I saw a bush in our backyard loaded with berries that looked a lot like chokecherries...but when I went to pick them, they didn't look quite right so I decided to check up on them.

Here's what Chokecherries look like:

chokecherry Magnoliopsida > Rosales > Rosaceae Prunus virginiana L. Photographer: Richard Old, XID Services, Inc., United States Descriptor: Fruit(s) Image taken in: United States   And here's what I had in my back yard: 5341025 common buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica L. Fruit(s) Photo by Jan Samanek   As you can see...very different.  I just thought that the buckthorn were Chokecherries because it had been so long since I last picked them.  As as soon as I saw the pictures of the real thing...I couldn't believe I had mistaken them for chokecherries! Chokecherries make a delicious syrup for pancakes or a wonderful jelly for bread... Common Buckthorn, however, is a medicinal herb that is used to cure constipation, and can cause painful cramping, nausea, vomiting, and red or orange urine.   When in doubt, make sure to double check before you pick wild produce...even if you've been doing it all of your life!

Here's a picture of what 50% of Americans look like to a conservative.

I think this might be what Robert Beal would say if he was capable of stringing words together that made sense.

It is probably a lot like the opinions held by such "top producers" as Tom Petters.

Seems like something "top producers" William and Shirley Pierce might have taught their students.

It sound like it would be right in line with the philosophy of intelligent, moral people like Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk.  Now THAT'S a guy with a complex mental life who must certainly feel the moral weight of responsibility.

That mean government, always interfering with innocent, hard-working rich people.  Oh!  Those evil liberals who want to burden these bastions of virtue with government interference and regulation!

I think it's great that these poor put-upon assets to our country have someone to stand up and speak for them.

[off-topic update- Rocky just came back from a professional function, and reported that someone told him in conversation tonight that the reason we are in this economic mess is because the Democrats were helping the blacks buy houses.  Wow.  Rocky said he just walked away.  Probably the best response.  Really, the only safe and sane response.  The guy was probably armed.  Our friend Blake was there as well.  It will be interesting to get his take on it.]

[on-topic update] There's little news of this in the conservative MSM, but apparently the good Chrsitian morality says it's OK to gas babies and children if they are Muslim.  Dont you liberals wish that you had that kind of clarity and sanity?  You'd never be able to vote for Obama if you had these kind of rock-solid values.

Got up early today, and made pancakes.  Then ran to get Tim's best friend, who is visiting from Montreal.  Then, I took the two of them down to the Renaissance Festival (to meet Tim's girlfriend so they could hang out), and ran back so that I could get an early start on the latsest batch of jelly and make some bread.  Got the bread all mixed up and set in hot water in the sink to raise (the air is too cool and dry here right now to raise it on the counter), and went to pick more grapes...

...the houseguests finished eating, and drove off past me to go to the Renaissance Festival, and I rushed home in time to punch down the bread, put it in pans and start it raising again...

Only to find that someone had stacked their dirty breakfast dishes in the bread bowl (on top of the dough), and thoughtfully sprayed water on the whole mess to rinse the dishes.

Grumble.

Well, I'm grumbling now....before there was cursing.

So now I am making a whole new batch of bread, but my day just got much more packed.  Sometimes the little set-backs are the most aggrevating.

It's so easy to lose perspective.  It's not like that was the last of the flour in the house or anything.

Here's a cute story about how Kirk Cameron won't kiss anyone but his wife....including on screen.

That's very sweet.

It almost makes you forget that he's an extremist adherent to a philosophy that is trying to hasten the day when he and all of those in his religion get to slaughter most of the rest of humanity in rivers of blood, destroy the earth, and bring hellfire and torment to everyone who doesn't believe as he does.

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/politics-2/1221934747122240.xml&storylist=newsmichigan&thispage=1

So I guess what happened here is that some GOP bigwig observed that a lot of people are being foreclosed on, and that if they lost their homes they would no longer be eligable to vote, and someone should maybe "clean up" these inelgible voters from the voter rolls.

You know.  "clean the voter rolls".  Like they did in Florida.  No big deal, just disenfranchise a whole bunch of people really quietly, and leave it up to them to find out about the problem and fix it on election day.

After work, and in time before the polls close.

And they're agast that this could be construed as "voter suppression".

I'd give them the benefit of the doubt...but Im afraid I've given it all away.

(read with crackely old crazy prospector voice)

W-e-e-elll Do-o-o-gies.  Shift my ever moving foundation!  Darned if they haven't come up with a fine solution to the economy, the oil shortage, and the dilemma of marriage equality...the Pastor's pledge.  We'll lick 'em dern commies yet!

Just look at all of the pastors who signed their pledge.  Someone from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has come on board.  Aye-men.

They will also be happy to see that I made sure to do everything I can to get this into the hands of as many people as possible...just as they requested.

A little more about the walk…

At the closing ceremony, the MC of the event told us that the world would look a little different.  We wouldn’t have people cheering us and honking and waving at every intersection, for one thing.

And she’s right…but it’s funny…I just have this feeling that they MIGHT, or that I just might cheer THEM if I just knew their story.

I saw so many feats of selflessness and kindness, heard so many stories of bravery and love and perseverance, enjoyed so many demonstrations of humor and consideration, that I have to believe that it is still right there, under the surface in almost everyone, just waiting for a chance to express itself.

Every person I meet that I don’t know, might have been someone who was standing along the route cheering, a sponsor, a crewperson or a walker.  The lady behind the desk at the car dealership who handed me my license plates, for instance, or the guy who put them on my car for me.  They might have been standing out by the side-walk and handed me a bottle of water just when I needed it, or a piece of candy when my energy was flagging, or they may have been one of those Angels sent directly from God who had string cheese (salt AND protein in one delicious package).

Maybe it’s just residual endorphins, but I sort of expect to see acts of kindness, gratitude and generosity around every corner right now.

You wouldn’t believe the outpouring of community support.  Every time we crossed over a freeway, cars honked and people waved.  Cars honked at almost every intersection.  When we were walking on sidewalks, cars passed and honked.

The cheering stations were full, and there was one that was so unbelievably huge.  There were probably over a hundred people there.

We were walking along on a trail through the woods, and I was in an extremely focused moment.  It was fairly quiet, and we were somewhat behind because of Sue’s sprained ankle.  We were going up a hill just as the path turned a sharp corner, and as soon as we came in sight a loud roar started, and just kept going.

I stopped and just gaped like an idiot.  An involuntary “wow” escaped.  The people standing closest to me cheered even harder and smiled even more broadly.  People yelling, waving signs, flags, pink flamingo lawn ornaments, funny hats, it’s all a blur.  But I remember that it wasn’t until about a hundred feet down the path that I began to be aware of the pain from my blisters again.

Sometimes a cheering person would hold up their hand for a “high-five” and say things like “Thank you from my daughter, who can’t be here” or sometimes there were little signs and memorials with pictures of people who had died of breast cancer.  Their families standing around clapping and cheering and saying “thank you”.

There is a traveling couch memorial that is just wonderful.

Bald women sitting in the shade with tears in their eyes, saying “thank you for walking for me”

But all of that is just prelude to the crew.

The crew were sent from God.  One the second day, pit stop 4, it was necessary for us to walk about a block-and-a-half off of the path, attend the Pit Stop, and then walk back to the path.

You would not believe how bad that was for our psychology.  Sue sat down and said “I want ice for my ankle, but I don’t want to walk all that way and then walk back again.”

I couldn’t blame her.  I didn’t want to either, and I didn’t have a sprained ankle as an excuse.  Suddenly, a crewperson appeared, and said “I will go and get you ice, water and food.  Just don’t move.”

Sue replied “No worries, I’m not going ANYWHERE.”

“Let me help you with that”; “Let me get that for you”; “Do you need anything?”  “Are you OK?”;”Can I get you something?” ; “Everything OK here?”

That is what crew sounds like.  These people worked their ASSES off, and I’m pretty sure that at least once, I forgot to say “thank you”.

They road bikes up and down the line day after day to make sure nobody was in trouble.  They called sweep vans for the sick and injured, they monitored stoplights and directed traffic and entertained us while we waited at stoplights.

There was a guy in a pink cowboy hat who just sat there looking like he was happy to see each and every one of us.  There was a lady with a sort of Genine Gerafalo sort of dead-pan humor who cracked me up every time, once augmenting her directions on how to safely negotiate a complicated intersection crossing with the safety instructions for exiting an aircraft in an emergency.  And then there was Mullet Pig.

Mullet Pig was a guy in a pink pig mask with a “diamond” tiara and magenta hair weaves.  He was a little chubby, and had a big hairy belly.  I know, because he often performed cartwheels as part of his acrobatic cheering routine.  Also, jump-split kicks.  He had a sort of “Wyld Stallions” vibe going on as well (a-la Bill and Ted).

He referred to himself in the third person.  As in “Mullet Pig loves all the three day walkers”, and “Mullet Pig doesn’t want you to get crushed by a truck, so listen up!”

For a significant portion of the walk, we entertained ourselves by brain-storming a buddy-movie in the vein of the “Bill and Ted’ or “Jay and Silent Bob” movies:  “Mullet Pig saves the 3-day”.  Of course, we also amused ourselves at Susie’s report that she mispronunces “National Philanthropic Trust” (just try it, you’ll get the idea…it’s a spoonerism).

I think I love Mullet Pig.  I think that everyone should have a Mullet Pig of their very own in their lives all of the time.

The last day, 1.5 miles from the end, I was beginning to tear up from the pain in my ankle.  I knew I could finish, but I also knew that we still had a long way to go and it was going to hurt.

And there was Mullet pig, shaking his pink pom-poms, and yelling something we couldn’t quite hear.  When we got closer, I yelled: “we love you Mullet Pig!”  He yelled back “I love you too”.

When we got to him, I gave him a hug (not pleasant for him by now, I assure you.  I was a grimy, sweaty mess), looked into his eyes and said “Thank you.  Every time I see you, it makes me happy”.  Just for a moment, the Mullet Pig persona disappeared, and he said “That’s why I do it.  Thank You.”

I think it's pretty safe to say that he's not in it for the hugs from sweaty, road-grime-covered, sun-burned chicks with no make-up and hair that has not seen a blow-dryer or curling iron for three days.

There’s nothing I can say to express how important the crew is, and the people who show up to cheer at these events.  Amazing.

So if you volunteered to crew, or if you showed up to cheer, or even if you just tooted your horn and waved as you drove past the event…Thank You.

(Hat Tip:  Pharyngula)

Oh, and this is fun:

Someone was getting tired of having their Obama/Biden sign stolen, so they put a camera on it to watch it 24/7

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/obama-sign-cctv-1

Fun stuff.

OK, so compare George Obama's take on his own story

With Dinesh D'souza's take and tell me:

Who knows George Obama's story better?  George Obama or Dinesh D'Souza?

What I like best about Dinesh's article is that the only thing he is honest about is his own motivations (opportunistic, mean, petty, self-serving, full of contempt and scorn for both Barak and George Obama).  Well, I think he got right also that George Obama lives in a Nairobi slum.

He doesn't mention that George Obama is proud, independent, and self-sufficient.  He neglects to mention that George does not want his brother's help.  He doesn't mention that George is happy with his life as it is.  And he doesn't mention the possibility that George Obama might just think that he is an overbearing, intrusive dick.

My parents would call those "lies of omission", and I would have gotten a rather severe case of the "wooden spoon remedy" for committing that many that grandly and that boldly in that small span of time...it is even possible that they would have washed my mouth out with soap.

Oh, and do you like the one about how the media goes after Palin so hard and treats Obama with kid gloves?  Ha!  The man can't sneeze without it being panned for "downfall gold".

Sorry to break it to ya, righties, the media isn't liberal  They are about shaping the narrative for maximum ratings and $$$.  Which puts them on their own side, and no-one else's...in other words - they're Conservative.

For instance, if they were so anti-Palin, they would have mentioned this.

Here's the original.

So far, I have found that one local station covered it.

I have a just walked sixty- plus miles in the Susan G. Komen 3-day Walk For the Cure. 

The actual total was 61.5.  Thank you to my sponsors.  Everytime I thought it would be easier to take the sweep van, I thought of you, and how I was representing you and the money you invested in my participation.  It kept me strong and helped me finish.  Thank You.

Yes, I walked every single mile, and the half-mile too.  This does not include all of the walking we had to do at camp in order to get through the thousands of tents to the one end of camp to get dinner…and to the other end of camp to get a shower…and then again in the morning for breakfast, medical tent the get blisters properly lanced and taped, etc.

The rest of my team finished as well:

Suzie Andert  (three-time veteran of the 3-day; friend, advisor, coach, and the prettiest darned supply pack-mule Ive ever seen)

Leslie Dwight (Who gets my "super-trooper of the year" award.  This woman is a walking machine)

Susan Grove (Who got swept once due to her sprained ankle, but the extra mileage made up for it..and anyway, getting swept takes nothing away from the fact that she walked around thirty miles with a sprained ankle…and was only taped for 17 of them)

And me.

 About half-way through, my ankle started hurting so I went to the medical tent and had it adjusted by a chiropractor.  Apparently, I’d walked 15 miles with it out of joint.  I’m glad the chiropractor knew what to do…all I knew was that I had a large purple-and-magenta bruise on the blade of my foot, and my ankle was swelling.   And adjustment and some support tape made all the difference.  Then I just had the pain from the inflammation to deal with…but it was less than half what I’d been dealing with the day before.

 The bottom of my right foot has three large blisters…one that actually covers the entire ball of my foot, and two the size of quarters on either side of the heel.  There is no epidermis left between any of my toes.  On my left foot, I have two small blisters on either side of my heel.

I’m not stiff and sore, though…a testament to a well-designed training schedule and the power of frequent, disciplined stretching.  Also, I think the fact that I slept on the hard ground rather than an air mattress helps.  Don’t know why, but I find that I am less stiff and sore after a big physical event if I sleep somewhere firm.  Air mattresses or soft mattresses kill my back and hips!

#1 important re-cap point!  Rocky watched the kids all weekend, including our God-daughter (Sue's daughter).  He managed the house very well.  It looked great when I got home.  He got all of the kids to all of their events (some of them 25 miles away), got the kids to do chores, had dinner waiting for us when we got home....etc.  He's so wonderful!

He also brought the kids to see us and cheer us.  They waited for several hours until we walked past.  Sue almost cried.  I was so happy.  For the moment, all of the pain went away...and actually the last 2.5 miles went much easier because they were there for us.  Then, they also went forward and were there to see us finish as well!

Factoid:  Did you know that your feet can swell up so much that your toe-nails turn black and fall off?  No, that didn't happen to me, or anyone on our team, but I heard at least a dozen people say it happened to them...and more who said that it had happened to them one of the other times they did the walk.  One lady said she only had three toenails left, and was pondering whether or not she could get a discount on her next pedicure.

At one point during the last half of the second day, Sue and I both had ankle injuries (we later found out that she had a sprain from twisting it on a bit of uneven ground.  I had a bone out of joint) were Marching along in grim silence, just putting one foot in front of the other, feeling the pain each time, and moving through it one step at a time.

Sue:  "What's that up there?"

Me:  "Nothing.  Just more people."

Sue:  "No...no.  I think I see Bataan."

Of course, while she was historically accurate in that the Bataan death march was sixty miles long...technically, Bataan would have been BEHIND us, and there would have been soldiers yelling in Japanese and shooting the stragglers, rather than "sweep vans".  Oh yeah, and no "Pit Stops" with food, water and port-a-potties.

Still, the analogy FELT accurate enough.

Another snippet of conversation with Suzie (not to be confused with Sue)

Me:  "Ouch".

Suzie:  "Uh-oh, what's wrong."

Me:  "Nothing.  Sorry.  One just escaped.

Suzie:  "An ouch escaped?"

Me:  "Yeah.  I try to keep them in a little corral so they don't get out and bother you.  I've got a little collie that runs around herding them into the corral."

Suzie:  "The inside of your brain makes me laugh."

There was a little boy visiting his mother at the lunch stop, and he ran over to a crew member with his mom's empty water bottle:

Boy:  "Can I have some water for my mom?"

Crew: "Sure.  Hey kid, do you know why I work crew?"

Boy:  "No."

Crew:  "So when you grow up, you won't have to." (because breast cancer will have a cure)

I’ll post about this again, and do a much better job of it, but I wanted to give you some idea about what went on.

When we have pictures, I will post again.  I especially need to show you the picture of, and tell you about “mullet pig”.  He was one of the volunteer crew members that helped us (and entertained and encouraged us) at street-crossings.

One last thought:  THIS is the strength of our nation.  These women are housewives and office workers and beauty consultants and three-time cancer survivors...and yes, some figherfighters and police officers, and personal trainers...but mostly ordinary everyday women.

And they can walk sixty miles on sprained ankles and feet that have lost toenails, and taped-up knees.

They can walk and sing funny filk songs about "I'm walking on blisters (to the tune of "Im walking on Sunshine")" and they can stay up an extra hour and dance like there's no tomorrow on day two.

And if they start to falter, all it takes to keep them going is a sign that reminds them that "blisters don't need chemo"  (that one worked for me), or a thought about their sponsors, or a funny man dressed up in a pig mask and magenta hair weaves (I'll tell you about him later).

If they think a cause is worth it.  You might say that it isn't important to finish, because we raised the money whether we finish or not...but that isn't true.

See...many people say that it is impossible to find a cure for breast cancer.  Many people also say that it is impossible for an average suburban housewife to walk sixty miles.

Well, here's news to them.  The "impossible" is NOT impossible.

So there.

Now, Im going to the gym.

In another case of "you keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means."

I'd noticed that most of the religious conservatives I know were ignoring my pleas for sponsorships or promotion of my participation in the Susan G. Komen.

I didn't want to draw any conclusions from it, but I was having a hard time helping myself.

Anyway, I got an e-mail from a friend of mine who is a fairly newly-minted religious conservative and she told me flat out (this is one of the things that I like about this person: no guesswork) that she couldn't sponsor me because the Susen G. Komen organization gives Planned Parenthood grant money.  I assume this grant money is for the cancer screening that they offer to low-income patients.

She was wondering if I knew of any "pro-life" breast cancer organizations...

...

...

Before today, I was not sure if you could die from shooting hot tea out of your nose...now I can tell you that while it is painful,  it is not necessarily fatal.

What IS potentially fatal, however, is pro-life groups spreading lies and fake science, claiming (at the preceeding link does) that Susan G. Komen's efforts CAUSE cancer, and preventing people from contributing to the elimination of cancer.  How completely low and sickening.  Actually, it's evil.

Tomorrow I go out to walk sixty miles to fight evil.  At six Ay-em.  You gotta get up pretty darn early to fight evil.

My friend Jenny recently asked me to do more personal posts, as she has no idea what is going on with our family.

So here it is:

I hardly ever see Tim anymore (formerly known as Adventure Boy) since he is in marching band all of the time.  However, I am his "friend" on Facebook, and he has me in the top level of clearance so I get to see all of his interactions.

Also, he has a girlfriend.  They met at CONvergence.  Nice fan girl, cute as a button.  Nice family.  They've had us over for a BBQ.  First official date, a movie and several hours of "hanging out" at the Mall of America.

She made me a "friend" on Facebook too.

Grasshopper is working hard at school , and learning to get organized.  Also, dealing with the frustration he feels do to being an imperfect perfectionist.

I start my Susan G. Komen walk tomorrow with my team, "Beautiful Feat"...captained by my best friend, Sue.  I still have $200.00 in sponsorships left to raise, if anyone is interested.

Rock is going to drive us there and run the house until we get back.

My friend Falina is going to come down and give me a thereputic massage next week to help me recover (I love having a friend who is a generous massage therepist)

I just finished canning 36 more quarts of home-made wild Grape Juice.  Just call me the "Suburban Scavenger"  I had already managed to score enough wild grapes in random vacant lots and street-sidings to make 24 quarts of juice...but my family has already drank them.  I still have to bake a blueberry pie (the last one's been eaten already) and then I have to pack for my walk.  First job on returning home will be:  as much choke-cherry syrup and jelly as I can product and presrve before the birds eat all the berries (unless the grapes are still good, in which case I will make a run at getting some grape jelly in.)

Rocky is in the throws of finishing his latest book.  He has little to no life, although he has managed to get out and play tennis with the boys a couple of times in the last week.

Ben (the once and hopefully future Eclectic Anonymous) thought that the last video I put up was a little on the serious side, so he sent me a link to this:

You know how Mr. Rogers was rumored to be a Green Beret with multiple kills to his name and it turned out not to be true?

Well, here we have a real-life army guy singing on a children's show.

It's the British Army (the Life Guards), of course...and naturally, since he is singing about triangles, several of the commenters on the video make "gay" comments...and since he served as a peacekeeper, there doesn't appear to be much likelyhood of any "multiple kill" stories...

but none of that is either here nor there.

Here is James Blunt singing "triangle".  Hopefully it will make you smile.

Geekgoddess has this clip up on her blog, and I was so moved to see it there.  I remember this speech the first day the Daily Show was back after Sept 11.

I remember that it was the best thing I had seen on television.  The first commentary that I had seen that was genuine, expressed what I felt, was inspiring, and not self-serving and manipulative.  Viewing it now, it is a little akward, a little dis-jointed, a lot muddled...

...but that day it was exactly right on every note and every beat and every word.  It was exactly right.

Thanks, GG, I have wanted to see this again for a long time.

CNN advertizing the next episode of Larry King:

"Dr. Phil will be here to tell us why we care about politics."

uh...huh?

The economy is in the toilet, economic indicators are plummeting, Osama Bin Laden is still at large seven years after major intelligence failures From highly politicized agencies resulted in 3,000 dead civilians...bail-outs of companies that can't manage to stay afloat despite ^ @! $ !!ing the public for all it is worth, and sticking us with the bill twice after passing laws that make it impossible for us to declare bankrupcy...

And Dr. Phil is going to explain to us why we care about politics?

I want to know, who are these dipshits who give a high-flying rat ^ @! $ !! what Dr. Phil thinks?

Yet another example of the true agenda of the "pro-life" movement raising it's ugly head.

PZ Myers got a letter the other day.

The letter follows below.  Notice once again, rhetoric that equates birth control to abortion.  This rhetoric has always been there, but it is increasing in frequency and volume.  The issue is not life, nor human dignity for these people, it is about control of women and their sexuality.

(Hat tip: Pharyngula)

My name is Mike Koelzer and I am the owner of Kay Pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the recent coverage on ABC's World News with Charles Gibson of our pharmacy's policy to not sell contraceptives. You will find the link to the ABC video at www.prolifepharmacy.com.

Ours is a very important story on the abortifacient properties of birth control pills and why we no longer carry them in our third-generation, family-owned pharmacy.

I would enjoy speaking at your church or your organization's conference or other event. I also would be honored to have you share my apostolate in your blog etc. To learn more about my apostolate, please see www.prolifepharmacy.com

 

 

Thought it would be fun.  Anyone else want to go?  >:->

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.

Biblical Worldview Conference in St. Paul

Dear Teresa,

What: A Code Blue Rally for students and adults

Purpose: To equip Christians to stand for truth

         in an "anything goes" culture

Where: St. Paul, Minnesota

Place: North Heights Lutheran Church

       1700 West Hwy. 96

When: Sunday, October 12 (5:30 to 9:30 p.m.)

Costs: No admission fee

Speakers: Dr. Bob Cornuke, Sean McDowell

         (son of Josh McDowell) and Brannon Howse

Topics include: Three Worldview Trends You Must Understand

If You Want To Contend and Defend Your Faith; Political Correctness

is Cultural Marxism; Eight Ways To Think Like A Christian;

A Christian Response to Global Warming and Animal Rights;

Understanding The Reason For the Rise of Oprah's Pagan

Spirituality and a Christian Response; The Search For Noah's Ark,

The Ark of The Covenant and Mt. Sinai;

Why Worldview Training Matters and Students Want it;

The Rise of One-World Spirituality and more.

Seating is limited and filling fast.

There is no admission fee,

but you must register online at www.codebluerally.com. 

It's OK Vala, I understand.

It seems like you've got it made, being your own girl, doing whatever you want, pretending to be whoever it is convenient to be at the moment...making your own rules up as you go along...blazing a path through whoever and whatever stands in your way...

and then you meet some square, teutonic boyscout with a mind like a steel trap and next thing you know...you're going to be makeing him annoyed and uncomfortable for the rest of his life.

GeekGoddess sent me this link, and I read the article.  There are SOME valid points in here, in that discussion of ANY public building should face challenges on the environmental impact, safety, interferance with schools, public transportation, etc.

But the underlying message of "not in my backyard" is just rediculous.  Old people have to go SOMEWHERE and there are going to be more of them all the time.  Why should they not have a place in the community that they helped build?  And then there's the assumption that somehow communal living, communal transportation, and social security will ruin our country and bring our communities down.

You know what else brings a neighborhoods down?  Old people dying in their homes and not being found for a week, cause nobody checks on them.  Old people dropping dead cause they have to shovel their own damn sidewalk rather than having a building association do it while they gather at the community center and have a nice time dancing to old-time music.  Or how about this?  Old people getting robbed and burgled in their own homes 'cause criminals see them as an easy mark?

Or what about young people having to drive for a couple of hours every day to visit mom and dad in the nearest affordable assisted living apartment on top of driving to and from work, working, getting little Jenny to band practice...etc?  That's even less time for the Lions club or the PTO or being a den mother/father.

And then there's the whole view of the elderly as some sort of social burdon.  These people built our schools, built our economy, fought our wars, volunteered in our community...and many of them continue to volunteer in the community and mentor young people to this day (most of the members of our local Optimist club are near, at or beyond retirement age)

As more and more people reach an age where they need additional services, and cannot afford them themselves, what are we going to do?  If this article is any indication, we're going to follow the path of the pigs in 1984 and send them off to the glue factory.

Of course, not everyone sees it that way:

Lee said he doesn't think residents' repeated opposition to senior developments is anti-senior. What people usually oppose, he said, is density -- multi-story developments that have many people living in a relatively small space, as they do in senior condos and apartments.

Yeah, that's a problem.  People living together, commuting together, getting help when they need it but maintaining a certain level of independence.  It's discpicable.  People should either live alone in their own home like God intended, or they should be in a nursinghome and forced to wear diapers.  No in-between.  Either you can take care of yourself, or you can't.

It's like they want seniors who can no longer live alone to have some dignity or something.

Teresa, if you were born to Sarah Palin, your name would be:

Taupe Armageddon Palin

What would YOUR Palin name be?

Michele Bachmann says that Sarah Palin is the victim of "The biggest hissy-fit of modern times" is "comfortable in her skin" and "represents normal people".

"The biggest hissy-fit in modern times"? Wow...bigger than Watergate? For real? The press is hounding Sarah Palin more than they hounded Nixon? They're spending more time on Palin than they did on the Monica Lewinski thing? Really? The avid coverage of Gerald Ford's gaffs were more fair than criticism of Palins attempts to ban books at her local library and fire the librarian? The press's coverage of the "bunny attack" on President Carter was more relevant than questions about whether or not Sarah's claims about giving back federal money were true? Really? This is the biggest deal that the press has ever made about a political candidate? Wow. Those bastards.

And Sarah Palin is "comfortable in her skin". What does THAT mean? Presumably, she doesn't have any dermatological problems, or what with the press going all ga-ga over her, we'd know about it (along with how "spunky" she is to overcome it, and how much her faith has sustained her through it). That may seem like a strange choice of words, especially for someone like Michele Bachmann, who is more the type to say something less imaginative like "she is comfortable with herself". But in order to properly understand what she means, you have to use the Republican lexicon. See, Barak Obama pointed out that McCain was just recyceling Bush's failed policies and calling them something else...and he called it "putting lipstick on a pig" To the Republicans, Sarah Palin was, at that time, most famous for saying the word "lipstick"...so "McCain's policies" must have been code for Sarah and that ment that McCain was Sarah's make-up man, and...uh...actually, I'm not sure how the logic train ran...but it started with McCain's policies actually representing Sarah herself and ended with Obama calling Sarah a "pig" because they both used the word "lipstick". So, if you use Republican logic to interpret Ms. Bachmann's words, you can clearly see that when Republicans are backed into a corner where they have to say something nice about Obama or they will look like dicks, Obama is usually noted for being the first Black candidate for President. So "comfortable in her skin", means that Ms.Palin and her family are comfortable being white people. So what Bachmann is REALLY saying is "white pride"! Yeah, it doesnt make any sense, but what can you do? They're Republicans; no attempt to figure out what they're "really" saying makes any sense.

Kind of like what does Bahchmann mean by "normal people"? Well, Ms. Palin represents "normal people". Therefore, "normal people" are White, Protestant Evangelicals who also speak in tongues and roll around on the floor in church, are in the top 1% income bracket and have large quantities of their wealth invested in energy and defense companies. And don't we all live next door to one of those guys?

But then again, Michele Bachmann may not make sense, but she certainly has balls!  Just look at the way she handles a face-to-face confrontation with Lord Voldemort!

I can't imagine how brave she must be to talk over him, falsely accuse him of sexism when he has made legitamate critisms, and generally behave like a deisel-powered, socially inept bulldozer towards him. Michele Bachmann has balls of steel!

She just looked him in his face and said what she thinks;  It is demeaning to women to suggest that there are more qualified women out there than Sarah Palin.  You just can't expect that much from women, you sexist pig.  The only way it would have been ballsier is if she's said it to him in Parseltongue!

Now, stop demeaning women by discussing their qualifications.  Straighten up, fly right, and rally behind a candidate that knows how to treat women!