“Gays are treated as more dangerous than felons, drug offenders and known child abusers — none of whom is categorically barred from adopting.”
—Gay Adoption: The Real Agenda [via] (via anthropophagous) (via notemily)
December 2008
“I’m still paranoid about assassination, though; that’s not a race thing, that’s a change thing. They kill white people who try to change things in the U.S., too: bring that up at the next Kennedy family reunion. I want to see Barack Obama on Inauguration Day decked out like Iron Man!”
—Mark Walker
Listen
amandoline:tellittomydad:hannahcooper:amandalynferri: mariah carey - all i want for christmas is you
This was my favorite Christmas song in middle school. I remember sitting around all day waiting for it to come on the radio and once it did I carefully recorded it to a cassette tape. After which I promptly wore out the tape by rewinding and replaying it 50 dozen times on my Walkman.
Kids these days with their iPods and downloading just don’t know how hard we had it….
November 2008
“Start with biography. Michelle Obama grew up working-class. Kennedy was a child of privilege, a skilled equestrian and avid foxhunter. Although both women had first-rate educations, Obama will be only the third First Lady with a master’s degree, after Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. And while Jackie had to give up a promising writing career when she married the then Sen. John F. Kennedy, Michelle met her husband at the law firm where they both worked—and where he was her subordinate. Anthony says it’s peculiar that journalists are “going back half a century” to find a comparison for Obama when Clinton seems more apt—and galling that Michelle could be known primarily for her attire, “as if she were a mannequin.”
—Newsweek: Very Little in Common but that ‘O: Why Michelle Obama is Not the Next Jackie O
Pirate wars will bring America back →
gawker.com
spiegelman: This is what I’m saying. (via twothirty:itsbedtime)
Obama to officially nominate Clinton to Cabinet on Monday, sources say →
cnn.com
(In addition to Clinton) Obama is also expected to confirm that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his current post and naming retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as his national security adviser at the White House.
“They took a moment to face each other, to kiss and hold one another, regardless of the magnitude and spectacle of the night,” said Camille Washington, a Bay Area blogger on Soulbounce.com, a music and culture site. “That says a lot.”
— Barack and Michelle: A more perfect union?: First couple-to-be could be relationship role models for nation, experts say.
National Security Pick: From a Marine to a Mediator →
nytimes.com
But General Jones has long been respected and admired by both Republicans and Democrats. He is fluent in French, which he once spoke better than he spoke English after living in Paris from age 2 to 17. He played basketball at Georgetown University, served in Vietnam and has received all manner of decorations as a marine, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V.”
At 64, General Jones bicycles from home to work twice each week, riding the nine miles from McLean, Va., to the offices of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, two blocks from the White House, where he runs a task force on energy. Friends say he is a fan of Toby Keith, the country-music singer and songwriter.
“It’s one of those things that if he’s floating the balloon it better fly… . It would be twice having rung the doorbell and not taken her to the dance. You know, I’m sorry, but at some point you better get in the car with her and take her.”
—Mike Huckabee, on Hillary for Secretary of State
“I was scratching my head, saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. She’s wonderful, but the only difference was she looks better in stilettos than I do, and she has better hair.’ It wasn’t so much a gender issue, but it was like they suddenly decided that everything they disliked about me was O.K… . She was given a pass by some of the very people who said I wasn’t prepared.”
—Mike Huckabee, on the McCain team picking Palin over him.
Listen
Rufus Wainwright - Spotlight on Christmas
“You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
What mood is that?
Last-minute panic.” —
What mood is that?
Last-minute panic.” —
Calvin & Hobbes (via captain-strangeperson) (via becausewhy) (via unicornology) (via amandasthoughts) (via amandoline)
Oh so true.
“
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
” —Oh! The Places You’ll Go (via unburyingthelead)
“I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn’t all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (via outlaws) (via unicornology) (via amandasthoughts) (via amandoline)
My Guide to tumblr for Non-tumblrs →
guidespot.com
vruz:
—via misterpeace:semisetadrift:exclamation:betterthancupcakes
Excepting the bits about Julia Allison being a great feature, I agree with this whole piece.
agreed that Ms Allison should be dropped…. somewhere
and agreed that I should appear on everybody’s dashboard like in the sample screenshot :-)
So sending this to everyone I know who just doesn’t ‘get’ Tumblr. Excellent!
Jill Biden: Untraditional, unapologetic →
politico.com
It’s not said enough, but Jill Biden is every bit as fierce as Michelle Obama.
“Obama has become more than the president-in-waiting; he’s become the president,” said presidential historian Robert Dallek. “And Bush has almost deferred to him, which is surprising.”
—Obama Promotes an Array of Financial Proposals - washingtonpost.com (via robot-heart-politics)
Play
Obama: No Girly Dogs Allowed →
huffingtonpost.com
(Barbara shared a picture of her dog) Obama: “Cha Cha?”
Barbara: “It’s short for Cha Cha Cha.”
O: “What is a Havanese?”
B: “It’s like a little terrier and they’re non-allergenic and they’re the sweetest dogs..”
O: [Face suddenly changes.] “It’s like a little yappy dog?”
Michelle: “Don’t criticize.”
O: “It, like, sits in your lap and things?”
M: “It’s a cute dog.”
O: “It sounds kinda like a girly dog.”
M: “We’re girls. We have a houseful of girls.”
O [with hand gestures]: “We’re going to have a big rambunctious dog, of some sort.”
“Understand where the vision for change comes from, first and foremost. It comes from me. That’s my job, to provide a vision in terms of where we are going and to make sure then that my team is implementing [that vision].
The last Democratic administration we had was the Clinton administration. So it would be surprising if I selected a Treasury Secretary who had had no connection with the last Democratic administration, because that would mean that the person had no experience in Washington whatsoever. And I suspect that you would be troubled and the American people would be troubled if I selected a Treasury Secretary or a chairman of the National Economic Council, at one of the most critical economic times in our history, who had no experience in government whatsoever. What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking.
I think when you ultimately look at what this advisory board looks like, you’ll say this is a cross-section of opinion that in some ways reinforces conventional wisdom and in some ways breaks with orthodoxy in all sorts of ways. And that’s the kind of discussion we want. We want ideas from everybody. What I don’t want to do is to somehow suggest that somehow suggest that since you served in the last Democratic administration, that you’re somehow barred from serving again. Because we need people who are going to be able to hit the ground running.” —President Elect Obama, defending his cabinet choices
The last Democratic administration we had was the Clinton administration. So it would be surprising if I selected a Treasury Secretary who had had no connection with the last Democratic administration, because that would mean that the person had no experience in Washington whatsoever. And I suspect that you would be troubled and the American people would be troubled if I selected a Treasury Secretary or a chairman of the National Economic Council, at one of the most critical economic times in our history, who had no experience in government whatsoever. What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking.
I think when you ultimately look at what this advisory board looks like, you’ll say this is a cross-section of opinion that in some ways reinforces conventional wisdom and in some ways breaks with orthodoxy in all sorts of ways. And that’s the kind of discussion we want. We want ideas from everybody. What I don’t want to do is to somehow suggest that somehow suggest that since you served in the last Democratic administration, that you’re somehow barred from serving again. Because we need people who are going to be able to hit the ground running.” —President Elect Obama, defending his cabinet choices
He no longer resides here
One sunny day in January, 2009 an old man approached the White House
from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he’d been sitting on a park
bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, “I would
like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The Marine looked at the man and said, “Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer
president and no longer resides here.”
The old man said, “Okay”, and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to
the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The Marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is
no longer president and no longer resides here.”
The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to
the very same U.S. Marine, saying “I would like to go in and meet with
President Bush.”
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man
and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here
asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I’ve told you already that Mr. Bush is
no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don’t you
understand?”
The old man looked at the Marine and said, “Oh, I understand. I just
love hearing it.”
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “See you tomorrow,
Sir.”(via my mom)
“In recent weeks, as Barack Obama has stocked his administration with one former Clinton official after another, the cry has gone up from the pundits and blogs: “Where are the new faces?” “You call this change?”
Actually, yes. For the first time in four decades, a Democratic administration is going to hit the ground running rather than fall on its face because it will be staffed by people who know how the federal government works. That’s change all right—the kind we can believe in.
Ever wonder why Republican administrations start fast and Democratic ones start ugly? It’s partly because Republicans draw on experience.” —Peter Beinart
Actually, yes. For the first time in four decades, a Democratic administration is going to hit the ground running rather than fall on its face because it will be staffed by people who know how the federal government works. That’s change all right—the kind we can believe in.
Ever wonder why Republican administrations start fast and Democratic ones start ugly? It’s partly because Republicans draw on experience.” —Peter Beinart
“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.”
—James Baldwin (via butnotmine)
“When people walk up to me and say “I’m a Christian,” I think, “Wow, already? I’ve been working at it!”
—Maya Angelou (via afghanistanbananastand) (via excitablehonky)
Play
GM Ends [Tiger] Woods' Endorsement Deal. →
newser.com
The golfer, whose wife is expecting their second child, says ending the deal will allow for more personal time with his family.
Woods then went on to say, “I have piles of money around my house and every half hour I strip naked and roll around in them. We all do it. It’s a family thing.”
Haha, I want to be in his family.
Delicious for us, Dangerous to Dogs; Foods to Keep Away From Your Dog →
fetchdog.com
Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner and your dog might be lurking under the table begging for scraps, here is a short list of foods to keep away from your dog:
- Chocolate
- Onions
- Garlic
- Salt - it’s okay in moderation
- Sugar
- Green peppers, eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes are all bad for dogs with arthritis
- Raisins and grapes are forbidden fruit - can cause kidney failure and lead to death
- Sausage and bacon - can trigger alergic reactions
- Raw chickpeas or lima beans
- Undercooked grains and pasta
- Anchovies
- Don’t let your dog lick the turkey-roasting pan – this will cause a pancreatitis attack
- Cooked turkey bones
- Canned cranberry (regular cranberries are fine)
- Milk products - can cause gastric distress
Some foods that are okay to feed Fido:
- Red peppers
- Spices like turmeric, cumin and curry
- McDonald’s Filet of Fish sandwich
- Fast food chicken - just remove the skin first
- Salmon, mackerel and sardines
- Carved turkey meat and small bits of skin
- Raw turkey neck - after boiling water for 10 seconds to kill surface bacteria
- Sweet potatoes - without the raw skin
- Fermented milk products such like yogurt and buttermilk
One of my dogs actually had a pancreatic attack, but not from eating turkey. We gave him leftover brisket, only he was too old and his pancreas couldn’t handle that much meat anymore. Really sad.
And I feed my dog sweet potatoes when he has a sick tummy. That and rice with yogurt. Yum.
One of my dogs has a super sensitive stomach, a little yogurt always solves the problem. Also, canned pumpkin is a great Thanksgiving treat for dogs. Mine love it, and it’s good for their digestive systems.
Obama May Break FEMA Away from DHS →
washingtonpost.com
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, a tragicomic disaster since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 — and even before that — looks to be getting a facelift under the Obama administration, sources tell us.
First off, the likely plan is to break off the agency from the Department of Homeland Security, a move that by itself would help restore the pride that folks at FEMA felt when it was an independent agency.
Change We Can Perceive In →
techpresident.com
Fascinating discussion of the Left and Netroots’ anger about Obama’s appointments - and their inevitable disappointment with the Obama administration. But Obama never pretended to be anything he’s not…
Really good read. Especially if you are like me and have been surprised by the immediate disappointment some have had with Obama over his appointments.
“Change I can believe in: An eminently qualified and authentically progressive woman of color managing domestic policy.”
—Melissa McEwan, on Obama appointing Melody Barnes as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council (via julyshewillfly)
