Heckuva Job, Brownie!

Well, well, well. I have to say I actually admire ol' Brownie tonight. Usually when a designated appointee falls on his sword to protect the Prez, he slinks away into the night never to be heard from again, ala Colin Powell.

But tonight, Michael Brown slammed the white house as he described falling, or "being pushed" onto the sword over Katrina. Sleazeball or not, he was not going gently into that good night.

I'm glad somebody finally pointed the finger in the right direction, even if it was just to salvage some of his own ass.

Peace.

Vote in November

If you live in Tennessee, here is another strong reason to vote in November (as if we didn't have enough reasons!)

Judge OKs Vote On Gay Marriage Ban

Isn't it bad enough that Tennessee won't pass any laws to protect us? Now they want to change the constitution to specifically discriminate against us.

Please, even if you don't have a dog in this fight, please help us defeat legalized discrimination--vote in November!

Peace.

Feeling Lucky

$365 million dollars. That’s how much money I didn’t win last night.

I don’t buy a ticket every week, but I was feeling lucky and the payoff was big. When Maddog and I were at the grocery store checkout counter the other day she said to me, “let’s buy some lottery tickets; I’m feeling lucky.” I took that as a Sign, and bought five quick-pick tickets. I said that quick prayer, as I’m sure we all do: “Please let me win.” I took the tickets home and waited for the drawing. I was feeling lucky.

The weather here was terrible last night; it had been sleeting on and off all day. When Maddog left to go on her evening runs, I said another quick prayer: “Please protect her and bring her home safely.” As soon as I thought it, another thought popped into my head: “Which do you want?”

Could you even imagine receiving both pieces of news together: “You won the lottery, but your girlfriend was killed in a tragic accident on her way home.” Just the thought made me ill. “Bring her home safely” I thought; “give somebody else the money.”

Later that night I was upstairs when I heard the garage door open. She came to find me, something she doesn’t always do: “You shoulda seen it,” she uttered breathlessly. “I hit a patch of ice and did the most perfect 180 degree donut right in the middle of Germantown Parkway!” A shiver went down my spine. “Lucky there weren’t any cars coming.” On Germantown Parkway? There are always cars coming! “Yeah,” I thought. "Lucky."

We were curled up together on the couch watching the Olympics when the winning lottery numbers scrolled across the bottom of the screen. None of our tickets matched.

We didn’t win $365 million dollars, but I sure am feeling lucky.

Peace.

Cheneyshoot

I love all the jokes about Cheney and lawyer-hunting-season and all; let's hope the old guy recovers so the comedians can keep us laughing.

But...If you drive up in a car, someone releases quail from a cage, and you shoot your friend in the face, is it really "hunting?"

Why the 14-hour delay in notifying the media? Time for Cheney to sober up, maybe? He did have those two DUI's back in his youth. Hmmm...

Peace.

Grandma Next Door

I'm not sure what to do about Grandma next door. She is not my grandmother, but that's what we call her, so that's how I will refer to her here.

Grandma is an 88-year-old, legally blind widow who has outlived her income. Mainly because the people she calls "family" have spent it all. She lives in a big house, which she has just refinanced to keep from losing, and she can't even afford to sell it. She had an interest-only mortgage that was held by her financial advisor, but when she spent all the investment money they called in the loan (thus the refinance.)

Her only income is social security and a small widow's pension from her late husband's military service. She could live on that, if she wasn't supporting a no-load 25-yr-old grandson and paying people to look after her on a daily basis. She finally realizes that she needs to go into assisted living, but I'm not sure she can afford it. She is in excellent health except for her eyesight, and I expect she could live another ten years...

I've called Senior Services, but got a recording and no one has called me back. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on how I can help her? We all know our "kinder, gentler" Republican government doesn't give a damn. I'm hoping somebody does...

I'd appreciate some suggestions.

Peace.

Tales of Alberto Gonzales

Can someone please explain to me why the Republicans refused to swear in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before he testified (okay that part I've figured out;) why he was allowed to get away with telling a different tale now than he did when he was under oath (that explains the first part) and why, most importantly, none of the network news stations even bothered to report it?

And the neo-cons call it the "liberal" media!

Peace.

Not Much To Get Riled Up Over

Been chillin' this weekend with friends--birthday parties, dinners, Super Bowl Sunday party comin' up...not much to get riled up over this weekend. I'm sure some neocon will say or do something stupid to spoil it; but in the meantime, I'm just chillin'...

Peace!