For Real Things I Know

NOTHING is happening right now, regardless of the presence of details

2008-07-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Cafe Talk | Talking Points Memo | TPM Community, STOP LOOKING AT THE SQUIGGLES!!!:

"He won. He won Iowa. He won 36 other states. He won the nomination, and he beat the most powerful machine in current Democratic Politics doing it.

Why do we assume, suddenly…that this man has forgotten how to run a campaign??

So what’s happening now, now that’s it’s the silly season? Now that we’re in the Veepstakes holding pattern; now that nothing’s really going to happen between now and the announcement of the Vice-Presidential nominees?

Apparently, y’all are going to freak out.

...

You do remember, that despite the five month time frame, this is a marathon, not a sprint, right?

C’mon it was BREAKING NEWS on MSNBC last week that on the night before the Unity Rally Barack and Michelle had maxed out to Hillary’s campaign. Red-banner BREAKING NEWS, the kind you get when a Airplane goes down, or someone famous sudden[ly] and tragically dies. But that’s the standard we’re messing with now. Barack and Michelle following through on easing Hillary’s campaign debt…is breaking news.
Do we really want to go there?

Nothing is happening right now, nothing (as far as the actual campaign is concerned).

Senator Obama is leading McCain by fifteen points in National Polls, as well as polls in major swing states. That and five bucks’ll buy you a gallon of gas.

The FISA Capitulation Debate has gotten toxic enough to have Glenn Greenwald of Salon and Keith Olbermann slugging it out.

Are you kidding me??"

Dried red peppercorns

2008-06-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Seems worth investigating...

Spice Pages: Pepper (Piper nigrum, Black Peppercorns): "Dried red peppercorns are even harder to find, and are to my knowledge, only produced by one single company in Kerala (Southern India)."

Cofounder of Facebook works for Obama campaign

2008-06-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Who knew? Chris Hughes, one of the three cofounders of Facebook, is the coordinator of online organizing for Obama. He's been working for the campaign since February of '07.

Chris Hughes (Facebook) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"Hughes currently serves as a consultant for the popular site, but primarily acts as coordinator of online organizing within the Barack Obama presidential campaign on My.BarackObama.com, the campaign's online social networking website."

Bush's Pastor: James Dobson Doesn't Speak For Me

2008-06-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

Random note of the day: President Bush's pastor has a political website up, in support of Obama.

James Dobson Doesn't Speak For Me:

Dr. James Dobson recently attacked Barack Obama for a 2006 speech that Obama gave on his Christian faith. Does he speak for you?

James Dobson doesn't speak for me.
...
We are a coalition of pastors and other Christians, led by Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell who are standing up for our Christian faith and supporting Barack Obama. We are signing in our individual capacities and not on behalf of our churches or denominations.

Lunch with Barack

2008-06-26T22:20:00.001-07:00

"Five grassroots donors shared a lunch with Barack in Muncie, Indiana and had the chance to discuss their concerns, talk about their experiences with the campaign, and share their own stories with Barack."

Machiavellian And The War of Words | The Agonist

2008-06-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Machiavellian And The War of Words | The Agonist:

"For the past two weeks there has been a word that keeps cropping up in the talks of the Republican attack dogs and in the right leaning media types discussions of Senator Obama. I find it striking that so many of them have coincidently begun using the same word in the criticisms of the Senator. The reason that I think it is important to point out this coincidence is because they are actually code-speak for white males. The word that keeps cropping up is Machiavellian."

The Real News

2008-06-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

This internet station is really making me excited. It feels honest.

THE REAL NEWS

[link]The Real News journalist committee includes Lewis Lapham, Gore Vidal, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, and Howard Zinn

The deciding factor for left and right wing political identity

2008-06-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

This paragraph struck me as odd, and I had to read it four or five times before I accepted that someone feels this way, but when I see:

Personally, I'd like to see the United States remain the number one economic power in the Western Hemisphere, but this is not foreordained. If Brazil's Congress is smarter than ours, as it certainly is at the moment, we are at a huge disadvantage. It is said that democracies get the governments they deserve, which implies that Brazilians are smart enough to vote for prosperity, and Americans are not. We'll have more data in November.

I at first think it's parody. I had no idea even that someone would think that "democracies get the governments they deserve" could be used with a straight face when someone holds such right-wing political views. I guess they think they can, but,

"I’m really not interested in having yet another debate on the purpose of government so this will be my last post on the subject and you can have the last word.

[Your] views seem to me as nothing more than typical conservative dogma. "

Are you sure you’re in the right country, have you read the Bill of Rights, what do you think was really most important to some of the most brilliant political minds like Benjamin Franklin, John and Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington? Prosperity or Freedom? They had prosperity, these were rich landholders, all of them. They weren't fighting because one more tax was being taken from them, no matter how you misinterpret your history. From the private writings of these people, they protected our freedoms as well as they could because they knew that people with power try to take away liberties. People with power doesn't just mean power from a political office, but corporate power. People need to be protected, and the Bill of Rights are the only words standing in the way of crushing power being used against the little man. Sometimes one wants to be a little man, producing little economically and taking little economically, or a small fish. But small fish don't want to be eaten by big fish, just because they're small, and laws help make that be the case.

Most liberals and/or Democrats feel that the purpose of our government involves a little more than just providing a Laissez-faire system.

As far as I’m concerned, providing people with the security and opportunity to succeed brings with it a hefty responsibility to give back to the system. I fully support a progressive tax rate, so no, I don’t feel “He is entitled to every single penny he has made”. ...

In regards to money grubbing, I’ve found this to be much more of a problem with conservatives and the rich than people who’re down and out. And although you won’t get much of an argument out of me over your opinion about how stupid Americans are, you raised my nationalistic hackles with your comments.

Barack Obama's Speech about Father's

2008-06-16T08:17:00.001-07:00

I'm sure he'll disappoint me someday, but I'll enjoy it while I can and hope that I'll be surprised.

Tiny piece of his speech, much of which is a paean to single mothers:
I resolved many years ago that... if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls; that if I could give them anything, I would give them that rock - that foundation - on which to build their lives. And that would be the greatest gift I could offer.
...
I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father - knowing that I have made mistakes and will continue to make more... I say this knowing all of these things because even as we are imperfect, even as we face difficult circumstances, there are still certain lessons we must strive to live and learn as fathers....
The first is setting an example of excellence for our children - because if we want to set high expectations for them, we've got to set high expectations for ourselves.... It's up to us to set these high expectations. And that means meeting those expectations ourselves. That means setting examples of excellence in our own lives.
...
The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy - the ability to stand in somebody else's shoes; to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in "us," that we forget about our obligations to one another.
...
the final lesson we must learn as fathers is also the greatest gift we can pass on to our children - and that is the gift of hope.
I'm not talking about an idle hope that's little more than blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face. I'm talking about hope as that spirit inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting for us if we're willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe.

John Mccain Admits He Cant Use a Computer

2008-06-15T15:00:00.001-07:00

Are you kidding me?

John McCain says, when asked whether he uses a Mac or a PC, "neither, i am an illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance that I can get."

I think being computer-illiterate should disqualify almost anyone from being the chief executive of a company, for-profit or non-profit. We're in the information age, people!

McCain: America Established as a Christian Nation

2008-06-10T08:55:00.001-07:00

Choice quotes:
"The number one issue that is in the selection... of the President of the United States is will this person carry on in the Judeo-Christian principle-tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind.

"The constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation."

McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare

2008-06-05T10:58:00.001-07:00

Bad habits from a neighbors a couch

2008-05-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

At so young of an age, Delilah has already succumbed to the allure of wine and cigarettes. :)

Delilah outranks cats - Yarn

2008-05-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the harshest reality for the cats is that Delilah is allowed to play with things that they are never allowed to play with.

Kid's songs and videos from Youtube

2008-05-15T09:10:00.001-07:00

The sheer volume of great classic kid's songs available online is mindboggling. I'm immersed in Electric Company videos right now, but saw "Put Down the Duckie" and was quite excited.

Here's the playlist so far:

First Day of Delilah Crawling

2008-04-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Change of Mind

2008-04-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

For the longest, longest time I held this as one of my favorite quotes and a piece of my general philosophy of life: "Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks!"

More and more, this idea of "lingering desire" is what I now think I want to learn:
IDEAS IN FOOD: "Thankfully we left before I could get out of control ordering more dishes and changing the experience from one of pleasure and lingering desire to one of gluttony and excess."

Hedwig gives Delilah a bath

2008-04-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

My olive oil loving Delilah

2008-04-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Obama Responds to McCain and Clinton attacks in Terre Haute

2008-04-11T21:58:00.001-07:00

Here's a 4 minute clip from a speech that Barack Obama was giving in Terre Haute, Indiana last night that I think will shed some light on why I like this guy. What I like most about the clip is when he analyzes why people vote about guns or about gay marriage rather than about economic issues.

SPANKING CHILDREN: PRO OR CON

2008-04-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

For the last time in my life, I have clicked some link out of curiosity which said "Spanking: Pro or Con." (And no, I'm not including the link, since I don't want to add to its Google Pagerank, but it was on Slate.com.) I clicked it out of the same habit which brings me to read PowerLineBlog or other ultra-conservative blogs, to glimpse the thinking of people who have arrived at philosophies of life much different than my own. This habit of mine often leaves me annoyed or irritated, but occasionally provides me with new insight. Hell, it's also brought me in contact with some of my favorite authors and fundamentally shaped my beliefs: Nikki Giovanni was explored because a strong, female, black activist from the 60s who was not non-violent seemed remarkably outside my realm of experience--and became my favorite poet. Well, no more in regard to spanking; it's no longer a theoretical exploration. I have a daughter.

Am I pro or con?

Moo.

As I read the very reasonable person who might as well have been my parents trying to explain how spanking was okay and could be measured and precise and non-emotional and merely used as consequence and not in the same category as abuse, I wanted to take this man aside and explain to him the lies his sons and daughters will tell him as life goes on.

First, this whole argument of pro-spankers that spanking isn't in the same category as beating your children or punching them in the face is a straw man. Of course it's not, and it's not in the category of molesting them or vehicular manslaughter or drowning puppies. Wasting one's time with that argument is ridiculous, and I'm not going there. Spanking is all I'm talking about, the slapping of a child with one's hand so as to create pain, once or over a series of slaps, necessarily accompanied by postures or gestures of submission like bending over a chair or over a parent's knee or while being held still.

I don't want what follows to imply that I had a hard and painful childhood or that kids who are spanked necessarily have a hard childhood; I didn't and most kids probably don't. I also don't want to imply that all kids felt as I felt--I was a pretty introspective kid, with a rich internal dialogue about my own feelings that I didn't share with anyone.

The lie that you and your child will share, both of you willingly--really wanting to believe it--is that he's not scared of you. For my entire childhood (well, after 7 years old--I don't have any memories before that) I was scared of my father and my mother. I've never written that down before and it'll probably shock my parents if they read this. C'est la vie, that's life; I have a little girl now and need to really understand my own childhood in order to be the best parent that I can be.

So.

For as long as I can remember during my childhood I've loved my mom and dad and also been scared of them.

I was both obedient and disobedient as a child. Not disobedient a lot, but sometimes, I lied on occasion, not a lot; not always caught, but some; and was spanked when that occurred. No anger, with explanation, with warnings, consistent in execution, sometimes by my mom and mostly by my dad. I don't remember the ages, exactly, but certainly throughout my elementary school years.

I'm sure that my infrequent spankings served to shape my obedience, my behavior, my manners, all sorts of good things that society and the children and adults around me could appreciate. But I was scared of being spanked. Irrationally so. It was a fear that went way deep down inside. It was an irrational fear that I always had; some days it may have disappeared way into the background, maybe even for a week or a month, but it was always there, just eating at me. It was a fear that really shaped the way I saw my mother and my father. They were not just people who loved me, and people who I loved, but people who would cause me pain and ask me to submit willingly to it.

I'm not defending the fear. It was irrational. Why would a kid be rational. Kids blame themselves for their parents' divorces. Kids aren't rational. I also had a fear of a monster under my bed, and in my closet. Not rational. I also superstitiously jumped over cracks in the sidewalk. Not rational. But the fear of a monster under my bed, the fear of an overly dark room, the avoidance of a sidewalk crack, none of my other fears and foibles involved being afraid of my parents.

And I would have lied straight to their face if they ever asked me, "are you afraid of me?" They would have never gotten the truth out of me, it was a truth that was filled with shame and embarrassment, humiliation and anger, fear and regret, a truth that I would only occasionally give voice to in my own inner dialogue. I would have very fiercely lied to any friend or stranger who dared to suggest it: "Of course I'm not afraid of my Mommy or Daddy! How could you even suggest that?" It was an irrational fear that I don't think ever really went away completely (I'm 39 years old now).

But it's true. And I wish I could sit down and tell whomever is on the fence about whether they should spank their child or not that they will never, never, never know what their child actually feels about them ever again as long as the child believes that you might hit them purposefully in the future. That might not dissuade someone from pursuing spanking as an option, but at least they would know what they're losing.

I know that I'm not willing to spank my daughter. I may have a disobedient, willful, anti-social child. So be it. I'll reach for whatever other tool I can out of a non-violent, gentle-discipline toolbox, even if they don't work as efficiently. I'm not willing to have my child cut off from me emotionally like I cut myself off from my parents when I was a kid.

[Sidenote: if you have spanked your child, and you want to honestly sit down with them and apologize for it and tell them you were wrong and you will never do it again, you may be able to rebuild that emotional trust--I don't know, they're kids, they're not rational. But don't give up hope that it can be rebuilt if you show honest remorse, a desire to change, and true vulnerability.]

Do you remember where you were when you heard...

2008-03-18T19:31:00.001-07:00

It's worth taking 37 minutes out of your day and listening to Barack Obama talk about Race In America.

Obama Speech: 'A More Perfect Union'

Classy. Obama Denounces Controversial Remarks

2008-03-15T23:08:00.001-07:00

Classy

Me & D

2008-03-08T21:06:00.001-08:00

Press Corps housed in men's room

2008-03-04T08:59:00.000-08:00

What does the Hillary Clinton campaign think of the press? Well, the Clinton press corps' filing room for the Texas elections today is the men's room! HAHAHAHA!

CNN has a great photo of the men's room/filing center.