Right As Usual

Monday, November 22, 2004

THE MONEY QUOTE

I found this on the always incomparable Little Green Footballs. LGF was quoting David Warren, on the meaning of Arafat's life:

It is not as if the world lacks heroes. There is no need to elevate a skunk.

I'm adding to this link - Cold Fury is on a tear, with some VERY blunt rebuttals to the prevailing liberal wisdom. He expresses himself in sarcastic hyperbole, with some straightforward thoughts for liberal consideration.

On a more serious note, I confess that I was more than a little out of the loop of news while hospitalized. My first reaction the the Chilean security incident was to smilingly imagine the teasing the agent would take, having been rescued by Bush from the police.

But Power Line rightly points out the more serious aspects, which I have not seen addressed by the media yet. Come on, people - we have lived through some crazy times in post-election years. Despite the number of home-grown loonies that try to take out a president, we can't forget the number of foreign nuts who have attempted the job, more notably the Puerto Rican gang that nearly succeeded with President Truman.

Chile owes us a BIG apology. Pronto.

SIGN THIS PETITION

There is a petition defending the actions of the marine who shot an insurgent who was previously wounded.

The facts of this incident are being used as an excuse to smear US soldiers and marines as war criminals. I cannot believe that Americans would believe this, given the MANY incidents of Western non-combatants who have been savagely tortured, on camera, regardless of gender or lack of military status by the insurgents, or, I should say, terrorists of the region.

Please consider clicking on the link and adding your signature to the petition.

I'M BA-A-A-A-C-K!!!

I was finally sprung from the hospital this afternoon, after 5 days of very good medical and nursing treatment. But, no matter how good the treatment, a hospital is never a good place to be.

I had my innards poked and prodded, in an worthwhile effort to find the source of my breathing difficulties. They x-rayed, bled, monitored bodily fluids and gases entrance and exit, and had me wearing a heart-monitoring harness for 4 days. All of the tests were negative.

In the end, they cautiously diagnosed a very resistant respiratory infection, or two. The most likely cause - two or more competing infections, that fought for supremacy.

Nice to be able to assert authority over the germs, and emerge triumphant. I'm still weak and shaky, but definitely on the mend.

The doctor said not to do too much. After seeing the condition of the house, I felt it wiser to go to work Monday and Tuesday. It should be much more restful.

It's kind of sad that I have to go to work to rest.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

I'M REALLY SICK

Thank God for laptops. Without it, I would be channel-surfing through 500 channels of nothing.

Instead, I get to stop in at all the blogs I've been too busy to keep up with.

This has led me to some humble conclusions:

Damn, these guys are good! I mean it. Day in and day out, many of the most popular bloggers post accurate, interesting, and worthwhile blogs with a decided point of view.
Although I like blogging, I'm not dedicated enough at this time to play in their league. I do have a life off the net (although my most recent job as a substitute technology teacher has given me more time to blerk). So, for now, if someone wants to visit, welcome, but I'm giving up, for now, the effort to raise my readership.
I should have gotten the flu shot.

That's all for now. Smoke 'em if you've got 'em - just not at MY house.

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Want to promote your site?

Try BlogExplosion for a quick ability to promote more traffic to your blog.

Once you sign up for a FREE account, you get access to their tools (banners, buttons, ability to get feedback through a ratings system)

It looks good, so I'm going to try it for now. I'm also going to see whether I can view my own blog at work (at lunchtime, folks, I'm not wasting time at work). The current filtering system blocks free sites like Blogspot.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

THE UNION IS SAFE!

This has been a tumultuous week for emotions. I was too busy living the excitement to write it down.

Election Day

My polling location was in Cleveland, OH, the heart of all the nail-biting excitement. It was in a church community center, in a solidly middle-class area of town. The neighbors are cops, firemen, city workers, and union members. The plethora of Kerry/Edwards signs is a strong signal of affliation.

My first indication that this wouldn't be an ordinary voting year was the full parking lot. Normally, at that hour, the voters are outnumbered by the poll workers (a sweet, elderly bunch of folks). I had to park on the street and down the block, then dash through the rain about 400 yards to the center.

Inside, about 150 people stood in 7 lines (Wards A-F, and an information line). They were patient, and appropriately somber. I watched the newbies get instructions on using the punch-card ballot. Each time, the poll worker ended with a demonstration of checking the card for fully punched holes. There'd be no hanging chads here!

Everyone was deliberate, purposeful, and focused. They WERE going to vote, they WERE going to have their say.

I floated to work on a cloud; surely with citizens like these, the country is in good hands.

Watching the election returns was not as suspenseful as it usually is. I tried to keep my glee surpressed - my husband is a Kerry supporter.

But, no matter what the stations were saying, no matter what ponderous blatherings emerged, I felt that, somehow, we (Americans) were going to come out of this all right.

So I drifted off to sleep, Ohio's results still in doubt, without a care.

And woke up to wonderful news.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

THESE WOMEN EMBARASS THE NON-VOTERS OF THE U.S.

I was reading this afternoon, after watching the Kerry concession, and found this in an article by George Will:

Tuesday’s winner will not start from scratch but from where we are now, standing with the women of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Back in Washington recently, Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said those women were warned that Taliban remnants would attack polling places during the Oct. 9 elections. So the women performed the ritual bathing and said the prayers of those facing death. Then, rising at 3 a.m., they trekked an hour to wait in line for the polls to open at 7 a.m. In the province of Kunar an explosion 100 meters from a long line of waiting voters did not cause anyone to leave the line."

I know I'm not that brave. And, reading about these women, I wonder again just why Americans don't vote. They don't face the barriers of distance or fear of death.