I am having trouble accepting the news that we are getting another ten to twenty inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. What I would give to personally know an architect who could inform me as to the strength and structural integrity of my roof. Will it hold up under four to five feet of snow?
The sheer amount of snow in our area is not to be believed. Further, even though the Virginia Department of Transportation is doing a bang-up job of plowing, there is just nowhere to put the snow. So many trees are bent over, weighted down by the snow, inches from the power lines, that I cannot imagine what another foot and a half will do. I’d have to be in a coma not to expect new power outages.
Rather than being Debbie Downer though, I will think positively. Who am I kidding?
I am stuck in the house today, and probably for the next three days as well, and I just watched Jenny Sanford on The View. The wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Jenny was out hawking her new book. She was very quick, obviously educated, and not playing “victim”. Nevertheless, she was annoying as hell.
First off, she defended writing this book. Saying that it wouldn’t affect her children any more than the recent events have, she said that her boys might have a little more mire to plod through as a result of this book, but that they could handle it. Ugh. My biggest gripe is that she came out with the line many maligned wives and mothers use to justify their exes: “Mark is a wonderful father”. How wonderful a father could he really be if he screwed around on his wife and family? This is one of the biggest misconceptions, and I have heard too many women claim it. I believe Jenny and other women in her situation hold this belief in order to justify their selection of their good-for-nothing husbands in the first place. They choose this tack to make themselves look better. Their husbands are ruses, but so too, are the wives. Double ugh.
Our Sarah is still the epitome of strong, good old American values —- but only when they benefit her. She mouthed off that Rahm Emanuel should be fired for using the term “retard” but she thinks when Rush Limbaugh used the same derogatory word, it is perfectly okay because she titles his usage as “satire”. When was the last time Limbaugh ever did a gig as a stand-up comedian?
Arianna Huffington is so on the money about Palin. Our Sarah will twist and distort any issue, from foreign policy to media events to family issues in order to “brand” herself, i.e. rake in those dollars:
If Palin was honestly concerned about the American people, how could she propose yet a third war in response to being asked how President Obama could win a second term? Is that what she would do if she were in the President’s shoes? Start another war, this time with Iran, to bolster her own image in a surge of patriotism? Palin is still the dumbass she always was. No evolution there.
The only consolation I find is that, if Palin somehow gathers strength, political popularity and becomes a real threat to attaining the highest office in the land, Levi Johnston is holding back that one mind-blowing item that could ultimately take her down. Hold on tight, Levi: we may all need that tidbit sooner or later. Who would have ever thought that Levi Johnston could save a nation?
It is 2:20 P.M. and the snow shows no sign of stopping. The husband is outside snowblowing for Round Two. The dog and I are quite cozy, thank you, inside.
No barbecuing tonight.
My leonine buds are still looking out for me.
My fave holly tree out of my kitchen window.
That's the TOP of the fence, folks!
Lookin' out my back door.
P.S.
The next person to leave me a comment on this site will hold the honor of delivering the 500th comment.
Yup. We lost power about 6 A.M. and now, at 11:20, it was just restored. Not bad. I have a fire roaring in the fireplace and the house temperature fell to only 64 degrees. Now let’s see if the power stays on.
We must have 20 inches already, with five to ten more to go. It is quite beautiful and I will be going to post some photos later.
Gotta run and do my survivor activities. Another update later.
Weather forecasters are calling for an “epic” snowstorm. It has begun. We are getting 30 inches. Shoot: I stand only 58 inches tall! The snowfall is supposed to be heavy and wet. Thus, tree limbs will fall under its weight, perhaps hitting power lines and Yo Mama will be sitting pretty with no power. Other than that, I plan to enjoy this epic event.
And it is time once again for some kudos and catcalls. Although I do have a fair number of events meriting kudos, don’t get excited: the underlying circumstances of these positive reactions are dire indeed. Let us begin with the optimistic developments, but remember, we are talking about a truly mixed bag and a fine line between kudos and catcalls.
First, Toyota has done the honorable thing and recalled hundreds of thousands of cars and backed up that recall with a shutdown of its production plants. I give them credit for acknowledging the flaws in their products and trying to make things right. That was my main gripe about American auto makers: they deny any problem exists even after thousands of drivers report serious problems, i.e. GMC ignoring the braking problem on its Suburban model for the last twenty years. There can be no responsibility if there is no accountability. Hey, wait: how long did Toyota know about their specific brake problems before they actually took action? Too long. So although kudos can be showered on Toyota for finally admitting and offering a solution to the problem, how genuine was their initial intent? To see this auto giant, at the top of its industry in sales and popularity, go from hero to goat in a matter of days has to make one wonder. Was this a deceitful coverup or an honest effort to right the wrongs?
Kudos to Representative Barney Frank for saying what we already know: America can no longer afford to be the world’s savior, militarily or financially. We cannot be the planet’s peacekeeper. We can’t afford services and benefits for our own population, so how in all Tarnation can we provide such basics for other countries? Read Frank’s comments:
It is a simple mathematical problem. If we stopped being the policemen of the world, i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan, we could well-afford health care for our entire nation. Feel free to call this outlook “isolationism”. In fact, call it anything you like. The fact remains that we need to divert the costs of conducting wars to attending our own people, offering them decent health care, education and jobs, before we do the same for any other country. Kudos to Representative Frank for being, well, so frank about this matter.
I offer kudos to the military bigwigs on publicly disavowing DADT. Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen both came out against this hypocritical policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” in our security forces. Besides having the effect of denying these soldiers their deserved respect as any human being, regardless of their sexual orientation, this policy is the biggest load of hypocrisy. How dare our powers that be accept gay people in the military, asking each and every one of them to be willing to sacrifice their life for their country, while at the same time, denying them their right to be who they are in that very same country? What? It is okay for gays to die for the good old US of A, but not to live as they choose? What a crock. Finally, the military brass is publicly acknowledging the hypocrisy of DADT. This is another stunning example of how the upper echelons of our society, regardless of whether it be the power or financial elite, use and abuse the “worker bees” to carry out the ridiculous policies that put wealth and power into the pockets of the chosen few.
Kudos goes to those who are still fighting for decent health care legislation. Even more than being a law that Americans so desperately need, health care reform is the issue on which all other issues hinge. If our paralyzed Congress cannot pass this bill, their future attempts at deciding policy on all other issues will be virtually non-existent. This HCR is the rubber match. If our leaders ignore this topic, their paralysis will spread to all other policymaking endeavors. They will be inclined to decline any other necessary legislation if it, in the least bit, threatens their job tenure and popularity with the electorate. To top it off, with over 70% of Americans wanting some kind of public option, Congress and our President have already stomped all over us. But some citizens are still fighting. The following video is an example of that:
Catcall time. While I am on the subject of health reform, I am filled with derision for my own, i.e. fellow Democrats. Leaders of our party, such as Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and John Kerry, openly castigate the back-room deals that go on in our halls of government. However, that stance did not stop Nelson from cutting a deal (that he was essentially forced to give up due to the censure by his Democratic colleagues from other states) for free Medicare/Medicaid relief forever, nor did it influence Landrieu and Kerry, whose states are scheduled to receive around $500 billion to assist their states with health care costs. It appears that back-room deals are a no-no when applied to other states, but when offered to their own states, they are perfectly acceptable. To be fair, I must add that President Obama, a long-time supporter of cleaning up Washington (Give the man a snow shovel!!!!), is also responsible for cutting these clandestine, special deals to get the necessary votes on his proposed legislation.
This is precisely why the American public, both Republicans and Democrats, are fed up and mad as hell at our government. And this is why our system is so broken that we cannot pass one ounce of legislation that benefits our people. The business of government is not about helping Americans; rather, it is all about the mechanisms for our lawmakers to retain their jobs. Snot and sneers to our elected officials.
Those pesky American hikers held in Iran as spies surfaced again. And just who is more stupid? The hikers who just had to take a walk in the woods in enemy territory, Iran for labeling these idiots as spies, or we Americans who are now willing to swap jailed Iranians to get back our dumber-than-shit citizens? Boos and hisses to all three parties.
Bottomless catcalls to those American Baptist “missionaries” who tried to abduct 33 Haitian children in the name of “adoption”. Their religious order, New Life Children’s Refuge, is neither a bona fide orphanage nor a legally endowed charitable group here in the United States. I hope the Haitian government puts them all on trial and locks them up for a good, long time. One Haitian official rightly stated (and I paraphrase): “If it is illegal in America to scoop up children off the streets and offer them for “adoption”, what makes these people think it is legal to do so in Haiti?” While many of the parents willingly turned over their children to this group with the hope of offering the kids a better life, the missionaries’ mission is way in doubt. Further, these religious zealots attributed their intentions as being the will of God. Of course, this excuses them from having the proper paperwork and authorization. What a brown-bag excuse. It reminds me of a serial killer on trial telling the judge and jury that he was justified in committing the crimes because he does exactly what the little voices tell him to do. Whether or not you believe these “saviors’ “ noble intentions, their methods were illegal at worst, and downright murky and duplicitous at best. Have a look at a recent video by Anderson Cooper:
The ultimate incident inspiring jeers and tears is the possible suspension from school of a nine-year-old boy who brought into class a Lego figure with a Lego machine gun. The whole toy measured no more than 1 1/2 inches tall. Heavens to Betsy! Take cover, get under your desks, cover your heads and protect your eyes. There is danger amongst us in the form of a not-quite two-inch modular invader:
I will be hunkering down here waiting for the authorities to show up and arraign me for having a huge collection of Legos, every single piece that my then young son played with and now fills up an entire dresser. My ideas, my mouth and my outspokenness be damned: they will come get me for the most subversive action of all: owning Legos.
Please check back to this site often during the weekend. I will be posting pictures of our epic storm. If you thought I was routinely irreverent, just wait and see what cabin fever does to me. As long as the power holds out, so will Yo Mama.
The phrase “involuntary manslaughter” came to my attention today when I heard on the news that Michael Jackson’s doctor may be so charged. The definition of this act of killing a person, includes the act of negligence. However, “involuntary” means that there was no intent to cause harm, as opposed to “voluntary manslaughter” that does include the intent of malice and forethought.
I am not interested in Michael Jackson or his doctor, but I did start thinking about this principle as applied to our elected officials and corporate sector. Lo and behold, I do believe they are guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Maybe not in the strict, direct sense of the phrase because no specific murder had been laid in their laps. But certainly, due to a lack of an effective social net plus the abusive, penalizing policies of the insurance companies, somebody some where must have lost their life as a result of the paralysis of our governing and corporate orders. The comparison of our government and industry to this legal term is an example in principle.
With their hands tied on every single issue before us, this Congress is paralyzed. Only 17% of Americans think that the Congress is doing a decent job. I will not rehash this issue: all of our politicians and each and every citizen is well aware of the lack of action, the failure to fulfill their job descriptions and their gall of ignoring the needs of the people. Our system is broken from top to bottom. If the legislation that we so desperately need never gets past our Congress, the mechanism that provides solutions for our country does not work anymore. While the GOP is obstructionist to each and every program that President Obama suggests and the Democrats withholding enactment power due to a lack of guts and the desire to get the best deal for their personal selves, our government and capitalistic framework is busted.
The only question that remains is: when does the “involuntary” significance go over the line and become “voluntary”? When does an “accident”, with no premeditation of harm, become “murder”? Is the line crossed when no national health policy is enacted because our politicians are thinking of their own careers before they consider the lives of Americans? Is the line crossed when health insurance companies refuse coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and/or withdraw coverage from their current policyholders who actually become ill? Is the line crossed when pilots of our major airlines receive a beginning salary of $40,000 while our investment bankers receive bonuses on the average of $400,000?
The American citizenry is not totally blameless either. They also crossed a line of decency when they accepted mortgages that they knew they could not afford, when they solved their over-extended credit card problems by having their credit limits raised and by expecting all the material wealth as an entitlement. The sword is double-edged, but certainly our leaders, both in government and industry, are not setting a respectable standard.
So I ask you: have we reached the tipping point in our values? I cannot imagine that we have not yet hit bottom, and that the situation could actually get worse. Still, I am not seeing any politicians or corporate officers making the effort to reign in their narcissistic behavior. The same holds true for ordinary Americans. Monkey see, monkey do. The time has come to rescue the very foundation of our country and ourselves from our own homicidal tendencies.
