Another Failed Promise

Today I heard that our President is breaking yet another promise to the American people. Just a few weeks ago right after the midterms he promised to listen to and consider the recommendations of the Iraq Study Commission when they are released on Dec. 6. Today he said he will not consider any of them unless they echo his current failed policy there. So much for the value of a presidential promise.

Bush maintains that he will allow only total victory in a situation where his commanders have told him point-blank that such a victory is impossible. Why is it impossible? Mostly because of the incredible level of bungling on the part of both Mr. Bush and the members of his administration. He knew even before he picked this war, that he was committing insufficient troops. The first Mr. Bush used 500,000 troops merely to drive Saddam out of Kuwait with no intention of toppling him from power and attempting to pacify the country. Why then did the second Mr. Bush think he could do three times as much with about half the troops?

The problem is that the current Mr. Bush is totally out of touch with reality. He truly believed and still believes it possible to establish a stable democracy in the region. When things started going wrong almost immediately (the violence and looting) he ignored it. When the insurgency began he ignored it. When the sectarian violence started he ignored it. He ignored every time there was a chance to actually make a step toward his stated goal. He stuck his fingers in his ears and screamed "stay the course" to drown out the cries of the dying and the wailing of their survivors.

Now he's done it once again. He's closed the door to possibly the only solution left to us, yet he's equally unwilling to do anything that might make the situation in Iraq any better. By doing so I fear he's opened wide the door to the spectacle of another Saigon with out people leaving in disorder and leaving the country to fall into the hands of radicals and extremists.

Christmas Shopping

There is little I hate more than Christmas shopping. Bah! Humbug! That being said, I am proud to announce that probably 75% of mine is done already. I have five more gifts to buy. One for my granddaughter, one for my sister, one for my daughter's ex and his girlfriend, and one for my daughter's ex's sister.

My sister and the ex's sister will receive gift cards of some sort. One because she is notoriously hard to buy for and the other because she has a severely handicapped child at home and it's easier for her. The gifts for the ex and girlfriend and my granddaughter will be shared gifts with my daughter since we're cutting corners and we can get a nicer gift that way.

I feel proud of myself as I just got that all done this morning. I deserve a piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast as a reward.

Commander in Chief

I've been watching the Republicans scramble since the midterms, especially over the issue of Iraq. The current administration got us into this mess and apparently have absolutely no plan to get us out other than changing slogans from time to time.

You notice I said they have no plan to get us out. It would seem to me that would bother a lot of people, including Republicans. Even the military commanders on the ground over there have admitted they are not winning and have proposed three alternatives, without too many details, none of which involve actually winning.

You would think in the face of all of this that the neocons out here in reality land would finally begin to question the President's wisdom and even intelligence in this war. But what do they do? They attack the Democrats and start screaming that the Democrats don't have a plan to win in Iraq. Well guess what folks? The Democrats don't even take power until January and when they do, guess who will still be the Commander in Chief and making all of the decisions regarding the handling of the war in Iraq? It ain't going to be a Democrat. At best Democrats can give advice.

So when your favorite neocon starts whining about the Democratic plan to win Iraq, remind him or her of two things: Only George W. Bush can develop a plan to get us out of Iraq and only George W. Bush can implement such a plan. Then remind them that they didn't lose the election just because of Bush's war. They also lost because of the corruption, the scandals, and because they accomplished absolutely nothing of significance legislatively for six years, and suggest that maybe they should notice that the finger they are pointing have three more directed back at them.

Do not let them get you defensive. The party hierarchy should start hammering this point home immediately. It was Bush's war before the election and it will remain Bush's war after.

Thanksgiving Eve

Thanksgiving has always been a much larger holiday in my house than Christmas for a lot of reasons I won't go into here. Tonight is Thanksgiving eve. My daughter arrived home from work early. Together we had gathered the necessary piles of food for the holiday.

We have lots of little things we do on Thanksgiving eve. We bake pies and we share champagne in special etched glasses that are used for no other purpose than for she and I to drink a toast or two to the holidays. We cook the eggs for the stuffing and the deviled eggs. We chop veggies for the stuffing in the morning, cook the giblets, and make the jello salad.

Tonight we watched March of the Penguins together. At the end of the movie we shared a piece of freshly made pumpkin pie before going to bed.

Tomorrow we will make stuffing, cook two kinds of potatoes, stuff celery, make relish trays, and put together a big meal fit for an army. Some friends who have nowhere to go for the holiday will share the meal with us. Susan will send pies to her ex and his girlfriend, and his sister and her family (don't ask. My family is nothing if not complicated). And we'll enjoy our time together.

The next few weeks will be very stressful and we're facing some hard times, but we'll make it through. For now it is Thanksgiving eve, it's late, and I'm heading to bed. I wish everyone a great holiday. Tomorrow I'll deal with having as a guest a 6' tall male crossdresser and his whatever. That should be infinitely interesting. As I said, life is sometimes quite interesting and unusual around here.

We'll See

I have taken a step today I may live to regret. Then again, maybe not. Years ago I was very politically active, working on campaigns (both parties), and doing a lot of things to get candidates of my choice elected. I did press stuff for a recall campaign that recalled 5 members of a 9 member city council, meeting with other plotters in a sort of seedy waterfront bar to get the information for the initial press release, etc. Was great fun.

Then my ex got home from Vietnam all screwed up and one of the things I had to drop was any political involvement because of his behavior. He would make my life so miserable if I tried to do things that made me happy that eventually I quit. I tried going back many years later, and actually did work a successful campaign for a U.S. Senator. But I didn't follow up.

A couple of days ago I got a note from the Democratic National Committee about a new website for volunteers they have set up to keep their grassroots momentum going for the next two years. After thinking about it for a few days and visiting the site a couple of times, I decided to sign up. I told them what I do and do not like doing, so I won't be asked to work phone banks which I loathe passionately. It's Sunday so I'll see if I get a response. They claim I will.

They also have blogs, groups, etc. so that will give me yet another place to be opinionated. This is a good thing.

Dreary Day

It has been an absolutely do-nothing day today. I awoke around 3:00 and was up an hour or so before I got tired enough to go back to sleep. I was up again before 7:00. No dog this morning; this is a good thing.

The weather is dreary and nasty. It's been storming all day. High winds and copious amounts of rain. I don't even have the ambition to play my games or write or do anything. I didn't even do my laundry which desperately needs to be done. I will definitely do it tomorrow.

This afternoon it was cold and my feet were freezing. I couldn't build a fire. There was little wood in the house and no starter logs. So it was cold on top of being damp and drippy. Finally the lack of sleep caught up and I pulled on an extra sweater and my gloves, then put my afghan over my legs and chest. I was asleep in minutes. I only slept maybe 45 minutes, but it helped a lot. I woke up very warm and cozy. I really hated to move.

I guess I'll dig in my drawers and see if I can find some socks. I'll never get to sleep tonight if my feet are this cold.

I have Insurance

Well ok. I don't yet but I will soon. The first of December to be precise. I got the card in the mail today indicating I have been accepted for the supplemental Medicare plan I chose.

As soon as I am eligible I will locate the nearest clinic and make an appointment to have my two most annoying problems taken care of, if possible. The first will remain between me and my doctor as it's embarassing to admit to, but I understand there is a prescription drug that can stop the problem.

The second is my sleeplessness. I haven't slept through an entire night for close to 20 years. There is a new sleeping pill that doesn't carry a caveat of a risk of dependency. That's all I would need, to find something that worked then discover I could never get off if it. I understand that rebound insomnia is a really difficult thing to deal with. I'm sure I would have less depression and more energy if I were ever truly rested. On the very rare occasions I do sleep and only wake up three or four times in a night I know I feel a lot better. I can just imagine how sleeping 6-8 straight hours would feel.

So I'm psyched. I also got dental insurance which will permit me to get my teeth relined. If I do it in December, then I immediately have the entire years funding when Jan 1 arrives. My teeth definitely need to be relined.

I've been nervous thinking that after all the research and everything that I would be turned down for this coverage. I'm glad I have it. I suppose I'll be getting some sort of membership package in the next couple of weeks. And this coverage also includes prescription drugs, glasses, and a membership in the local YMCA as part of the package. That's more health coverage than I have had in literally 10 years.

Random Ramblings

These are just random thoughts on a cold, wet, windy day. I'm really bored, yet I actually have more things to do than I can possibly get done at any given time.

I have finished my planning for Christmas. I know who I am giving what. The quilt I am making for my son and his wife won't be done by Christmas, of course. I'll send them each a small present with a picture of the quilt attached to it so they can see what they are getting. Works for me.

It's probably not going to be a very merry Christmas this year. My daughter's divorce will be final and she's got some personal problems that may mean she won't be home for the holiday. Unfortunately nobody but me and one or two very close friends know of this and I cannot talk about it at her request.

My feet are cold, but that will change soon as I get ready for bed and crawl between my nice warm flannel sheets. I do need to wash my down comforter though. The dogs have left footprints all over it. The weather has been miserable for a couple of weeks, though it barely rained today.

I just learned that my favorite conveniently located grocery store is going out of business in a couple of weeks. *sigh* I will miss the quality. Albertsons just doesn't cut it.

Tomorrow I plan to get the rest of my housework done, do my laundry, wash the comforter, then dig out a jigsaw puzzle and start working it on the dining room table. I will also finish a book I've been reading and get more writing done. I always have more books to read, a quilt to work on, and an afghan that I am knitting. It's always something. I may toss some Posole together in the crock pot first thing in the morning and let it simmer all day for supper tomorrow night.

I am craving something sweet. And it's really time for bed.

I m probably imagining things

I know it is probably all coincidence, but a few months ago I sent the DNC a letter containing the piece I posted here of advice on what to do if they won the election. Naturally they did not even acknowlege getting it, but it's amazing that they have apparently implemented every single I suggested.

I fully realize that most of what I said was purely common sense. Still, today Nancy Pelosi announced a list of things Republicans had excluded Democrats from in the House and vowed to include them as much as possible now that Democrats have power. That was one of my suggestions. I suggested they muzzle Howard Dean until he could be a bit more temperate in how he spoke. He was hardly seen during the election. Others spoke for the Democrats. I suggested they make a list of a few essential things they intended to accomplish, then work across the aisle to make them happen. They've done that. I suggested that they absolutely not get tied up in an impeachment effort; Pelosi has said they will not. I suggested several other things, a total of ten in all, and every one of them has been implemented.

The reason I know it just has to be common sense rather than them paying attention to me is that if they truly were using my ideas, they would have contacted me by now to at least thank me for the advice. I offered it freely but I would have been so totally excited had someone acknowledged it and said thank you. Everyone likes to believe their ideas have merit. I guess I'm no different in that.

Interesting Events

Last night's election was a real eye opener to those on Capitol Hill who arrogantly assumed that the average voter could be scared out of their outrage at the way things are going and scared into voting Republican.

They were wrong. As it now stands the House is firmly in the hands of Democrats even with nine races still outstanding. Of those, one will probably go Republican, three Democrat, and four are just too close to call. One, Louisiana, had so many candidates that it will require a runoff. That one will probably go Democratic as well.

Senate control hovers on a knifeblade. One seat in Virginia which is now undergoing a recount and which is leaning Democratic. If that one tips Democratic, Democrats will control all the chairmanships in the Senate.

What I found more interesting is the reactions from all concerned. Bush is clearly furious and confused. His press conference was all but painful to watch. He accepted Rumsfeld's resignation, which is a good thing, but proved he lied last week when he said he would keep the man until the end of his term. He is now talking concilliation and cooperation, but it's clear that neither appeal to him very much. I believe he has gotten the message but that he got it from his own party.

John McCain just held a news conference, and he's clearly speaking for the majority of Republicans at the moment when he says the war must take a new direction, and that if that means more troops to quell the insurgency and the militias then that is what it will mean. He also pointed out that 19 of the seats that changed hands in the House yesterday did so because of corruption and other scandals. He says he believes Republicans have got to get their act together and return to the basics of Republican philosophy which includes reduced spending, less government, and other core principles. He's clearly chastened and scared for the Senate as well.

Perhaps more surprising though is the tone of the Democrats. It's as if they realize that if they get cocky and stupid then they are in major trouble. They have only two years to pull this all together and make it work. That's not a long time.

It may be enough, however, if they realize that Republicans can only be just so obstructionist without further infuriating voters who are sick of the lot of them at the moment. This is the message I hoped voters would send in this election. Shape up, get back to the people's business, or else. Let's hope it sticks well enough to produce results. Politicians have notoriously short memories.

Bush Caught Lying Yet Again

Honestly, the man has such a problem with telling the truth. This time it has to do with his avowal that if elected Democrats will raise taxes. He is the President. He is the only one who can sign a tax bill into law. Exactly how will the Democrats raise taxes? At best they will take the House tomorrow and by far less than a 60% majority. They probably won't take the Senate.

What this means is that in order to raise taxes, Democrats will have to pass a tax bill through both houses, one of which they do not control, and then persuade the president to sign the bill or override his veto, neither of which they will have the votes to do.

Bottom line? The threat of increased taxes is a political lie, pure and simple unless Bush is planning to raise taxes himself. There's no other way a tax bill can get passed and signed into law.

I have been tagged

I'm not sure what it means entirely, but I will at least try to keep it going to the best of my ability. Here are the rules:

1) Name the person who tagged you
2) 8 things about you
3) Tag 6 people.

Sewmouse tagged me.

1. I've never been in love. Don't expect ever to be at this point and would run like hell if I thought it might happen.

2. I am a good writer, but don't seem to have the impetus to get things finished. I get hung up then don't write.

3. I have not slept through an entire night in about 20 years. Not one night. Not even after surgery. I've even been drugged in the hospital and still was awake a few hours later.

4. I've been fighting chronic depression for most of my life.

5. I always have at least two craft projects going at any one time. Generally it's a quilt, and one other thing. Right now it's a knitted afghan that fascinates me because it's entirely double sided yet is knitted on the same set of needles and each side comes out right.

6. I'm retired now, but not from choice. After my last job I was unable to ever find another one and chose to retire so I would have an income. I'll be 65 in another month and a half.

7. I live with my daughter. It has worked out ok most of the time, though I could certainly do without a lot of the high drama that goes on around here.

8. I was born in Alaska, and have visited all of the states but New England. I have also visited Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, England, and Germany. I love to travel and were I rich I would be on the go constantly. Well, that's not entirely true. I love visiting new places. I actually hate to travel. I need a teleporter.

I'm adding a fact #9. I don't know six other people to tag.

A Closer Look at the Bush Tax Cuts

This election year about all Republicans have to boast about seems to be Bush’s tax cuts. They pin all of the economic growth and job creation on these cuts. Democrats, on the other hand, point out that the cuts are unfairly weighted to benefit the top 1% or so of taxpayers, who are receiving 300% of the tax savings as are average middle class taxpayer. This is a percentage not a dollar amount. It means that rich people are getting three times the percentage of tax cut as is the middle class, not just that they pay more taxes. A fair tax cut is the same percentage across the board regardless of how much you earn. This intrigued me, so I went looking for facts. This is what I found. My sources are listed at the bottom of this essay.

Citizens for Tax Justice and the Children’s Defense Fund point out that over the ten-year life of the Bush tax cut (remember congress always intended the cuts to be a temporary boost to the economy) the top 1% of taxpayers will realize nearly half a trillion dollars ($477 billion) in tax savings. This cut is designed so that the very top tax payers receive progressively larger cuts each year until 2011 when the law expires. The first year of the cuts the amount averaged about $12,000 per taxpayer.

By contrast, 75% of families and individuals making less than $73,000 a year (and that’s most of us) received ¾ of all the cuts they will receive in the first year, and those averaged about 350 per taxpayer.

The writers conclude that making the current cuts permanent will reduce Federal revenues by $1.7 trillion through 2014, a figure that includes the added interest on the national debt. They also project added budget deficits of $20 trillion across that time with no clear material benefit to the average middle class taxpayer. The Brookings institution estimates that this would amount to about 1.8% of the GDP.

A second negative is that because of these factors, an additional 44 million people would see their tax bill grow appreciably when they became subject to the Alterative Minimum Tax (AMT) by 2014.

More telling, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of making the costs permanent at $1.6 trillion over ten years. However, people at the Office of Management and Budget point out a buried clause in the budget that hides more than another trillion dollars in lost revenue.

The explanation of why this is so is complicated. At the time these tax cuts went into effect (Bush wanted them to be permanent), Bush also attempted to make a change in bookkeeping methods that would effectively remove the true costs of the cuts from the main budget. In the words of a Washington Post writer this means that “If you tell Congress the cost of making those tax cuts permanent lawmakers might have second thoughts about doing it.” In 2004, 2005, and again this year, Republicans have submitted legislation to make this bookkeeping change. It has been voted down each time.

Another thing the administration lauds publicly is that its tax cuts have resulted in significant job growth. According to a watchdog group called Jobwatch, however, it is increased Federal spending and not tax cuts that have created the bulk of jobs created over the past five years. They point out that if the tax cuts were responsible for job growth, then the bulk of the new jobs would have been created in the private sector with its own funding.

The Department of Defense estimates that since 2001 it has added 1.495 million jobs to the private sector through its own spending. Another 1.325 million jobs were added through increases in non-defense discretionary spending, for a total of 2.2 million new jobs directly attributable to increased government spending, not private enterprise. This does not include jobs created by increases in mandatory government spending and I could find no figures to account for these.

Monthly job growth since 2003 has been approximately 50% of that during the previous administration and real wages are lower by 22 cents an hour since June of 2003. Since March 2001, the United States has lost approximately 659,000 high paid information jobs. Add the loss of manufacturing jobs and this figure rises to over 2 million.

Since November of 2001 the economy has added 1,93,000 jobs in education and health services, and another 1,087,000 in the hospitality industry. These jobs in general pay appreciably less than the jobs we’ve lost. These figures would be appreciably different if the Bush administration had succeeded in a change it proposed to job reporting rules that would have allowed them to mask the enormous decrease in manufacturing jobs by re-classifying burger flipping and other restaurant jobs as manufacturing jobs.

The bottom line is that the Bush tax cut are nowhere as clearly beneficial as Republicans would have us believe, nor are they producing the number of new jobs we have been told once you factor out those jobs created by profligate government spending. The facts certainly open the door to discussion. I would urge people to read the information and to search out more information on their own.

Sources:

http://www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm

http://www.brook.edu/views/op-ed/gale/20040121taxcuts.htm

http://www.brook.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb101.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/17/AR2006021701848.html

http://www.jobwatch.org/

Bush on the Campaign Trail

With the midterm elections only a week away, I've seen daily reports of the President on the campaign trail for this candidate or that candidate. He gives campaign speeches, etc. all over the country, at taxpayer expense of course.

The thought struck me today that when he was elected President, he became the President of the United States, not the President of the Republican Party. Regardless of his party affiliation, George Bush is the president of all Americans. As such he represents us all and has absolutely no business campaigning for anyone for any reason.

Why is the President allowed to campaign against the wishes of at least half of his electorate....the people he purports to represent? He should remain in D.C. and keep out of the races. They are none of his business but are rather the will of the people in action. By making partisan appearances and taking partisan positions, he undermines the very notion of a President for all the people of the country.

Negative Campaign Ads

I am so sick and tired of negative campaign ads. You would think that people running for office would want the voters to know their record, what they would try to do if elected, etc. Instead we get an almost endless supply of extremely negative attack ads which often have little more than the merest shred of truth in them. I truly question the intelligence of anyone who would let their opinion of a candidate be swayed by an advertisement by someone with a vested interest in making the other person look bad.

I see ads calling an opponent "the biggest spender in Congress" as if one person decides and spends money there. I see ads infering that a black politician is consorting with white prostitutes to play the race card in a southern state. I see ads in which the scenes in one candidate's novel are portrayed as his opinion of women in real life. I see national ads that portray one party's position as being nothing that is related to what that party actually is saying.

These ads have been getting worse and worse over the years. I would love to see the voters entirely reject any candidate who dares to run one. Tell me what your positions are. Tell me how they differ from those of your opponent (and be honest about your opponent's position). Tell me what you will try to do in congress, what committees you'd like to serve on, what your special interests are. Don't do dirty attacks on your opponent because you're not winning. Reach me through intelligent discourse, not though mud-slinging.

The Busy Season

My busy season has already started. I am frantically trying to finish an afghan for my daughter's birthday in about two weeks. I'm making good progress by keeping myself to a strict production schedule that eats up to two hours a day. I should be able to finish it in plenty of time. The problem is that I can only work on it when she is not in the house so I keep a second project going at the same time.

The second project is a quilt for my son and his wife for Christmas. Of course it's not going to be finished by Christmas, but it should be far enough along for me to be able to send them a nice picture and a promise. It will be done in early Spring at latest. I have two of the thirty squares already finished. I love quilting and keep one going at all times. When this is done, I have two more, and four wall hangings to do.

Sometime this upcoming week I will get a kit for a beautiful blue knitted afghan. It has a snowflake design. It's reversible, so that will be pretty. It's going to be for my daughter's girlfriend. I will have to push hard to get it done in the five or six weeks I'll have to do it. I'll figure out what I have to finish in what time frame to make it happen so we'll see.

Because of all of this, my time for games and other things is restricted. I have not been writing much, though I have to get that to change. I am going to start (again) trying to write for an hour every morning as soon as I am up. That seems to work better than some other things.

For now, however, I'll chug along happily with my various projects and see where it gets me. I have one afghan square finished already this morning, and if Susan comes home soon (not very likely) I will still have this evening while she is out to do the other one. I only have to get two a day finished to hit my deadline. I have five done now and will have one more today. That leaves 11 more of this color. The other 18 are already finished.

Democratic Agenda

I have heard a lot of talk coming from the Republicans about how Democrats "have no plan" etc. However, after doing a bit of reading, I discover that they have put forth a rather definitive plan of what they would want to accomplish should they take control of the House and/or Senate in two weeks.

At the top of the agenda is legislation to increase the minimum wage, force drug companies to negotiate price on prescription drugs sold to Medicare recipients, implement all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, end tax breaks for big oil, and increase spending for embrionic stem cell research. While it's not "stay the course" it's certainly a very ambitious agenda and if they can actually do even part of it, it will be remarkable and will be 100% more than the current congress has managed to accomplish.

Republicans say that the Democrats will increase taxes, but tht's just a scare tactic as is the call to impeach Bush. While a few Democrats might like to do that, most realize it's a waste of time that they will need to solidify their base and set themselves up with accomplishments going into the next presidential election. On taxation, the only thing I found they were going to propose is an overhaul of the alternative minimum tax, which is increasingly gouging into income of the middle class. Republicans have also called for doing this, but they have never actually proposed legislation to accomplish it.

Another thing that Republicans say is that Democrats will bog congress down with investigations. I cannot see how congress could possibly be less effective than it is now, but I agree with the areas where the Democrats want to conduct investigations. They want to focus on waste, fraud, and abuse in government contracts awarded for Iraq, Katrina, Homeland Security and other such huge handout programs. I would hope this homes in heavily on no-bid contacts to Bush and Cheney buddies. They are also saying they will investigate the reconstruction contracts in Iraq for war profiteering. These are good things, and the money that could be recovered in such investigations would more than pay for any new programs.

In effect, Democrats are saying they will actually try to accomplish something even if Republicans block it and Bush vetoes it. Since most of their agenda is important domestic things, it will sell well to the voters either way. Democrats will have to walk a very fine line this upcoming two years as their aim is not just regaining the House and possibly the Senate, but also defeating Republicans for the Presidency in two years. Personally, I honestly believe they will blow that one. Then again I am not convinced they will actually take the House or the Senate in two weeks. I do, however, hope that if they do they follow through to end much of the acrimony and fighting and actually try to accomplish something.

The Midterms

The political climate is heating up again as the midterm elections are only two weeks away. As usual there is political rhetoric and attack ads. What there isn't, as usual is any substantive action or call to action on the part of either party. We have the usual: "We can do better," talk, but given the total inaction on the part of this congress, I am not sure why anyone should believe them now just because there is an election.

I admit I'm disappointed. I had hoped maybe this could have been an election on issues and plans. What legislation will the Republicans or Democrats introduce in the new session to address even one of the major domestic issues in this country? Thus far the biggest news on that front is that Bush will stop using "stay the course," as a slogan for Iraq. No plan or anything for ending the conflict, but by god we are getting a new slogan. That's so reassuring. I hope he's not simly switching to "Well stand down as they stand up." Maybe something with more zip like: "Mission Accomplished!"

The Republicans are having heart failure over the thought of Nancy Pellosi as Speaker of the House if the Democrats win. There is even talk of a grassroots rebellion among Democrats against her candidacy. On the other hand, she has put forth an actual plan for her first few weeks in office that is impressive, even if it's impossible. Even if the Democrats win and step up to the plate in terms of advancing domestic legislation aimed at solving problems at home, the Republicans and the President will shoot it down in the interest of partisan politics.

I guess in the end that is what bothers me most about our current government. It's all about political power and acrimony and not anything about actually stepping up to the responsibilities of the job we elected them to do. I would sooner have one party or the other pushing a major agenda with which I basically disagreed than to do nothing. At least they would be trying to accomplish something aside from raising money, getting reelected, and kissing ass on big business and big donors.

The midterms are coming. Will it really make any difference at all which party wins?

Addictions

Everyone has addictions of one sort or another, some are simply more universally acceptable than are others. Drugs, alcohol, excessive sex, and the like are examples of bad addictions. Books, learning, writing, and the like are examples of things that can be viewed as good addictions.

I was thinking about this this past week because I again indulged in my biggest addiction of all..buying books. I love books. I read them vociferously and I learn or am entertained. I also have a weakness for pens and blank books in which to record ideas. Tablets. I always have a lot of these things at hand scattered across the house and even in my purse or in the car. I am having to be more careful about the book addiction of late because I am now retired. I go to half price books more often and buy paperback as opposed to hardback for all but the more urgent offerings. I mean I won't wait a year for the newest Harry Potter book to be published in paperback, for instance.

That being said, however, I do buy more books than I should. It often takes me a while to read them all and I generally have a pile of 10 or more in my queue. I freely admit that I start getting really antsy, even anxious, if I am down to my last one or two books. I suppose as addictions go, this one, while expensive, is better than many other types of addictions. I guess this is a good thing because I cannot even imagine not having a pile of cool new books waiting to be cracked open and enjoyed.

Hmmmm.....I suppose hints to my relatives that gift cards to book stores make excellent birthday and Christmas presents might be in order.

Getting Things Done

I seem to be off and on when it comes to getting things done. I never seem to get everything I want done no matter how hard I try.

This week I did manage to complete an afghan for myself for this winter, and also a quilt that my friend Arla and I made for a friend. She cuts and pieces and I quilt and bind. Neither likes the other's job much so it works out perfectly for me and things get done.

Today I went out and bought backing for my son's quilt, and will put the batting, backing, and top together today sometime and begin quilting that. I already know what I plan to do in terms of quilting it, so that helps.

I started an afghan for my daughter for her birthday. Will have a push a bit to get that one done by the 9th, but the saving grace is that it is done with really chunky yarn so a huge square is only 7 rows.

I've fallen down badly on my writing. I think I have a work-around for that and will see tomorrow morning. I decided to pull up whatever I was working on first thing before I even head to the kitchen to make coffee. Then I'll come back and write while the coffee is brewing and while I am sipping a couple of cups. It would be just another way to get my morning going on an up note.

On the up side of the writing, I did manage to rewrite and then edit my white paper on outsourcing and also to write the marketing letter. Today or tomorrow I'll select up to ten possible recipients and personalize each letter a bit for them, then send it out. I know it's a really good idea, but I need to be realistic in terms of anyone else seeing the possibilities. Then I shall move on to completing the outline and proposal for the book on teaching techies to write. I want to include a special chapter or two at the back concerning the problems of teaching non-native speakers to write at a professional level. I doubt it can be done to be honest, but I do know what it would take to do it if it were possible.

I need to do more to keep the house up. Just one or two things a day will make all the difference in the world when it comes to keeping on top of things. My daughter is doing better about picking up after herself and doing things too. At some point we will make a list of everything that needs to be done every week, divide it up, and then each person will do their share as they find the time.

I find it particularly ironic that now that I don't work any more I seem to be more busy than I ever was when I did.

A changing world

I haven't posted for a few days; not because I don't have things to comment on, but rather because the world is getting a bit overwhelming. So much is happening, and none of it seems to be good. Here and there I see a glimmering of goodness, but for the most part the news is grim, both personally and in the world.

It's a bit less tense around my house on a personal level because my daughter's girlfriend is gone. I hope for good, but I doubt it. As a result my daughter is home more and is drinking less. These are both good things. She has even started cleaning house again and invited me to go with her for a pedicure on Saturday.

Politically the U.S. is a mess as we plunge toward the midterm elections. Scandal follows scandal with no letup and crisis follows crisis. The Foley scandal continues to roar on unabated. New things arise every day.

On the world stage the U.S. is proving itself to be ineffectual and no longer a power with whom to be reckoned. A paper tiger. Bush draws lines in the sand and other countries step across them with impunity, knowing we have neither the will or the resources to enforce our saber rattling and bluster. Iraq is getting to be a bigger mess by the day and now, rather than beginning to draw down troops by early next year as we were told, we're not told that it will be 2010 or later. Afghanistan is sliding away because there are insufficient troops there to stop the reinsurgency of the Taliban across the Pakistani border, and the Pakistanis have given them a free pass.

Yesterday it hit me how much the world has really changed. A small plane flew into a high rise in NY city. The first thing the news was broadcasting is that it probably wasn't a terrorist attack. I can remember when such a thought wouldn't have occurred to any of us.

I guess I am just feeling overwhelmed by all of the possibilities and all of the news. The one bright spot in all of this chaos is the reaction of the Amish community to the terrible massacre of its children by a nutjob with a gun. Members of that community actually attended the killer's funeral and have set up a fund for his children's schooling. That is such a fine example of living your faith and your beliefs rather than just talking about them. Members of the American religious right could do well to emulate these fine, caring people of faith.

What an awful week

This has truly been an awful week. The school shootings have left me feeling really shaken and wondering how murdering children somehow is seen as a solution to anything for any reason. It feels as if there is some sort of sickness growing among us that is disconnecting us all from our basic humanity.

Then we have the Washington scandals. The Foley thing is, in my opinion, just a symptom of the generalized corruption in D.C. now on both sides of the aisle. Those up there have long ago lost sight of what they are elected to do and why they are really there. I fear the only solution that they'll actually hear is to vote out all incumbents and continue to do so every two years until they get the message to start doing what they are there to do such as secure our borders, fix our tax code, fix the broken immigration system, balance the budget, reduce the debt, and start acting with fiscal responsiblity. The general public is sick and tired of this do-nothing congress where the biggest thing they think of as an accomplishment is voting in a huge tax cut to the top two-tenths of one percent of the taxpayers.

I'm eagerly awaiting my copy of Bob Woodward's new book State of Denial. Already the repercussions of what he says in there are shaking the country. First Ms. Rice flatly denies a critical briefing every happened, only to be forced to turn around two days later and admit it did happen then try to explain it away. The Administration, who touted Woodward's first two books on the Bush Presidency, is now trying to make it appear as if for some reason Woodward chose in this instance to abandon the journalistic care and integrity for which he's been known for over 30 years and has produced a pack of lies. Even the denials are couched in such a way as to make them laughable. The collective amnesia is amazing.

On the personal front things are very traumatic at home at present so I am exhausted and feeling out of sorts despite having a ton of important things to get done today. It's nearly 8:30 in the morning and I am not even ready to begin work.

In all it's been an awful week, and it's only Thursday.

Torture

The past few days I've been seriously disturbed at the discussions I am seeing regarding torture. This country is now so polarized that there are people arguing that if Bush wants to torture prisoners he should be allowed to, and arguing which tortures are ok and which are not.

It hasn't been that long ago when we (meaning the United States) were regarded as and also regarded ourselves as the good guys. We did things the right way because it was the right way. I guess in today's terminology you could say we had a moral compass. That seems to be entirely gone now, at least at a governmental level. In the past we would never have discussed what torture was acceptable because the answer would have been a resounding "none."

The current administration not only defends torture as something good, but our Attorney General wants acceptable torture methods defined as anything that doesn't cause organ failure or death. Using this definition, beatings, rapes, removing fingernails, shoving objects under fingernails, removing fingers and toes, castration (as long as blood loss is minimized) and any number of other horrors of the medieval torture chamber would be perfectly acceptable methods for U.S. interrogators to use.

Maybe it's just me, but this more than anything I can imagine, defines what is wrong with the current President and his cronies. What kind of people can even think torture justified? What is worse, according to statistics, upward of 80% of those we pick up and detain are innocent. They are people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That means that when we torture them for the critical information we think they have, they cannot stop the torture by giving in and telling us what we want to know. They don't know anything in the first place.

Finally, what about the long term psychological and physical effects of prolonged torture? Just because the person didn't suffer organ failure or die doesn't mean they didn't suffer and may continue to suffer for a lifetime. What sort of a nation are we turning into that this sort of atrocity could ever be considered OK and acceptable? How much deeper do we have to sink before the voters say "enough is enough" and attempt to bring back this country's honor?

Update on NIC Report

The part they declassified on the report was sort of an Executive Summary and fully supports what people have been saying about the leaked portions of the report plus a bit. It's very well-balanced and acknowledges progress as well as failure.

The sections on Iraq are, however, chilling. Essentially they concluded that for the time we are dithering around and not winning in Iraq we are allowing the radical Islamists a breeding ground and recruiting tool they never had before. The conclusion was that inasmuch as we do not decisively win in Iraq so that the terrorists leave feeling they failed, we have fueled world terrorism.

The report concludes that Al-Quaida has been weakened, which is something we knew, but that it has also splintered and decentralized and that other groups have also been created with only philosophical rather than political ties to Al-Quaida. The report stresses that this makes them harder to find and harder to stop.

The positive conclusions were that the spread of democracy and the creation of governments where people have some say and don't view their government as corrupt and oppressive would go a long way toward defusing the root cause of terrorism. It points out that most Muslims do not want a Sharia state that the radicals envision. The downside to this is that many moderate Muslims are radicalized by our presence in the Middle East and our inability to stop or even curb the violence that started when we came into Iraq.

The overall tone of the report's conclusions are chilling. They are not generally positive nor do they seem to be suggesting a solution. I can see why Bush didn't want this report out. It's not that there is anything whatever in it that should have been classified. Classification should not be used solely because the conclusions reached in a report makes a current or past administration look bad, weak, and ineffective. That is apparently why this particular report was classified.

Republicans have been quick to point out the conclusion that says it is critical to controlling terrorism that we win in Iraq. This is true. What they neglect to mention is that had we never gone into Iraq and then decided not to win there, there would be no current focus and breeding ground for terrorists as there is today. To be fair, they might have found somewhere else, but to be honest that's not what happened. So yes, it's critical we win now that we're there, but the report leaves no doubt whatever that it would have been much better for the world had we never gone in there in the first place.

Personally I am not encouraged by the conclusions of the report. I am even more discouraged that the present government found it necessary to hide these conclusions from us pretending they somehow compromised national security, which they do not in any way do. The report itself is apparently 32 pages long. I am not sure if it is being declassified. I hope so.

The Latest Security Leak

I am looking forward to the imminent release of the full text of the latest leaked security assessment. I've already seen Bush putting enormous spin on what the leaked portions actually say, though having read them, I don't see what he sees to be honest.

The President states that people are saying that the report claims that his handling of the Iraq war has increased the threat of terrorist attacks to Americans. Unless he's reading a different report than appeared in the NY Times, that's not what I am seeing at all. What the released portion of the report are saying is that the administrations invasion of Iraq and then total mishandling of the war have increased the world-wide threat of terrorism. By extension that could be read to include the U.S. but it was not specifically saying just the U.S.

John Negroponte is quoted as saying that the report is a comprehensive assessment that highlights the importance of Iraq on the future of global jihadism. This sounds like a very accurate assessment from my point of view. The eventual outcome of the war in Iraq undoubtedly will have an enormous impact on the future of global terrorism.

What Mr. Negroponte and the President fail to acknowledge, however, is that this is true only because we invaded in the first place and then totally mishandled the war itself from that point onward, while stubbornly sticking to a plan that has proven itself to be an utter and abysmal failure. The Iraq war and the resulting insurgency are now the main focus and the main recruiting tools for the new generation of Islamic extremists. Virtually everyone acknowledges that this is true.

What is also true is that this focus would not exist had we not invaded Iraq or if we had invaded with a clear and workable plan to actually win the war once we were there. It was critical that the administration be sufficiently nimble to change directions once we were there and it became apparent that the flowers on the streets beneath our feet and the eternal fawning gratitude were not going to materialize. On this the administration has failed miserably. Stay the Course and We'll Stand Down When the Iraqis Stand Up are not war plans. They're political slogans.

So unless the full report contains something of significance beyond what we have already been shown, the press assessments are correct. Thanks to Bush's missteps and inability and will to actually win the war in Iraq, we have provided the world's terrorists with a focus for recruiting more jihadists because they have a perfect training ground in Iraq, complete with Americans to murder. It is a moot point as to whether that will eventually prove out to mean that there is an increased terror threat in the U.S. Europe and the rest of the world also count when it comes to assessing the international threat level.

Personally, my assessment is that if you give International terrorism a focus for recruitment, eventually you have also ensured that no matter how much you work to avoid it, there will one day be more major attacks here. I will read the report when it's released and comment on it here.

Interesting Last 24 Hours

The past 24 hours has been very interesting as in "May you live in interesting times." It started last night when my daughter decided to take her two dogs with her when she went with a friend to run a few errands. She came home about an hour later in hysterics, stopping just long enough to drop off one of the dogs.

Seems the other one. The male, was on his way to the vet after having jumped out of a moving car that was going about 30 mph and into traffic. Fortunately he didn't get hit by any of the cars behind them. He's a mess, but is extremely fortunate. He has no broken bones, no pulled tendons, and doesn't have a concussion. What he does have is some really nasty road rash and (though we cannot see any) bruises everywhere according to the vet. He's on antibiotics and pain pills for a few days.

Today I took care of him. He's barely able to walk he's limping so badly. He's sleeping a lot. Fortunately we have a wheelchair ramp at the front of the house so he can get down to do his business without using the stairs, which are clearly beyond him at the moment.

The second interesting thing was that last week I was listening to a talk radio show where I live. The host was talking politics and it reminded me of a piece I wrote here giving advice to the Democrats. So I sent a copy of it off to his show and promptly forgot about it.

Today I got a call from his producer, praising the piece not only for its contents but also for the quality of the writing. They wanted me to come on the show for a segment. This was quite cool. First he read what I had written, then he asked me quite a few questions. After that they opened up the phone lines. The entire segment lasted about an hour. I was nervous at first, but quickly relaxed and did ok. It was nice. I guess that's my 15 minutes of fame.

I told him that the DNC had ignored my message other than to begin innundating me with requests for money. He asked if they ever did respond that I share it with him, which I said I would do. He noted, however, that both of us will probably be chipping icicles in hell before that happens.

The Drums of War

In the back of my mind these days I hear the drums of war beginning to take up the beat once again. The administration is already building a case for going into Iran, either with what they call "surgical strikes" or with a full scale invasion.

I think somehow our illustrious leader imagines that we can go in and bomb one or two sites as the Israelis did in Libya and that will eliminate the Iranian nuclear program. From what I have read, we know of about two dozen nuclear sites of one sort or another in Iran. That undoubtedly means there are at least another dozen or so we don't have a clue about. The bottom line there is that we cannot actually get it all in one fell swoop.

In addition, the administration seems to believe that if they were to do this, that Iran would just roll over and play dead. That's not likely to happen with convenient targets (namely U.S. military) just over the open border in Iraq. The Iranian leader is a nutcase who believes we are coming up on the end of the world and that he wants to speed that up. This is the guy who considers it perfectly logical and sane to write dialogue on post it notes and toss them down a well and imagine that he is conversing with a long dead holy man. This is the guy we're depending on to act logically and sanely if we attack him.

There is every indication that much of what we're being fed by the administration currently is a crock, much along the lines of the WMD stockpiles and nuclear programs in Iraq before the war. The nuclear regulatory agency says that the Iranian program is years further behind than the US is claiming. So far on such matters, they haven't been wrong and we haven't been right even a single time. Much of what is being written these days also dwells on the fact that the Iranian people are not nearly as disaffected as the expatriate community would have us believe. That is the same as we discovered to our chagrin in Iraq as well.

With the midterms coming up and a presidential election only two years away, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if Bush picks another war just to see Republicans remain in power. I mean, they cannot point to anything they've done in the form of legislation that would make people want to keep them. So maybe embroiling us in yet another war would somehow do the trick. *sigh*

Family Wedding

I attended my youngest sister's wedding yesterday. Well, she's also my niece, but that's another story for another day. It was a nice wedding and was a day I am positive she felt would never actually come. She is 41 years old and has never been married. She's been in two extremely long-term relationships and has a 14 year old daughter from one of them. But she's never been married.

Yesterday two of her brothers marched her down the aisle, and my sister (her birth mother) gave her away. The ceremony itself was short and simple. Her new husband interrupted the ceremony several times to proclaim at the top of his voice that she was his best friend and how much he loved her. It was very touching. He also got down on his knees to put the ring on her finger. They were both horribly nervous and shaking by the time it was over and they were finally married.

Lisa looked pretty in her wedding dress. Her daughter was one of the bridesmaids. She looked happier than I ever remember seeing her. I made her promise me she's wait until I was at least ten miles away from the area before she threw the bouquet. One cannot be too careful.

The reception was nice, but I left fairly early. Large crowds and lots of noise get on my nerves. It was great to see my nephews and their wives and children there. However, the dogs were here alone outside, and with my catarracts I don't see as well at night as I used to, so I wanted to avoid driving after dark as much as I could. It was a long drive.

Susan stayed down there, but she and Tammy (as usual when they drink) got into a fight, so Tammy came back up here about 2:30 in the morning. I'm tired, having been awakened in the middle of the night. Given that I was here with the dogs alone, I didn't really get much sleep before then either, with them barking every time someone farted in this half of the county. Obviously, once awake I didn't get much sleep afterward either. Two nights of bad sleep now. Tonight will be three as Susan and Tammy are sure to get drunk and get into another screaming match.

Hurt Feelings

My feelings are a bit hurt today. It has to do with my computer. About a month or so ago I mentioned I wanted to upgrade my memory. My daughter said she would check the memory to see what kind I did the upcoming weekend. She never did. I've mentioned her promise to her several times over the past month. She always says she'll do it, she never did, so I just stopped asking. Please understand it's not that I was unable to do it myself, but rather that I hate messing around inside computers, and she does it for a living.

What hurts is that she's always ready and available to help anyone else with their computer at a moment's notice. She will spend hours, and sometimes even a whole day working on her Dad's computer, her ex-husband's new girlfriend's computer, or those of total strangers she runs into in bars. She does it almost immediately and without hesitation. I have to ask and ask then she doesn't do it anyway. It makes me feel as if everyone else counts and I don't, I guess.

Of course there is an easy way around this, and it is the path I will take. I'll either do the work myself or I will pay to have it done in the future.

Yesterday I took the case off the computer and removed the memory stick. I decided that since I had no way of telling what I needed to know to get another one, I put the stick in a static sleeve and took it to the computer store with me. I got the new memory and came home. Then the fun began. I absolutely couldn't get the new memory into the computer. I struggled, scratched my hands up, broke nails, but no joy. Friends online gave me advice. I told Susan about it and she said she'd get it in when she got home.

She came home. No help. She ate dinner. No help afterward. Then she decided she had to go somewhere with her friend who needed help, while she saw me here struggling again to get the memory upgrade into the computer. I felt a bit like crying. She has time for everyone in the world but not five minutes for me. Yeah, I know, I'm feeling sorry for myself. But it does hurt.

Finally, when I was on the verge of simply giving up and returning the memory to the store the following morning, it clicked into place. I had done it by myself.

What leaves a bad taste in my mouth still is that I learned this morning that not only had I asked her, but her girlfriend has said something as had her ex-husband. They told her she should take a couple of minutes to help me out since I had wasted the better part of a day trying to do a job she could do in five minutes. There has to be a reason why she absolutely refuses to help me with anything. I just don't know what it is. It's not as if we have a bad relationship or anything. I just don't understand why. And yeah, being neglected and ignored doesn't feel good.

The Upcoming Midterms

I'm becoming much more interested in the upcoming midterms as the days pass. There appears to be a growing anti-incumbent sentiment based on the fact that the incumbents seem to be doing nothing but arguing, backbiting, etc. The American public wants to see work being done on critical domestic issues, and it's not being done.

This isn't a slam on either party individually, but on the entire political climate in this country collectively. Politicians in general have utterly lost sight of the fact they were elected to represent their constituents and to work on solving the nation's problems. They are not there to pander to special interests and big business, load budgets with pork, and take potshots at the opposing party.

My hope (and that's all it is at this point) is that the voters will go to the polls so utterly ticked off that they will toss out incumbents of both parties in record numbers. This would send a loud and clear message to those remaining to get off their dead butts and start doing the country's business or face the same fate themselves. I am totally sick and tired of do-nothing senators and representatives. I'm tired of the name calling and finger pointing.

Bush is the very worst of this bunch in that regard, but he's also gone in two years no matter what, so it doesn't matter. He talks a good game but actually does nothing but talk about it. He never provides the strong, decisive leadership necessary to make real significant changes.

Both sides need to pick issues important to them and then work with their opposite numbers to pass legislation and set the path toward solution of the issues. The issue itself is relatively unimportant as long as it's not just a lip-service issue such as flag burning, gay marriage, or one of the other non-issues that makes it appear to some people that congress is trying to "do something." I am talking real issues: Medicare, Social Security, Immigration, border security, reforming the tax code....something of this magnitude. And they must commit to not only talking about it but doing it. It might also be nice to fund the effort properly and put in safeguards so they're not just throwing money at the issue. Might also be nice to identify where cuts will be made to find the money.

In the end, I am really hoping the voters get off their hands and vote in record numbers and that a huge number of incumbents on both sides of the aisle are tossed out on their collective butts, thus sending a loud and clear message in the most forceful way possible that we expect this bunch of self-indulgent, pandering, self-important bunch of wastrels to start actually earning their pay.

I Must Be Nuts

I honestly think I'm taking leave of my senses these days. I am actually looking forward to getting a puppy in December sometime. I am apparently going to have to go to other organizations, since the Golden Retriever club in my area has proven pretty cavelier and has not answered my request for information on breeders, etc.

I am not sure why the idea of a puppy appeals to me. Sure, I love puppies as much as the next person, but I am also aware that puppies have this really nasty habit of growing into dogs. And I am not all that particularly enchanted with dogs.

I guess perhaps because I am growing older, and spend so much of my time alone these days, maybe I am beginning to feel the need for some sort of companionship. I know I'm almost painfully lonely, and that is not going to change any time soon. That's as much a personal choice as it is circumstances, given my life and my experiences. I'm very severely pain adverse, and any human relationship is sure to bring even more pain than I have already suffered. I guess I am not prepared to deal with that.

I have been making lists and checking costs of dog ownership. Insurance for their health for instance. How utterly ironic that I cannot get affordable health insurance for myself before Medicare, but I can for a dog. I have researched toys, ways of aclimatizing Brisco, beds, cage training, and the ultimate obedience training at 12 weeks. I have a mental vision of the type of dog that I find acceptable, and obedient is the most important. I do not want to inflict a disaster such as Brisco on the world. I firmly believe that a trained and obedient dog that knows his/her place is a much happier dog as well.

So December creeps up on us and sometime during that month I will become the owner of a dog. I wonder if I'm prepared?

Ineresting Day

I found out today that my daughter plans to get me a golden retriever puppy for my birthday/christmas present (they're one week apart). One of her dogs will go with her husband when their divorce is final and that will leave one dog in the house. She really wants another dog, but also wants to do without the responsibility so she will give me the puppy I would enjoy and I get to see that it is trained, feed it, brush it, etc. Heck, I'm here all the time anyway so why not.

I am reading up on puppy training and all of that right now. We will go through formal obedience classes as soon as the dog is old enough. I won't have an untrained pita dog. I'll have to learn to trim claws, etc. It might be interesting. I understand this breed is very intelligent, obedient, and mild tempered. I intend to get a female since I like to scratch their tummies and you can't do that with a male.

Yesterday I found out that Susan can sign. Not universal sign but rather finger spelling. She said hello to a new neighbor's child and he signed at her. She spelled out that she could only do alphabet and asked his name. He was really thrilled. I was amazed watching her. She's really fast at it and the kid understood her right off. I think she may take a course in universal signing. I've always wanted to learn that. Don't know why but I have.

Susan has split up with her girlfriend again. This is the fifth or sixth time. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts this time. And then Susan's wallet disappeared. She thinks the girlfriend took it, but I don't. Susan was so roaring drunk that she could have dropped or put it virtually anywhere. I won't be a bit surprised if it just turns up in a laundry basket or something.

I swear I live in such interesting times. The Chinese curse sort of interesting times.

Words

I have noticed that people tend to stuff people into conveniently labeled little boxes, and become uncomfortable when someone doesn't fit or refuses to be categorized. For instance, I personally disapprove of George Bush's handling of the war, the economy, the budget, domestic issues and virtually everything else. When I say this, I am accused of "hating" Bush. When did we get to the point of equating political differences with hatred?

This has nothing to do with party lines. Many of my political views are also shared by mainstream Republicans. Many are shared by mainstream Democrats. I pride myself on being a person who decides issues based on facts not on what a particular party line dictates. I believe in a balanced budget and zero based budgeting, smaller government, cutting waste, etc. Those are largely Republican stands. I also believe in universal access to affordable health care, giving people a hand up when they fall on hard times, and in some regulation and/or oversight of big business since many in big business have proven themselves incapable of honesty without it. These are largely Democratic stands.

Yet people keep trying so very hard to push me into one of these stupid little boxes that says Republican or Democrat (I am neither), conservative or liberal (again, I am neither or both depending on the issue). Why is it we cannot accept that there are people who actually think for themselves? I approach each issue as a separate one and decide my stand when I view pros and cos, look at what others write, and then ultimately think about it and decide.

Even more alarming to the box police is the idea that you can actually change your mind and your views on a subject when the situation changes, more evidence is presented, or times change. In other words, some of us refuse to be locked into a position for life when the environment surrounding that position changes or we get more information. I consider it block-headed to cling to an outdated idea because you don't want to be seen as changing your mind. Why wouldn't you change it if new proof shows your old position was based on insufficient information and was, therefore, inaccurate? What is so wrong with saying, I learned more about it, so I changed my position based on the newer, more accurate information?

I see this as a part of the the general political hostility and incivility that reins today. People are so divided and so polarized that they cannot even hear what "the other side" says, much less accept that they are accurate. Recently I had a friend, who disapproves of nearly everything Bush does, but who also identifies himself as a Republican become insensed because I stated I didn't agree with things Bush is doing. Now mind you he doesn't approve of those same things either, but he actually said it was disrespecting the office of the presidency to disagree with what the president does/says. Since when?

Monday Evening Ramblings

This has been a pretty busy day considering that I got nothing of consequence done. I did get the house fairly clean, the laundry done, the garbage out, and the dogs fed. But I didn't write or do much reading. I didn't work on my new beading stuff. I should.

I have this feeling that I am sitting here spinning my wheels while life passes me by. I'm getting a bit more disciplined and am getting a few small things done, but I want to do more. Like find a time to write every day that I cannot sluff off. I would like to do some serious reading.

I was reading the CNN webpage today and I saw that things are a bit better in Iraq because things are more under control in Baghdad. I guess an extra 15,000 or so troops has put a crimp in the terrorists. Attack-related deaths are down by nearly 50%. Of course last month was the bloodiest in terms of civilian deaths of the war.

I see that guy who confessed to the Ramsey killing was lying. What would make someone confess to the rape and murder of a child, I wonder? He's still not out of the woods as they are going to prosecute him in California for child pornography. So he's a sick puppy by anyone's estimation other than his own.

The weather here is about to change toward autumn they say. We have one more pretty warm day on tap. After that they say it will get cooler and cloudy. That's ok. Maybe we'll get some rain and it will save me having to go out and water the garden every day. Every grey cloud has a silver lining with the right attitude.

It's getting late and I admit I'm tired. I didn't get nearly as good a night's sleep last night as I might have wished. That's two in a row and no naps either. Tonight promises to be a bit better as it's cooled off considerably already. I think I'll see what I can do with writing in the morning while I'm having coffee. The game will be down and I can concentrate on getting that done. Maybe early morning with fresh coffee is my particular writing time.

An Interesting Viewpoint

I was watching Fox News this morning and they had Juan Williams on. He was talking about Bill Cosby's controversial comments regarding black youngsters and the black community in general. He sided with Cosby against the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Jackson and Sharpton's political futures rest firmly on maintaining the oppressed victim mentality in the black community.
What Cosby said essentially was that it's time for people to get off their dead butts and to stop blaming exterior conditions for their own bad choices. For instance, it may be a fact that a particular school with a predominantly black student body is a bad school. It is equally true that people either choose to go to school regularly and learn, study, do their homework and really try to make the best of what they have, or they don't. Those who choose not to learn are responsible for those choices.

Cosby pointed out (and Williams agrees) that this victim mentality and really stupid attitudes among black youth are ruining any chances blacks have to continue moving into the middle class and out of poverty. It's not "cool" to be smart and work, for instance. But it is "cool" to hang out on a street corner, insult women, sell and/or take drugs, and belong to gangs. Stealing is cool. Holding down a job isn't. Gang violence is cool. Respecting the law isn't.

Such attituded and the breakdown of what used to be a strong black community in the US has really taken its toll on blacks in general, but it's not whites they need to blame for their problems. Whites don't make black men father out of wedlock children then abandon both the child and the mother. Whites don't make blacks commit crimes, drop out of school, or not even look for work. Again that's a factor of attitude within people themselves.

I'm not even trying to argue that many poor blacks don't have it bad. Of course they do; their chances for getting out are smaller because they have less to work with in terms of education, job skills, the results of their own poor choices, etc. in the first place. But they can get out. More and more blacks join the ranks of the middle class every year, or at least they did until this current administration.

I am encouraged when I hear people like Williams and Cosby stand up and tell it like it is, thus attempting to thwart the attempts of so-called black leaders to foster a permanent sense of victimization, hopelessness, and entitlement in the black community. Sharpton, Jackson, and their ilk are not doing blacks a favor by encouraging blacks to feel as if there is no way out and that they are owed a living.

I strongly believe that good solid job training programs should be available to everyone who needs them, free of charge. I support mentoring and tutoring programs, including SAT tutoring classes for kids in poor schools. I even believe that college admissions standards should contain exceptions for kids strong high academic backgrounds who had to work or tend family rather than do the usually expected extracurricular activities. I do not believe the academic standards should budge a shred based on race.

In the end the black community will fight to reestablish itself as a real, effective community. I see signs of that already and am encouraged. In the end though I would much rather hear news about black academic and workplace advancement than about the number of unwed births or the numbers of young men who choose to waste their lives in prison.

The weekend

Well, the weekend is approaching. I'll be alone here at the house with the dogs as usual. That's really not a problem. I am just not sure what I want to do. There are tons of things I "should" do, but not much I want to do.

My sleep is improving slightly. I am getting to sleep a bit faster, and getting back to sleep when I wake up faster. I think, though I have no way of quantifying it, that I am waking up at night a bit less. Sill six to eight times, but that's an improvement. The biggest improvement is that for the past three nights I have been able to go back to bed in the morning and sleep an extra two hours or so. This is major. I feel much better during the day and have a lot more energy.

Perhaps this weekend I'll try to get my habit of writing back. I know what I want to write. I have just finished a book about writing....the gist of it was to write. I know that sounds obvious, but what it means is write even if the stuff you're writing is bad and will have to be dumped at a later date. Just get the story down on paper so that it's real and out there. Writers tend to want their stuff to be excellent the first time out so they write and rewrite, or worse block up, rather than pushing through even if it's crap so that it gets done. Once done, then you can go back and polish, rewrite, dump the garbage, and refine the good stuff.

Anyway there is a warm weekend coming. I wish I didn't consider it a waste of time to go out by myself and do things. But a meal alone always leaves me thinking about how much better I could do and that it would have cost less too. I don't want to go shopping and there are no movies I want to see. It's almost 10:00 here, so I suppose I'll just sleep on it and decide in the morning. I think I shall make biscuits for breakfast for a change.

Social Security

I am now officially retired. I had intended to wait until my 65th birthday because of the difference in benefits, but today the Social Security office called and explained that the monthly difference will be under $30/mos if I retire now and if I wait until the end of December. The amount is insignificant considering my waiting for five additional months, so I made the decision to go for it now. Everything is settled and I'm officially retired. I get my first check next month.

It will still be the first of December before I get Medicare coverage, but I have picked a good program that will allow me to have a lot of coverage. It's not cheap, but I have checked out half a dozen or more programs and this is the best coverage for the money I can get here. I sign up for the supplemental insurance in November and am fully covered in December.

I am not sure how I really feel about this. It feels sort of sad in a way that I simply cannot find work. I am still working at trying to write and putting together a book proposal (non-fiction). I'll try to find other things. I still want to do a grant proposal for an idea I have, but cannot go through the Gates foundation as I intended as they don't take individual requests. Maybe I can go through the Everett Senior Center. It will be something I can investigate.

So as of today I'm officially old. *sigh*

Advice to Democrats

If I believed for a moment that the DNC would listen to me, I would offer them the following advice:

It’s November 2006 and Democrats have just won back control of both the House and Senate. Victory is sweet. You’ve worked hard and you’ve won. Once that initial blush of victory begins to fade you will face the greatest opportunity of this generation to either secure the Democratic position for a long time to come, or to blow it entirely. It’s up to you, and there are no re-dos. My bet, unfortunately, is that you are going to blow it, given you past record. So I’m offering the following ten suggestions to help you make this victory a march toward the Presidency in two years.

Please understand that I am nobody. I’m not a political pundit. I’m not a party worker. I’m an outsider who follows politics closely and who is smart enough to see where Democrats and Republicans screw up. None of these suggestions cost anything to do other than the expenditure of common sense, something you and the Republicans should have an abundance of considering how little it’s used these days.

1. Each person who will speak to the press on behalf of the Democratic party will repeat ten times before breakfast each morning: “I work for the welfare of the American people and the Republicans are not the enemy.” This will mean muzzling such people as Howard Dean until he learns some moderation.

What we the people absolutely do not want is a continuation of the partisan bickering that has been going on for so many years. This is the single most important rule you must learn. If you follow this one, you will get support from the American people on a level you will be shocked to see. We’re sick of the fighting.

2. Choose one or at most two major domestic issues on which to work. I would suggest Immigration/Border Security as number one as it ranks high among we the voters. The second place I would go would be a move toward fiscal responsibility. The war is a separate issue. I’ll get to that in a few minutes. Announce very publicly what these issues are and why they were chosen as a focus. Now comes the hard part; also announce that you are going to work with Republicans to come up with bills that work for both sides.

Make a public deal about how Democrats are the party of inclusion and that includes not shutting out Republicans from the decision making process as they also represent the American people. This is can be a very good public relations coup. Most important, do it. I don’t mean compromising where none is possible, but rather including as many good suggestions from Republicans as you possibly can. Remember the President’s position here with amnesty, etc. is extremely unpopular with voters. Play to that. Don’t attack the illegals except at the border. Dry up the sources of jobs until a viable guest worker program can be expanded to include them and let them self-deport. Start by enforcing the laws we already have, etc. Make this all as bipartisan as you can and make sure you stress how hard you are trying to work with Republicans.

Announce that the Democratic party is going to cut the pork out of the Federal budget then do it very publicly. Make sure that all parties involved know that they can put these bills up as stand-alones, they just cannot hide them in appropriation and other bills any more. Call upon Republicans to stand with you to make this happen.

3. This one is hard because it goes against every political instinct you have: do not get caught up in the expected endless round of political finger pointing and hearings, etc. Squelch any calls for impeachment. Your approach should be that Democrats are here to end this vicious cycle that has caused such congressional gridlock and that has Americans at one another’s throats politically. This doesn’t mean that if a scandal emerges you don’t investigate. It does mean you don’t go digging trying to make Republicans look bad. They look bad already. Let them stew. Just don’t push it. If you make them look persecuted they become the underdog. Everyone always pulls for the underdog. Let them continue to be the Party for the rich and for big business. They’ll sink their own ship. They don’t need your help.
4. Make a list of all the things that Republicans did to Democrats that really irritated, then publicly announce the list and state that unlike Republicans, Democrats don’t act that way and include them. Some cannot be expected to cooperate, but there are sufficient moderate Republicans who are dying for an opportunity to make some progress on national issues, give it to them. Make sure the press knows of this new direction.
5. Make a list of long-term, pressing national issues and announce that you are working on finding bipartisan solutions to them. Then do it. Not endless hearings and panels, but honest work toward incremental solutions. This includes the Medicare drug benefit, fixing Social Security, the problems with the infrastructure, resizing government, and whatever else your experts tell you resonates with the public. The key is to shift the focus off of endless foreign involvements and bring it back to the U.S. so that there is something every week or so to report on that concerns domestic issues. The American people want work on domestic issues.
6. Stop attacking Bush. I know that’s a big one, but he makes himself look bad enough without your help. Definitely point out where things that are his responsibility go wrong, such as poor choices for offices, failed or disastrous decisions, etc. but for the most part stick to the positive about what you are doing and accomplishing. There are sufficient scandals out there involving Bush and the Republicans that have yet to surface. It doesn’t require your help and it makes you look bad.
7. Refuse to accept Bush’s designation of the Democratic party as the party of “cut and run.” This is designed to appeal to the darkest fears of the American public regarding terrorism. This war is going bad enough for Bush to look bad without harping about it. That being said, however, you need a definite and united approach to the war.

The one place where you have the most opportunity to score legitimate points is to take the “strategy” that is currently posted on the White House webpage and demand specifics. It’s long on generalities, and devoid of parameters upon which progress toward the goals can be measured. “We will stand down as Iraq stands up” is a political slogan not a strategy without measurable parameters for progress. It’s sort of like “Mission Accomplished.”

Even better would be if you had a specific plan yourselves, but given that we’re there and are not just going to withdraw any time soon, you’re on thin ice there. Second guessing the military commanders is a bad idea as well. You need some military experts with political sense to give you a sound direction for this one.

Quietly and without fanfare begin investigating war profiteering and the no-bid contracts for Iraq handed out by the Bush administration. You should go public with this only if something significant and provable can be produced.

8. Begin a serious, bipartisan effort to revise the U.S. tax code. Include the public so you can hear their concerns and wishes. You might even wish to invite written ideas from them. Perhaps publish a website to keep people informed about what you are discussing. Let people know from the beginning this isn’t going to be a political rush job to score points for the next election or win a spot on the evening news, but a legitimate bipartisan attempt to fix a badly broken system.
9. This one is going to be hard, but except for critical spending such as the war, or already allocated programs, require that new legislation identify where the funding is going to come from. What will be cut to make the new program possible? Never lose sight of the idea that Democrats are first and foremost for fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, and reduction of the debt.
10. Finally, stop thinking and acting like underdogs, and stop letting the opposition define you. One of the biggest hurdles the Democratic party faces at this juncture is the urge to let the extreme left wing of the party take over and dictate policy. This will fail as much as has the Republican strategy of pandering to the extreme conservatives and religious right. The further you get from the center, the closer you get to your opposition’s extremes. Negotiation, moderation, and cooperation are not dirty words. In this instance, they could possibly save your party and set you up for taking the presidency in 2008.

Believe it or not, we average citizens out here are not as dumb as most politicians think we are. I think that is going to become apparent at the ballot box this November. It’s up to you how much further it goes beyond that. Remember, we out here are ripe for leaders who will put an end to the partisan bickering and nastiness. And the party who figures that out first is going to score big with us. We want progress, not obstruction. We want domestic concerns addressed. The average American is sick to death of watching Iraqis given services and assistance by our government that we as citizens cannot hope to ever have.

I wish you the best of luck. Given your previous track record, you’re going to need it.

Partisan Politics

With a couple of Democratic upsets in the primaries and poll numbers showing a groundswell of voter dissatisfaction with the current administration's policies and with their handling of the war, the Democratic party stands at a crossroads. It's entirely possible they will take back one or both houses of congress in November. This will present them with an historical opportunity which I am convinced that they will choose to blow.

When the new congressional session opens in January, the Democrats have two paths before them. The first one leads to a clear-cut domestic and diplomatic program, a plan to end and either win or get out of the war in Iraq, and a mountain of problems that need to be solved to begin moving the country forward. Peripherally there will also be the need to undo some of the worst offenses committed by the Repubicans.

The second path will be the politics of get even, investigations, hearings, proposed impeachment, and finger pointing. This is the path I believe they will choose as it's an easy path and doesn't require any committment or any real work. I hope it is not the one they decide to take.

Even if they don't have the votes to pass the bills that are needed, they need to put them up anyway. Choose a few very important issues and concentrate on those. It took years for things to get into this abysmal mess. It will take years to get out as well. Start by picking a popular issue such as border security/illegal immigration. This has a great deal of bipartisan support so it will be possible to reach across the aisle to Republicans and start building bridges and coalitions that can only result in good for the American people.

If the Democrats can remember that the other party is not the enemy and that they are all there for the betterment of the American people and this country, rather than to line their own pockets, ensure their next reelection, or pander to special interests, then they can start making progress. One party or the other will eventually have to suck it up and stop this ever downward spiral of animosity and hatred. It can be the Democrats if they have any brains.

I don't mean that the Republicans will cooperate, but a few might. The more Democrats can fight the impulse to get even and concentrate on getting things done, the better it will be for them and for us. The question remains whether they have the brains to do it or the will. The river of hate and acrimony runs deep and wide. Someone has to bridge this chasm. The one who does will win the undying gratitude of the voters.

Oh, as an aside, and as a starting point, I would suggest that the party spring for muzzles and put them on Howard Dean, Jessie Jackson, and Al Sharpton when it comes to speaking officially for the party on anything. All three of these men are a damned embarassment.

Sleep

Well, I am trying a new program I am currently reading about that holds some promise to at least improve my ability to go to bed and sleep. It's been well over 20 years since I have actually gone to bed and slept entirely through the night. They call it chronic insomnia, but have no cure.

While in the bookstore the other day I found a book by a doctor at the Harvard Medical School who specializes in treating chronic insomnia through behavior modification as opposed to the use of drugs. Given that drugs stop working after a few weeks anyway this sounds promising. It's a 6-week program. He claims that 70 percent of his patients begin sleeping normally by the end of the program. The other 30 percent show significant improvement. I could live with significant improvement.

I am on the base week now. This is when all you do is record your sleep information. Right now under the question about "how many times do you wake up at night" I am putting "too many to count" because I lose track after the first six times or so. On a bad night I am probably waking up every 45 minutes or so.

When I get to the first official week next week, I will begin working on my negative thinking regarding sleep. After that apparently it gets harder. For a couple of weeks I will actually spend less time in bed because of this. Fortunately I am not working at present so staying up later is going to be easier than it would otherwise. The one saving grace of this is that he encourages short naps midday. Short means like 45 minutes, which is about the length of time I sleep when I take a nap anyway. I think that I will have to actually lie down in my bed rather than doze off in my chair as I do now.

I don't know if this program will work, but I have nothing whatever to lose by trying it and a great deal to gain by following the program as closely as I possibly can. I'll begin doing things like drinking my morning coffee on the back deck in the sun. That won't be all that hard actually *grin* The sunshine has something to do with circadian rhythms or some such. We'll see. I refuse to get my hopes up too high, but I also won't be pessimistic about it. I'll do what has to be done and will see the program completely through to the end.

Sigh

I'm getting more bored as time passes. Coupled with tired and you have all but immobile. Nothing whatever on the job front either, which is encouraging.

Part of the problem is that I'm so damned lonely it hurts. I don't have any friends any more who live within visiting distance. I don't go anywhere or do anything other than stay home, read, write, and do a few chores here and there. The highlight of my day today, for instance, was going to the store and buying fertilizer for my garden.

I would love to have someone to talk to, share ideas with, and maybe go to a movie or out to dinner with from time to time. I'm not talking romance here, just another human being's voice for a few hours once a week or so. Susan is too busy with her girlfriend and her drinking and stuff. And I do try hard to stay out of the way.

Things would be so much easier if I even had a penpal. Something to look forward to each day. As it is, the first thing I think of when I wake up is how many hours until bedtime. Days are to be gotten through not enjoyed for me any more. I've looked for penpal sites, but the only one that seemed half promising turned out to be populated with cretins.

Anyway, once I get retired in Dec. and have health insurance, I'll go in and see if they can do anything whatever to help me sleep. Perhaps sleeping even one or two nights a week would give me more energy and more enthusiasm. I have zip of either at the moment and it's really depressing.

Stressed Out

Currently I am so stressed out I am surprised I am even functional.

The biggest stress factor is that I am now convinced that my working days are over. Financially this isn't all that big a deal as I can make it pretty easily through the five to six months between when my unemployment runs out and my Medicare kicks in. Emotionally is another story. I feel as if I have been kicked in the gut and I don't know what to do with myself. I feel useless. All of this over my inability to find five to six months of work.

I am trying all sorts of things and it's really discouraging to me that I cannot find a simple writing job to hold me through my retirement date of December 31. I have been pretty creative. I've voluteered to write for people in the hope that something paying will come up at a later date. I've contacted some really non-traditional possible sources of work. I'm trying to freelance.
In the end, however, I know I have reached the end of my useful life and it's hitting me harder than I ever anticipated it would. I'm having severe headaches. My jaws ache as I am constantly clenching my teeth in frustration. I'm all but immobilized. I keep telling myself I should enroll in a Tai Chi class or something, but it just doesn't cut it. I will start walking a bit in the morning. Since even walking is very difficult for me with my weight but more with my bad knees and bad back, I am hoping it will just exhaust me and I can then sleep away part of the day.

I'm working on my book outline. I'm down to actually outlining the chapters now. I will be able to start writing in a week or two at the most which will help me a little. I'm working on finishing my will. I'm trying hard to get the information about what I do/do not have paid on my funeral so I can start paying for the rest, but the cemetery people are not cooperating even after three emails in three weeks.

Susan isn't helping any at all. She has taken up smoking at the age of 40. Lung cancer runs in our family as well as other types and she is being stupid and is now smoking as well as being a drunk with no intentions of stopping that either. Did I mention she decided she's a lesbian a few months ago? *sigh* I can't really say anything at all about this to her as she absolutely doesn't listen to me any more, but the stress of internalizing and repressing it all is making my life a living hell.

All in all, my life is nothing but pressure. I don't have a single release valve. It is just building up inside. I've not mentioned it to anyone, and so far I'm managing. Since I can't let things blow, I have to figure out a way to cope. I wish I had a clue as to what that is.