Sarah Palin

Lately there's been an overwhelming amount of talk about Sarah Palin and I wanted to pass on some of the resources I have used to follow what's going on.

From Feministing:
Note to mainstream media: Sarah Palin is NOT a feminist

Women are not going to vote for Palin just becasue of her gender

"Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving."
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton


and did you know there was a rally in Anchorage against Sarah Palin that was bigger than her "Welcome Home, Sarah" rally? ‘Alaska Women Reject Palin’ Rally

Good for Girls

From the Closet Environmentalist I learned of Good for Girls a group that "was started to help young women gain access to better menstrual products. Our goal is to help these girls live their lives and go to school without fear that what they are using during their period will fail."

Something that we in the U.S. don't think about (with all our "products") that a woman's period can traditionally mean that she cannot get out and about during menstruation. This looks like a great way to make a small donation and make a big differcnce in a young woman's life. Check out both the Closet Environmentalist and the Good for Girls site for ideas on how you can help.

He made me a mix tape!

For those of use who are easily amused:

Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle!

Balloooooons!

I can't remember when or how I first found Balloon Hat. But it was a few years ago and I still follow them mostly through their semi-weekly emails. Balloon Hat started when Addi Somekh and Charlie Eckert began traveling to different places in the world to make balloon hats for people. The way balloon hats transcend cultural differences is the thing that caught me.

One of my favorite parts of their site is the What is Laughing? gallery. And my favorite story there is from a Navajo woman in Shiprock, NM.

"In the Navajo tradition we have what we call Chi Dlo Dil, or a Laughing Party, for a newborn. The Laughing Party is the first laugh you hear from a child. It's usually around six weeks.

It's the baby's first expression to the world, saying 'I'm ready to interact.'

Before that, the baby is still in the soft world and you aren't supposed to put anything hard and fixed on the body, or they may take on those qualities. But after the laughing party, you can give the baby jewelry or bracelets or other decorations.

At the party everybody sits around the baby and has a big meal and plays with the baby. The person who makes the baby laugh first plays an important role in the child's life."

Nancy Evans, Shiprock, NM (Navajo Nation)

Besides the website they now have a youtube series called Addi's Inflatable Minute: "Explorations into the beauty of all things Inflatable, and sometimes even Twistable." You can find out more about Addi at his New Balloon Art site.

Joining their Photo of the Week mailing list mean that you also learn about other cool balloon related items like this guy named Tom who takes pictures of abandoned balloons and posts them in a Picasa Album Balloons 2006. His picture of a string of blue balloons caught on a lamppost is my favorite

Tell Bill O'Reilly where the bridge is

Seems that Bill O'Reilly thought John Edwards was making up the fact that homeless people were living under a bridge in New Orleans. He claimed that if only Edwards would tell him where that bridge was he would go right down and help.

Well someone has kindly created a blog, TellMeWhereTheBridgeIs to direct him to that bridge.

Take a peek and then let Bill know about it at oreilly@foxnews.com.

Harold Makepeace

For some reason I get a lot of people googling for Harold Makepeace. If you are looking for the man who owned the Spiral Shop in Marlboro Vt. I point you to this small article on iBrattleboro about Harold losing his shop due to illness. He is in a veteran's Home in Bennington Vt now. I cannot imagine how sorry he was to lose his lovely home. If you would like to write or visit Harold please email the author of that article.

God-man and Human-man Team Up!

Worst Super hero partner ever? You decide.


Most of the time it doesn't work out (for some strange reason).

Amd once you are into Salon - go here:
http://www.salon.com/comics/boll/2008/01/31/boll/index.html

Brattleboro May Vote to Arrest Bush and Cheney

Get the Water Board

Danziger's latest cartoon in Vermont. Had to scan it since I can't find it online. From the Rutland Herald 2008-02-03

Letting my nerdiness show

but look at this!

The Turtle Moves!

Announcing the First North American Discworld Convention

It going to be in Tempe Arizone in September 2009. PLenty of time to plan to go. I am very excited and do so hope that Terry will be there.

Debunked

I hate psychics, with John Edwards topping the list mostly I suppose because of his renown. The fact that he is making tons of money off the pain and longing of people just irks the hell out of me.  I was reminded of him recently when a friend mentioned going to see him in an upcoming performance in Connecticut.

So I started looking for websites that debunk this kind of thing and found this cool series from Penn and Teller. Don’t know how I missed these shows when they were on. But YouTube to the rescue.  I especially like Part 3 where they into how cold reading is done.

Part One:


Part Two:


Part Three:

Bush's Last Year

As other have noted we only have one. more. year. of that person in the White House.

May if fly by quickly and may he not screw things up any worse than he has already.

But don't count on it.

Procrastinator's Guide to A Science Fair Project

Sometimes it pays off.

Cool

Ooh - Look cool bento boxes!

Exactly

"what do you have to do with Jesus?"

Template all screwed up

Well I thought that moving to the new blogger would be so easy - but everything is screwed up now.  Even when I take all my sidebar info out and re-enter it using the "Add and Arrange Page Elements" forms nothing ends up where it should,  Very annoying and the main reason I haven't bothered finishing the story of the trip to Denmark - but I will soon - I think :)

So - where have I been

Well most lately in Denmark! Took the old lady there as she has been talking about it for a long time and I have been thinking about it since last year. So when we went to see her gerontologist, Dr Juergen Bludau at Brigham and Women's ( who I highly recommend) and she talked about wanting to go but waiting to feel stronger he said "what are you waiting for." Then when she was in getting blood drawn he passed me in the hallway and said "Really! What are you waiting for?" and he was right so the plan was put in motion. Called my sister to discuss - she needed to wait until her baby goats were grown enough to be sold - so we determined that mid-June would be best.

Got air tickets (IcelandAir) and travel insurance thought Triple A. I used Rick Steves site for train passes - you get a discount on his travel items when you purchase passes so I also got a couple of small suitcases and carry-ons from him as well as roll-up plastic bags for packing. I found though that the largest one of these was TOO large. I would only end up using it if I was traveling in winter with a large coat or sweaters I think.

Looked on-line for booking rooms - the two hotels we had used when the old lady and I traveled to Denmark before were listed as full in all online booking sites for the days we wanted! Little bit of panic there - but I decided to email them directly as I also wanted to make sure we were on a lower floor and had the right kind of beds - 2 singles for sister and mother. Turns out that was the best thing to do - rooms were indeed available and I got exactly what I needed.

In the meantime I was researching how to travel with someone who couldn't walk very much. Tried to locate somewhere to rent a wheelchair once we got to Denmark - I did not have any luck. So even though I had heard of problems with bringing a wheelchair with you - mostly baggage handling problems, I went ahead and looked into buying one. Found one online and found a good price on EBay - Medline Freedom 14.8 lbs Transport Chair Wheelchair from Bethman Sales. I would definately recommend both the chair as a sturdy and compact model. I bought the bag to carry it in as well and it came through the flight there, many miles of pushing over cobblestones and other interesting terrain and the flight back in good condition. And now we own a chair that we can take more places and make the Old Lady more comfortable. For about $155 plus shipping for both items I don't think we could have made a better purchase.

So with that all arranged we were left with just one big problem - Ken's passport! I shall tell you about that in the next installment.

I was hoping we wouldn't reach this point...

but we're here and it's still 2006. I am worried about the new year - I hope that things will get better but don't have any cofidence that it will happen.

3000 soldiers dead

I am still here

No, I haven't disappeared totally.  I have been playing around over on Vox.  
Come on over and see My New Vox Crow Blog

One less bastard to deal with...

 Bolton's out, thank goodness.

WASHINGTON - Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said Monday.

Bolton's nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), a moderate Republican who lost in the midterm elections Nov. 7 that swept Democrats to power in both houses of Congress, was adamantly opposed to Bolton.

Critics have questioned Bolton's brusque style and whether he could be an effective public servant who could help bring reform to the U.N.

President Bush, in a statement, said he was "deeply disappointed that a handful of United States senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up or down vote he deserved in the Senate."

Wha.

So you want to vote Republican

Well- Here are a few good reasons why you should:

Two or Three Reasons to Vote GOP on November 7