Talismin

Holy Moly!!!!

2010-03-11T16:20:00.002-05:00

Just one of those days...

2010-03-11T11:59:00.003-05:00

Somedays things just get to you, you know? Having cancer isn't such a bad thing overall. I'm not in a lot of pain, I can still function mostly normally every day. But some days are just harder than others for some reason.

I don't spend a lot of time talking about my cancer, or looking for sympathy over it...it's a genetic thing...I didn't do anything to get it, it just happened. Luck of the draw. The crapshoot that is life as a human sometimes.

I'm nearing the end of my chemo treatments (I hope) and so far I have done pretty well on them. But for today, for some reason I'm feeling all out of sorts and kind of sorry for myself. It's one of those days when I just feel like I need a hug, someone to just hold me...and there's no one there. Yeah I know my sisters or my mom would gladly do it, but that's not the same. I guess I'm just feeling lonely and old and tired and on the edge of nausea for the last few days and I miss being someone's special someone, someone that wants to hold me just because I'm the only person in the world they want to be near because I make them feel complete.

So...if you have a special someone today...find them and give them a hug. Just hold them for a while just because...

Ahhh ...the things I can do with a Snow Day...

2010-02-15T12:15:00.002-05:00

I Will...

2010-02-12T16:53:00.000-05:00

Neil Young "Pants On The Ground" (1/14/10)

2010-01-16T19:06:00.002-05:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Jimmy Fallon doing his impression of Neil Young. He's singing the song penned by American Idol contestant General Larry Platt.

First Snowfall! 2009

2009-12-05T15:22:00.002-05:00

View all

Get your own

Update

2009-10-20T11:03:00.002-04:00

Howdy...just checking in when I have a moment. Went to see Law-Abiding Citizen Saturday. In school, and harried and harassed with deadlines and projects. Finally got my desktop computer fixed (wouldn't you know it was a simple fix, but I was reading the error message wrong and trying to fix the one thing not broken...which of course did not fix the broken drivers...LOL).

Looks like I am going to have to go for some chemotherapy after all, apparently a different type of cancer cells showed up in the biopsy they did after my hysterectomy. This is a more aggressive type of cancer and the radiation treatments are not enough to kill it. I had some tests this past Wednesday to make sure that there is no cancer in my lungs. Once we know that for sure, the doc will sit down with me and discuss exactly what types of chemo are available and what would be best...either really aggressively going from the get-go (which is a bit harder on my body I gather) or a more gradual approach which will be less strenuous on my body.

Anyone know of a good wig shop online??? LOL I want one in every color...long, straight and curly styles...I always fancied myself as a titian-red head with long curls...or maybe a blonde bombshell. OOOO...I could do a kind of spiky, black and white-stripe thing for shits and giggles...!!!!!! Like Darryl Hannah's android character in Blade Runner, only a little longer style please...I dislike short hair on me.

Beware of the Bear....

2009-06-20T10:24:00.001-04:00

Beware of the Bear - watch more funny videos

Everybody Dance!

2009-01-23T14:37:00.001-05:00

It's a new year and we FINALLY have a new President! Things are looking up, so put on your dancin' shoes and shake your groove thang.

Happy Thanksgiving from WKRP in Cincinnati

2008-11-21T12:44:00.002-05:00

Watch more WKRP in Cincinnati videos on AOL Video

Yes, We Can... and We Did

2008-11-05T14:03:00.003-05:00

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

It's been a week or two now and I can finally talk about this...

2008-10-31T20:42:00.003-04:00

I came home from a long day a couple of weeks ago and found my sweet little kitty Smoky dead on the floor. This poem was written a while ago for a contest, but it still is relevant for today's post.

My cat sits in my window...
watching the world go by...
and dreams of long summer days and hunts in the tall grass

She purrs in the sunshine...
chases dust bunnies under the bed...
and remembers long winter nights and a warm
lap to lie in, napping

My cat sits in the doorway...
mewling at no one in particular...
and muses on the crisp rustling of autumn
leaves and watches for my return from the
store

My cat lies on the bed...
with whispering shuddering breath...
and gazes at the spring flowers in the vase
and slowly, slowly goes to sleep one last
time

Cecilia Annette Bridges

Copyright ©2005 Cecilia Annette Bridges

Life Lesson Number One...

2008-10-31T14:24:00.001-04:00

The Obama endorsements just keep on coming!!!

2008-10-30T15:44:00.001-04:00

Take the Joe Sixpack Challenge

2008-10-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

Bring it ON!!!!!!!!

See more Thomas Haden Church videos at Funny or Die

The campaign as a D&D game...

2008-10-22T14:17:00.003-04:00

This is seriously funny...even if you are not a geek.

somehedgehog's blog

Adventuring Party Politics: The Campaign is Getting Ugly

GM: OK, the bugbear attacks you. What do you do?

OBAMA: I send one of my 672 henchmen after it.

MCCAIN: OK, seriously. Why does he have so many henchmen? I'm a level 72 ranger and he's only a level 8 paladin.

OBAMA: Well, if you'd bought the Grassroots Organizing and Oratory/Colgate Smile proficiencies you could min max it so that you...

MCCAIN: Why is he even IN this campaign? I thought this was supposed to be a high level party.

OBAMA: Well, maybe some people got tired of the grim and squinty "Matterhorn, son of Marathon" shtick you keep doing. Dude, could you be any less original?

MCCAIN: Oh my god, I did not leave my left nut in a tiger cage in the Tomb of Horrors to spend my Friday nights mopping up after the new kid.

OBAMA: "My friends, I am a totally unoriginal grizzled character class stereotype. I should lead the party because I have more testicular damage than that one."

MCCAIN: Yeah, well, you pal around with dark elves.

OBAMA: OH NO YOU DIDN'T.

MCCAIN: Whatever, so's your mom.

OBAMA: So's your FACE.

MCCAIN: So's your Mom's face!

HILARY: WTF you guys. Why am I playing the cleric?

MCCAIN: Hilary, we've been over this.

HILARY: No, dude. I am so sick of being the girlfriend healer. Seriously, I can't even use a sword. Fuck this noise.

KUCINICH: IM A BARD

OBAMA: That's nice.

KUCINICH: MY FAMILIAR IS A PURPLE SNOW LEOPARD

MCCAIN: Oh, Jesus. Here we go.

KUCINICH: DID I MENTION MY WIFE IS A TOTALLY BANGIN DRYAD WITH 20 CHARISMA

HILARY: C'mon you guys, I've been playing this shit since Gygax was in eighth grade. Why can't I be the party leader with the magic sword for once?

MCCAIN: Because no one wants to see you in a bronze bra.

OBAMA: Oh dude, BURRRRRNNNN.

HILARY: SCREW YOU, Grandpa. I will so kick your ass.

MCCAIN: Yeah? Bring it! I didn't spend 3 years in the Abyss with Githzerai hooking my nads up to a car battery to get beat by some Wellesley girl.

HILARY: WHATEVER, you can't even lift your arms over your head.

RON PAUL: I brought my Planescape character!

OBAMA: Dude, we're playing Forgotten Realms.

RON PAUL: I rift in from Sigil! I'm a Chaotic Neutral Tiefling Barbarian/Monk/Rogue!

MCCAIN: DUDE, that is not even LEGAL.

RON PAUL: Ronpaul the Barbarian say: suck it! Guns and abortions and weed for everyone! WHEEE!

PALIN: Hi folks! Sorry I'm late! I brought caribou burgers.

HILARY: Who the HELL is this?

MCCAIN: It's cool, she's with me.

HILARY: No! No, it's not cool! Every time you bring one of your rodeo-queen girlfriends in here she ends up playing some succubus infiltrator and killing the whole party!

MCCAIN: Now, that is patently untrue.

BIDEN: He has a point. Cindy turned out to be a vampire.

MCCAIN: DUDE. SHUT UP.

GM: You guys, seriously, if you don't knock it off with the bickering I'm going to start docking XP.

MCCAIN: You know what? Fuck it. I'm suspending the campaign.

GM: You can't do that! Only I can suspend the campaign! I didn't suspend it for the 1988 Mountain Dew shortage and I'm not going to suspend it now.

KUCINICH: YOU GUYS I AM TOTALLY CASTING A CANTRIP

MCCAIN: Oh my god, Dennis, shut up, you don't even count.

KUCINICH: YOU GUYS ARE DICKS

BIDEN: Where are the Cheetos?

RON PAUL: Wait. What happen to tiny Mormon Man?

GM: You find Mitt's lifeless, drained corpse has been stuffed in the broom closet.

HILARY: Oh, God DAMMIT.

MCAIN: Not ok! NOT OK!

OBAMA: What, I didn't even get a detect evil roll for that one?

HILARY: I TOLD you she was a succubus, but did anyone listen? Oohhhhh no, Hilary's just jealous of the beauty queen.

RON PAUL: Pretty Lady screw Mitt lifeless. Ronpaul SMASH!!

MCCAIN: Would you please go light up a spliff and stay out of this? The grown ups are talking.

RON PAUL: Why pretty lady suck life out of Mitt and not Ronpaul? Not fair!

HILARY: I mean, never mind that I'm the one with 17 Wisdom, but does anyone listen to the girl? Noooooo.

RON PAUL: Also Mitt have stupid name. Who name kid after baseball equipment?

KUCINICH: HAY YOU GUYS CHECK OUT MY HEAD OF VECNA TRICK

HILARY: This never would have happened when Tim Russert was our GM.

GM: You know what? Forget it. Rocks fall, everyone dies.

OBAMA: Screw you guys. I'm going to go play Bunnies and Burrows at Jon Stewart's house.

HILARY: Me too.

MCCAIN: Me too.

KUCINICH: GAZEBO!

I promised a picture of me...during my journey.

2008-10-15T21:04:00.003-04:00

I promised a picture of me while I am on my journey from fat to thin...

Here's me with a new hairdo to go with the new body...even if it's not the final product.

DANCE PARTY!!!!!

2008-10-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

Funny Stuff...The Daily Show riff on Obama video.

2008-08-30T01:20:00.003-04:00

I love Jon Stewart. It takes courage to spoof Obama...and I think Obama would laugh just as hard at this as I did...great video.

Here's the real Obama video that was shown at the Dem convention. It's a great video too, but for vastly different reasons...Obama/Biden '08!!!!

Thank A Liberal

2008-08-01T17:13:00.003-04:00

In the light of the recent TVUUC shootings in Knoxville...this statement I found on the web somewhere (don't remember where) is especially poignant and timely. August 1, 2008.

Thank A Liberal...

It has become quite popular, in some circles over the years, to hate the Liberal. Their name has been vilified, made a swear word where it once was a badge of pride. It has been drug through the mud, lampooned and parodied as if it were equal to the greatest crimes the world has ever known. In a dramatic example of Orwellian inverted reality, the Liberal - the very personification of human advocacy - has been identified with just the opposite.

But, after years of seeing exactly what the opposers to Liberalism have to offer, we are rediscovering the virtue of American Liberalism. We are realizing again why it is the sunlight in the darkness of regressive fear and loathing, the hope in a sea of cynicism and sociopathy, the soul in a pit of callous disregard for the human condition. We are discovering anew that the Liberal encompasses all that is good about America.

So what exactly has the Liberal done for us?

If you are a minority, and can cast a vote for the candidate of your choice....Thank a Liberal.

If you can sit on a bus, go to a restaurant or theater, or attend the university of your choice without regard to your race, creed or gender....Thank a Liberal.

If you have ever marched in the streets to redress government for grievances, free from fear of violence against you in retaliation....Thank a Liberal.

If your children can attend school regardless of your income....Thank a Liberal.

If your children have a school lunch program available to them....Thank a Liberal.

If a poor, inner city gifted child receives a grant that starts them on their careers....Thank a Liberal.

If you are a veteran and get government financial help for medical, housing or schooling....Thank a Liberal.

If you are a senior citizen, and receive social security....Thank a Liberal.

If you lost a parent during your dependent years, and receive Survivors Benefits....Thank a Liberal.

When wars of aggression are cut short from a public outcry....Thank a Liberal.

When you breathe clean air and drink safe water....Thank a Liberal.

When you drive on safe roadways, in safer vehicles that produce less pollution than they used to....Thank a Liberal.

If you are poor, and had a home built for you and your family, free of charge....Thank a Liberal.

If you are arrested and are provided legal representation even though you cannot pay them....Thank a Liberal.

If you work in an environment free of sexual harassment or threat of unlawful termination....Thank a Liberal.

There are so many more things to thank a Liberal for, but the main one is safeguarding the true American dream; to live and prosper in a secure, enlightened and just society. So for all the Liberals in America who help make this a reality we say: Thank you.

For those who still insist on hating Liberals, remember this: when you curse a Liberal, you curse America.

Talismin Sings...Well Sort Of...

2008-07-17T21:55:00.002-04:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

George Carlin...Good-Bye Old Friend

2008-06-23T15:38:00.001-04:00

Happy Summer Solstice!

2008-06-20T15:47:00.004-04:00

Blessed Be!

Leave it to Texas...and the Republicans...

2008-06-17T17:06:00.006-04:00

While a number of speakers -- such as Railroad Commission chairman Michael Williams and Mike Huckabee -- have praised the advance of Barack Obama and what it means towards a colorblind society, at least one vendor hasn't gotten the message.
At the Republican state convention, a booth hosted by Republicanmarket was selling a pin Saturday that says: If Obama is President will we still call it the White House.

From TrailBlazers Blog at the Dallas Morning News.

Doesn't this just make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Just like 1861 all over again.

Not to mention this little doll of a doll making the rounds now.

BARACKNOPHOBIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-17T13:37:00.000-04:00

Oh, McCain!!!!

2008-06-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

I'm Voting Republican...

2008-06-11T14:02:00.000-04:00

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My feelings exactly...

2008-06-09T22:06:00.001-04:00

Somedays...we all need to abide.

Bo Diddley...The Originator

2008-06-02T14:13:00.001-04:00

Rest In Peace, man...

Oooooh, Mr. Bean!!!!!

2008-05-31T17:57:00.000-04:00

For Madcowman42

2008-05-31T14:16:00.000-04:00

Colbert Nails It Again...

2008-05-31T13:44:00.000-04:00

Things we should remember along with the ones who died for us on Memorial Day

2008-05-27T12:56:00.000-04:00

Straight Talk Express my big, fat fanny...

2008-05-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

COLBERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

Keith Olbermann: Speaking Truth to Power

2008-05-15T14:25:00.004-04:00

Part 1

Part 2

This man is the embodiment of Journalistic Integrity and Standards. He is the Edward R. Murrow of our generation, would that there were more journalists out there like him. Would that more of the journalists out there had half his courage to risk his livelihood to speak truth to power. Dissent is a dangerous occupation, those of us speaking out against the lawlessness of this present administration and the gutting of our Constitution by the present administration and their minions personally risk our jobs and sometimes our lives to do so. How many people like me or this journalist are on terrorist watch lists or "no-fly" lists because of our opinions? Once upon a time in this country, people appreciated a person that would make up their own mind about things after they had gathered the facts and thought about things. Nowadays, people just want us all to shut up and go along so that we can all have Playstations and cheap gas and McDonald's every mile or so down the road.

Link to the story at CrooksandLiars.

1-2-3-4...I declare a blog WAR!!!!

2008-05-01T15:55:00.003-04:00

Madcowman42 is ON NOTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm gonna be scarce around here for a while...

2008-04-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

Last night my computer had a shit fit while I was trying to resolve a software conflict with two nearly identical Windows programs (surprise, surprise) (OH HOW I HATE MICROSOFT!!!) and it wiped most of the operating system. And next week on the 6th I go into the hospital for my surgery.

I'll be sending the computer out today or tomorrow to be repaired if possible ( I hope, 'cause I really would hate losing all my pictures and music files and stuff). And I'll be in a hospital without access to a computer anyway. I'm writing this on my mom's computer now. I can check emails and stuff from here but it just isn't the same without all my little bells and whistles I've added over the last couple of years.

/on rant

Oh yeah...did I mention HOW MUCH I HATE MICROSOFT?!?!?!?!?!?!

You would think with all the big brain types they have working for them they could write a simple little program that will let you UNDO anything that has been done in the last ten minutes on a computer...or the last half hour, even if the system restore utility had been unknowingly turned off and you had NO restore points.

/off rant

Heck...Be Funny or Die!

2008-04-30T02:07:00.000-04:00

I've had this up on my website for a while...dummy me...I never thought about posting it on my blogs. Oh well, senior decade is over now. This is just damned funny, no matter what you think of Scientology...

the parody video Tom Cruise WANTS you to see! on FunnyOrDie.com

Why Does Sitting Around in a Hospital Wear You Out?

2008-04-28T23:18:00.007-04:00

Well, today I did my final pre-operative visit with my surgeon's office and then went over to the hospital and did the pre-operative testing visit there. Didn't really do much at all the whole day, but totally crashed out when we got home. The funny thing is, there wasn't much at all that was asked of me except to sit still while they drew blood and did an EKG and all that medical stuff; but, man, am I tired. Oh yeah, I did answer more questions than a steroidal baseball player in front of Congress...

And we did fill out about 40 million forms and papers...killing only 5 million trees in the process. Oh well...

This time next week, the whole world changes for me. Goodbye cheesecake......goodbye chocolate...farewell biscuits and gravy...waahhhhhhhhh!

Not really...I don't think I will miss them...they are the bad old friends that got me into all kinds of trouble.

I think I'll be happier with my new friends...

This Is Why It is So Important to Support NASA

2008-04-27T00:29:00.008-04:00

New Pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope of Colliding Galaxies.
How beautiful and terrible is our Universe.

Sci-Fi Friday: BSG Super Sleuthing and Appreciation

2008-04-26T02:56:00.002-04:00

It was an interesting show tonight. I still think Laura Roslin will ultimately be revealed as the final model, but they threw a little shadow of doubt that it MIGHT be Lee Adama (Apollo). That would seriously suck though.

Baltar is swimming in the deep end of the pool now though. I don't know if he's gonna be able to tread water much longer, much less walk on it.

And What the FRAK is up with Saul Tigh? This skin job is going completely looney over the SAME Number Six that Baltar is carrying around in his head. She's a busy girl.

Well...that's all the past posts from my other blog on a gaming site.

2008-04-25T14:15:00.003-04:00

Guess you can see why I said I'm not real good at keeping up with it. I also have a blog at MySpace.com.

Talidapali

I'm voting for John Edwards and this is part of the reason why...

2008-04-25T14:13:00.001-04:00

I'm voting for John Edwards and this is part of the reason why...
By talidapali, 1/14/2008 9:35 AM (PST) - 120 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

Take a couple of minutes to listen to what he is saying in the Democratic debates, because you sure won't hear it in the mainstream media. They barely even acknowledge that he is running for President.

Note: I posted this just before the primaries here in Tennessee. In fact, I DID vote for Edwards in the primary...the day before he dropped out of the race.(GRRRRRRRRRRRR)

But life goes on and I'm now supporting Obama. I was undecided until Hillary Clinton started telling those Bosnia stories, if she will lie about stuff like that what else will she lie about? Has lied about?

It's gotten to the point of "How do you know Hillary Clinton is lying?...Her lips are moving..."

American Traitors X

2008-04-25T14:11:00.000-04:00

American Traitors X
By talidapali, 10/26/2007 10:20 PM (PST) - 208 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and George W. Bush...they committed treason when they exposed a covert CIA operative's identity to get back at her husband for criticizing them and their disinformation leading up to the Iraq War. Never mind the fact that she was working on PREVENTING Iran's acquisition of nuclear technologies and capabilities (if big words hurt your eyes to read, she was trying to keep Iran from getting an atomic bomb or the stuff to make one)...but why let that get in the way of a nice little war for profit and oil?

All I can say is...

2008-04-25T14:06:00.002-04:00

All I can say is ...
By talidapali, 7/22/2007 11:39 AM (PST) - 321 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

Wow. This guy seems to get it. Really. This is from back in April but I just found it and so I'm crossposting it here.

How not to be an asshole: a guide for men

In the recent discussion about Kathy Sierra and Markos’ febrile and clueless response to her, I see there are some kind, helpful men who are taking pains to make sure emotion doesn’t run rampant in the discussion, that unfair accusations of misogyny or characterizations of harassment statistics get spread in an understandable emotional response to a few very upsetting instances of harassment by piglike men who fall far outside the norm. Surely, these men reason, we mustn’t let these nasty experiences color our judgment of the actual events involved. Surely it helps no one to make wild and baseless charges without looking, in uber-dispassionate detachment, at the actual statistics and methodology and margin of error of the studies that show women get harassed more than men. Come, let us reason together calmly, they say. References to Salem and the McMartin pre-school and such come unbidden to their lips.

I’m a big fan of dispassionate, rational, fact-based discussion of the issues myself, and it is in that spirit that I offer, to my brethren who’ve taken it upon themselves to be a shining light of dispassion on this topic, these fraternal words of guidance:

Shut the fuck up.

Here are a few of the actual facts that prompt the above sage counsel:

— You are not saying anything the women you’re talking to haven’t heard a thousand times before. You are not saying anything the women you’re talking to haven’t told themselves a thousand times before. If you would actually stop your reflexive know-it-all yammering and pay attention to what women actually SAY about the offenses they suffer on the sexual harassment - rape continuum, you will note that almost to a woman they second-guess their own gut feelings about the putative offender far beyond the point where almost any man would.

— You are wrong. If you doubt that the nature of abuse and harassment women suffer, online or off, differs from that men experience, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. Oddly, the Internets offer a way for you to verify this fact for yourself. About a dozen years ago, at the urging of a feminist online acquaintance, I logged on to AOL using an obviously female but non-provocative handle. (”AliciaMN.”) Within five minutes of logging on I had sexually abusive IMs popping up from men I didn’t know. Didn’t matter which room I was in: general chat, politics, classical music. I kept up the experiment for I think four days, a couple hours a day, sometimes chatting with people about non-sexual topics, sometimes just lurking. Two of the men who IMed AliciaMN with blatantly and obnoxiously sexual messages — “Hey, I’m up in Alaska! How ’bout you thaw my dick out with your throat?” being an example I recall — responded to my NON-response by telling “Alicia” she deserved to get raped.

This is neither new nor surprising information to any woman here. I mention it because 1) maybe if a man says it it’ll be taken seriously and 2) it implies a suggestion that disbelievers find a venue equivalent to AOL in its heyday and repeat my experiment, in the spirit of dispassionate empiricism.

— If no woman in your life has ever talked to you about how she lives her life with an undercurrent of fear of men, consider the possibility that it may be because she sees you as one of those men she cannot really trust.

— Finally, let’s assume just for the sake of argument that you’re right. You aren’t. But just as a gedankenexperiment, let’s pretend you are, and that the women who are talking about the massive deadweight silence from men about the harassment they experience, and who are getting all upset and speaking in terms of “war zones” and “hate crimes” and such are just being emotional, hysterical even, and — like the people who forward that bogus email about the guy with the ropes and duct tape in hs trunk in the mall parking lot — just need to be set straight with a calm, measured dose of logic and fact-checking.

In most situations, that’s a fine impulse. There really is no reason to get upset about LSD in blue star tattoos, and Bill Gates really isn’t paying people who forward a chain email.

But this situation is qualitatively different. When the topic at hand is men not taking an issue seriously, suggesting that the issue might not really be all that serious is not being dispassionate. It is, in fact, taking a side. And the people on the side you’re taking, incidentally, include the gropers, the rapists, the sexual-favor-demanding bosses.

In short, if you’re interested in quibbling with the data or suggesting alternate interpretations of what Kos really meant when he called Kathy Sierra a lying “crying blogger,” and your goal is not to be a flaming asshole, shut the fuck up.

And when you shut the fuck up, two magical things happen:

1) You’re no longer actively contributing to the very problem you’re discussing;
2) It’s easier to listen to what the women are actually saying.

by Chris Clarke, April 13th, 2007 in [Gender Issues, Assholes] at Pandagon

And the sad thing is, if you read down in the comments on that page, you find the perfect example of the kind of guy he is talking about.

By the way, the conversation he refers to between Kathy Sierra and Markos can be found here. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/12/22533/9224

And over at DU...they locked the thread about this

Make up your own minds. Just know this. Women DO live with an undercurrent of fear. We learn to walk in lighted areas, check the backseat of our car, carry our keys in our fists as a defensive weapon, etc. We can never take for granted that an area we are in is safe, not even our own homes sometimes. You can believe all you want that it is irrational, but that doesn't make us wrong.

Great article...

2008-04-25T13:56:00.003-04:00

Just read a great article...
By talidapali, 7/5/2007 10:44 AM (PST) - 361 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

In the upcoming August issue of Vanity Fair magazine by David Halberstam. Mr. Halberstam was tragically killed in a car accident on April 23 of this year. This is one of the last pieces he wrote. It is worth a read.

The History Boys
In the twilight of his presidency, George W. Bush and his inner circle have been feeding the press with historical parallels: he is Harry Truman—unpopular, besieged, yet ultimately to be vindicated—while Iraq under Saddam was Europe held by Hitler. To a serious student of the past, that's preposterous. Writing just before his untimely death, David Halberstam asserts that Bush's "history," like his war, is based on wishful thinking, arrogance, and a total disdain for the facts.
by David Halberstam August 2007

We are a long way from the glory days of Mission Accomplished, when the Iraq war was over before it was over—indeed before it really began—and the president could dress up like a fighter pilot and land on an aircraft carrier, and the nation, led by a pliable media, would applaud. Now, late in this sad, terribly diminished presidency, mired in an unwinnable war of their own making, and increasingly on the defensive about events which, to their surprise, they do not control, the president and his men have turned, with some degree of desperation, to history. In their view Iraq under Saddam was like Europe dominated by Hitler, and the Democrats and critics in the media are likened to the appeasers of the 1930s. The Iraqi people, shorn of their immensely complicated history, become either the people of Europe eager to be liberated from the Germans, or a little nation that great powerful nations ought to protect. Most recently in this history rummage sale—and perhaps most surprisingly—Bush has become Harry Truman.

Illustrations by Edward Sorel.

We have lately been getting so many history lessons from the White House that I have come to think of Bush, Cheney, Rice, and the late, unlamented Rumsfeld as the History Boys. They are people groping for rationales for their failed policy, and as the criticism becomes ever harsher, they cling to the idea that a true judgment will come only in the future, and history will save them.

Full text of the article is here.

Video of that Special Comment

2008-04-25T13:52:00.002-04:00

Video of K.O.'s Special Comment on July 3, 2007 for those who haven't got time to read the transcript
By talidapali, 7/4/2007 5:45 PM (PST) - 365 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

July 3, 2007 Keith Olbermann Special Comment

2008-04-25T13:50:00.005-04:00

July 3, 2007 Keith Olbermann Special Comment
By talidapali, 7/3/2007 11:00 PM (PST) - 273 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

Here is the transcript of Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on July 3, 2007. Edward R. Murrow would be proud of this man. All true Americans should be.

Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on what is, in everything but name, George Bush’s pardon of Scooter Libby.

“I didn’t vote for him,” an American once said, “But he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

That — on this eve of the 4th of July — is the essence of this democracy, in seventeen words.

And that is what President Bush threw away yesterday in commuting the sentence of Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

The man who said those seventeen words — improbably enough — was the actor John Wayne.

And Wayne, an ultra-conservative, said them, when he learned of the hair’s-breadth election of John F. Kennedy instead of his personal favorite, Richard Nixon in 1960.

“I didn’t vote for him but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

The sentiment was doubtlessly expressed earlier. But there is something especially appropriate about hearing it, now, in Wayne’s voice.

The crisp matter-of-fact acknowledgement that we have survived, even though for nearly two centuries now, our Commander-in-Chief has also served, simultaneously, as the head of one political party and often the scourge of all others.

We as citizens must, at some point, ignore a president’s partisanship. Not that we may “prosper” as a nation, not that we may “achieve”, not that we may “lead the world” — but merely that we may “function.”

But just as essential to the seventeen words of John Wayne is an implicit trust — a sacred trust:That the president for whom so many did not vote, can in turn suspend his political self long enough, and for matters imperative enough, to conduct himself solely for the benefit of the entire Republic.

Our generation’s willingness to state “we didn’t vote for him, but he’s our president, and we hope he does a good job,” was tested in the crucible of history, and far earlier than most. And in circumstances more tragic and threatening.

And we did that with which history tasked us.

We enveloped “our” President in 2001.

And those who did not believe he should have been elected — indeed, those who did not believe he had been elected — willingly lowered their voices and assented to the sacred oath of non-partisanship.

And George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and sharpened it to a razor-sharp point, and stabbed this nation in the back with it.

Were there any remaining lingering doubt otherwise, or any remaining lingering hope, it ended yesterday when Mr. Bush commuted the prison sentence of one of his own staffers.

Did so even before the appeals process was complete…

Did so without as much as a courtesy consultation with the Department of Justice…

Did so despite what James Madison –at the Constitutional Convention — said about impeaching any president who pardoned or sheltered those who had committed crimes “advised by” that president…

Did so without the slightest concern that even the most detached of citizens must look at the chain of events and wonder:

To what degree was Mr. Libby told: break the law however you wish — the President will keep you out of prison?

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental compact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens — the ones who did not cast votes for you.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President… of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party.

And this is too important a time, sir, to have a Commander-in-Chief who puts party over nation.

This has been, of course, the gathering legacy of this Administration. Few of its decisions have escaped the stain of politics.

The extraordinary Karl Rove has spoken of “a permanent Republican majority,” as if such a thing — or a permanent Democratic majority — is not antithetical to that upon which rests: our country, our history, our revolution, our freedoms.

Yet our democracy has survived shrewder men than Karl Rove.

And it has survived the frequent stain of politics upon the fabric of government.

But this administration, with ever-increasing insistence and almost theocratic zealotry, has turned that stain… into a massive oil spill.

The protection of the environment is turned over to those of one political party, who will financially benefit from the rape of the environment.

The protections of the Constitution are turned over to those of one political party, who believe those protections unnecessary and extravagant and “quaint.”

The enforcement of the laws is turned over to those of one political party, who will swear beforehand that they will not enforce those laws.

The choice between war and peace is turned over to those of one political party, who stand to gain vast wealth by ensuring that there is never peace, but only war.

And now, when just one cooked book gets corrected by an honest auditor…

When just one trampling of the inherent and inviolable “fairness” of government is rejected by an impartial judge…

When just one wild-eyed partisan is stopped by the figure of blind justice…

This President decides that he, and not the law, must prevail.

I accuse you, Mr. Bush, of lying this country into war.

I accuse you of fabricating in the minds of your own people, a false implied link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

I accuse you of firing the generals who told you that the plans for Iraq were disastrously insufficient.

I accuse you of causing in Iraq the needless deaths of 3,586 of our brothers and sons, and sisters and daughters, and friends and neighbors.

I accuse you of subverting the Constitution, not in some misguided but sincerely-motivated struggle to combat terrorists, but instead to stifle dissent.

I accuse you of fomenting fear among your own people, of creating the very terror you claim to have fought.

I accuse you of exploiting that unreasoning fear, the natural fear of your own people who just want to live their lives in peace, as a political tool to slander your critics and libel your opponents.

I accuse you of handing part of this republic over to a Vice President who is without conscience, and letting him run roughshod over it.

And I accuse you now, Mr. Bush, of giving, through that Vice President, carte blanche to Mr. Libby, to help defame Ambassador Joseph Wilson by any means necessary, to lie to Grand Juries and Special Counsel and before a court, in order to protect the mechanisms and particulars of that defamation, with your guarantee that Libby would never see prison, and, in so doing, as Ambassador Wilson himself phrased it here last night, of you becoming an accessory to the obstruction of justice.

When President Nixon ordered the firing of the Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox during the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” on October 20th, 1973, Mr. Cox initially responded tersely, and ominously:

“Whether ours shall be a government of laws and not of men, is now for Congress, and ultimately, the American people.”

President Nixon did not understand how he had crystallized the issue of Watergate for the American people.

It had been about the obscure meaning behind an attempt to break in to a rival party’s headquarters; and the labyrinthine effort to cover-up that break-in and the related crimes.

But in one night, Nixon transformed it.

Watergate — instantaneously — became a simpler issue: a President overruling the inexorable march of the law. Of insisting — in a way that resonated viscerally with millions who had not previously understood — that he was the law.

Not the Constitution.

Not the Congress.

Not the Courts.

Just him.

Just - Mr. Bush - as you did, yesterday.

The twists and turns of Plame-Gate, your precise and intricate lies that sent us into this bottomless pit of Iraq; your lies upon the lies to discredit Joe Wilson; your lies upon the lies upon the lies to throw the sand at the “referee” of Prosecutor Fitzgerald’s analogy… these are complex and often painful to follow, and too much, perhaps, for the average citizen.

But when other citizens render a verdict against your man, Mr. Bush — and then you spit in the faces of those jurors and that judge and the judges who were yet to hear the appeal — the average citizen understands that, sir.

It’s the fixed ballgame and the rigged casino and the pre-arranged lottery all rolled into one — and it stinks. And they know it.

Nixon’s mistake, the last and most fatal of them, the firing of Archibald Cox, was enough to cost him the presidency.

And in the end, even Richard Nixon could say he could not put this nation through an impeachment.

It was far too late for it to matter then, but as the decades unfold, that single final gesture of non-partisanship, of acknowledged responsibility not to self, not to party, not to “base,” but to country, echoes loudly into history.

Even Richard Nixon knew it was time to resign

Would that you could say that, Mr. Bush.

And that you could say it for Mr. Cheney.

You both crossed the Rubicon yesterday.

Which one of you chose the route, no longer matters.

Which is the ventriloquist, and which the dummy, is irrelevant.

But that you have twisted the machinery of government into nothing more than a tawdry machine of politics, is the only fact that remains relevant.

It is nearly July 4th, Mr. Bush, the commemoration of the moment we Americans decided that rather than live under a King who made up the laws, or erased them, or ignored them — or commuted the sentences of those rightly convicted under them — we would force our independence, and regain our sacred freedoms.

We of this time — and our leaders in Congress, of both parties — must now live up to those standards which echo through our history:

Pressure, negotiate, impeach — get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

And for you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task.

You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed.

Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

Resign.

And give us someone — anyone – about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

Good night, and good luck.

The Rainbow Bridge

2008-04-25T13:48:00.002-04:00

The Rainbow Bridge
By talidapali, 5/2/2007 9:28 AM (PST) - 356 reads.
This entry has not been rated yet.

Goodbye my sweet little girl
I'll meet you at the Rainbow Bridge
We'll run and play and laugh again
And steal cookies from the fridge.

Tweety
1992 - 2007
My friend and companion and protector.
I love you forever.

Musings and History

2008-04-25T13:34:00.003-04:00

Well I don't keep up my blog in the gaming community very well so we'll see how this goes. I'll probably transfer all the content from my existing blog to this spot.