One vote can make a difference!

My friend Patty sent me this!

Barack Obama's 30 minutes on prime time.

Wow! It's been a lot of years since I have seen anything like that! Wow... I actually feel enabled. I wish I could vote! (I can see the US of A from my porch, that should count don't you think?)

Things about which I've been thinking...

I've truly had way too many things on my mind to blog in any clear fashion; so, I've decided to do it in point form:

Why would a baby, age 1 year have e. coli from Harvey's? Who would feed a 1 year old fast food? Can you spell CAS?

Why would someone name their daughter "Sensuous?" Sensuous Balfour? Guess what she's gonna grow up to be? Yep, a brain surgeon! (*EDIT* I in no way mean to take away from the horror and terrible events of the murders of a 7 year old boy and his Grand Mother... there are no words, no explaination for such an awful tragedy. I simply cannot accept someone naming their child "Sensuous" and not realizing the effect it could have.)

Why is everyone selling their stocks in this panic market? Hello... until you sell, the loss is only on paper, sell and it's real green! Panic feeds panic. I haven't lost a dime in real life yet... sigh... I'm trying to convince myself here!

Leap Frog commercials: Oh right the frog asks the kid which book is better? The one you do all by yourself where you pass the electronic wand over and it reads itself to you... or the boring book you have to read yourself because it doesn't talk... or better yet; and what an earth shattering concept this is... READ TO YOUR KID! OMG... seriously, let the machine do it and you can chat away on your cell phone and the kid's occupied!

Can you tell I'm cranky? Can you tell that I'm getting just a bit weary of what's going on here? I'm 50, I admit it. I also admit that I love the electronic age and embrace all it has to offer. What it does not offer is the bonding that happens between you and your child when you teach them something!

I despair over the cheapening of our youth, the denigration of self respect and self image and the acceptance of cheapness and tawdriness for "coolness."

Ok, fine, I sound old. If you don't like it, don't read it and move on to a more hip and less judgemental blog! :)

Why?

I just haven't felt like it... that's why! Too much to chose from should the truth be told! You never know what you'll find on the great, wide interwebs do ya? (Everybody has a camera or a camera phone... everybody... everywhere!)

Justin Trudeau; M.P.

That's Justin, on the left side of the photo above, from a Christmas card I got from his Dad, Pierre. Justin just won his first seat in Parliament, representing Papineau. You can see his teeth came back in nicely too eh?

Bonne chance Justin!

Live from NY... it's Sarah Palin! (In case you missed it.)

*Apparently SNL pulled the video? sorry*
Like I've said before, I'm against just about everything she's for... but ya gotta love the gal.

I almost forgot to mention...

Yes, Canada threw a little event on October 14th. Each of us about 33 million folks in the country tossed 10 dollars into the pot; (about $8.50 US each for you Americans.) Sadly less than half the invitees showed up.

When it was all over, the attendees all went home, the hosts all settled back into their regular routines... we ended up right where we started.

See? I'm NOT talking about the economy...

Too much, too volitile and just too, too scary. This is my new stance on the markets!

Voting online... Malarkey!

cartoon: Ben Sargent

Voting online... what a joke! Voting should NOT be that easy. Quote, courtesy of Michelle. Voting should take effort, thought, a bit of sacrifice and some basic human input beyond clicking a mouse.

People have died for this right! People have fought wars for this right! People have packed up and moved across the world for this right! Employers, (in Canada,) are mandated to give you 3 full hours of time in which to exercise this right!

How dare you sit on your ass and bitch that you have to go out in the cold... for this right!

A mouse click is what you use to pick a favourite video, a favourite movie star NOT the future of your country. While people are willing to put their lives on the line to represent what our country stands for, you can at least get into your Mini Van or SUV and drive the 2 minutes to the polling station.

I don't care if you are American or Canadian, we both have elections coming up. Go there, mark your X, pull the lever whatever... but if you don't, I don't want to hear from you!

The best thing I found on the net today! Rednecks for Obama!

“We Hunt, Fish, Drink Beer and Support Barack Obama” Gotta love it! Sarah must be spinnin' on her red high heels.








http://rednecks4obama.com/ nothing I do makes the link work!

Just type it into your browser. sorry :)

Iceland in meltdown! The world is changing quickly.

The largest bank has been seized by the Government, the stock market is closed until Monday and they are on the verge of bankruptcy!

AIG now holds a $111 Billion loan from the Fed. The $700 Billion "rescue package" money is yet to be spent or details of how it's to be spent released and well... they had to make a new US debt clock for Time's Square as there weren't enough decimal places available.

The interest rate in Canada was cut .5% but the banks are only giving us lowly consumers .25%. They are holding on to their cash showing they don't have too much faith in these measures being made to shore up the economy.

I figure at this rate, China will end up my next door neighbour. China's holding of US Treasury securities combined with Taiwan & Hong Kong's portion total $607.7 Billion as of April, 2008!
I'm going to look at the bright side. Living 5 minutes from Detroit, I'd be able to drive to China which is way better than a 23 hour flight!

Taking stock... don't bother!

Yahoo
Reuters, New York Times






A friend called me this afternoon, about 3 o'clock. His first words were, "what the hell is happening with the stock market?" I told him to turn off his computer and walk away. He told me he was getting the info on his cell phone. I repeated the same instructions... walk away, close your eyes... don't look! Neither of us have our "entire fortunes" at risk. Just our futures! hehe (Pardon the pun.)

We agreed there was nothing to be done right now, unless you have a few extra thousand laying around then there were some bargains to buy. We agreed there was no point in selling. We also agreed that we were glad it was a few years before we were looking to retire. Unless of course, Buffett can save us all? (And I don't mean Jimmy! Though a Cheeseburger & a margarita in Paradise would be good right now too!)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Last night I watched this movie for the first time in at least 30 years. I had forgotten how powerful it was. How Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton portray a train wreck, waiting to happen and you just can't take your eyes off of it.


I had forgotten how disturbing this movie is. Then, sadly, I realized I actually know people like this!

Palin - Biden debate... SNL style.

Not too far off from the actual debate! hehe

It's a tie... in my humble Canadian opinion

photo: CNN

She did it, she did her way. He was kind, respectful and made his points. Biden's emotions getting away from him was touching. She tried hard to speak right to "the people." Still don't like her politics, but like I said, McCain should have let her out of the box long ago.

1/2 way through... Dang she's good!

Ok, she's stammering a bit right now over Iraq, but up to now! Holy pit bull. She just keeps going back to that plain spoken, smiling, slightly self depreciating Sarah and she's doing ok. I still don't agree with her politics but dang, she can talk a circle back to something she actually understands like nobody else! She's holding her own and Joe's trying hard to "talk plain" so not to turn off "Joe 6 pack!"

Oh oh... name tossing of foreign leaders going on... showing she can pronounce them I think?

T minus 2 hours and counting!

I can hardly contain myself! I'm so excited... you know what? Sarah may just surprise us all. I've been saying for weeks they should just let her out of the box, let her go at it! Let her be the hockey-Mom, small town, moose huntin' gal that she is! Lets see what happens. (Again I have NOTHING in common with her political views, I just am excited about the excitment she's created.) This should be the most watched VP debate of all time! Crack open the 6 pack, it's time to party!

Sarah Palin... she's coming out!

As much as I'd like to watch the English, Canadian leaders' debate tonight, especially since Steven Harper has turned himself into Mr. Rogers in that soft blue sweater... I cannot. It's too good to pass up, it's the VP debate! woo hoo



To the tune of the famous Looney Tunes & Muppet show song...

Tonight's the night, the big debate.
I bet'cha that, it's gonna be great.
No more being cloistered, she's hittin' the stage
In glasses that're all the rage!

The secret service, will be there;
just in case there is a scare.
If commies show up, they're soon on the run
'cause Sarah's got her gun.

The issues here... oh never mind!
The point of them, she seldom finds.
Joe 6 pack's in the place,
On with the VP race!


ps... Admitting my ignorance here, I had to Google, "joe 6 pack." Apparently it means, Joe Average, or John Q. Public. I guess I should have pulled out the Redneck dictionary?

Cells phones and things we don't need to know!

A&P grocery store, 5:15pm... I'm just picking up a few things for dinner, thinking about things like the Senate vote on the bailout bill and then... she appears, well first I heard her, then she appeared. What would you like to know? I know she had "tons of xrays and a bone scan," but she "still feels like she's going to puke." Oh and she "thought she'd get to go right to physio but didn't make it." Throughout the entire store she blathered on and on about deeply personal things like she was the only person there. That, or she was inordinately proud of this medical condition and felt we all needed to know about it!

What the hell is wrong with people? Do I need to know that your kid got called to the office, again? Do I need to hear you fighting with your spouse? Do I need to hear all about the big plans you have this weekend?

I see mothers out walking their kids and are they interacting with them? Nope... on the cell phone.

I'm done ranting now but damn this just pisses me off!