Category Archives: Politics

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 29, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 29, 2012

Outside my window… sunny. It was nice today. A storm is supposed to move in on Halloween night and Thursday morning so I’ll have a nice morning in jammies then.

I am thinking… about those friends I have on the East Coast who are being pummeled by the Frankenstorm.

I am thankful… for the Giants sweeping the Tigers in the World Series. I won the bet I had with Emily so $10 will be going to International Justice Mission.

In the kitchen… I made kuchen last Friday.

I am wearing… charcoal shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… details for my NaNoWriMo piece.

I am going… to San Jose this weekend for some R&R.

I am wondering… how I’m going to get through tomorrow morning. Daniel has an eye appointment in Sacramento at 8:15 a.m. Have I mentioned that I’m not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination? At least we can use the carpool lane for a good chunk of Highway 99.

I am reading… A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.

I am hoping… Hurricane Sandy/Frankenstorm doesn’t cause too much damage.

I am looking forward to… this election being over and all the smear ads off of TV.

Around the house… *pulls the covers over my head and ignores the question*

I am pondering… the stupidity of the people standing on the New Jersey boardwalk watching the storm surge. I mean, really? Do I need to regale people with the tales of those killed on the California coast last year because they decided to go watch the tsunami come in?

A favorite quote for today… ??Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.?? ? C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

One of my favorite things… Trader Joe’s iced tea-lemonade.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel’s eye appointment tomorrow, Morning Prayer and trick-or-treating on Wednesday, audiology appointment on Friday morning as well as heading to San Jose.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Why Is This So Hard?

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I saw a few people posting about Navy SEALs who allegedly defended the Benghazi embassy for 7 hours, how Marines were an hour away, how there were ships off the coast, etc. today and wanted to vomit. Apparently, it’s totally permissible to just fly into a sovereign nation and take matters into your own hands, right? I mean, that just sets *such* a great precedent.

Then I remembered seeing the following on my local CBS affiliate’s site a few weeks ago:

CBS News: Amb. Stevens’ father wants politics out of his son’s death

The father of Chris Stevens, the slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya, said he does not want the death of his son to become part of campaign-season politics.

“It would really be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue,” Jan Stevens told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview.

Stevens added that he thought his son’s death is being “adequately investigated.”

“We don’t pretend to be experts in security. It has to be objectively examined. That’s where it belongs. It does not belong in the campaign arena,” said Stevens, 77, an attorney and registered Democrat.

The Romney campaign has sought to highlight the Libya attacks, raising the issue on the campaign trail, as evidence of President Obama’s failing foreign policy.

At last week’s vice presidential debate, Vice President Joe Biden was asked about the administration’s response. He said the White House wasn’t told about a need for more security and he criticized Rep. Paul Ryan for wanting to cut $300 million from embassy security.

The issue continues to percolate as it became a central topic on the Sunday political shows. On CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Obama administration is “misleading” the American public or is “incredibly incompetent.

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mr. Obama’s adviser, Robert Gibbs, said the Romney campaign needs to “stop playing politics with this issue.”

Immediately after the September 11th attacks that killed four Americans including the ambassador, The Obama administration blamed an American-made anti-Muslim video that sparked protests across the Middle East. The president has since called it a terrorist attack and an investigation is ongoing.

“I’m not sure exactly what he’s been saying and not saying, but our position is it would be a real shame if this were politicized,” Stevens said told Bloomberg News, referring to Romney. “Our concern now is memorializing Chris and remembering his contribution to the country.”

So instead of me ranting about the media and Fox News and Monday morning quarterbacking, how about we respect the wishes of the late ambassador’s father and leave his family alone to mourn his death? Is this an unreasonable request? Is this particularly hard for people to do?

7 Quick Takes: Lots of Baseball and Some Politics

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7 Quick Takes

Jon will be home from St. Louis tonight and I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a relatively easy week of solo parenting but I’m exhausted.

— 1 —

Oh. Em. Gee. NLCS Game 7!!!! The Giants are the comback kids of the MLB. They came back from being 2 games down in Cincinnati and 3 games down in St. Louis. Game 7 was two excellent teams playing and while the score wasn’t even close, there were awesome moments. It was hysterically funny to watch Marco Scutaro enjoying the rain the 9th inning and I loved seeing Sergio Romo’s reaction to winning the game. Probably the best moment was Scutaro catching the fly ball from Holliday… who had injured him in Game 2 while sliding into second base. I have profound respect for the Cardinals — they messed with Texas last year. I also have a great deal of respect for Jason Motte, their closer, who issued this tweet after the game.

— 2 —

My World Series bet. I have a World Series bet with Emily. If my Giants win, she’ll donate $10 to International Justice Mission. If her Tigers win, I’ll be donating $10 to To Write Love on Her Arms. Both are worthy organizations and I’m glad that one (or maybe both) will benefit.

— 3 —

I’m wondering what happened in Game 1 of the World Series. Seriously… all the sports talking heads have been playing up Verlander and how he was going to shut out the Giants. Yeah, that totally happened… NOT! Verlander lasted only 4 innings and our Panda bam-BOOMED three home runs out of the park. Scutaro (whose jersey I’ll be acquiring one of these days) made it on base every time he was up and continued his 11-hitting streak. My homeboys won it 8-3 (2 of those points coming because Angel Pagan couldn’t jump high enough to catch a homer).

— 4 —

What truly disgusts me. You all have probably heard about Ann Coulter’s tweet in which she calls President Obama a “retard”. Many of you probably saw the well-written letter to her from a Special Olympics athlete. What really disgusts me, however, is seeing people who advocate for special needs children defending Ann Coulter. I saw someone on a message board explaining that Ann Coulter is “just a comedian like Stephen Colbert”. Two problems with that: 1.) Ann Coulter is not a comedian by any stretch of the imagination. She is a political commentator. 2.) Stephen Colbert may be a comedian but he knows that there is a line between being funny and being insulting. Ann Coulter never fails to go for the insult. Hearing people defend her is as nefarious to me as Greta Van Sustren’s statement that “nobody was insulted” by Todd Akin’s statements on “legitimate rape”.

— 5 —

Do you see the handsome young man on my right sidebar? His name is Brett and he needs a mama. Could this person be you? Go click on his picture and see how amazing he is. While you’re there, would you mind contributing to his grant?

— 6 —

Really? This morning, I was walking the bear child to preschool when two minivans pulled up behind each other, barely avoiding us on the sidewalk. Two adults pile out and were pulling kids out of the car while screaming at them to get moving and that they were going to be late for school. Granted, I may or may not have been walking Daniel to school in my pajama bottoms but seriously??? YOU MORONS ALMOST RAN OVER MY SON AND ME!!!! This is freaking preschool — your kid is not going to get detention for being late like they would if it was middle school or high school where they were responsible for getting themselves to school. If you have a persistent problem with being late, try getting your precious sweetling up earlier. It’s not even like there was a drop-off line issue — the two of them came flying out of nowhere and the second one almost rear-ended the first one. Watching the adults and kids piling out was almost like watching a bunch of circus clowns.

— 7 —

Game 2 tonight. I used this as my last take because I generally put together Quick Takes over a few days and I was watching the game while assembling these. The pitchers seemed equally matched tonight. There were no runs batted in and had Posey not tagged Fielder out in the 2nd, it could have been Detroit who won. I also loved the interview with Romo and seeing him photobombing the Panda.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Writing, Voting, and Interesting Office Supply Products

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

I VOTED!!!! *cue confetti and balloons* I’m in California so we have all the normal slate of candidates in addition to a bunch of ballot measures so the envelope to mail back the ballots requires extra postage. I also wish that there was an “I voted!” sticker included in my absentee ballot because there might be merchants who give perks for those who voted like free coffee or something. Oh well… Jon just dropped his absentee ballot off at our town hall and they were giving out “I voted!” stickers so I have one on the fridge so that I can get any perks offered by merchants for having one on Election Day.

— 2 —

I’m doing NaNoWriMo again. I *might* actually win given that I do have some more spare time than I’ve had in the last few years with Daniel in school. I’m recycling my characters from last year and altering a few of them. My main character is a pastor’s wife — what can I say? I write about what I know. It’s either that or write about import brokerage stuff and a cross-border murder.

— 3 —

I was taking a drive when I heard this song. Daniel had woken up grumpy and we were driving around when this song came on. After CSI was over tonight, I started looking for it online and was having a heck of a time finding it. It turns out that it’s probably just been released to radio stations and the album isn’t due until January. Still… I found it on YouTube! Boo yah!

— 4 —

Cardinal Dolan said something awesome on his Twitter today. His remark: “If I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I??d be taking all my meals alone.” I think it’s relevant in our politically-polarized country where one side is claiming that the media is on the side of the other and there is so much back-biting. I have readers on this blog who agree with me politically and readers who think I’ve lost my mind for backing the candidates I back. Somehow, we all manage to find common ground and I’d readily break bread (or a gluten-free alternative) with any of them.

— 5 —

OMG NLCS baseball!!! We swept the Reds *in* Cincinnati and we’re currently playing Game 4 in St. Louis. I’m thinking of Kathleen Basi and Grace Patton as I’m watching. I have no idea if Grace is a Cardinals fan (or if she’s even all that concerned with baseball) but I remember talking about the World Series with Kathleen last year and now our teams are playing each other in the NLCS! As much as I’m a Giants fan, I do like the Cardinals and I’d totally root for them if they prevailed and made it to the World Series to play Detroit.

— 6 —

For those who read all the interesting comments on the BIC for Her pens, there’s now a new office product sensation. Yes, I totally realize that Romney’s “binders full of women” are binders full of women’s resumés. Yes, I would totally be mentioning this if Obama or Biden had said it. No, I didn’t watch the debate — I was too busy being righteously indignant over NCIS being pre-empted. I had also already filled out my ballot on Sunday night so the debate wasn’t going to change anything for me.

— 7 —

My grandma turns 92 tomorrow. She was the first college graduate on my mom’s side of the family. (My grandfather didn’t finish because Pearl Harbor happened.) She and my grandfather just missed making it 63 years when he passed away in 2006. She still lives at home and gardens a little bit. She also plays bridge twice a week. Happy birthday, Grandma! I love you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

An Admonition from My Devotional Book

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The following passage stuck out to me in my devotional reading today.

“Don??t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord??s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” — 2 Timothy 2:23-26

Of all of it, verse 23 (which is bolded) stuck out: Don??t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. I think it leaped out at me because it’s election season here in the USA and the smear ads are incredibly plentiful. I also deal with people who have tried to pick fights on here (thank God for comment moderation) and who have called me all manner of names because I happen to support President Obama. It’s a hard thing some days to know that people who don’t even know me or who have talked to me are demonizing me.

I’m not saying that those with whom I disagree are the devil — I included the whole part of the passage for the sake of adding context but it did stick with me that I shouldn’t have anything to do with the fights being picked on Facebook and Twitter. I’ve refused to watch any of the debates because I already know how I’m voting and I’ve actually unfollowed people on Twitter during the debates so I don’t have to deal with reading things meant to pick fights. I’m staying away from certain blogs which are incredibly vitriolic toward anyone who doesn’t agree with them politically and I’m attempting to be judicious in anything I post here or on Facebook/Twitter.

Am I perfect? Not by a long shot. I’d love to post my thoughts on Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan but I’ve realized that I don’t think I could do it in such a way as to not come across as one of the people who I deem vitriolic. “Obamacare” has benefited my family greatly and while I may be theologically conservative, I’m socially moderate. Paul Ryan is too extreme for me and I cannot, in good conscience, vote for Mitt Romney. I have people of whom I am incredibly fond who think I’m deluded for supporting Obama. I can deal with that. My life would be pretty boring if I surrounded myself only with those who espouse all my opinions. What I cannot do, however, is get caught up in the nastiness that seems to be pervading this election.

So please, tell me if/when I ever cross the line.

7 Quick Takes: Twittering Cats and Baseball

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

My Giants are headed to the NLCS! They came back from 2 games under to win the series over the Reds. We’re waiting to find out if they’re playing the Nationals or the Cardinals. I’m also waiting to find out if the A’s made it in as then there would be the possibility of a Bay Bridge Series. If that happens, I’ll be checking my earthquake insurance policy after what happened the last time… The A’s lost to the Tigers so we’ll be waiting to see who the Tiger’s play. I’m kind of glad not to have the A’s playing the Giants in the World Series — less chance of an earthquake.

— 2 —

There was a debate on tonight or something, right? Just kidding. I didn’t watch it. I watched an hour of syndicated Big Bang Theory reruns instead. I think it was probably a better use of my time.

— 3 —

One of the Cathsorority chicas posted a link to a webcam of a giraffe about to have a baby. We’re all watching it and commenting on it. I’m incredibly amused that our group of women who are located in a number of states between the east and west coast are so fascinated with this. Then again, we’re women — we dig birth.

— 4 —

I get to go to a wedding this weekend. One of my good friends from college is finally (!!!) marrying his girlfriend. My parents are going to baby-sit while Jon and I head to San Francisco for it. I’m looking forward to seeing some of my college friends again, some of them for the first time since graduation and others for the first time since my wedding 10 years ago. Tomorrow morning, I need to go shoe-shopping and pick up some nude pantyhose as well as pack up some laundry to do at my parents’ house. (I don’t think it will get done before we have to leave for San Jose.)

— 5 —

It’s finally cold enough here to need the furnace tonight. A week ago, we were in the 90’s. Today, it was in the 70’s and it’s chilly tonight. I’m hoping this is a trend. I hate hot weather. The only thing that would make it better would be rain.

— 6 —

I created a Twitter for my black cat Edda. Why yes, I have no life. Why yes, I have insomnia. I figured a Twitter was easier than remembering to update her blog daily. She is @eddapuss.

— 7 —

I still haven’t figured out Daniel’s Halloween costume yet. Not having a verbal child, his Halloween costume is up to me. I might go to Goodwill and see if I can’t put one together that I like. The last three years have been bear-related so Paddington might be an option.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.