Category Archives: Politics

Catching Up: New Year’s Eve 2024 Edition

Posted on by

Hello to everyone except the IDIOTS to re-elect Donald Trump and the 20 million people who decided not to vote.

Yes… I just said that.

I’m astonished at the stupidity of our country in electing someone who cannot speak in complete sentences, who claimed that people were eating dogs and cats in Springfield even after THE FREAKING MAYOR OF SPRINGFIELD AND GOVERNOR OF OHIO TOLD HIM TO CUT THAT ISH OUT AND THE PROUD BOYS SHOWED UP, who claims that he’ll raise money for things by imposing tariffs on China… despite the fact that THE IMPORTER IS THE THE ONE PAYING THE TARIFF AND PASSING IT ONTO THE CONSUMER INSTEAD OF THE COUNTRY IN QUESTION (was I the only one paying attention in Economics in high school???), who is imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico despite us getting a lot of our imports of food and other things from them, who doesn’t know the origin of the word “grocery” (Google is free, y’all!), who is claiming that there will be mass deportations even though he doesn’t actually have any clue of how to do that or how much he is going to hamstring agriculture or building in this country by doing that (because migrant workers are the ones who actually *DO* those jobs), who incited an insurrection which killed several people, and who, along with his derpy followers, has no idea how basic things in the economy work. His Cabinet choices are the dumbest people imaginable for each position (like they were in his first administration) to the point that even his followers are objecting to them. (Seriously? Matt Gaetz for Attorney General? Well, he is a pedophile like Trump…)

I’m positively dreading the next four years as a member of a church with members who could possibly deported because our immigration system is effed up in so many ways, I’m a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, someone who is neurodivergent with chronic conditions, and someone who had a pregnancy condition. I’m struggling to keep my head up already, and the Orange Idiot taking offices means that I’m going to have to fight twice as hard to keep things working for me and Daniel when I barely have the mental and emotionally energy to get out of bed.

And yes, you can absolutely unfollow me if you’re offended by anything that I’ve just said. I’ve never forced anyone to read this blog.

I guess I should go look on BestBuy.Com for a new laptop before the Mango Mussolini hostilely takes over the Oval Office again and prices jump 25% because he is incapable of understanding the purpose of tariffs…

Oh yeah, my saint for 2025 is St. Gianna and the word of the year is “hello”.

I’ll be putting my new bullet journal together if you need me…

Turning Down the Heat

Posted on by

From the blog of my Episcopal priest Fr. Paul:

I just cranked the heat up in my office today. Outside it’s in the low 50’s and I was chilly. Then I signed into my computer and checked the news. All of a sudden, the room felt hot.

This is the last week before the election, and polls show a wildly varied scenario of potential outcomes. Everybody is anxious. This is par for the course. This time around, however, there is a real threat of violence. There are people who believe that if their candidate does not win the election, violence to put them in the White House by force would be justified. Vulnerable people will be targeted. I am opening up my church as a sanctuary.

My Christian faith teaches me that the world is saved by dying, not by fighting, by serving, not by forcing, by giving rather than taking, and by loving rather than hating.

Dear fellow human beings, it’s high time to turn down the heat!

Catching Up: Busy Girl Edition

Posted on by

So what have I been up to? Well…

Crocheting. My happy thing these days is to crochet while watching YouTube in the evening. So far this year, I’ve finished prayer shawls, 2 NICU blankets (including one with the frogged yarn from another blanket), and I’m almost done with another prayer shawl.

Health. I’ve been dealing with serious fatigue, which my psych nurse thinks is the depressive phase of bipolar 2. Oh freaking joy… Daniel has also been adding stress to my life, so that isn’t helping.

Politics. I’ve been writing postcards for my local Democrats and Activate America to help get out the vote in Ohio, Arizona, Montana, and here in Washington. It doesn’t feel like a lot, but it’s something that needs to be done and I have a lot of spare time.

Catching Up: My Party’s Convention Was Cooler than Your Party’s Convention Edition

Posted on by

I said what I said. :p

[+] But seriously… The RNC’s roll call was orderly and parliamentary. The DNC had a dance party for theirs complete with a DJ and turntable. 🙂 The whole thing is below, but you can skip around the video if you want to see how they pulled it off.

[+] Best speeches. Not gonna lie… Michelle was better than Barack… and that takes some doing!

[+] Republicans at the DNC. I’m sharing this video not to gloat, but because they have good things to say.

[+] Geeking out over Pete Buttegieg. If you watched Pete Buttegieg’s speech, you know that he joked about how some people might know him from FOX News, and that’s because he goes on there somewhat frequently to bring his message to a group of people who might normally not hear it. People act like he’s stupid, but he very calmly explains why the commentators are incorrect and does so in such a way that said commentators don’t realize that he is calling them “stupid” until the end. Dude is a Harvard grad, a Rhodes scholar, a polyglot, and a veteran. He can talk policy like nobody’s business, and I’m really hoping he has a prominent place in Kamala’s administration.

[+] J.D. Vance. Dude cannot talk to regular people. Like seriously, his donut shop video (which is below) is embarrassing. He was nice to the woman who didn’t want to be on camera, but it’s apparent that he doesn’t talk to working class people regularly. I mean, how about GOOGLING the place where you’re going to be visiting? I’m pretty sure his staff could have done that!

Then, there’s the gaffe at Pat’s Steaks where he tried to mock John Kerry (and just sounded awkward)

He has also attacked the head of the American Federation of Teachers for not having kids and claims she is trying to brainwash kids. Like, seriously? When asked about the remarks, Vance tried to deflect and made a stupid remark alleging that she is trying to put pr0n in school libraries. Dude, my kiddo has been in public school all of his life, and I can tell you that mask mandates are there to protect kids, the “woke stuff” is teachers teaching a history that hasn’t been whitewashed, and there isn’t any pr0n in school libraries.

He, like the person at the top of the ticket, insults people, and doesn’t talk about policy at all. He comes off as an incredibly unpleasant person, and I am biting my thumb at the Ohioans who put this troglodyte in the Senate.

[+] The feel of both campaigns. As I said before, Trump insults people, does not talk policy at all, which is not good because we need to be able to vote based on policy decisions, not personalities. Ditto with Vance. Kamala’s campaign is best described by something Michelle Obama said in her DNC speech: “The contagious power of hope”. She is running a fairly positive campaign, and there is this air of hope and joy. Her choice of Tim Walz as a running mate was excellent because he can actually talk to people and he has actually accomplished things in Minnesota to which he can point when people start asking about his fitness to be vice-president. I actually *LIKE* listening to him talking, and he gives off the air of caring about people’s needs rather than the Trump/Vance power grab.

OK… back to working on my prayer shawl.

Catching Up: August 14, 2024 Edition

Posted on by

Wow. My break from posting lasted longer than expected.

[+] To nobody’s surprise… I’m laughing my butt off at how Joe Biden played the GOP with the timing of his announcement that he was dropping out of the race. He hasn’t said that it was intentional, but he completely managed to foul up Trump’s campaign to the point that Cheeto Guevara has had to redo his attack ads.

Also…

I'm with her.

Why wouldn’t I be??? I’ve been voting her into various statewide and national offices since her first run for California Attorney General in 2010. The last thing I did before moving to Washington in 2016 was to vote for her in the California State Primary for U.S. Senator! I’m even getting involved in her presidential campaign.

[+] Vance. I did my due diligence and looked into J.D. Vance… and it just turned me more and more off from him. It’s not just his bitchy remarks about cat ladies. He solicited money to create a charity to fight opioid abuse and used the money on a political consultant to decide about running for office instead. (Appalachians are big mad about this.) He had a lot of advantages and he could have used them to actually *HELP* people… but he didn’t. He and Trump are very focused on what will benefit themselves, and that is not an appropriate attitude to have for the offices they are seeking. Also? He’s allegedly a techbro, and none of my Silicon Valley friends in the industry have anything good to say about him. He has almost no political experience, and his foot-in-mouth comments show that.

Not to mention, a lot of Appalachia thinks he’s a loser. There’s a whole Twitter hashtag about this.

I do enjoy a good troll.

[+] Books. I finally got a Mount Vernon City Library card (which only took me 8 years), and I’ve been curled up in Joanne Fluke’s books since. A new one is coming out at the end of this month, and I’m reading through all of her previous ones to get ready!

[+] Skagit County Fair. Daniel and I finally made it to the county fair for the first time in 7 years. We had been thwarted by surgeries (2018), family funerals (2019), and the pandemic (2020-2023). It was hot, but it was still worth it. My monster indulged me traipsing through all the animal barns, the quilting and craft displays, and standing in line to cross a few “fair food” items off of my bucket list. (The deep-fried Snickers was a 9/10, and the deep-fried Twinkie was completely forgettable.)

[+] Camp NaNoWriMo. I attempted Camp NaNoWriMo in July, and only made it to 20,000 words because of severe writer’s block. Given that it was completely a last minute decision, I’m going to do some planning and re-attempt it in November.

Catching Up: August 7, 2022 Edition

Posted on by

It’s 12:39 a.m. on August 7th, and I have very little to tell you about my life because I’m eating, drinking, working with students, watching too much YouTube, and not sleeping near enough. All the student stuff is kinda sorta protected by FERPA (and I’m not feeling like getting into the Come to Jesus conversations I’m having to have with a few of them), so here is the stuff I’ve been watching for the last week or so on YouTube. There’s A LOT of them, so I’m putting a cut in this post. Click on “Continue reading” to see the whole shebang. (And yes, I have a weird YouTube algorithm.)

Continue reading →

Catching Up: June 24, 2022 Edition

Posted on by

Let’s jump in.

Oh yes… comments are turned off because nothing I’m saying is up for debate or discussion. Disagree with me on your own blogs and Facebook walls.

[+] Things I should not have to say. A 7 year old girl choked in her sleep and died a week ago, and a local website put up a Facebook post to garner support for the family. Most people are responding and showing support, but some f-ing idiots have taken the opportunity to hijack it and start speculating about how it was due to the COVID vaccine.

…

WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?!?!? YOU DON’T POST THAT S*** ON A POST THAT THIS GIRL’S GRIEVING FAMILY IS TAGGED IN AND CAN SEE!!!! YOU IDIOTS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO AN AUTOPSY REPORT OF WHAT HAPPENED!!! SHUT YOUR F****** MOUTHS AND GO THE F*** AWAY!!!!

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #1. Election Day is November 8, 2022. Show up if you want to vote out the idiots who confirmed Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. If you think the current Supreme Court is acceptable, feel free to skip this election.

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #2. Susan Collins is butthurt because Brett Kavanaugh allegedly misled her and had given her his word that he wouldn’t vote to overturn abortion. Honey, we told you he was a lying jerk and you didn’t listen. Instead, you voted to confirm him and screwed over the nation. And you’re surprised that he did what he told you he wouldn’t do?

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #3. If you are disappointed with the decision today, you live in a red state, and/or your senator is one that voted to confirm Gorsuch/Kavanaugh/Barrett, show up at their office and make your opinion known to them. Better yet, bring a few friends and peacefully assemble when they’re in town and not in DC ruining the country. Make sure they see you with their beady little eyes and hear *EXACTLY* what you have to say. Use interpretive dance and hand puppets if necessary.

Is your senator not running again and is the Republican candidate campaigning near you? Show up at the campaign stop and make your wishes known with a beautifully-designed sign. Make sure you spell all the words correctly because we need our movement to be understood and not used as an example of what not to say on a sign.

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #4. In 2006, I was on the drive from southern California to Montana when I started bleeding badly. This was weird because my period wasn’t supposed to be coming. It was serious enough that I was googling urgent care locations and emergency rooms in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City in case I needed to be seen, but I was terrified enough of the medical bill that would probably result, so I hemorrhaged blood and tissue for three days until I could get to the clinic in Montana. The chief of medicine was an a****** and told my nurse practitioner that I was a “hysterical pregnant woman having a miscarriage”, and all they offered me after an ultrasound (which showed nothing left in me) and three pregnancy tests was some progesterone. My next period showed up at the wrong time, and I opted to just bleed until my cycle normalized.

Ten years later, I was telling all of this to the resident seeing me here in Mount Vernon, and she informed me that I had very likely had a miscarriage and that they should have gone in and done a D&C to make sure that everything was indeed out. What was not done due to laziness on the part of the chief of medicine (who was eventually fired for abusive treatment of nurses) could now be illegal because Montana is one of those states with “trigger laws”.

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #5. For those who are saying that doctors aren’t going to refuse to perform D&C’s on miscarriages because of these laws, it’s already happening in Alabama. I’m scared that doctors will refuse to operate on women who are having ectopic pregnancies because they’re afraid of being charged under some of the more draconian abortion laws.

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #6. I have always said that I wouldn’t wish my pregnancy experience on my worst enemy.. but I’m rethinking that. I think that the senators who confirmed Gorsuch/Kavanaugh/Barrett would have a very different take on things if their threshold for calling in sick was throwing up three times on their way to work, they could only keep the glucose solution down for 30 seconds before violently throwing it up, they had to have an emergency c-section by themselves in the middle of the night after a 90-minute ambulance ride to the nearest hospital with an ICU, they had scar tissue adhesions so severe they couldn’t bend over for 7 months without almost passing out from the pain, they developed several autoimmune diseases as a result of their traumatic birth, and the scar tissue from their c-section was so bad that their surgeon discovered their reproductive organs twisted when they were opened up for a hysterectomy. I think they need to experience the terror of their period being late and the possibility of 9 months of bedrest, the threat of almost dying in childbirth AGAIN, the threat of gestational diabetes, the threat of financial ruin due to being unable to work, and the knowledge that their insurance company won’t pay for a hysterectomy because “it’s not an emergency” even though they’re done having kids.

[+] Thought on the Supreme Court verdict #7. Washington has reproductive freedom codified in law, and our governor Jay Inslee is working to get a constitutional amendment in the state protecting it. California and Oregon are joining Washington in making sure that women have a place to go if they need it.