read

excerpt from Rebecca Traister's editorial:

I don't want to be played by the girl-strings anymore. Shaking our heads and wringing our hands in sympathy with Sarah Palin is a disservice to every woman who has ever been unfairly dismissed based on her gender, because this is an utterly fair dismissal, based on an utter lack of ability and readiness. It's a disservice to minority populations of every stripe whose place in the political spectrum has been unfairly spotlighted as mere tokenism; it is a disservice to women throughout this country who have gone from watching a woman who -- love her or hate her -- was able to show us what female leadership could look like to squirming in front of their televisions as they watch the woman sent to replace her struggle to string a complete sentence together.

In fact, the only people I feel sorry for are Americans who invested in a hopeful, progressive vision of female leadership, but who are now stuck watching, verbatim, a "Saturday Night Live" skit.

Palin is tough as nails. She will bite the head off a moose and move on. So, no, I don't feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for women who have to live with what she and her running mate have wrought.

for full article, click on this.

obama '08

"I thought this was funny." :)

One thing we now know for sure. Electing John McCain would be God’s gift to the profession of journalism. A story a minute.

Imagine what would happen if a new beetle infested the Iowa corn crop during the first year of a McCain administration. On Monday, we spray. On Tuesday, we firebomb. On Wednesday, the president marches barefoot through the prairie in a show of support for Iowa farmers. On Thursday, the White House reveals that Wiley Flum, a postal worker from Willimantic, Conn., has been named the new beetle eradication czar. McCain says that Flum had shown “the instincts of a maverick reformer” in personally buying a box of roach motels and scattering them around the post office locker room. “I can’t wait to introduce Wiley to those beetles in Iowa,” the president adds.

On Friday, McCain announces he’s canceling the weekend until Congress makes the beetles go away.

Barack Obama would just round up a whole roomful of experts and come up with a plan. Yawn.

--by Gail Collins.

***

So, post-debate reaction. The first three questions of the debate focused (as expected) on the economic crisis facing the country. While neither candidate really stood out on that one, I saw that Obama is more thoughtful of what he'd do as President. There are no abrupt decisions with him; everything is weighed in and the decision is made with nothing taken for granted. Consider this: when asked what he would do or change when he takes office in light of the $700 billion bailout plan (surely this would put the next president on his first day to be balancing the budget plan), here are the answers given by each candidate:

McCain says he will issue a spending freeze on all programs except veterans, defense, and other vital issues. Now what is vital to McCain, we don't know. Because he didn't really get into the specifics. Although, if you ask me, I see a spending freeze as another BAND-AID. A short-term solution that doesn't get to the root of the problem.

Obama, on the other hand, seemed to have thought more about it and answered carefully. He said "that the problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet when you need a scalpel." He named programs that are underfunded at the moment, like healthcare and early childhood education, which cannot afford a spending freeze. He addressed the causes that got us into this economic mess and criticized the current administration for letting the markets run amock without sufficient oversight or regulation. A philosophy that McCain embraces.

Now what scares me about a McCain presidency is the thought that what if, our economy and our military defence can't take any more? He's too stubborn to change his mind about Iraq (claims the surge is still working -- but really, we shouldn't even be there in the first place) and he seems pretty set on economic policies as well-- protecting the 5% of the population with tax cuts while ignoring the 95% who are earning less than a quarter of a million dollars a year. He never even said "middle class" during the debate. That's how out of touch he is. Anyway, back to my initial question. What if we get another four more years of failed policies? Our standing in the world continues to decline, we're making more enemies, our market is shot to hell (and now we're trying to rescue the very fuckin people that got us into this mess in the first place), we're getting into real bad debt (yes, we're borrowing from China because the Iraq war is costly but McCain doesn't seem to want to put a spending freeze on that), we continue our isolationism philosophy when it comes to foreign policies (when Obama offers a tough diplomacy first with militiary action not taken off the table-- sounds pretty good to me)... I can go on and on and on. But all I see with a McCain presidency is doom. And you know what? All I see with a Palin presidency is more doom. I'd like to hear Putin's response about how Palin thinks she has foreign policy experience because she can see Russia from her home in Alaska. WTF?? That's bordering on amusing! Really! Well from BV's house, I can see TJ... omg, that makes me ready to tackle illegal immigration issues. What a joke! Anywayys....

Ok, this whole thing was going to be longer but I'm so riled up (but still pretty amused) that I think it's better to just pause for now. Maybe we should think about the North Korean regime for now and how the government is so repressive that the average height for North Koreans is 3 inches shorter than South Koreans. HUH??? That's McCain for you. Or, hey maybe the government is just hording the milk and keeping it from the general population's reach. Haha. Maybe that's what McCain meant. Whatever.

Good day,
LYN

some things about palin...

My sister said that maybe I should refrain from talking about politics. It gets me too heated. Well I think there's too much on the line to remain passive about it. So I won't be silent. I want to talk about it and I want to tell people who are open-minded what the choices are. Maybe there is no right decision. But it is important to know what a vote for McCain/Palin or a vote for Obama/Biden entails. Look past the media blur or the ad attacks or the hype (which I don't fully understand by the way) about an ex-beauty contest winner being nominated as the VP for the Republican ticket. Rick Davis said this election is going to be about personalities and not the issues. Because apparently the next thing we need is a president who is likable but without substance, right? That's bullshit; excuse my language. But honestly, he said that because he WANTS this election to NOT be about the issues. Because if you look more closely, McCain/Palin's stand on things are outdated. They won't bring change because they can't recognize a problem that needs change even if it bites them in the buttocks. More and more, this duo has become more about Palin than McCain. Ok... let's see what has been said of Palin.

--has initially said that she does not think global warming is due to man and his activities; has of course changed course since being nominated
--is against embryonic cell-stem research
--wants to take polar bear off the endangered species list
--wants to drill, drill, drill
--thinks Russia was "unprovoked" before its incursion into Georgia (even though most US officials think otherwise)
--favors Georgia being accepted into NATO; has said that "perhaps" the US may find herself at war with Russia over Georgia (there is a lobbyist for Georgia in the McCain campaign by the way)
--called for "hands-off approach to Israel if it decided to strike Iranian nuclear facilities."


ok, I'm done... for now.
I'll be writing about Obama on the next post. If you don't want to read it, tough. It's my blog. :)

LYN

r.a.n.d.o.m.

he smiles. i swoon. :D
15-6. final score. we rock. DB is hilarious: manly "yaaaahhh!!!!"
the jerseys are lucky, i tell ya.
saw jupiter and three of its moons the other day. that was awesome.
ok, seven piercings. i should stop now, huh?
palin looks like a puppet: she won't conduct interviews (unless its been approved by the campaign) and just sticks to her "script." great, just what we need, right? another one that's going to be controlled by "them." ugh.
it's not about personalities. it's about the issues for me. rick davis DOES NOT know what he's freakin talking about.

ok. ((heart))
LYN

sighs

GOP mocks public service at its peril

election '08

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check;_ylt=ArC9vBoma6dA3G4e_UDctEys0NUE

i hope people realize how important this coming election is. and i hope people realize that too much is at stake to NOT do their own research and find out where each candidate stands on each of the issues. not just one or two or three issues. on EVERY issue. i'm gonna make it clear here that i am against abortion (except for cases of rape, incest and when the mother's health in endangered) and i am against same-sex marriages. but let's face it. in this post-modern era, there are so many other issues than those two. environmental decline, poverty, mid-East conflict, conflict with Russia, natural disasters, the economy, healthcare, education, immigration, and the list goes on and on and on. i am not going to vote for a pro-life and a pro-traditional marriage ticket IF it also means that i'm voting for further environmental decline, more crises with other countries, more money in the pockets of the rich and less for the middle class, less stellar education for the kids of America, and more budget deficits. the truth is, the states are allowed to decide whether or not they will allow same-sex marriages. a proposition to ban same-sex marriage (known as the California Marriage Protection Act) is going to be on the ballot in November here in CA. and it may pass. and i'm all for overturning Roe v. Wade and all but that was decided in 1973! and we've had at least four pro-life presidents since then... and it hasn't been overturned. what makes US think it's going to be overturned now??? and exactly how??

i am not less of a Christian if i vote for Obama-Biden.
and i am not going to try to change anyone's mind or try to force my opinion on people. i just want people to be informed and make a decision based on that. don't just vote for a particular party just because past family generations voted for it. or don't just vote for someone because it's a trend. it makes me sick when i hear about people so effin ignorant, they believe everything -- from ridiculous rumors to ad attacks that stretch the truth or worse, ignore it.

the information is out there. we just have to look for it.
LYN

SB!!!

why would you NOT want to get on my bad side? because apparently i can be pretty mean. i threaten to leave people behind if they're not on time and to leave them on the shoulder of the road of hwy101 if they keep putting their feet on the car's arm rest. hmm... i must've eaten something bad. i'm usually not THAT mean. haha.

SB was fun, minus the traffic on the way back. everyone was right; it was just like a HUGE la jolla. except there was stearn's wharf where there was fish 'n chips galore complete with flocks of seagulls who want to share those things with you. we saw davy jones on his tinier boat... and we could've ridden that for free, had we been able to stay there a bit longer. the 90 minute trolley tour was conducted by "Red Eagle" who kept saying that the six of us (all filipinos) were just waiting for a good opportunity to jump him. why? i have no freakin idea. i guess we all looked like thugs? umm... yeah. anyway, i'm pretty sure he was kidding. at the end of the tour, we thanked and tipped him, the guy who said that among his people (the Chumash) he was a spiritual leader. :) downtown was nice. i looooooove crowded streets and being able to people watch. i wanted to stay there. :D
we also rented a double bicycle... one that has four pedals. that was fun and quite an exercise! on the way back to the rental we got lost and debated whether or not it was a good idea to just keep going with the bike onto the 101. good judgment prevailed and we grudgingly took the bike back where it belonged. it was a funny feeling to get off the bike and start walking. i still felt like i was pedaling and my legs felt shaky and weak. we walked ahead of RB and JG and next thing i knew there was a sound of a thump on the ground and water bottles scattering on the sidewalk. i turned around and realized that RB had attempted to get his picture taken while he was mid-air. it didn't occur to him that his legs probably would not be able to support him after the hourlong bike ride. so he was on all fours as we all cracked up, along with some bystanders on the boardwalk. aiyah... he was fine. but that was probably the most comical moment of the day.

and i will end this with that.

have a good tuesday,
LYN