees in the yard.

I'm getting mighty nervous...I buy my first house and already there is a category 5 storm threatening. *sigh* Just what I need.

You know I'll be watching the Weather Channel 24/7 this week.

Another Flop

Looks like the divorce may be final before the much-anticipated wedding ever transpires. Report: Affleck, J-Lo Split Up

Darn. And here I was making bets on how quickly the marriage would end. LOL. I mean J.Lo has a rep to keep.

So since Ben appears to be breaking up with her does that mean she gets to keep the pink diamond engagement ring? ;)

The World Gone Crazy

Now Israel not only wants to expel Arafat--they want to kill him. Oh nice. Further proof in my eyes as to how bloodthirsty and desparate Israel has become. I've always been taught two wrongs don't make a right. And in this situation I think killing Arafat would only make things worse for Israel. What are they thinking????

Each day I feel I recognize the world we live in less and less. It's staggering how much the world has changed in the last 2-3 years.

'Jane--Stop this crazy thing!'

Web Talent

There's one thing I know about the Democratic presidential candidates, Howard Dean has the most web saavy and talented people working with him. Dunno if that's the key to getting him elected, but you gotta like what these guys come up with. Check out this Flash item.

What a Downer

First we spend the week remembering death (9/11), then we deal with more death. Add John Ritter and Johnny Cash to Warren Zevon earlier in the week. No wonder everyone at work has been wearing lots of black. It's just been grim.....

Remembrance

I just lit a set of candles tonight in memory of those lost on 9/11/01. Three candles for the three tragic locations: NYC, DC, and in PA. My heart goes out to all those who lost a loved one on that tragic day.

All Aboard -- the Photos

Here's some of the photos that came out. I had forgotten my camera (again!) and so I bought a disposable camera at the student union. (Read the story behind the pics in the long previous entry seen below.)

Here's the results:

This is the ampitheater earlier in the day. You can see the Dean signs that we hung up top.

Howard Dean is holding a University of Maryland sweatshirt. As he told the crowd at the rally, Go Terps. LOL.

Howard Dean with the folks that arrived on the bus with him.

Howard Dean being miked up for his via satellite interview with Paula Zahn on CNN

'CNN girl' on her cell phone getting a slot cleared for the interview.

All Aboard the Dean Train

After the Falls Church Rally, I decided that I'd volunteer when Dean came to Maryland since that currently is my home state. I wanted to play some role in helping out. So I volunteered to do signs/pass out signs. Part of that consisted of hanging the blue Dean signs around the venue along with several other folks who volunteered just like me.

Eventually more tasks were divied up and I jumped at making hand-made signs. It's kinda artsy in a crude way...something that appealed to me. So a group of four of us went to make signs. While performing that duty, the four of us were asked to provide help with placing blue Dean signs up on the Governor's bus when it arrived so that pictures could be taken in front of the bus.

While waiting for his bus to arrive, the crowd started gathering in the outdoor ampitheater. We waited out there for a while; our excitement grew with the crowd. As the time drew nearer we moved to the location where the bus was to arrive. We sort inherited the job of making sure students didn't wander down the alley toward the stage, directing them instead to an acceptable route. One of the folks we interacted with was 'W-boy', a young Republican that carried a patriotic looking W cut-out. I did tell him to put his W in the dumpster before going to the ampitheater, but alas, he wouldn't. LOL. I did try!

During the time we were monitoring the alleyway, we also saw this young woman from CNN prep for a post-rally interview with Howard Dean. It involved getting all the camera crew and their equipment set up amongst other things. I don't pretend to know much about that sort of thing, but I did see the determination written all over her. This was an important gig to her. [more of her story later]

Eventually the bus arrived with its police escort. Before the bus unloaded, our job was to quickly place pre-taped blue Dean signs on the bus for photos to be taken. The four of us, plus Erin, a co-chair, two others, and our very own Howard Dean look-alike/stand-in (LOL) worked together to get the signs on the bus quickly. (More importantly, our guy was the same height as Dean, so we could position the signs appropriately)

Then the bus unloaded and Howard Dean took pictures with the folks who rode with him on the bus. I snapped a few myself, LOL. Then off Dean went to prep for the rally.

Meanwhile, the bus decorating crew (us) had to wait for the bus to turn around. Then we removed the signs from one side of the bus, and placed them in the same configuration on the other side. This would be the place where the college students would stand, located behind Dean in the Paula Zahn interview shot.

After that our job was complete, and we hurried back to the rally that was in progress. (Dean hadn't been introduced yet, but the speakers had started.) We were fortunate to find a place by the media area that we squeezed ourselves into. The place was packed! Unfortunately, we soon found ourselves right below the Young Republican Hecklers who stood on the balcony area next to the Student Union. They disrupted several speakers and then Dean a few times.

The thing that irked me about them was they chanted "support our troops" (amongst other things). The idea that folks who oppose the decision to go to war and who do not support Dubya, somehow are not supportive of the troops bugs the shit out of me. I damn well support the troops. They did not choose to go to war. They simply follow the orders of the commander in chief. It's that commander in chief I have issues with! That decision to go to war was based on faulty intelligence at the very least and more than likely based on lies, since Bush & Co. have a history of wanting to go back to Iraq.

Okay...back to the story....

The rally was great in spite of the dozen or so (maybe 20 at most) young republican hecklers. The Dean supporters just cheered that much louder. And Dean didn't feel threatened by them, so he joked at their expense.

And before I knew it the rally flew past. Since I had heard stories of Paula Zahn planning to interview Dean, I headed back to where the bus was. I planted myself by the camera area in hopes of seeing him give the interview. But at first it looked as though it would not happen.

Dean and his entourage headed toward the bus. At the sound of the bus being started up, CNN girl was not happy. She had worked her tail off to get thing thing together--she wasn't about to let it fall apart. She was off and on the phone with CNN trying to get things set up. Then she was talking to Dean's people. Dean emerged, all prepared to be interviewed. They got him miked up. CNN girl was still dealing with her network via cell phone. This seemed to go on for several minutes. (I suspect the rally starting and ending late threw off the original timing of the interview and CNN girl had to make her case strongly to get CNN/Paula to fit it into her program)

Meanwhile, Dean positioned himself for the camera. You could see him get very focussed, blocking out all the people crowded around the area. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, not saying a word. A hush came over the crowd as we intently watched him and waited. I found it intriguing as I watched him 'get into the zone' (as I call it). There was no frustration in his expression, no impatience, just focus.

I began to fear that his standing under the lights so long was gonna cause him to sweat...seriously, I was thinking that and hoping this wouldn't go on much longer! LOL. Finally, the go ahead came, and Dean saw/heard the feed of Paula Zahn. (I'm not sure which it was, but I suspect there was a monitor that showed Paula, so he could see her expression as well as hear her voice through the earpiece)

I could clealy hear all his answers as he gave them. I knew he was nailing this interview, without hearing Paula's questions. Then near the end, a big smile appeared on his face as he joked with Paula. It was a great smile that just lit up his face. And as the interview wrapped, the smile remained there. He knew he nailed it, too.

As the interview was happening, I could see the college girls were trying to hold their position--some were nervously smiling, others looked frozen. I sensed relief from them as the piece ended, since they like Dean had held their position minutes before the interview began. (Though they did get a photo op with Dean prior to the interview) And everyone in the surrounding area was great about remaining quiet during the interview. We all knew this was important, though I don't know if many knew who was doing the interview with Dean.

There's probably a zillion other details I've forgotten to describe, but this entry is long enough. Eventually I'll have to blog about my adventure getting home, which is a whole other story, though probably not anywhere as exciting as my day at College Park. :)

And A Dollar Short

I will be writing about my day as a volunteer soon [hopefully tonight]. I should be picking up my pictures and the CD today. Last night I opted to watch the debate instead of writing up an entry. I have to admit Al Sharpton dealing with those La Rouche hecklers was amusing, lol. But Fox News giving commentary on a Democratic debate? That was painful. I tried the other networks but no one was discussing the debates. Finally I just turned the TV off. LOL.

Dean Day

I haven't had a chance to write anything about Meetup last week. But I did start the morning by watching Howard Dean on NBC's Today show. He hit all three morning shows, talking about the President's speech given last night and how he takes issue with much of what was said. I caught the live interview with Matt Lauer. (The other two were taped in the morning.)

While TV still does not capture the Governor's energy, I thought he answered Matt's questions well and he put forth the fact the Dubya keeps connecting Iraq and al Qaeda, when there was no such connection or proof of such connection prior to American troops entering the country. He needs to drive that point home, because our president would have folks believing otherwise.

Just prior to Dean, Condi went on about how al Qaeda are there in Iraq to prevent the US from bringing peace and prosperity to Iraq since that is the threat to al Qaeda. The fact is, al Qaeda is attacking our troops in Iraq because they are easy targets. Easy AMERICAN targets. Condi just needs to shut up if all she is gonna do is be the mouthpiece for the Bushies lies. (aka Bush & Co. propoganda)

I plan to continue this Dean day by attending another rally with Dean as the speaker, this time at the University of Maryland, College Park. It looks to be a great day. :)

Oh , yeah, but I gotta go to work first. ;)

What a Week?

It's been bizarre to say the least. And busy to boot. In spite of it being a 4 day week, I felt exhausted, and greedily slept in this morning. Ahhh...it felt sooo good.

I'll add that fall is definitely in the air. It's amazing how Labor day comes and goes and the season changes as if on cue. It was a cool beautiful day today, and we're expecting another one just like it tomorrow. Just perfect.

Remember how we got here

I got such a giggle over Molly Ivins quoting Bill O'Reilly about Iraq. Hehehehe.... Molly recounts the number of times we were told that Saddam had nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons...how many times our Administration lied about how much of an imminent threat Saddam was.

And a separate article in the Washington Monthly details how Bush tells lies that work to his advantage in getting his agenda pushed forward. I found this statement particularly correct in it's assessment of Dubya:

The president and his aides don't speak untruths because they are necessarily people of bad character. They do so because their politics and policies demand it. As astute observers such as National Journal's Jonathan Rauch have recently noted, George W. Bush campaigned as a moderate, but has governed with the most radical agenda of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Indeed, the aim of most of Bush's policies has been to overturn what FDR created three generations ago.

Is this country finally waking up yet, or are they still hitting the snooze button? I'm just not sure. The truth is out there, if you're persistent enough to find it.

Frenchman's Creek

I just finished reading a delightful book called "Frenchman's Creek" written by Daphne du Maurier. Out of print in the US, I bought this paperback at a little bookshop in Bath, UK when I visited there last year. Du Maurier, best known for her classic book "Rebecca", shows off her talent at writing splendid double-speak and innuendo in this tale of a woman, who bored with her life at Court, escapes to her husband's childhood home. There she encounters a French pirate and her life becomes anything but boring.

One of the best things about du Maurier's heroine in this book, is that Dona is no damsel in distress. She's a woman who knows what she wants and sees her situation for what it is. I enjoyed reading how she cleverly manipulates situations and those around her to protect the man she loves. That's not to say Dona is a hateful character, just that she is smarter than her peers. No wonder she was bored, LOL! And alas, anyone seeking smut will find none here. But the innuendo is priceless. I highly recommend this book if you can get a copy.

But then again, I haven't met a Daphne du Maurier book I haven't liked. Yet this one still ranks high on my list.