She woke up bleeding from her fucking nipple! I dare those assholes to find ONE woman who would not be hightailing it to the emergency room if they woke up to that.

Well, pshst, if you’re gonna start worrying about “women bits”, you’ll never make any money in the insurance bidniz!

Honestly, I can’t tell. I don’t know enough about Iran, although I have been hearing about Iran and reading (some) about Iran for what seems like my whole adult life, I have nowhere near a handle on any of it. I’m probably further in the dark on Afghanistan.
Is he playing some masterful strategy here? I have no idea.
I do think he’s a tough individual, and somewhat cold. I think there’s some truth to the “cold and calculating” charge. I’m comfortable with it, but I’m not really looking for a Presidential “buddy”, and I already have a father.
I wouldn’t deny the charge if I were him. It’s what he is.

Plus, I have to say that the results he has been getting internationally of late do a lot to increase my confidence in him.

Thanks for the Reagan info. I think Obama is, at base, an extremely resilient and tough individual, and he’ll do fine. Of all the charges that are leveled at him, “naive” is the silliest. I don’t know where that comes from. The speeches? There isn’t the first indication in Obama’s life or work that he is now or has ever been “naive”, about anything.

Dang it, you, dang it, you
Dang it, you said
I love you if you love me
I love me
So let’s walla-walla
Down by the mango tree

We are dust free, thankfully. The “storm” was actually quite placid – there wasn’t a huge amount of wind, although there were gusts. It was more just the sudden blanket of dust, which arrived overnight, so the city woke to blood red skies, which developed into a yellow murk. Very disconcerting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8239227.stm

“First to go down. Last to come up”. Appalachia with a view.

In spite of everything that has gone wrong down here, I still love this place. I came here 25 years ago from Baltimore, don’t miss Back East in the least, and plan on dying here eventually. There are worse places.

299 servicemen were killed in Beirut in October of 1982. Reagan’s approval rating in January 1983 was 41%. The unemployment rate in 1983, two years into Reagan’s first term, was 9.7%.

Eight months into GW Bush’s first term, 40% of which he spent on vacation, 9/11 happened. The war in Afghanistan began in October 2001 and the war in Iraq began in March 2003. Both are ongoing, bankrupting our country in more ways then one.

I have confidence Obama will beat the curve.

I’m doing very well thank you TS. I take it the smoke has cleared some down your way. At least I hope so.

It’s genuinely funny. You should watch it.

“Where was President Obama born?”

I’m listening to conservative crazies differently lately. I can’t help thinking “in five, ten, twenty, thirty years, how will all this sound?” I just don’t think this stuff is going to improve with age.

Conservatives are going to deny they countenanced this. Can you imagine? They were too frightened to distance themselves from that.

Luckily, it’s ALL going in the historical record, under “conservative reaction to first African American President”. I cannot wait for the first documentary. This is only one year of material.

Steady there, WT. I live east of the ‘Cades down here in Bend,

If you mean Bend, Or, I’ve been there many years ago and hiked to top of South Sister MT with some friends. When we peaked over the Caldera rim we saw a wedding. No lie. A whole group of people had climbed 13 thousand feet just so two of them could get hitched/ They stripped off their boots and hiking geer and were dressed in fine Tuxedo’s and Dresses and the bride had a flowing white gown tucked in somewhere.

Perhaps there are hordes of us lurking, waiting for a Friday night OT.

How are you, General?

It’s a lovely warm springish morning in Sydney. I’m baking raisin bread rolls, and catching up on some well needed pruning in the garden.

As a tip for all, I have just finished reading “Me Cheeta: My life in Hollywood” – a rollicking and charming “autobiography” of a (chain smoking, booze swilling) movie chimp, which involves Hollywood parties, libelous abuse of Mickey Rooney and Esther Williams, liberal amounts of swearing, more sex and drugs than you can poke a monkey at, and a quite lovely love story about an ape-man and an ape.

It’s also possible that (sane) people actually like Barack Obama.
I do, and I apologize to no one for it.

I do, too. I just have reservations about some of his policies.

In fact, I carry on my iPhone the music that he chose for the Grant Park victory speech which was taken from the Remember The Titans soundtrack. Every time I hear that tune, I remember that day. The best of times.

Freshly-caught mahi mahi, sautéed in butter.

They look too much like Dolphin’s and I ain’t about to eat Flipper, no sireee!