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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_eu/britain_iraq

What does this mean to/for President Bush?

Thirteen Things I am Afraid of………….

1. That what Barack Obama said on page three of Audacity of Hope is correct, “…every man is trying to either live up to his father’s expectations or make up for his father’s mistakes.”
2. That happiness is not at the bottom of that jar/box/bowl of [insert any carb-food type HERE].
3. That I do not fit in at my new job.
4. They will eventually stop rerunning Seinfeld
5. Having to go through debit/credit card or check theft/fraud again - that’s a real pain. And here I used to tell my mom, “don’t worry, you’re not rich enough to steal from.” Guess I was off base on that one, huh?
6. Having to dance or sing in public, unless pathetically drunk.
7. I am going to start to talk funny working with all these Southerners.
8. Aerosmith might break up, or die.
9. The Re’pubs will freeze Guiliani out, if I need to see one of them in the WH it’s Rudy.
10.What would I do if I didn’t teach?  (and sometimes I think about not teaching)
11. Not getting pregnant.
12. Money, I always worry about money, no matter how much or how little there is.
13. That my friend is going through something really scary and I cannot/ don’t know how to help him.

It is mildly amusing in my head to imagine that the president rented this really cool movie this week and now has a new item to add (or possible distract our attention?) to his agenda.

I imagine he retells the highlights of the movie to Cheney & (my SNL version of Cheney) after he rolls his eyes he gives in because he’d like to talk about anything but the war also.

And then this article talks about England’s PM (also looking to distract a war-weary/anti-American public) and Bush preparing to announce significant changes to their ‘climate change’ policy…. did you know they even had a policy?  If they did it sure involved using more non-renewable resources????

Tell me you have seen An Inconvient Truth by now?  If not it has just become compulsary viewing.

I have never been so excited about the plethera of great candidates two years out!

An hour ago Obama announced his intention, as if the Oprah spot hadn’t tippedus off?  I am intregued by Hillary, voted for McCain in a FL primary years ago, would love Juiliani if I must have a Republican (I don’t count McCain).  Al Gore is getting his own movie about global warming & I did think it translated well to the big screen, I opted for the small screen, but you know what I mean. 

Are politicians more relevant, or am I becoming the ‘right’ demographic?

The Yankees lost a pitcher in Cory Lidle today in a freak accident involving a plane and a hig rise building in New York City today.

And, yes, everyone else DID have the same reaction you did when they first heard about it…..”was it terrorism?”

It does not look like an intentional incident (I will insert a reference to the Detroit Tigers HERE after this initial solemn feeling wears off), but what is most interesting to me is that five years afer 9-11 we are still waiting for the next, seemingly ineviable attack.   Collectively we do not seem stronger, safer or more secure color coded advisories or not. 

If every time something happens that used to be just a tragedy we not have the knee jerk reaction that it coudl be terrorism, isn’t it a type of terrorism already?

Caroline Langston - NPR’s All Things Considered - had a very interesting audio article about how she had shifted her political views over the course of growing wise (AKA ‘older).  I agree with a good bit of what she has to say, save the obvs. . .

So, she got me thinking about how I shifted myself into the positions I find myself defending lately…..Here are the top things that have pushed me toward the liberal spot I find myself in nowadays…

Thirteen Things about YOUR NAME My husband was in the military and I teach in a public school. The bumper sticker says it all: “…when schools have all the money they need, and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber…” People are trying to overturn Roe vs. Wade; *checking my calendar* what decade is this? I have had government cheese and powdered milk. I watched my younger brother & sister sit on a Santa’s lap at the union hall one Christmas and get ‘decent’ gifts. My mother & father would always vote just to “cancel each other out.” Education in a liberal arts college opened my eyes to new types of people I hadn’t even read about in books. I read a lot of good books, and believe it or not, watched a lot of good television. I voted yes on a union confidence vote when I was anything but confident striking was best for my budget, but felt that solidarity and knew it was right for my conscience. My father and mother worked countless part time jobs for things like health benefits. I believe in opportunities, for everyone. I know that life is fragile and it is our charge to protect the weakest among us, because we are all going to be weak at some time in this life. I built houses, boiled water to use, ate whatever they offered me and could squat & hit a dime in a third world country. My father made $19,xxx the year that I filled out my financial aid forms for a college that cost just about that much per year. I was accepted & the government paid for it. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Google and NPR report on the most recent leak of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE)  from the White House today.  All Presidents have selectively leaked information from this known classified document, both parties do it.  Ask Valerie Plume about this White House leakage though and you will see that this admin only leaks what theythink the people, and by that we all known we mean rich-white-Christian-men, deserve to know.  So it was shocking to hear the leak over the weekend that included reference to this Iraqi war causing more terrorism around the world. [Is it just me, am I the onlyone that thinks our presence there & over-through of another government (stop, do not say imminent threat - or I'll shoot - haha) was a bit terrorist in itself?] Of course we are stirring up more anti-American sentiment, now I need to wait even longer before I can go to Europe…

How naive is our President? 

And that he implies that some people might do this with politics in mind?  Oh the horror! (insert pic: Valerie Plume rolling eyes here)

Thirteen Things I have GIVEN UP ON 1. Trying to explain the good in the ACLU to some people. (my mom knows what I am talking about here…) 2. Extrinsic Rewards for kids…that does not mean I am not out-voted by collegues….often. I don’t work with Alfie Kohn. 3. Asking my DH to make the bed. 4. Expecting others to be at least as smart as me. 5. Hoping people “get” how important my job is, or at least how much I care about it. 6. Getting my DH to read a book. 7. Applying logic directly to middle school students, or humans. 8. Expecting technology people at my work to be even 1/10 as useful as technology people anywhere else on the planet. 9. Grammatical Issues, including: went/gone, using ‘they’ when the pronoun should be singular, and I/me (I was a mess over #4 & #5, please take out your red pen if you must). 10.My in-laws ends sentences in “with.” I am slowly going insane from this…..”Do you want to go with?” 11.Being paid for my efforts. 12.running, “I choose not to run.” The whole world is my Duncan….. 13.It is possible Jerry is talking about me in The Cartoon Episode (although I was not, in fact, Susan Ross’ old college roommate): “Kramer: Oh! Yeah your old college roommate huh? Jerry: No , It’s Susan Ross’s old college roommate; she moved to New York a few years ago . she’s trying to become an actress. Kramer: Hmmm,, Dramatica comedia heh!Jerry: Untalented, She’s always inviting me to see her in some bad play in tiny room without ventilation. It’s really depressing. Kramer: Euh.. We don’t go to enough theater. Jerry: She should just give up.”Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1

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Woah…I always enjoy 30 Days, but this one was something else!

Episode Five of this season sees Jennifer, a ProChoicer, stay in a church sponsored maternity center for 30 days.  Jennifer was unbelievably calm and openminded with the people she encountered, the same could not be said for some she met in this experience.

I was upset with the premise initially, thinking this was just pro-life porpoganda.  The coverage was balanced.  Balanced. That I think was the theme of the episode.  While ProChoice offers options(choices), ProLife only offers the option of carrying the child to term and then exploring options. 

This doesn’t have to do with the show, but it seems to me ProLifers are about counting bodies saved and not concerned about what happens to those bodies.  Jennifer raised quality of life issues - which I stauntly agree with - but my fav. quote “ProLife?  You ever notice how some people’s concern for life stops at birth?  They want those babies to come out & then they don’t give a damn what happens to them” Anita VanBuren (S. Empatha Merkerson) Law & Order’s Progeny episode from 1995 says it all for me.

Know anyone with diabetes, cancer, alzheimer’s, parkinson’s?  You might care about this….

Left over embryos are used for research, although Bush stopped further funding in 2001 when he took office.  While adults can offer stem cells also, from bone marrow or their babies umbilical cords, scientists do not know which path will lead to possible break throughs.  Although Karl Rove says adults stem cells offer more promise, gee, do I believe Rove or the scientific community????

Mrs. Reagan is lobbying for the research based on President Reagan’s failed fight with a disease that could eventually be prevented by reseach.  Frist is supporting it as a doctor.  Lugar & McCain are even supporting it…..and Bush is going to veto it?!?  I don’t want his pulpit dictating the path of scientific research in my country.

Isn’t this happening anyway? Stem cells are being harvested in private circles and used for private sector research.  Instead of reiterating they will not spend money on the research, why not establish procedures for the practices that are already taking place?  I guess that might not grab you the hardcore voters……