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4 more years of insanity (Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 12:24:10 PM)
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I am extremely disheartened at the outcome of the election. It wasn't unexpected, though, since the polls and the Iowa futures market were predicting this exact outcome. I have always considered myself to be (and voted) Republican, but I just could not support our current administration. Bush has been VERY bad for our country and I'll explain why.
First, our rights and civil liberties are slowly being taken from us in the name of "security". Just like the frog that will boil to death in a slowly warming pot, the US is on it's way to becoming a police state. Don't believe me? Go and read the text of the Patriot Act. Bush and the Republican-led rubber-stamp Congress passed the bill easily and many in Congress have regretted it since. You may also be aware of the increasing "security" measures being taken at airports. I don't believe that these measures are doing much of anything to actually make air travel more secure. Most people will feel more secure because these measures are in place, but are blissfully ignorant of the truth--if a terrorist wanted to bring down a specific plane, then there's not much we can do to stop them. How long will it be until the airport security measures are implemented elsewhere? All it will take is another form of terrorist attack to get the Bush administration to justify taking more of our freedoms.
Another problem is the war in Iraq. I was against it from the start, mostly because it distracted us from the war on terrorism. Where is Osama bin Laden? We still haven't gotten him because our resources are mired down in Iraq. Also, there were warnings from around the world and especially from Arab countries that taking over Iraq would anger the world and turn Arabs against us. After Sept. 11th, the whole world was with us and supported us. Now, all of world opinion is turned against us--all because Bush just HAD TO take over Iraq.
I also think that this Iraq situation has made the war on terrorism WORSE. Before the "war", it was well-known that Al Qaida didn't get along with Saddam Hussein. Saddam had such a tight reign on the country, Al Qaida didn't even try use Iraq as a base. Now that Saddam is out of power, anarchy rules most of that country. Al Qaida is having a field day using Iraq as a base since Afganistan has been conquered. Since all of the Arab world hates us now because of Iraq, Al Qaida and other militant terrorist organizations are getting throngs of new members. Bush has made us FAR less safe because he led the US in what HE wanted instead of what we was NEEDED for him to do.
Next, Bush has been ridiculously secretive--even about things that don't matter. I heard on a commercial that the Bush administration had blacked out 28 pages from the 9-11 Commision Report. Why? Security reasons were given once again. This American Life did a story within the past couple of years about how silly this administration has gotten in keeping the tiniest of secrets. You can search for it on their site. You remember how Cheney got in trouble for not revealing the attendees of an energy policy meeting? It was very likely that he was meeting with the CEOs of Enron and a lot of other large energy companies--the very people the government should be regulating heavily. Oh, and did you know that Cheney is still getting money from Haliberton--the company that got the massive no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq?
Also, Bush himself has shown himself to be VERY vindictive. Do you remember when his administration revealed the name of a female CIA agent? Doing so is a federal crime. It turns out her husband, an ambassador in Italy, critized the administration for using very poor (and later found to be fake) evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I wouldn't doubt that the directive to reveal the name came from Bush himself to get back at the ambassador for his comments. During the first election, it was reported that Bush told his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, something like "it will be a cold Christmas" if he didn't win the state of Florida. I vaguely remember a few other incidents such as these during the first couple of years of his first term.
Finally, it is also well known that Bush is very pro-big business. He has constantly introduced and supported policies that help big business and hurt the middle class. Weeks before the election, he signed a bill that gave HUGE tax cuts to big business. This was justified by the rather poor excuse of "stimulating the economy", when what he was really doing was helping out his CEO buddies so he could get re-elected. He also signed a bill earlier this year that allowed businesses to reduce or eliminate overtime pay for employees. This was in the name of "overtime pay law overhaul" which hadn't changed in more than 40 years. Bush does NOT have the best interests of the comman man in mind.
I don't doubt that in a few years more and more people will wake up to what's happening when the evidence of Bush's mis-management becomes more apparant. I wouldn't be suprised to see bumper stickers that will say:
DON'T LOOK AT ME, I VOTED FOR KERRY
I like what Wil Wheaton has to say about the result: "I hoped I would wake up this morning to the good news that our long national nightmare was over. It's not over. It's just beginning."
I am now ashamed to call myself an American.
Mark my words, with the continuing moral and political decay of our country, the day will come when we may need to leave this country. Just like the Puritans that helped to found our country, a time will come relatively soon that we may have to look elsewhere for political and religious freedoms.
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We had a mostly uneventful Halloween. Carolaina's Dad came over for the weekend and got her car running on Saturday. After that we went to Gillam Farms to enjoy the festivities they have going on each year in October. The house painting continues in sporadic bursts--I hope Mr. Stenger finishes before winter weather gets here.
The kitten is continuing to grow and we introduced him to our other cats this weekend. They still don't like him yet, but at least they didn't attack/fight him. Hobbes is being so playful that he'll win them over eventually.
I had the hardest time trying to find a place to park in the TCBY parking deck this morning. I heard that the MetBank people were all over here today. If that's the case, then parking is going to get insane until Heifer International moves out and into their new headquarters. I'm afraid that parking is going to get REALLY bad the week when the Clinton Library opens.
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The Curse of the Bambino is broken! I've just watched the Red Sox win the World Series! If you haven't heard by now, it's the first win for them since 1918! Wohoo!!!
Normally I'm a fan of the Atlanta Braves, but tonight I'm really happy for the Red Sox. :D It's about time they won!
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On Monday evening, through the front door I saw a small kitten on our porch begging for attention and/or food. One of our other cats, Precious, came up and scared it away. I didn't think too much of it at the time since strays wander through our neighborhood all the time. He sure was cute, though...
On Tuesday, Carolaina saw him around the yard more than once. We could tell that he wasn't wild and he seemed to be abandoned, but he would only let us get within a couple of feet of him. She put out food for him and seemed to have eaten overnight. Wednesday before noon, Carolina managed to catch him. She said that he fussed and hissed at first, but calmed down and started purring as she petted the poor kitty. Carolaina gave him a bath, food and a little flea medicine.
When I got home Wednesday, I found that the little guy was all skin and bones. No telling how long he had been starving on his own. The next morning we took him to the vet and had him checked out. The vet guestimated that he's about 6 weeks old. He's smaller than a usual 6-week old since he's been so malnourished. They sprayed him down to get rid of the fleas and gave him some meds. In three weeks we'll be taking him back for his immunization shots.
He is just the cutest kitten and has the sweetest personality. The vet even took note of how good a cat he is and will become.
I present to you: Hobbes!
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pancakes! and painting (Monday, October 18, 2004 - 12:35:37 PM)
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When we were up at Wichita, KS last weekend, Carolaina and I ate lunch at Denny's. She ordered breakfast food which included pancakes. I tried a bite of them and they were the absolute best pancakes I had ever tasted. Carolaina guessed that they probably used malt, buttermilk and extra sugar to make them so nice. I just had to re-create them and I believe I have done so. Carolaina knew we had some malt, so we picked up some buttermilk on our latest grocery run.
Saturday morning, I made my first attempt. Since I wasn't used to making pancakes with buttermilk, they came out VERY thick. Since I've previously used water or skim milk, I've always had to add extra flour to thicken the recipe to the right consistency. I made the mistake of continuing to do that with this batch. Despite this, they still turned out to be the best pancakes I had yet made, but was dissapointed because they were far from the perfection that is Denny's pancakes.
So, I tried again on Sunday morning. This time, I followed the buttermilk pancake recipe very closely. I carefully measured everything. The only changes I made were to add some more malt than the day before and add a little more sugar than the recipe required. They still came out a little thick, but were REALLY, REALLY close to the perfection I remembered. With some butter melted into the top of each one, it was heaven in my mouth!
A relative (by marriage) started the process of painting our house over the weekend. Edward Stenger scraped, sanded and washed off most of the old paint that was flaking away. If the rain will hold off, all the non-brick outside walls of our house should be repainted by the end of the week. Oh, Mr. Stenger is the father of my brother Keith's wife, Mary.
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