A Few of My Favorite Things.

1.  Recently, For the past three years, Sarah Palin has been tarred and feathered by the media. With her entire e-mail history floating around the internet everyone seems to have an opinion.  As I was reading up on the debacle I stumbled upon one particularly misleading article that I thought would be an objective review of what the e-mails mean in respect to the current political scene, but instead it was an unnecessary diatribe detailing everything this author thought she had done wrong with e-mail quotes to prove it.  At the end of his article he creates a list of quotes organized by their context.  One of the many quotes that he has judiciously pulled from hundreds of thousands of e-mails in order to slander Mrs. Palin is a comment by Palin on the guidance she receives from God.

On God's guidance
"I have been praying for wisdom on this ... God will have to show me what to do on the people's budget because I don't yet know the right path ... He will show me though." 

Oh, the horror!  A politician turns to God for financial advice?! Wait, you mean the same way that so many families turn to God for guidance in every facet of their lives?  You mean, she's actually using the divine resources that 2.1 billion people on the planet believe in to solve a political issue? 

I think the anonymous person, who doesn't even have the guts to put their own name on their article, should take his personal opinions and shove them somewhere that is completely un-Christian of me to mention.  This is number one on my list of favorite things today because its one of the the first times I really have true respect for Sarah Palin.   I don't believe women should be allowed to be President, and I don't believe she's doing right by her family to be working constantly.  But anyone who consults God for their decisions has my respect.  And people who quote those God-fearing people as if their beliefs can be used against them can go to Hell.  

2.  I know little to nothing about Mr. Pawlenty.  I know he is from Minnesota, I know he has a last name that is hard to pronounce and I know he is running for president.  However, this quote from an interview with Bill O'Reilly shows more about his character than any fact sheet.

""I'm not running for comedian- in-chief, or entertainer-in-chief. If people want that, they should go to the ball park or Broadway play or a Las Vegas show. ... Being strong is not the same as being loud. ... So, if you want the clown-in-chief, vote for somebody else. That's not me."

Amen.  Mr. Pawlenty is calling out all of the politicians who think their smile and charm will get them through anything, all of the politicians who think they can do a little song and dance for the American people and with the other hand rob us of our rights. (Read the link about being robbed of our rights, its about the 5 freedoms Obama's healthcare legislation completely strips from us.)  Mr. Pawlenty, you have my attention.

3.  Last, but most certainly not least, a very good friend introduced my to Laura Wood's blog recently.  The Thinking Housewife is brilliant for a number of reasons.  First, she has an amazing mind.  She is objective and succinct, all while being considerate and polite.  Secondly, she has the gall to stand up for what she believes in, no wavering, no platform changes, no "that depends on what the definition of is is."  Finally, she forces you to review your own position, forces you to actually use the brain God gave you.  

As you know, I am a fairly opinionated person and Mrs. Wood's blog has succeeded in inspiring me, making my heart race and causing me to groan with frustration.  But through the whole journey she is causing me to check my premises.  While Ayn Rand and Mrs. Wood have little to nothing in common I believe that their dedication to the highest moral standard and the most objective assessment possible put them on common ground.  At the very least they both hold a very high position in my mind for their inimitable dedication and philosophy.  I'd also like to note, if Ms. Rand and Mrs. Wood were to have a tea party with the other women who I respect as much, they would be in very good company.

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In Other News, things in Doha are going quite well.  No job yet but I have gone on a few interviews.  I've been baking a lot and going to the gym, it's too hot out to lay by the pool (the pool, by the way, heats up to about 104 F so it isn't exactly refreshing).  I've gotten some really great reading in (mostly Mrs. Wood's blog) and my floors are clean so life is good.  Doha has been practically empty when we go out at night.  Everyone is 'on holiday' for the summer since its too hot to hang around.  Despite the lack of company, it is really nice being able to get a parking spot when we head to dinner without having to walk a quarter-mile.

I'd also like to note, while we're listing favorite things, I'm in love... again.  (See here, here, and here for previous lovings.)

Superfluous

Yes, that's officially what I think any kind of Presidential/Vice Presidential debate would be at this point.

However, if they had said anything of meaning, depth, importance or anything beyond ambiguous and vague I would change the name of this particular blog to "Remotely Helpful" or maybe even "Poignant." The latter would only occur if the candidates made a concerted effort to truly define their ideals and their intentions. As opposed to dancing around the issues like trained ponies.

Ugh. This whole thing is rather disappointing. So much for being Mavericks, or the "Change America Needs." Nobody's changed a damn thing. Nobody's said anything different. And nobody's going to.

This whole presidential race is kind of like watching a bag of unwanted kittens drown slowly. In the end something is accomplished but everyone is still standing around looking really sad.

Click the title for a link to the full VP debate. It's worth watching, but only because as a citizen who wishes to be informed you really ought to despite the mundane nature of it.

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In Other News, My amazing Baby Sister got to visit this weekend :) She leaves tomorrow which is going to make me terribly sad. Seeing her has been so unbelievably good for me. I started a quilt out of old t-shirts, and I'm hoping I get it done before it gets to be too cold around here. Work is still going fantastically. I still have the greatest bosses on the planet. I happen to be involved with the most brilliant, thoughtful, understanding, logical and good-looking man on the planet (besides my Daddy) and I just thought I'd state that fact. Finally, I kind of miss the crap out of my college friends. They were all at a wedding last weekend and I missed out (1 - because I wasn't invited [though i could have gone as someone's date!], and 2-because I'm out of state).

p.s. Sorry about the word verification thing, Chelsea. I don't even know how that got there. I'll work on it though :)

Photobucket is My Friend

How many words is a picture worth?











Yeah. See. It's so much easier when other people makes jpgs out of what I'm thinking.

Oh. And John McCain was hot. You're welcome.

F'ing YouTubers

Ok, so I don't have a TV. Yes, laugh it up Chuckles I'm probably the only house on the continental US without a television. Anyway, my Mom calls and tells me I have to watch Sarah Palin's speech from last night so I get to work and jump on YouTube. Then as I'm listening to her speak I scroll through some of the comments people are making and I find this.

"I agree with Darkknight, McCain is broken. We need a real man that can at least raise his arms. What a pussy, got his ass kicked by a bunch of tiny little asians. All his POW experience shows is that hes a shitty pilot. Put him in a retirement home where he belongs so he can drool on himself and stop fucking up the country."

Really?! How about we drop you off in North Korea and see how well you do, Scum Bag. How about you get off your flight simulator on your computer, join the military and see how well you do. Stop hiding behind your computer monitor safety net and demeaning people who have done more for their country in one deployment than you'll ever do in your entire worthless, pathetic, mindless life. Let's put you in a retirement home so no one has to listen to your regurgitated illogical rhetoric. Yes, McCain is old. Big Deal. Sure, he can't raise his arms above his head. You should be thanking your lucky stars that you were born in America, the kind of country where men make that kind of sacrifice [you probably don't even know the meaning of that word] year after year in order to ensure that you've got the freedom to think it's okay to call another person a "pussy" for defending their country.

Let me guess, you want Saint Obama to come in a rescue the US from all the horrible Republicans? That's not going to work. The man keeps telling us we "can" do all these things. HOW? How are we supposed to accomplish political reform with nothing but hopes, dreams and good intentions? Not going to work.

I'm completely going to eat my words from yesterday about this being a "best of the worst" year in voting. It's not about being a republican, a libertarian, a democrat or a liberal, a Christian or an Athiest... it's about being an American. An American who knows that nobody is exactly right for the job but knows the difference between what's rational and what's not.

So count your blessings you blathering idiot because I'm a law-abiding American citizen and fairly good Lutheran girl who isn't going to come find you and stomp on your arms until you can't raise them ever again.

I Have a Muse

And her name is Staci. I love you ♥

But first, let's get the obvious out of the way. I'm a fan of Sarah Palin's. (because you didn't see that coming, right?) She's got spunk. Yes, I understand that's not exactly one of the higher ranking leadership qualities on the usual list but it's not a bad one. She seems pretty uncompromising, which I think is necessary because there are too few people in the country who use their spine. And despite her fundamentalist christian ideas, her daughter made a mistake and she's still standing behind her. Because that's what good parents do. (Thank you Mom & Dad)

Yeah, I know she's got the "foreign policy experience of Aunt B" [thank you, Dr. Jones] but maybe that's where we need to start... with somebody who is paying attention to what's going on in-house and not all over the world. Yes, we've got diplomatic relations to keep up but is shaking hands and handing out foreign aid grants all that difficult that we can't trust someone with "no experience" [except being the governor of a fairly large state] to grasp the concept?

Finally, she seems normal. She's got kids, her husband works, she did silly girly pagaent things when she was younger. I like normal. Normal, spunky and spine-having. She's got my vote.

Oh, and she's good with a gun. I say she goes to the range with Chavez first.

Although, I think the voting this year is more a "best of the worst" deal again... but that's for another time.

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In Other News, I've been getting a lot of work done on my case study and it's going swimmingly. I love feeling like my brain works. More importantly, despite my Mommy being in a different state I have the greatest intercontinental support system on the planet (not that I haven't always had the greatest family support system, but I'm talking about people who are lucky enough to not be blood related to me). The people I consider closest to me have the most impeccable timing. Not only that but they know the exactly right thing to say. And, thankfully, they have successfully hip-checked me back into reality, put a smile back on my face, and calmed my nerves. And I'm not sure they even know it. So for now I'm going to get back to doing a job that I love and contemplate the best way to inform my gloriously perceptive friends that they're the greatest people walking the planet.