Kerry

Next time look at the camera.

What the debate taught me.

After watching tonights debate I have decided that I should vote for Jim Lehrer.
Did the debate change anyones mind? I doubt that it did.

Cue Card---debate

For tonights debate I hung out with Dru Blood in a chat room. I had fun. Anyway I never really have been into the whole chat room thing. I type way to slow and sloppy. But, tonight it worked out just fine. She thought that at one point we could see the back of Bushes cue card. Any of my 3 three readers see it? I did not see much of the debate. I was watching my fingers walk across the keyboard.

Debate- Let us get shit faced while they waste our time- Drinking games.

wonkette Debate Drinking Game and Not Drinking Game

phoenix new times Or Google for more.

Warning Alcohol may make the candidates sound intelligent. Don't Drink and Drive.

Weaker Jack Daniel's Gets Sober Reception

The American dream is dead. The local trailer park is flying their flag at half mast.

Mquest word of the day- Verbiage

Verbiage is my pick for todays underused but perfectly good word. I hope all my readers will use it at least once today.

Todays most abused word is . . .

My vote for the most abused word for today is “Debate”. What the two idiots plan on doing tonight is reading a well prepared script. Debate is not what they will be doing.

Son of EISENHOWER on why he will vote for Kerry

Another View:
Why I will vote for John Kerry for President
By JOHN EISENHOWER
Guest Commentary

THE Presidential election to be held this coming Nov. 2 will be one of extraordinary importance to the future of our nation. The outcome will determine whether this country will continue on the same path it has followed for the last 3½ years or whether it will return to a set of core domestic and foreign policy values that have been at the heart of what has made this country great.
Now more than ever, we voters will have to make cool judgments, unencumbered by habits of the past. Experts tell us that we tend to vote as our parents did or as we “always have.” We remained loyal to party labels. We cannot afford that luxury in the election of 2004. There are times when we must break with the past, and I believe this is one of them.
As son of a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry.
The fact is that today’s “Republican” Party is one with which I am totally unfamiliar. To me, the word “Republican” has always been synonymous with the word “responsibility,” which has meant limiting our governmental obligations to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Today’s whopping budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion.
Responsibility used to be observed in foreign affairs. That has meant respect for others. America, though recognized as the leader of the community of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separate from that community and at times insulting towards it. Leadership involves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other countries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance.
In the Middle East crisis of 1991, President George H.W. Bush marshaled world opinion through the United Nations before employing military force to free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Through negotiation he arranged for the action to be financed by all the industrialized nations, not just the United States. When Kuwait had been freed, President George H. W. Bush stayed within the United Nations mandate, aware of the dangers of occupying an entire nation.
Today many people are rightly concerned about our precious individual freedoms, our privacy, the basis of our democracy. Of course we must fight terrorism, but have we irresponsibly gone overboard in doing so? I wonder. In 1960, President Eisenhower told the Republican convention, “If ever we put any other value above (our) liberty, and above principle, we shall lose both.” I would appreciate hearing such warnings from the Republican Party of today.
The Republican Party I used to know placed heavy emphasis on fiscal responsibility, which included balancing the budget whenever the state of the economy allowed it to do so. The Eisenhower administration accomplished that difficult task three times during its eight years in office. It did not attain that remarkable achievement by cutting taxes for the rich. Republicans disliked taxes, of course, but the party accepted them as a necessary means of keep the nation’s financial structure sound.
The Republicans used to be deeply concerned for the middle class and small business. Today’s Republican leadership, while not solely accountable for the loss of American jobs, encourages it with its tax code and heads us in the direction of a society of very rich and very poor.
Sen. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I will vote for him enthusiastically.
I celebrate, along with other Americans, the diversity of opinion in this country. But let it be based on careful thought. I urge everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike, to avoid voting for a ticket merely because it carries the label of the party of one’s parents or of our own ingrained habits.
John Eisenhower, son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, served on the White House staff between October 1958 and the end of th Eisenhower administration. From 1961 to 1964 he assisted his father in writing “The White House Years,” his Presidential memoirs. He served as American ambassador to Belgium between 1969 and 1971. He is the author of nine books, largely on military subjects.

Keep it simple stupid

Thursdays Debate
Bush has boiled down his sound bite / mantra / battle cry / catch phrase down to a rather simple phrase. “The world is a safer place without Saddam”. Will John Kerry be able to find a simple catch phrase to counter that claim?

Note: Kerry is is known to over explain everything. Is there a simple phrase that John can use?

Debate Fashions-

Will Bush roll up his sleeves during the debate?
(It seems to work for him)

Mquest word pick- harangue

New feature for the Blog. Good words that are underused in todays speech and writing.

With the first presidential debate scheduled for tomorrow I pick the word harangue to be todays most underused but good word. I hope all my readers will use it at least once today.

Family Chicken Feud Turns to Gun Battle

I thought that family dinners kept the family together.

Bryant Told Police of O'Neal Payouts

I am willing to bet that Kobe gets seriously hurt on the court.

Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision

This is great news. Can I take off my tinfoil hat yet?

Bets on finding Kerry

Any bets if Kerry can use Thursdays debates to become more likable. Will he try to prove that he has a personality? Will it work? What are the odds?

Addiction

Is Kettle Corn the new crack?

Bush's Hometown Newspaper Endorses Kerry

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - The newspaper in President Bush's adopted hometown of Crawford threw its support on Tuesday behind Bush's Democratic rival, Sen. John Kerry.

The weekly Lone Star Iconoclast criticized Bush's handling of the war in Iraq and for turning budget surpluses into record deficits. The editorial also criticized Bush's proposals on Social Security and Medicare.

"The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda," the newspaper said in its editorial. "Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry."

It urged "Texans not to rate the candidate by his hometown or even his political party, but instead by where he intends to take the country."

verbatim Is where I first read about this.

GULP! Higher Coffee Prices Brewing

Let the revolution begin! Stand up and be heard. It is better to die with a cup in you hand-- (not with your hands in your pocket looking for extra change). Stand up and be heard. Down with the coffee cartel. I will not be held hostage. Find a country to blame and invade. No negotiation. Torture, kill and imprison with out legal representation. United we stand without coffee we fall. This is surely a issue of freedom. Think of the future of our children. If we do not act quickly and decisively democracy will fail. If we do not unite behind this cause chocolate may next.

Speed-bumps to Democracy

Please stop calling all if Iraq's bloody days and failures “Speed-bumps” to democracy.

Speed bumps are put up by governments to purposely slow the flow of progress. I think instead of calling them “speed bumps” to democracy we should call them “potholes” on the road to democracy. But, potholes usually get a quick fix. Unfortunately, we are in a position that will require more than a quick fix.

Anyone have any better road based analogy's other than speed bumps and potholes?

I know it is just a word but it does bother me. Let's have some fun with this.

Yuk

Sugar free chocolate ice cream and cherry cobbler do not go well together.

U.S. Soldier Faces Court-Martial in Prison Scandal

Pfc. Lynndie England, the pregnant 21-year-old soldier who became the public symbol of the prison scandal that shocked world opinion and hurt U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq , could face up to 38 years in prison if convicted by the military court. “

I can't wait to see how this plays out. She should get 38 years based solely on her stupidity of having her picture taken while doing such stupid things. Any guesses on her sentence will be? Will the blame make it up the military chain of command?

What is a security force?

In news of the latest juvenile war of words between the two rich spoiled children that are jousting to become the next president----- .

Both Bush and Kerry have turned to the idea of how to train Iraq's non-existent “security force”. Of course neither has publicly said how they plan on doing so. How does one go about rapidly training a security force?

Does Halburton have a division set up for this type of undertaking?

The French have been training security forces for sometime, Will we loosen our stranglehold on Iraq's bleak future and let country's like France train security forces or, will we just sit back and hope it fixes itself? (I am told that the Irish have been training security forces-- But, I must plea ignorance on that subject. Anyone?)

Does the term “security forces” reflect that they are more of a corporation rather than an army? What is a security force?

shirt sleeves

I have a question for the few readers of this Blog. What do you think when you see Bush with his shirt sleeves rolled up?

Wanna race 

Go Go Go 

Walking a two year old

There are 4 major components needed for a evening walk. We must examine each leaf, touch sprinklers, find and identify as many cats as possible, and jump in all puddles.
The joys of simple living and evening walks that never end.

Peloton lost in France after pranksters remove signposts

I like pranksters. I like the fact they are called pranksters. If this happened in America would we brand them Sporting Terrorists?

March to ?

Last weekend it was widely predicted that Russia was in the process of taking a major step backward in it's march toward democracy. After 11 years of democracy in Russia, Putin is guiding them back to a fast spreading socialism.

How many country's have moved away from democracy since Bush came into office?

Open letter to George Bush

George Bush,

The debates are coming here are a few suggestions for you.

Hire a better speech writer

Listen to your speech writer

Do not deviate from the things your writers write for you

Have your speech writer show you how to pronounce the big words.

Practice what you plan on saying before you actually speak.

Stop smiling smugly every time you complete a sentence successfully.

Following the above suggestions may help raise the publics
Low opinion of your intelligence

Mquest

Satire is great

New radio episodes of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Read the books. But this is ok. I can't wait to the movie. Satire is great.

Words of wisdom from a faulty mind

An old lady told me today:

“The whole world is crazy but we have to get along”

She continued along with “But that is why we get along.”

Some where between the two lines her thoughts were lost. But I am guessing that the craziness is what helps us strive for an understanding of others. The whole conversation was rather odd. But, I thought I would share.

Sound Bites

John Kerry and George Bush: Please stop talking in sound bites
Mr. Television: Stop showing the two morons talking in sound bites
A fun commentary on this subject Can Political News Get Real? (NPR)

vice prez

Who are the two Vice Presidential candidates? Perhaps they should climb out of their bunkers and be seen and heard. At this point all we have learned of them is that one knows how to swear. I am not sure if it is in our best interests to wait for the joke called the debates to meet them.

sunny day farmer
 

Bush the CEO

Verbatim has pointed me to this article by Molly Ivins. Bush is the CEO of this country we should take a look at the people that he his hired to do his work.

Americans Eating More Cheese Than Ever

“more than 30 pounds a person per year” I am sure I eat more cheese than that.
Fiber, fiber I need more fiber . . .

The first day of fall

Who says Southern California does not have any seasons? The wind is howling the leaves are being torn off the trees. Humidity approaches zero while dust and smoke fill the air. In California the seasons have changed.

Twinkies' maker files bankruptcy

Stop blaming the low carb diet for everything. People are making smarter diet choices. Not mention the fact that investors will punish a company for accounting problems.

Money, music and public Cat's

Has anyone bothered to look at Amazon to see how well Cat Stevens is selling today?

Cat Stevens

First it was Ted Kennedy Now it is Cat Stevens (Link) (Link)

Why? We can not hide behind secrecy. Is someone sitting in his office throwing darts at a list of names. Who is next? The Dixie Chicks? If he truly is evil arrest him. What type of message are we sending to the world?

Torture in Afghanistan

(link) Well put opinion.

Bad War Propaganda-- Who are the troops?

During the Vietnam War the anti war people had all types of slogans to show their dislike of the war. You know them so I will not list them.

During the first gulf war- propaganda makers in the government successfully created the slogan” Support our Troops”. It was a great slogan that was hard to work around. Anyone who was anti-war by default was a cold hearted traitor that did not support our hard working American troops. As I recall politicians that did not support the war still poured tax money into the support of troops. The propaganda machines that created this phrase were highly successful in this endeavor.

What went wrong during this war? Bush and company have white washed the “troops” out of this war effort.

The embedded reporters all got sent home. We delay information about casualties. We do not see the families, the troops, or their deed. We ignore continued redeployment of troops that have served to long. The individual has disappeared. It is hard to “support troops” when they are nameless and faceless. The only individual people that I could recognize are a select few troops that have been caught doing horrific things to prisoners. These few individuals were stupid enough to have their pictures taken while doing acts that are wrong. But, these are the only faces I have seen of the troops that are fighting Bush's war on error. While these individuals will be prosecuted and be slapped on the wrist with nothing more than a dishonorable discharge ( my opinion). Their faceless commanders will be forced into an early paid retirement(my opinion). Why did this happen? Unclear policy, lack of training, lack of leadership, and lack of accountability.

How can we support our troops when Bush and company does not even support them? Our current administration has turned them into faceless pawn in the war on Error and Revenge. Poor Bush Damned if he does, Damned if he doesn't. Perhaps the lies and half truths are catching up to him

Simple broiled tomato sandwich

Slice tomatoes -pour on a small amount of olive oil. Top with a mixture of crushed Italian herbs.

Let sit for about 10 min

Broil 3 min

put it in a slice of French bread with a thick slab of cheese and enjoy.

magic credit

To the lady standing in line in front of me at Target---

Wiping your credit card on your shirt. Will not make your denied credit card magically work.

What Next? Uzi Bourbon?

Guns and alcohol are a great pairing.

Bubble Gum Pop

On Tuesday Green Day will release a concept album. Does anyone know what the concept is?

My guess is that it is an album about chewing gum and walking at the same time.

Letter to Del Taco 2

Dear CEO,

While you were sleeping they closed my Del Taco. The crappy hand made sign hanging from your crappy intercom said:

“CLOTHED FOR SYSTEM REMODLE”

I am sure that translates to: “Stoned again, Try back at 6am”.

I thought you would like to know why your empire is turning to shit.

Mquest

P.S. Sleep tight don't let the INS bite.

Men Allegedly Bomb McDonald's Over Shake

They call him the streak-

Over the weekend my wife was outside playing with my son. When they were done playing she tells him that playtime is over and that it is time to take a shower. In a quick moment he is naked and streaking toward the front door. It must be nice to run free with out a care in the world.

Strains Felt By Guard Unit on Eve Of War Duty

Sorry- I am posting something from the Washington Post. I hate their blood sucking registration for viewing their pages. Thankfully bugmenot has passwords for just this problem. I did enjoy this article. I had no idea THE BAD NEWS BEARS had grown up to join the South Carolina National Guard. For the safety of our troops I hope this unit is a rare exception. Are we pushing our troops to hard? (Link)

Stuck in the library-

Yesterday, we took a never ending trip to the library. Our local library has a stack of wood puzzles that my son loves to play with. After an hour of playing with the various puzzles and explaining 5 million times what the object was on each piece it was time to go. But we could not leave. Every time I would put the puzzles away he would began to get verbally upset. (he does not talk at 27 months) So I would pull down another puzzle and try to plot a way out of the library as he happily worked on the puzzle. I knew if he had a major breakdown I would have a hard time getting out of the crowed but silent library. As time dragged on we worked our way through the stack of puzzles several times. His mind was working. He was enjoying himself. We were bonding and learning new things. I had to pee. Pain. Suffering. Agony. After each puzzle I would drop a hint. “Does your diaper need to be changed” or “Do you want to go to the car.” He would start to get upset and point to the puzzles high up on the shelf. Next puzzle. I would plot and plan. How do I escape with out disturbing all these people studying and reading in this nice quiet air conditioned building. Should I grab him and run. Will he squirm to much as I run up the stairs. I ask “are you thirsty”. No luck. Back to the train puzzle. He is starting to make silly mistakes.
He is distracted. Frustration is setting in. He can no longer work the puzzle pieces.
He hops off his seat grabs my hand and off we go. We are quiet and no one is disturbed. See pictures.

wood puzzles 

Trains 

The puzzle master 

No WMD in Iraq

And in current news a brain has not been found in the white house.

Book Revisits Golden Age of School Filmstrips

Why write a book. I want the DVD. (link)

tickle yourself

Yesterday at the park my son was attacked by a merry band of small laughing and tickling children. They all were wielding pine needles as a tickling device. They succeeded in spreading laughter and they left my son laughing and rolling on the ground. After they left my son picked up a handful of pine needles and tickled himself into pure ecstasy. I was always told you could not tickle yourself. I guess children know a secret that is lost with age

Night moves

I am not sure I want to read 57 pages of documents. Anyone know what Kobe's special move was?

Tomato- olive oil- summer pizza

They opened a new market in my neighborhood. As a result they had very large and extremely ripe tomatoes on the vine at great grand opening prices. The other night I took three tomatoes sliced them into large chunks poured olive oil and Italian seasoning herbs over them and let them sit for about an hour. Then I used them on my pizza in place of pizza sauce.

I placed them under the cheese. But, I kept wondering if it would of been better to bake them on top of the cheese. Any ideas?

BlogRolling

BlogRolling has been taking a dive for the last 24 hours. Now they do not even come up with an error page. I was so happy over the last month with their performance. Hopefully they will soon be able to fix their problems and keep their service free. Does anyone know their status? Are their any other good free services on the net that will do the same thing that Blogrolling does? (an easy way to add link to the sidebar)

NPR and the standard stump speach or how to speak to a stump who does not listen

NPR has a great story on Bushes standard stump speech. In my opinion it is worth listening to this clip. On this page you will also find a link to Analyzing Kerry's Stump Speech.

I cant wait until they add the full service bar in the back of the jury room (link)

Jean shorts in a rough world

Dressing a two year old

My son will only wear jean shorts. He refuses to put on anything else. My Mom has a friend that can only put on red shorts on her two year old. Children are so funny in their preferences.

On the rare occasion I am able to put him in something different, he will bring me a pair of jean shorts as soon as he notices he is not in his favorite type of shorts.

Johnny Ramone Dead at 55

I saw the Ramones play over 25 times. Their music has made such a wonderful sound track to my life.

I am told that their is a movie coming out soon about the Ramones. Perhaps I will go see it. What was Lisa Marie Presley doing at the bedside? I am at a loss for any connection between the two.

If anyone has any thoughts on his passing please leave a comment.

Carrot cooked crisp chipish

I have been working on creating a baked carrot recipe. My goal that I am trying for is a French fry or chip like texture that is on the healthy side.
The original concept took baby carrots and sliced them into strips. I cut them in lengthwise in half. Tossed them with a small amount of olive oil or vegetable oil and baked them. Each time I increased the cooking temperature at first I started at 325 and am now at 450. I might try the broiler next.

I was never that happy with the result.

For the last few weeks I have been working with frozen crinkle cut carrots. I found they became too soft when I defrosted them so I started baking them while still frozen.
This has helped a lot. I place them on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Spray them with cooking oil and cook at 450 for 13 min flip them and cook for another 12 min.
.So far this is the best I can get. Any suggestions? Would corn meal help? I am trying to keep this as healthy as possible.

I have tried this with frozen zucchini and frozen squash with little luck. Any ideas?

Dip dip and spoons of red stuff

Dipping things in ketchup

I am still working on the whole limited vocabulary
thing with my 2 year old. Grandpa taught him “Dip Dip”. As usual this new word deals with an arm movement. As I posted before any word he learns must come with body movements. (link)

We have found advantages with this new word. Eating food. He really enjoys saying “dip dip” while dipping food into his ketchup. Last night at dinner we were able to get him to eat baked carrots and other foods that he has been shunning lately. He would look at his food with great dissatisfaction and we would chime in with a “dip dip.” He would smile and pick up some food and say “dip dip” while dipping and eating his food.

But then near the end of dinner it started to fall apart. He decided to cut out the food and started to spoon large amounts of ketchup into his mouth. If this continues I will have to look into salt free ketchup.

Nader is a cog not a clog

Ralph Nader

Why do we keep attacking Ralph. Sure he took 2% off the last election and helped put Bush into office. With margins as tight as they are now, He could do the same in this election.

But, his voting block wants something the democrats are not offering them.

Perhaps Kerry and company need to look into what a dedicated 2 or 3% of the voting population desire in a president.

Ignoring his valuable 2% will not help win the election.

caffeine-sugar injection system

They have come up with a new caffeine-sugar injection system.
It is Mountain Dew “Pitch Black” black grape.

Marketing liars! It is not black but a dark purple.

I wish they would stop using vegetable oil in the whole Mountain Dew product line. Water and oil do not mix on the back of my tongue. This is another attempt at the limited edition drinks that Pepsi has rolled out in the last few years.

Pepsi has gotten a bit smarter over the last few years and now call new drinks “limited edition” so they will not have high profile failures like Crystal Pepsi and Josta.

How does it taste? After drinking two bottles I can only say that it has a strong vegetable oil grape flavor with a burnt taste.

But it is something new and I am tired of the old caffeine-sugar injection system.

Pick me. Pick me!

Focus Area

It look as if the presidential campaign has turned into a battle to win the hearts and hopes of the Midwest.

Too bad our candidates plan to ignore the problems in the rest of our country.

Politics as usual

Basic Pizza Dough

Basic Pizza Dough

1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
1 cup warm water
½ teaspoon Salt
4 teaspoons Olive Oil
3 ½ cups flour All purpose (NOT compacted)

In stand mixer with Dough hook attachment.

Add water and Active dry yeast to bowl turn on mixer and slowly add dry ingredients. 1/3 of dry ingredients every 2 min, mix about 6 min

Let rise for at least one hour in lightly oiled bowl

Add topping and cook at 450 for 15-20 min

Grilled Pizza - BBQ pizza

BBQ Pizza

Heat grill on a medium high heat.
Brush olive oil on one side put on BBQ (oil down)
Cook a few min until cooked on bottom side.

Brush top with Olive oil and flip.
quickly turn down grill to low med heat.
Quickly add toppings and close grill lid.

Hopefully the cheese will melt and the bottom will brown in a few min.

Serve and enjoy

The French

Ever since the war in Iraq debate began I have become rather fond of the French.
Am I the only one?

I got the ammo

The ban on Assault Weapons is set to expire on Monday. I am told that Georgie Bush Jr. supports continuing the ban. Why did Georgie Jr. not put a plan into action to do so?

Georgie Jr. you are the CEO of this country. Please turn your attention to the homeland. Please stop saying that you support things that you will never actually lift a finger to support.

Your inaction on the home front must stop.

Election Thoughts

The problem with the two main candidates:

I hate one and dislike the other.

We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore
Verbatim and Mir
have both pointed me to this essay by Garrison Keillor. I can never get enough Keillor. Someday I hope to see his show live.
Everyone should read and listen to more of this guy. So start reading now.

Hello Kitty

A problem that I have been pondering for a long time:

If I ever get a chance to meet Hello Kitty how do I greet her?
My first guess is that Hello is her first name. Thus I would greet her with a Hello, Then use her first name followed by her last name.

“Hello, Hello Kitty”

I have been told that all Kitty's have the last name of Cat. (ie. Kitty Cat)

Thus I have come up with “Hello, Hello Kitty Cat”

Is this the proper way to greet her?

Memo

A note to the marketing department:

We have found that there is a direct correlation between home pregnancy tests kit sales and flowering plant sales.

Could you please follow up on this with the research department. It seems the “home pregnancy test” crowd only buys short lived annuals. What should we make of this?

Can we increase profits from this nesting phenomenon?
Find out as soon as possible.

Mgmt.

An open letter to John Kerry

To John Kerry-

It looks as if your strongest attribute is that you are not Bush. When this campaign began, I thought that your not being Bush would carry you to victory. But, sadly it looks as if that is not enough.

Did any of your previous campaign or new campaign managers suggest coming up with a platform?

Not a full platform, but a vague one. I am sure you have learned from Howard Dean that having a plan is dangerous to one's political future. Sadly it seems that if one comes up with a plan it will be attacked.. Example, Bush has no plan other than talking about terrorist and their regimes.

At this point Bush has a pathetic plan and you have nothing.

Bush is kicking your ass on the whole war on terror concept. You and your newly hired campaign staff need to focus on the cost of the war in Iraq in terms of life and long term debt.

You should be seen talking with the parents of U.S soldiers. No matter what their opinion of the war is. You will be seen as someone who values opinions from all sides. This will definitely set you apart from your opponent.

Discuss the current state of Iraq. There is plenty to talk about. Sadly, world news is no longer a part of the news medias business plan. Bring the cost of Iraq to the debate. Let the people know what we have or have not gained in Iraq.

Sadly, this election farce is a lot like a game of chess. Only in this game the first one to take a risk will be trounced on.

Your Vietnam experience is not helping. It looks as if it is not important to the average American. By now everyone knows that you fought and Bush dodged all types of responsibility. But, has this info helped your campaign? No!!! my list of the top 4 items that you need to be focusing on.

Who can create more jobs

The economy- ie Future. How do budget cuts effect me?

The deficit – ie The cost of war. The cost of ignoring the economy.

Medical costs- Current percent increase. Long term increase.

Social Security- What will it look like in X amount of years.


Thanks,
Mquest

Health care costs

Health care costs continued to surge this year as family premiums in employer-sponsored plans jumped 11.2 percent, the fourth year of double-digit growth, according to a new study (Link)

At my house the cost of medical coverage has outpaced my pay raises over the last 4 years.

the hike in health premiums outpaced both the 2.2 percent growth in wages and 2.3 percent growth in inflation by five times.

It looks as if the Kerry camp is trying to bring this into the presidential debate. Kerry is looking at the cost of the Iraq war compared to the cost on America. It should not be all that hard to for him to try and show that Bush and Co. have ignored the domestic front for the last 4 years. (New Link)

"Just look at the most catastrophic decision of all that this man has made and that is the way he decided to go to war in Iraq," Kerry said. "And now we're spending $200 billion that we're not spending on health care, that we're not spending to help seniors cushion the cost of Medicare, that we're not spending to be able to invest in new jobs."

another quote along the same lines.

"President Bush has had four years ... he has no plan at all for America to lower the health care costs and bring people in," Kerry said. "In fact he's been losing people's coverage."

Yet, the fact remains who ever wins this corporate driven popularity contest will still have to start paying off large amounts of debt. Programs will be closed and people will slip through the cracks. A national debt this size is going to have painful long term effects on everyone.

Pizza and credit cards

Dear Papa Johns

You Have done a great job on the whole “corporate brand” concept. Your dress code for your drivers is nice and not all that degrading to your underpaid workers. It is nice that you are able to deliver you pizza's in a timely manner while still warm.

But, why do your employees not have the proper equipment to take a simple credit card?

Why is you nicely dressed (corporate branded) employee forced to pull a pencil out of his pocket and place my credit card against my door and scratch like a madman. All this just to get an imprint of a card. I know they make portable pocket sized imprinters just for this purpose. (Here is a link to one)

Better yet, Why take the imprint anyway? Amazon, Ebay and other company's do not have the UPS driver imprint my card. The nice UPS lady in her brown uniform does not use my front door as a piece of standard business equipment.

Perhaps this is some type of fraud? Are your underpaid drivers are stealing my information and using it for fraudulent activity? Perhaps you should look into this.

My guess is that a smooth credit card process will help your drivers by letting them drive around town with less cash on hand. Less cash means less opportunity for armed robbery's. Less robbery's means less blood on your nice uniforms. Oh- yea I am sure employee safety is important to your company.

Slashdot on politics

It looks as if Slashdot has put up a section on their site for Politics. (link)

What Kerry should say about Iraq

(link) Kerry should follow this advice.

Hair cuts for kids

A lot has changed in the world of kid hair cuts since I was a kid. I take my son to this place that is set up for children only. The waiting room has this large Thomas the Tank Engine play set that all the boys love playing with. The older children have a row of video games to play with while they wait. I am not sure what the girls are supposed to do but they tend to shun the video games and the trains.

For the hair cut they put small children in a race car-- Set them right next to a Television and show then any video that they wish to watch, Older kids can play video games during their hair cut.. It is a great trauma free experience for children and parents.

They have several chains of these types of haircut places in my area. But, only one is open on Sundays. Why?

A few notes from my last trip to Cool Cuts


We show up at 10:45 15 min before they open. We are third in line. By the time they open at 11am there are 10 family's waiting in line. 2 have appointments at 11am.

They tell the people at the end of the line that with the appointments that already have been made the wait will be several hours. They then inform them that the next day Monday (a holiday) is booked up completely.

WTF

They only have 3 of the 6 chairs staffed. Why is it that buisness refuse to hire the proper amount of staff? Why are not their competitors open on Sundays? If anyone reading this has money it looks like a shop like this might be a great investment. Just make sure to staff your shop.

Cool California Summer

The problem with our rather cool summer in California--

If we had our normal hot weather this summer. The power would keep going out. Then we could all blame Arnold.

Now if we could only have a national disaster like Florida. Bush could be the hero and ride in a helicopter while wearing his silly flight suit.. He could ride over all the damage. Then he could say the magic words “this is a disaster area”. All the people would rejoice because Bush can protect us from our harsh environment.

Note to Arnold: Time to use some of that special interest money to create a natural disaster. You do not want to lose favor from Bush and co. They can be rather vindictive. They may even accuse you off sleeping with a Kennedy. A accusation like that could sink you as a Republican.

Police

To all Southern California police officers:

Why do you find a need to talk on your cell phone during your entire shift?
(By now you should know the dangers of driving while talking on a cell phone)

Do you not run out of things to say?
Do your wives know about your girlfriends?

Do we not have imaginary terrorist to look for? Hang up and do your job.

From,
A Concerned Citizen

1,000

U.S. military deaths in the Iraq have passed 1,000

While reading news about todays military losses I came across the following: (Link)

The tally was compiled by the AP based on Pentagon records, AP reporting from Iraq, and reports from soldiers' families.

Do the reports from soldiers family's differ from the pentagon records? Do more family's know something that the pentagon is unwilling to admit? I find that whole sentence odd.

Bush Quote of the day

I will let George speak for himself-

"Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." George Bush (Link)

Iran topped US team at Olympics, official claims:

Math was never my favorite subject. I have to give this guy credit for using math and statistics to his advantage. (Link)

"Iran won one medal for every 6.2 athletes sent to Athens, while the United States won one medal for 13.8 athletes,"

Sound good to me.

What is down here? More rasins I hope. 

Go! Go! Go! 

What's down here? 

Mmmm rasins. 

Stuffing rasins  

Rasins I love you 

I want to go over there. 

The brige moves! Fun. 

Open letter to Del Taco

Dear Mr. or Mrs. Del Taco
Or Chairman and CEO Keven K. Moriarty

I know it must hard to find good quality help when you pay your employee's minimum wage to work weekend shifts and all hours of the day. But, why do you think the people that deal with the public do not need to speak English? How the hell does an order for two Cheese Quesadillas become one Chicken Quesadillas ? I should not be forced to wait in line to do some stupid Laural and Hardy routine just to buy cheep greasy food. If your employee's can not communicate how can you continue to be effective in the market place?

Now lets step outside and take a ride through the drive up line.

I bet the investors and high level managers in your company are able to drive their expensive cars and talk on their cell phones using wireless sets. I bet they can hear every word while driving down the freeway at 70 miles an hour. (does the company insurance cover that? Because I bet their driving is as bad as everyone else when on the phone.) Do you think your company could invest in better technology for the drive up window?

While I have your attention- Why do I need a token to use the restroom. It can't be because you want to keep it clean. It is a mess anyway. I guess people making minimum wage do not care about the cleanness of you restrooms.

limited vocabulary

My son and his limited vocabulary at 27 months.

All phrases and words must contain actions

All fall Down= Fall to floor and laugh
Go Go Go= Swing arms wildly
Hello= Raise arms
That= Points at random object (“whats that?”) His finger is a loaded weapon.
Mommy= Point to Mommy
Daddy= Point to Daddy or Mommy
Kitty= Smile, Point and squeal, laugh and dance.
Dog= Points and smile
Ha HA Hot= Hand recoils, giggle, start blowing

Oh dear=The only phrase that does not come with an action. But, he only uses to state that an action has just happened. “Oh Dear” sound just like an old lady phrase.. He picked this phrase up by watching endless hours of Thomas The Tank Engine. On a side note the only tape that we own of Thomas is narrated by George Carrlin. He does a real good job.

That is his entire vocabulary.

He babbles a lot. He is able to babble in complete sentences. To help him I have been working on getting him to mimic word building sounds.

Ahh, Bah, Kuh, Duh, Fff and so on. He really enjoys doing this but, oddly he refuses to say the letters A, B, C, D . . .He will only say the sounds that they make.

Everyone tells me that boys are often slow in learning to talk. I am not all that worried, but, it would be nice to be able to communicate and know what he truly wants and understands. It would also be nice if he would learn to say either Juice, Milk, or Cup. Life would be so much easier.

U.S. Near Seizing bin Laden, Official Says

(Link) We all knew it had to happen. I have always thought we would conveniently find him prior to the next election. It would be nice to bring him to justice. But catching Saddam did not seem to stop his supporters

Arnold Schwarzenegger rewrites history

A look at Arnold Schwarzenegger RNC speech:

Schwarzenegger "confuses a free country with a Socialist one"
Looks as if Arnold has highly faulty memory's of his home land. Or, perhaps he is just a liar.
(Link)
Sadly he can not tell the difference between conservatives and Socialists.

magic switch

It is a struggle to limit my sons television viewing. He knows how to turn on the television, change channels and play with the volume. Not to long ago I was forced to add a “magic switch” to thwart his efforts to watch T.V. This switch is located out of sight and turns off the power to everything plugged in on that wall. Now, he keeps looking at the switch and pointing at it and turning back toward the blank T.V. I fear he has almost figured out how to turn the power back on.

What do I do now?

It is hard to bargain with a two year old that has found his will before learning to talk.

On a positive note last night when his Train video ended and George Bush popped up on the screen my son jumped up and turned the T.V. Off. I guess my little non-talker does not wish to listen as politicians shove fear down his throat.

Heart bypass surgery

Looks as if all those jogs that Clinton took to McDonald's finally caught up to him.

Khaki

Why does it state on the back of my bottle of “Spray and Wash” that it is not recommended for use on Khaki? What is the difference between Khaki and any other color?

laundry detergent

Why is there such a dirty grimy substance on the outside of all laundry detergent containers? Why do I have to wash my hands every time I touch one? Does laundry detergent actually clean clothes or just add a sticky film that attracts dirt? Does this force me to wash clothing more often? Is this part of a plan by the laundry detergent company's to sell more product?

Why is it so damn sticky?