Category Archives: politics

quirky news for a sunday afternoon.

I’m on a blogging rampage.  Here’s the weird stuff I’ve found on Al Gore’s invention today…

  • Let’s talk about squirrels.  Rats with fluffy tails.  True story: I was once attacked my squirrels by the Vietnam Memorial in DC.  They wanted our snack foods and opened our backpacks.  It was terrifying.  Anyway, the science wonder children at UC Davis have found the solution to their squirrel overpopulation problem– birth control for squirrels.  It’s true.

    “This new birth control method may potentially help control squirrels or other species, such as white tailed deer,” said Sara Krause, a doctoral student in ecology who designed the plan.

    “If we can test a birth control method and find it safe and effective, there’s a possibility of it being a breakthrough method in both urban and suburban areas,” she said.

    I’m sure the Christians would rather they train the squirrels about natural family planning.

  • On to the Big O.  Nope not that kind. (Geeeeeez.  Parents read this blog!)  No, not Obama. (Good guess though.) I’m actually talking about Oprah.  The lady’s got it going on.  There are talks that O might not renew her talk show in 2011!  THE HORROR.  That gives us just three short years left with her.  TiVO that shiz now, people.  Or don’t, because it will run more in syndication than the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Oprah’s getting her own TV network.  Boringly called the Oprah Winfrey Network, or hilariously and appropriately nicknamed, OWN.  Oprah owns your soul.  One might go so far as to say she PWNS you.
  • This is a good one!  There was a brawl in Jerusalem today.  Sadly, that alone means nothing.  But the devil is in the details.  IT WAS BETWEEN MONKS.  (Get it?  Devil in the details?  Monks? Religion?  Uhh…) Yes, monks.  Rival monks!  The Armenian monks and the Greek monks.  This is better than West Side Story. Snap, snap, snap.  The cops had to come break it up!  Apparently these fights happen a lot.  Oh, and when you go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, make sure you wear your neutral gang colors.  FYI the Armenians wear pink and red and the Greeks wear black.  From the AP:

    The brawling began during a procession of Armenian clergymen commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus.

    The Greeks objected to the march without one of their monks present, fearing that otherwise, the procession would subvert their own claim to the Edicule — the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus — and give the Armenians a claim to the site.

    The Armenians refused, and when they tried to march the Greek Orthodox monks blocked their way, sparking the brawl.

  • Illinois is hoping for a tourism bump due to Barack’s win.  Really?  Well alright.  Walsh, I’ll see you soon.
  • Ohhh the Onion.  Always makes me chuckle.  I can totally picture this story on Fox though.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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barack’s a mutt, just like me.

In case you didn’t know, Barack Obama is the President Elect! AHHHH.  Anyway, B held his first press conference yesterday to discuss some really important issues…like Malia and Sasha’s new puppy.   Let me just say that I wrote about this awhile ago.  Malia needs a hypoallergenic dog.  The obvious choice here is the Chinese Crested Hairless.  Duh.  Perhaps the Obama family will read my blog post and agree with me. Riiiiight.  But anyway, B made a funny when talking about the dog.

With respect to the dog – this is a major issue. I think it’s generated more interest on our Web site than just about anything. We have two criteria that have to be reconciled. One is that Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic. On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog but obviously a lot of shelter dogs are mutts, like me.

Nothing has ever made me happier.  Because, like President Elect Obama, I am a mutt as well.  But it’s not just about the identity politics.  This comment is exactly what America needs. A little bit of humor.  What I’m saying is lighten up, ya’ll.  Making lighthearted jokes is the best way to disarm the skeptics.

But back to the whole puppy thing.  I read an article on CNN that chronicles White House pets over the years.  Malia and Sasha should have aimed a little higher.  I mean, Calvin Coolidge had a pygmy hippopotamus named Billy.  True story.  Herbert Hoover’s son had a pair of gators that liked to chill on the White House grounds.  Benjamin Harrison had two opossums.  Sick.  A puppy will be cute though.  Especially if it’s a Chinese Crested.

So it’s obvious I’m on cloud nine.  Is there anything higher than cloud nine?  Because the next topic is about to put me over the edge.

If you read this blog every once in a while, you might know that I am obsessed with the best TV show ever, the West Wing.  During the cold years of the Bush administration, I’ve often pined for the Bartlet administration and all of its players.  Well.  I’m coming as close as I can to my West Wing dream.  Barack Obama has named Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff.  Emanuel worked in the Clinton White House with West Wing consultant DeeDee Myers, who served as Clinton’s press secretary.  So CJ Cregg is based off of Myers, and…I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP…JOSH LYMAN IS BASED OFF OF RAHM EMANUEL.  Josh Lyman is coming back to the White House.  YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Rahm’s brother is also kind of famous.  Ari Emanuel is the founder of a talent agency and well-known talent agent and is apparently the inspiration for Ari Gold on Entourage.  I know. This is almost too much to handle.

So let’s recap.  Barack is amazing and addresses the race thing perfectly, there’s going to be a perfect puppy in the White House to complement the perfect family, and the West Wing is actually starting to become reality.

This is fantastic.  Now I’ll go back to writing about dumb stuff, I promise.  But I had to get this out.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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yes we can? YES WE DID.

I told you waking up on Wednesday morning would feel good.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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obama will be our next president.

perfection.

Too ridiculously happy and tired to say anymore. Nice work, Nation!

[Posted by Mallory]

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vote vote vote for barack obama!

Dear readers,

It’s me, Kathleen.  Your long lost blogger.  I have not posted in a very long time and what I have posted in recent weeks has been fairly weak.  But that’s because I’ve been working to save the Constitution…no big deal.  Today, I hope you go vote for Barack Obama.  He’s a good man and he’ll make a wonderful president.  He is someone that understands our story.  He’s one of us. Please look at the pictures Mallory posted.  So vote.  And get your friends to vote.  It really does make the difference this time around.  And I’m going to ask you to take it a step further.  Don’t just vote for the captain, vote for the team.  This means electing the people that are going to help make B’s glorious vision a reality.  I’m talking about your House and Senate races here, people.

Today is going to be historic.  I cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and know that the world is a better place.

Catch you on the flip side.  I’m off to the polls.

xoxo,

Kathleen

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yes we can. YES. WE. CAN.

I just finished writing a shitty rough draft of my paper, as Anne Lamott would have advised me to do, and then I stalked around the Internets for a while and got myself crazy nervous about the election. Just think! At this time tomorrow, we will (hopefully?) know who our next president is! HOW FREAKED OUT AND NERVOUS AND EXCITED ARE YOU?!!

I can’t promise that there will be any liveblogging on my end, and Kathleen will probably be really busy doing actual campaign stuff, but know that I will be, er, liveblogging in spirit? Really that means I will be drinking lots of wine and crying lot of tears (no matter who wins) and will not have access to my computer.

Let’s look at pictures of Barry and be happy:

And you know the drill, kids: don’t forget to vote! 

See you on the flip side.

[Posted by Mallory]

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whatever happened to good ol’ ralph?

I hate that I am posting so many article links without much commentary, but this is a pretty busy couple of days for me. Posting quick excerpts and links is a way for me to feel like I’m still involving myself and this blog in some sort of discussion, because obviously there are a LOT of things to be discussed right now. 

MSNBC’S First Read had a blurb in its afternoon political roundup today that I found pretty compelling:

At a rally at the University of Maryland, Independent Party candidate Ralph Nader criticized the way the media covers the presidential race, citing the fact that Joe the Plumber has gotten more political coverage than the Nader-Gonzalez tandem.

Of course you could make a lot of points on either side of the question of Ralph v. Joe, but it’s a question worth thinking about. Read a little more here.

[Posted by Mallory]

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mccain for president, says ken layne.

My friends, you must read this. Ken Layne is my favorite Wonkette boyfriend and he is a genius:

This first decade of the 21st Century has not been very good for America. We have been terrorized at home, humiliated in war, humbled by Asia, surpassed by Europe, invaded by Mexico and laughed at by Canada.

We are also so much sicker and sadder and poorer than we were eight years ago.

The question, on November 4, is this: Are we man enough, as a nation, to admit things are just going to keep getting worse? Can we finally grimace into our national mirror and admit that we need someone to finish the job? Then let’s make John McCain, and then Sarah Palin, our president(s). Let’s do this right!

Experts say the United States is like a bus full of enraged cows teetering on the edge of a sea cliff, with swarms of bloodthirsty sharks circling the waters below. Tragically, the frightened and confused livestock are unable to tilt the bus over the cliff by themselves.

We can’t afford to prolong the misery. We can’t afford to elect some pie-in-the-sky character who appeals to our better instincts. We can’t afford to put aside ignorance and poverty.

We need to be pushed over that ledge.

John McCain for pre — okay I can’t even type that line, but you get the point.

[Posted by Mallory]

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throwdown: joe biden v. barbara west.

So my friend just sent this video to me. Take a look:

Now as a proud liberal with a potentially unhealthy love for Barack Obama, I found this video entertaining in the sense that Joe Biden wiped the floor with this wingnut reporter. Then I looked at the comments on the video, and realized that everyone thought that Barbara West really tested Biden and proved that Obama is totally a Marxist Muslim nutjob who will destroy our country within the first six months of his presidency. I guess you really do just see what you want to see. 

As I was watching this, I thought of a conversation I had with my sister the other day. As I’ve mentioned, we’ve been bickering just a leeetle these days about politics. I was video chatting with her, and one of her friends muttered something in the background about how Obama was going to get assassinated and that in voting for him, I was basically just voting for Biden.

Now, don’t even get me started on the fact that it is disgusting and embarrassing that no single person is worried that John McCain might be assassinated. Nope, just the black guy. But on top of that, do you REALLY want to play the vice president game?! REALLY? Saying that you shouldn’t vote for Obama because he could get assassinated is like saying you shouldn’t vote for McCain because he might die like tomorrow. Both are certainly possibilities, but to base your vote on either hypothetical situation is absurd. And even if I were to base my vote on those hypothetical situations, I would clearly trust Biden over Miss Wasilla. (Have you seen this, by the way? “Joe the mauve sofa”…hysterical)

And call me a commie, but I honestly think the quote “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need,” is pretty damn right on. Isn’t that SORT OF the foundation of things like conservative Christian things like tithing? The idea that when you are able, you should give of yourself to others who need it most?

[Posted by Mallory]

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vote hasselback 2008: mayor of clowntown.

I just threw up in my mouth.

[Posted by Mouse]

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