Frenzied Daddy

My last two posts have been both wordy and political. This weblog is primarily my ‘my family’-oriented weblog. I have a separate weblog for work stuff, and two others for which I’m currently writing content (Portland Parents and Portland Scrapbooking).

I don’t see stopping posting political rants like these last two posts, and I’m concerned that they “dilute the brand,” that they mess with the family-orientation. Domain names are cheap (less than a double mocha) at Yahoo.com at the moment, and for a lightly trafficked blog, I can have it hosted for free.

Do you folks think I should move my political rants to a different blog?

Talk amongst yourselves.

I hate listening to Randi Rhodes. But I do it. I hate it because she uses a lot of the radio tendencies that conservative radio hosts do, like running roughshod over her callers, and like sticking to one thought for an hour and bringing back every. single. topic. back. to that thought. I listen to her because every once in a while she says something smart.

Like … about two days ago, she said that the Supreme Court didn’t step into the Anna Nicole Smith inheritance debate because they had jurisdiction over the issue. They stepped in because they wanted to establish that they did have jurisdiction over the issue– that the Supreme Court can address issues of who can marry whom, and who gets to benefit from marriage. In other words, they used the discussion around her inheritance to increase their domain.

She went on to expound on the idea that marriage is a state-level function, not a nation-level function. Note that this chart shows that each state has its own rules about age of consent and about common-law marriages. She’s got it right; the US Supreme Court should never have been involved in Anna Nicole’s inheritance battle.

However, Frist’s Plans are not a secret. While Frist is ignoring problems with already-established checks-and-balances (he’s pushing for this vote rather than focusing on the Presidental use of Signing Statements or on the Search of William Jefferson’s Office), he’s instead riding a doomed horse to get the House and Senate to pass a bill restricting State Rights to condone same-sex marriages.

And the Supreme Court has recently gone out of their way to show that marriage is a Federal-level issue, and not just a state issue. This Supreme Court, with the new Bush appointees. Really makes ya think, doesn’t it?

No, no, no, no.

I’ve left bruises on my skin from pinching myself to wake myself up from this nightmare. But here it is in black and white…

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 17, 2005

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SABO, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the 22nd amendment to the Constitution.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

Article –

`The twenty-second article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is repealed.’.

What’s the 22nd Amendment?

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t have been surprised, either, if Bush had declared military rule and/or delayed the 2008 elections because of possible terrorist attacks. But I’m startled that this is in play. I’m almost as surprised as Bush slipping the Social Security Privatization into his budget with no announcements or fanfare; just a line item in his budget. Did he expect people not to notice?

Even if you’re a Republican, you should be angry and dismayed by this lying sleight of hand.

I’m rapidly losing respect for the Banking Industry. First US Bank earned my hatred, and now Chase Manhattan is striving to best them.

Ok; I admit that a big part of this was my fault. I thought my limit was about 5,000 higher than it apparently was. But I wrote a “courtesy check” on our account, paying for our new windows with a 5 percent loan through Chase. Unbenownst to me, this check sent us over our limit (but still under my imaginary limit) by a considerable amount. Chase happily paid the checks and then sent us our monthly bill.

Now, they expect us to pay them a $1950.00 monthly payment; our normal payment, plus the overage, plus an over-limit charge (woo, $35.00), and probably our rate will shoot up because we’re over our limit. I’ve called them twice to try to get them to extend us more credit (just enough so that we’re not over, I’m not going on a spree here, I just can’t see sending them a $2000 check on my montly budget). If they had bounced the check in the first place, well we do have other credit.

I hate banks.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Well … that was all well and good in 2004, but this year, he’s quoted as saying ( in reference to the thrice-be-damned Patriot act):

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

I don’t care if you’re a Republican, Evangelical Born-Again Christian, or even Pro-Bush at this point (What’s his approval rating at this point?)… this quote should send shivers of fear down your spine. I got this quote from Capitol Hill Blue, and he has three (non disclosed) sources. He also reminds that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, while still White House counsel, wrote that the “Constitution is an outdated document.”

Combining the Iraq war autrocities, the Patriot act, and all the nefarious schemes they’ve put forth, and these quotes, I think it’s clear what kind of people we have in the White House. And, frankly, I don’t want them in charge of my daughters’ country.

Have I ever told you how much I hate spaghetti?

I’ve done it again.

By which, I mean, I’ve walked away from an accident bad enough for the insurance company to throw up its hands and shout “Don’t bother fixing it! We surrender!” Yes, the kids are alright. Yes, so am I. But the Kia is cooked. For those of you on I-5 southbound on Black Friday (Friday after Thanksgiving), under the Morrison bridge, about noon, I apologize.

What happened? Well, I went from highway 30 to I5 and then foolishly tried to change lanes. There’s always a traffic knot at the exit to I84, so I went into the left lane to go ’round, then back into the center because eventually I needed to turn right. On the second lane change, I hit a puddle or something on the road, began to fishtail, spun perpendicular to the traffic flow, and eventually into the concrete divider under the Morrison bridge.

You see that first point on the map? That’s where I pulled over and made Miss B sit on her butt. We were listening to rocking Christmas tunes and singing, and she was dancing- but I made her sit down (she had been sitting on her feet in her chair in order to get more bounce).

And the kia? I’ll upload some pictures. The scary thing is that I hit the concrete barrier at something close to freeway speeds and the air bags didn’t explode. I probably hit it kind of sideways (You can see sideways scratches on the front of the car) but the impact was hard enough to jar me, give Ms B a minor strap burn on her shoulder, and Toddler K bit her tongue hard enough to bleed. That’s not a little love tap. So if you read these statistics, take them with a little bit of salt, because my stupid air bags didn’t do anything. Of course, I did walk away from the accident (and promptly jumped back out of traffic).

Furthermore, I was really sucked in by Les Schwab. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I spent 2.5 hours and $350 at Les Schwab (and the kids were awesome), and bought completely new tires and had them siped because I was (and still am) paranoid, and their demos made a lot of sense. Well, the siping didn’t stop the hydroplaning, and I don’t think they helped when I was sliding perpendicular, either. Maybe I was expecting too much?

Well, we’re ok. And I’m out one newish car (2003), which has a positive side. But now, I’m looking for a car with decent mileage, good reliability, seats four (with 4 doors preferable), and I would really like to seat more (some sort of mini-van or something) in order to transport wood / building supplies / the neighbor kids. And my budget is kind of small. I was going to bid on one on ebay, but I can’t find the listing now (it already ended).

IT’S is always IT IS. If “it is” doesn’t make sense in place of It’s, then drop the freaking apostrophe.

We don’t write “her’s”, do we? Oh wait, you do? Nevermind then, you go right on being wrong.

I was recently asked what I think the overall result of globalization was; positive or negative. Specifically, outsourcing IT jobs to India for programming and call centers. My response was kind of blah, I think. I don’t think much of it. I’m sure it’s good for the Indian, and his/her community. But the person in the US that could be hired, it’s not so good for them and their community. And then, thinking in an overall viewpoint, I’m not sure which weighs more, the good in India or the bad in the US, so I don’t know if the overall effect is positive or negative. I’m sure we can’t stop it, really, because it’s one of the options that Bosses have in order to cut financial costs, so rather than look at whether it’s positive or negative, I’m going to concern myself with how to help my “fellow human.”

However, when poor people in Manhattan make $0.02 for every dollar the rich make, that’s a little easier for me to examine. Globally it doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t affect (well, directly, affect) the trade relationships between nations. These two cents highlight the disparity between the rich and the poor in the US. I’m not one who believes in trickle-down economics. Those two cents hurt the poor and the poor community a lot more than the dollar helps the rich and the rich community.

“The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to.”
Richard Feynman, Letter to Koichi Mano, February 3, 1966