Today’s math lesson….

May 31, 2008


Grover Cleveland defeated James Blaine in 1884 to become the 22nd President; lost in the Electoral College to Benjamin Harrison in 1888 then won the presidency over Harrison in 1892. Cleveland is the only man elected to serve nonconsecutive presidential terms.
So ‘Bush 41’ and ‘Bush 43’ refer to administrations, not Presidents [there hasn’t been a 43rd President yet].

Grab that goal post…gotta go!

If you hold your mouth right, stand on one foot, pat your head with one hand, rub your tummy with the other hand and turn your head and cough, then you can play the ‘Bill and Hillary Math Game’, too. When talking about Michigan, keep saying ’every vote should count’ [talk really fast, sing Yankee Doodle and frantically wave things if it’s noted that nobody’s name but Hillary’s was on the ballot so no voter, not even one, could pick Obama.].

Grab that goal post…gotta go!

Florida’s like that, too, sorta; there was more than one name but nobody campaigned. [Again, talk really fast, sing Yankee Doodle and frantically wave things].

Grab that goal post…gotta go!

In order for the ‘Bill and Hillary Math Game’ to work, talk about how all 50 states should count—unless they had caucuses, so Wyoming, Washington, North Dakota, Nevada, Nebraska, Minnesota, Maine, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii and Idaho have to be tossed out; they don’t count anymore. The ‘Bill and Hillary Math Game’ won’t work if they’re allowed to stay. Don’t try to reconcile the phrase, “all 50 states should count “ with the 12 disqualified caucus states or you’ll end up like Darren Steven’s mother on Bewitched and get a “sick headache” and you may throw up.) [Time for talking really fast, singing Yankee Doodle and frantically waving things].

Grab that goal post…gotta go

Some unanswered questions:


Why is Bill Clinton giving answers to questions nobody asked? Maybe, as Hardball’s Chris Matthews suggested, Clinton’s talking to Harvey, the six foot invisible Pooka rabbit [“Six feet three and a half inches. Now let's stick to the facts”].


Hillary and Chelsea Clinton won’t take any questions about Monica Lewinsky on the Democratic primary campaign trail. That’s fair enough; she’s technically not their problem but is, as Pat Buchanan calls it, “The Republican Attack Machine” gonna be so polite? It’ll be all Monica, all the time. No discussion about the war in Iraq, healthcare or medicine, obscene gas prices, endangered animals or global warming, the housing crisis; instead, it’ll all be about character snipes and wedge issues.


George H. W. Bush>Bill Clinton>George W. Bush>Hillary Clinton>Jeb Bush>Chelsea Clinton>then what, the Barb and Jenna co-Presidency?


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Going, going, gone

May 24, 2008

Global warming could drive one of the world's most recognizable animals out of existence

"We've reviewed all the available data that leads us to believe the sea ice the polar bear depends on has been receding," said the [unnamed] Interior official, who added that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have concluded that polar bears could be endangered within 45 years. "Obviously, the sea ice is melting because the temperatures are warmer." (The Seattle Times Do polar bears belong on the endangered species list? Thursday, February 21, 2008)
The Polar Bear is considered by the US government to be an “Animal in danger” or “threatened animal,” not completely an “Endangered animal [species].” [There is a difference.] An “Endangered animal” has the complete protection of Law Enforcement but an “Animal in danger” classification roughly means officials are “thinkin’ damn strong about it” and some safeguards are dropped, like “There is a clause in the act that excludes global warming from the list of threats the federal government must consider when trying to protect polar bear habitat. Instead of “endangered,” the polar bear is listed as “threatened” and gets more limited protection than that provided by a global warming listing. Of course, global warming is the dire threat facing polar bears today, so this means nothing.”( Kansas City Star May 23, 2008 “Letters to the Editor”)
No more cute Coca Cola Christmas commercials because by 2050, sea ice loss likely will result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing. Your grandkids would look at the ad and ask, “What’s that?”
The Bush administration “is forcing the polar bear to sink or swim,” said Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of a House committee on global warming.
Sen. John Kerry, also a Massachusetts Democrat, called the listing “a lifeline,” but said the bear’s survival won’t be assured without limits on oil development in the Arctic waters where the bears are found.
(Kansas City Star May 23, 2008)
[This recent exchange on MSNBC sums it up:]
Heidi Harris: Here‘s the ultimate thing; Republicans never get credit for going over to the left. This happens all the time. They try to pander to the left—
Chris Matthews: You think climate change is an ideological issue?
Heidi Harris: Absolutely. Absolutely, I do…but I also don‘t believe that mankind, and my SUV that I‘m going to get in to as soon as I leave here, is polluting the Earth to the point where I‘m going to destroy the Earth.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Hardball with Chris Matthews

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What’s all this talk about being “dynasty weary”?

May 20, 2008

When…

Jimmy Carter was President

The "Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee” [some still call it “the bailout”] was enacted

The London Gold Fixing [international gold price] hit its highest price ever

The Pittsburgh Steelers won its 4th Super Bowl [Super Bowl XIV]
“Abscam” was breaking to the public

The XIII Winter Olympics was held in Lake Placid, New York

The "Miracle on Ice" [“Do you believe in miracles?"— The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeated the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics]

Pierre Trudeau returned to office as Prime Minister of Canada\

The United States boycotted the Summer Olympics in Moscow

The Hunt brothers [Nelson Bunker Hunt and Herbert Hunt] attempted to corner the market in silver [Silver Thursday]

Airplane!; Coal Miner’s Daughter ; 9 to 5; The Empire Strikes Back; Ordinary People; The Elephant Man; Smokey and the Bandit II; Any Which Way You Can; Private Benjamin; Stir Crazy and The Blue Lagoon were released

“They’re not gonna catch us. We’re on a mission from God” [The Blues Brothers]

The Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) Emmy awards boycott

“Who shot J.R.?”

A Day In Hollywood, A Night In The Ukraine; 42nd Street ; Richard Burton revives "Camelot."; Whose Life is it Anyway? and Talley's Folly were on Broadway [On Golden Pond closed]

On TV—Barney Miller; MASH; Beat the Clock (The All New Beat the Clock); Dallas; Are You Being Served?” “ Uncle Walter” Cronkite announces his retirement; The Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting; The David Letterman Show debuts on NBC; The Facts of Life; Solid Gold; That's Incredible! ; Magnum, P.I. ; Bosom Buddies and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson [The soap opera Love of Life airs its last episode]

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) was a 1 year old

The US National Debt: ended the year at $ 930,210,000,000.00 [today, roughly multiply by 10—now it’s measured in trillions not billions]

“Britain's Roswell”/ Rendlesham Forest Incident— (alleged landing of an extraterrestrial spacecraft in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England) was scaring us

The U.S. Embassy hostages were in Tehran, Iran

Comedian Richard Pryor was badly burned trying to freebase cocaine
U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy won several primaries, including California, on 'Super Tuesday'

Ronald Reagan was nominated for, and later elected as, U.S. President by the Republican Party

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed shah of Iran, died

The nationwide independent trade union Solidarity was established

The Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series

A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada killed 85 people

A magnitude 7 earthquake in southern Italy killed approximately 3,000 people and left 300,000 homeless

Former Beatle John Lennon died in the hospital after being shot outside his New York City apartment by Mark David Chapman

Elton John released Little Jeanie as a 45 rpm record

That’s the first time, 1980, that the name Bush or Clinton was on the national ballot.

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Dear George...

May 19, 2008

Dear George,
“ A pack of lies.”
War, jobs, freedom, elections, Medicare “reform”, Social Security, torture, reconstruction, the economy, domestic issues—they are all based on many things but little if any of it the truth.
Millions of Americans lack the most basic healthcare; millions more can't adequately feed themselves and their families. Seniors must decide between food and medicine; because of outsourcing, the middle class is being squeezed almost out of existence. If your name is Rockefeller, Bush, Vanderbilt or Getty, you have a nice, fat trust fund to fall back on; most of us do not. About 40 years ago, John F. Kennedy wrote, “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” You either don't know of or have chosen to ignore the average American's struggle.
If Teddy Roosevelt were alive today to see how you've damaged this country's air, water and public lands, he'd thrash you soundly about the head and shoulders.
Senator Daniel Webster wrote in 1834, “The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.” You and your loyalists have trampled on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, trying to change the rules so you can have your way. Apparently, you are not familiar with Abraham Lincoln's counsel that “Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
George, you're a mean little man who has perverted religion from something that is deeply and intensely personal to a nifty political trick, lambasting gay marriage, all the while, a gay prostitute visited the White House almost 200 times in two years.
Many Americans now respect the office of the Presidency but not the President.
South Korea, Germany—every industrialized country except the US it seems, is making dramatic progress with Stem Cell research but our country lags behind because it offends your delicate sensibilities. As someone who suffered a paralytic stroke, your actions denying promise are something I'll never forget and something for which I'll never forgive you.
There's a whale of a difference between a President that isn't immediately forthcoming about an extramarital affair and one that knowingly lies the nation into a war that kills hundreds upon hundreds of its country's soldiers.
“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better to be alone than in bad company.”-- George Washington.

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Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

May 18, 2008

Should John McCain’s wife have plagiarized her “treasured family recipes” word for word from The Food Network? Probably not.
Should Hillary Clinton made her “sniper fire” comments about her trip to Bosnia? Probably not. (It’s enough she flew into a war zone; no need to add on.)
Should Barack Obama have used the “bitter “comment? Probably not. (More genteelly he would have noted that folks lean most heavily on their faith when at wit’s end; like FDR’s advice, “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”)
Do any of these lower gas prices? make healthcare more affordable? shrink tuition costs? decrease insurance costs? In early 2001, you’d have forked over $1.70 a gallon for gas. President Bush says he, “understands” the average American’s plight. No he doesn’t; he’s a billionaire; he has his own plane for Heaven’s sake. He’s not ever had to choose between food and medicine.
As said by NewsHour [PBS], in May, 2003, “Due to the sluggish economy and state budget deficits, many students will pay record-breaking tuition increases to help universities compensate for cuts in state funding” and “According to data from The Chronicle of Higher Education, which tracks college costs, the 10 most expensive schools in the country, led by George Washington University in Washington, D.C., averaged a tuition rise of 52% from 1999 to 2006--nearly triple the 21% rise in the U.S. cost of living during the same period.” [America's Most Expensive Colleges—Forbes.com 1/19/2007] (Well, you can’t have an economic caste system if you educate the poor. Thought education was supposed to be he great leveler.)
Samuel Alito, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Just one more vote and the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v Wade. A bunch of old men in D. C. will decide what healthcare a woman may or may not have. John McCain very publicly declared that as President, he’ll see they get that fifth vote.
A discussion of issues, not juicy gossip and tidbits; wouldn’t that be just swell?

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You look very very pretty tonight

May 9, 2008






“Just try and stay out of my way. Just try! I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too! “

Oh, Reverend John Hagee, tsk, tsk…..

“Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.” [Jerusalem Countdown by Reverend John Hagee who calls the Catholic Church "the great whore”].

"In the United States, our best journalism is published in books now and talked about on the radio and the internet. If you get your news from a television or a newspaper, you live in another world. This no doubt contributes to how divided we are politically.”

[David Swanson, co-founder AfterDowningStreet.org
review of The Case for Impeachment:
The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office]

The 24 hour TV news channels couldn’t get enough of Jeremiah Wright—they broadcast seemingly 24/7 about it, determined to make it the #1 issue. It was like P. D. Q. Bach’s WTWP (Wall-to-Wall Pachelbel) but it was all Wright, all the time.


“Why Isn't The Media Paying Attention To McCain's Creepy Pastor Buddy, John Hagee?
This guy makes Barak's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, look like the Easter Bunny.” (evangelicalright.com/)

Rod Parsley, head of the “Patriot Pastors”, another right-wing televangelist, “actress” Heidi Montag [The Hills—MTV], George Allen [of “Macaca” fame], war hawk Joe Lieberman, Sylvester Stallone [who was convicted in Australia in May of 2007 for illegally importing human growth hormone and testosterone into that country which included 48 vials of an HGH drug banned in the U.S.], Shauna Sand [Lorenzo Lamas’ ex-wife], hell, Ronald Reagan from the great beyond, but, they all think John McCain should be your next President.

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I Love, I Hate You; Come Here, Go Away!

May 5, 2008

Is this the time to promote extra driving?

A gas tax holiday. Three months of lower gas prices? P-A-R-T-Y!!!

In your dreams; it’s a great election play but at the risk of shitting in your Cornflakes, look at the end game. The tax holiday is woefully short-sighted; the gas tax that funded road and bridge upkeep will go bye-bye: in theory, you’ll pocket $9+ a month but the oil companies will keep on jacking up gas prices at the pump; the consumer won’t ever get the promised relief; the roads and bridges will endure three months of utter neglect; thousands and thousands of highway construction workers will become unemployed; with inflation on the rise (and the Fed has no room left for more interest rate cuts; it’d make inflation worse anyway), and unemployment going up, get ready for Stagflation [remember that?]when the holiday’s over and gas jumps nearly 20 cents a gallon overnight. All for vote pandering. Are John McCain and Hillary Clinton going to hold Town Hall meetings in Minneapolis/St. Paul to say the roads and bridges don’t need to be maintained this Summer?
McCain says a transfer of funds from other budget items can make up for the lost revenue. Really? What discretional part of the federal budget has a surplus these days? Clinton says a Windfall Profits Tax on Big Oil will pay for it.. Will this administration greet any anti-Oil Company legislation with anything but a veto? That’s presuming this Congress has the balls to pass any bill that makes Big Oil pay its fair share. We have a Congress that’s much more interested in what consonant follows somebody’s name. Sadly, it’s party over people.
The “powers that be” will once again go after the Alaska[n] National Wildlife Area Refuge (ANWAR) for “national security” reasons. Yes, the same people that brought you, “And don’t forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There’s a racial component here, too”, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job”, “Go fuck yourself”, “I hear the voices, and I read the front page, and I know the speculation. But I’m the decider, and I decide what is best. And what’s best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense” , “I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans”, “I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees” and “My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators [in Iraq].” They promise an itty-bitty, teeny-tiny, insignificant little "footprint" by the oil drillers; but you say Exxon, I think Valdez. They don't tell you that drillers will need 9-10 years to "prep" the site and the finished product will be minimal. Oops! don't cut it. Extinct or destroyed is forever.
I do think 30 bucks is a big deal but if you’re afraid to go over a bridge because you don’t feel lucky that day, it really doesn’t matter what gas costs.


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