Middle Aged Mom

History Quiz: Who Said This?

2007-07-25T10:19:00.000-04:00

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

No, not Dick Cheney; it was Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials.

When Will We Have Had Enough?

2007-07-23T00:55:00.001-04:00

I'm not a Boston Legal viewer, but the writing in this is quite stirring...doesn't that show air on the same network that brought us Path to 9/11? Oh well, enjoy.

OK; Let's Go

2007-07-14T10:41:00.000-04:00

Iraqi PM: Peace is possible without U.S.
Al-Maliki claims ‘full confidence’ if coalition forces withdraw ‘at any time’
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:40 a.m. ET July 14, 2007
BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army
and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops
leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further
weapons and training.
And shame on you, Senator Arlen Specter, for voting against the Webb amendment. Don't you support our troops?

P!nk - Dear mr President (pianomix)

2007-07-03T23:33:00.001-04:00

My friend Steph sent me a link to this. Wow. Definitely worth a listen.

Newt's Military Solution to Win the War in Iraq

2007-05-20T23:59:00.000-04:00

I almost fell off the couch during my Sunday morning, waste-of-an-hour time watching Meet The Press:

MR. RUSSERT: But specifically, how would you win the war in Iraq militarily?

MR. GINGRICH: First of all, you, you would empower General Petraeus. You’d pass the supplemental immediately. You’d give him the money. Second, you would encourage the Iraqis to triple the size of their regular army. Third, you would, you would encourage the development of a, of a military tribunal system to lock people up the way Abraham Lincoln would’ve done it. Fourth, you would establish a nationwide ID card with biometrics so you can actually track everybody in the country. Fifth, you would make sure that the State Department actually staffed the embassy with people in favor of winning the war and you actually had your fully, fully equipped intelligence and economic development teams. Six, you would say to the Iranians, “If you don’t cut off everything you’re doing, we’ll begin to bring enormous pressure to bear with you,” if necessary, blockading the flow of gasoline into Iran, which has to import 40 percent of its gasoline because it only has one refinery in the entire country.

OK, exactly how are 170,000 ground troops supposed to accomplish these "military" elements? I guess the ones that are good with computers can develop the nationwide ID cards. Sheesh.

So much for free speech....

2007-05-06T11:48:00.000-04:00

PennLive.com: Everything Local

Dumb f**ks...if they had left me alone, the story would have been about the rally, not me!

Saturday Morning News Dump

2007-03-25T00:58:00.000-04:00

Rachel Maddow often talks about the Friday news dump. We have the equivalent in Harrisburg, where our illustrious local rag, The Patriot-News Saturday morning paper is chock full of hot stories that will be completely cooled off (hence, ignored) by Monday.

Here's two examples from this morning's (March 24) issue:

Headline: PennDOT secretary faces more explaining.
Three members of Congress, Charlie Dent (R-Allentown), Jim Gerlach (R-Chester County) and John L. Mica (R-Fla.) will conduct an unofficial review of the planning for and response to the Feb. 14 ice and snow storm that stranded hundreds of motorists.

Who knew the only way to get Republicans to investigate anything was to vote them into minority status?

Headline: Piccola seeks constitutional convention.

My state senator, Jeff Piccola, will hold hearings on the issues that should be considered in a convention to draft a new state constitution. Says Piccola, "Given the number of scandals that have rocked the Capitol as of late, I believe we have reached a tipping point that necessitates a convention." And who's been in charge of the legislature while this scandals occurred? Oh yeah, that would be the Republicans.

Last note: just below that story was a story about a 14-year old girl who had been adjudicated delinquent because she had a detailed plan to torture and kill some students and the principal at her school. The intended victims had bullied her and the principal had not done anything about it. I'm not condoning violence, but I do think it's regrettable that this girl is being punished while the people who drove her it face no consequences.

R.I.P. Anna Nicole Smith

2007-02-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

You probably never expected to see a memorium to Anna Nicole Smith on this blog.

I used to regard her as a traitor to the cause of feminism. Someone who traded on her looks to marry for money, and not worth serious regard. Then I happened to read the decision in her bankrupcy case while preparing for a Pennsylvania Bar Institute seminar on Estate Planning for Second Marriages, and came away with a new found regard for her.

Read the decision. You can skip the first bunch of pages that deal with bankruptcy procedure (I never took that class in law school, never handled a bankruptcy, and probably never will), and go right to the statement of facts. The judge paints a pretty tragic portrait of this lady. Grew up poor. Daddy left and never supported her. Married young and had a child, whose daddy left and never supported his kid. Struggling to support herself, she took to dancing at a strip club, where she met J. Howard Marshall. He pursued her for years before she agreed to marry him. A pre-nup was drawn, but Marshall wouldn't sign any legal documents longer than two pages. Boy, I've had that client more than a few times. Anyway, you begin to see a pattern where a woman with little education (maybe even an undiagnosed learning disability), limited opportunity for a career, and saddled with supporting a child turns to an elegant form of prostitution - marriage - to support herself. We shouldn't condemn women in the sex trade. We should rail against a system that forces women to demean themselves in order to survive.

Every little girl - including me and my daughter - dreams of being famous. I'm struck by the coverage of her death by the news media. She is front page news. She may have become famous by being famous. I'm saddened that she achieved fame but never achieved happiness.

McGovern Made Me a Democrat

2007-01-20T09:43:00.000-05:00

You must read this speech by George McGovern from the National Press Club. Alice's grandfather swears he still votes for George for President every election. If the Dems are stupid enough to nominate Hillary Clinton, I think I'll write in George's name, too.

Beware of Middle Aged Moms!!

2006-12-26T01:23:00.000-05:00

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You Said It Matt; and Come Back Little Arlen

2006-12-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

Tweety Bird is hyping his next college Hardball show with a clip of Matt Damon, in which Damon is quoted as saying:

I don't think that it's fair as I said before, that it seems like we have a fighting class in our country. That's comprised of people who have to go for
either financial reasons or , I don't think that that is fair. And if you're
gonna send people to war, ahh, if, if we all get together and decide we need
to go to war then that needs to be shared by everybody. You know and if the
President has daughters who are of age then maybe they should go too...

It's about time someone called out George and Laura on why, if things are so great in Iraq, but we need more soldiers, they don't convince the party girls to sign up. And they can't say there's a security risk. Look at Queen Elizabeth II: all of her sons and grandsons have served or are serving in her country's armed forces.

Moving on.

I read that Arlen Specter plans to go to Syria to talk to that country's president about helping us out of the Mess-o-potamia (thanks Jon Stewart). This is pissing off the Bushies big time. Of course, it won't be the first time Arlen has incurred their wrath.

I remember when Arlen was the Democratic district attorney for Philadelphia. If he was one of the "I didn't leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me" turncoats, he should be re-assessing whether the Republican Party has also left him.

So what I gotta say is, Come back to your Party, Arlen. All is forgiven. We will tolerate your brand of kookiness far better than the company you now keep.

Oh, and, bring Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins with you. Please.

Bush Bumperstickers

2006-12-14T00:21:00.000-05:00

These came in an e-mail...I thought they deserved a wider airing:

1/20/09: End of an Error
1/20/09: Hang In There, America!
I Hated Bush Before it was Cool
That's OK, I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway
Let's Fix Democracy in This Country First
If You Want a Nation Ruled By Religion, Move to Iran
Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.
You Can't Be Pro-War And Pro-Life
If You Can Read This, You're Not the President
(Over a photo of Bush) Instant Jackass: Just Add Oil
George Bush: Creating the Terrorists Our Kids Will Have to Fight
America: One Nation, Under Surveillance
They Call Him "W" So He Can Spell It
Which God Do You Kill For?
Jail to the Chief
George W. Bush Deserves a Fair Trial
One Nation Under Clod
2004: Embarrassed
2005: Horrified
2006: Terrified
Bush Never Exhaled
Nixon Resigned

The Ultimate Campaign Ad

2006-10-20T00:21:00.000-04:00

Random Thoughts

2006-10-15T22:03:00.000-04:00

Americans John Mather and George Smoot were recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for work that helped cement the big-bang theory of the universe and deepen understanding of the origin of galaxies and stars. Guess those are 2 award winners who won't be invited to the White House in recognition of their achievement.

My sister, Lucy, now signs her e-mails, "I'm tired of anti-Semites and pedophiles trying to give drunks a bad name."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has followed up with another Rolling Stone article, "Will the Next Election be Hacked?" Scary stuff. We'll know something is up in Pennsylvania if Casey doesn't beat Santorum by at least 10 points. Oh, and by the way, I went to see "Man of the Year." I enjoyed it, and Barry Levinson delivers a strong message. But it wasn't near as funny as I thought it would be.

My Thoughts on 9/11

2006-09-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

To this day, I cannot stand days that begin with temperatures in the low 70's with cloudess skies and the sun shining brightly. I cannot look at either still photos or video of the plane flying into the World Trade Center. Thirty years after I first learned the phrase, I finally understand the tort of "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

I hold Bush and his administration responsible for the attack on 9/11. They were warned. They knew. They did nothing. Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, lays out how the Bushies were determined to ignore the warnings that Al Qaeda was preparing an attack on U.S. soil. Richard Clark's book, Against All Enemies, provides thorough details of the neglect at the highest level of government to respond to a known threat. "Kinda-lousy" Rice, as National Security Advisor, hardly merited promotion to Secretary of State.

A few months ago, I was participating in a conference call among several lawyers and a judge. While we waited for the judge to come on line, one of the attorneys remarked that he had recently seen the movie, Syriana, and that he couldn't get over the willingness with which two young Arab boys would turn into a suicide bombers. He completely missed the part of the movie which shows one of the boys as poor and hungry because his father had lost his job, while the ruling family of the country where he lives is so wealthy it can build and then demolish a multi-million dollar villa. He goes to the madrasa to get a meal. The indoctrination is the price paid to fill his tummy.

I don't think "they hate us for our freedom" as much as they hate living in poverty while the royal families enjoy obscene wealth. I can't decide if the mullahs and ayatolahs really want a worldwide caliphate or if the jihadists are just using their religion as an outlet to express their anger at the ruling class and US policy, but I lean somewhat toward the latter view.

I'm not an apologist for Bin Laden, but I'm justifiably angry that our government just doesn't get it. Far from addressing the root causes of terrorism, Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice have done just about everything they could to embolden and empower the terrorists.

I wish the grownups were in charge.

How I Wasted An Hour Last Night

2006-09-08T21:53:00.000-04:00

So I wasn't at home on Sunday morning to watch the Casey-Santorum debate on Meet the Press. But the program is available on the MTP website, so I watched it. Sheesh. If I were only marginally interested in this race, I'd be asking myself, "Are these my only choices?"

Casey had more than a few chances to make Rick "Man-on-Dog" look like the total loon that he is. Russert practically bent over backwards trying to elicit some spot-on criticism. But just when you thought he would deliver the KO punch, he fell back on his talking points. Again, sheesh.

Like when the discussion turned to Rumsfeld, and Ricky opined that Rummy is doing a fine job. Casey could have said, well, gee, then why have a host of retired generals called for his resignation?

And how about the Virginia senator's turning every question on Iraq into attack on Iran? How about looking him straight in the eye and just blurting out, "They haven't even finished with one war and already they're trying to start another one!"

Casey's response on how to save social security was a good start: repeal tax cuts for taxpayers making more than $200,000 a year, save the estate tax, and hope that fixing the economy will help us grow our way out of the deficit. But how about the most obvious solution: lift the cap on social security wages.

They say that Santorum's numbers are so bad that the Democrats could run a complete idiot against him and still win. Alas, we seem to have nominated just that person. Where is Joe Hoeffel when you really need him?

P.S. This Sunday's MTP will be an interview with Dick "Dead-eye" Cheney. I won't be wasting an hour on this program.

Keith Olbermann Rules!

2006-08-30T22:33:00.000-04:00

I wish I could write a scathingly brilliant reply to Rumsfeld speech to the VFW comparing a majority of Americans to the appeasers of Adolph Hitler.

Keith Olbermann beat me to the punch.

I love Keith. As we used to say (many years before today, my 55th birthday), he can put his shoes under my bed anytime.

George Carlin on Religion

2006-08-22T21:07:00.000-04:00

George Carlin on Religion
Uploaded by PigLips

I used to hear this routine on the now-defunct Atheist Radio Network. He makes a compelling case.

Another Reason to Rejoice in Non-Belief

2006-08-21T09:37:00.000-04:00

This is appalling.

Snakes On A Plane!

2006-08-20T16:59:00.000-04:00

Go see it. You will never worry about terrorists blowing up your plane again.

Support the Troops (Not)!

2006-08-19T10:12:00.000-04:00

From the NY Times:

As many as 61,000 military widows whose husbands died of causes relating to
their military service lose out on thousands of dollars a year in survivor
benefits because of a law that dates from the 1970’s.Widows and retirees have
spent decades trying to persuade Congress to change the law, which hits hardest
at the widows of lower-ranking service members and is referred to by many
critics as the “widow’s tax.’’

The Senate passed such a change last year and again this year as part of the military authorization bill. But House Republican leaders oppose the change because of its steep price tag, nearly $9 billion over 10 years, Senate legislative aides from both parties say.

Let's see if I have this straight: repealing the Estate Tax, which will cost $670 billion, is OK, but extending death benefits to survivors of soldiers killed while in the service, at a cost of $9 billion, is too expensive. Geez. If we don't change Congress this election cycle we're doomed.

Three Suggestions to Make the 2006 Elections Fair and Honest

2006-08-16T22:11:00.000-04:00

Ever since I read Bobby Kennedy's article in Rolling Stone, I've been doing a slow burn, and trying to come up with some ways that we can shame the Republicans into conducting fair and honest elections in 2006, particularly in Ohio. Here's what I've come up with. Feel free to comment with your suggestions:

1. The Nerd Patrol. And by nerd, I mean computer hacker. Much has been written about the ease with which electronic voting machines can be hacked and the results manipulated to achieve the desired outcome. Check out Brad Blog, Black Box Voting, and other blogs. I have to believe that, nerd for nerd, there are more nerd votes for the Democrats running for the House and Senate than for the Republicans. If they haven't changed it, when you go to Google and type in "Failure" the first hit is Dubya's biography on the White House website. So here's what we do: issue a call for a Nerd Patrol to hack into electronic voting machines and manipulate the results in our favor. Actually, we can't do this, because it would be illegal. The idea here is that the Republicans will never know for certain whether we have recruited a Nerd Patrol or we haven't, so they'll have to have a paper trail to verify the results of electronic voting.

2. United Nations Monitoring. If ever there was a fragile democracy in need of protection, IT'S OURS. So let's petition the United Nations to send in Jimmy Carter and company to install teams of international observers to monitor the voting and tabulation in those precincts, expecially in Ohio, with a known history of voter suppression and manipulation.

3. Play the Race Card. Let's face it, the vast majority of the disenfrachised voters are African-Americans, and it's time we recruited someone to call out the racists. We do have the perfect spokesman in Charles Barkley, who recently announced he had switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party because, "I was a Republican until they lost their minds." He'd be a convincing and compelling point man on this issue, and would guarantee that the issue would get the visibility it deserves.

OK, I'm done now.

Is George Bush An Idiot?

2006-08-16T21:17:00.000-04:00

Do you even have to ask? Check this out.

Where have you been?

2006-08-10T00:16:00.000-04:00

Hello sports fans.

I'm working on a couple of new essays, but my work's been interrupted by a little R and R...a few days in Atlantic City with Grandmother and daughter. Alice has decided to master the game of craps. Gram and I are content just to keep losing at Double Attack Blackjack.

I hope Pennsylvania expands the Gaming Law to include table games. There's money to be made (yeah, I know the moral arguments). Plus slots are so mindless. Except for Video Poker.

In the days before the legislature approved the Gaming Law, I had an idea for bringing casino gambling to the state by Native Americans. The city of Harrisburg was constructing a new parking garage on City Island, and had an archeological team doing a dig to locate and preserve Native American artifacts. I was hoping that the artifacts would establish ownership of the Island by one or more of the tribes who occupied this area prior to the arrival of the Europeans, and that their descendants would then claim owership of the Island and proceed to establish a casino on it. It didn't happen, but I thought it would have been a neat way of getting around the legislature's foot-draggin on approving casino gaming.

As I've often said, the motto of the Pennsylvania General Assembly should be, "You Can't Legislate Morality. Oh Yes, We Can."

Ten Reasons Why Canada Should Invade and Conquer the U.S.

2006-08-02T01:27:00.000-04:00

1. Dubya's misadventure in Iraq has broken the military, so our defenses are weakened, probably to the point that the country could be taken over by several divisions of Mounties. It's like the old joke. Why does a dog lick his balls? Because he can. So why should Canada invade? Because it can. Too bad George never played the game of Risk...he would have realized that if you strand your armies around the world, you're easy pickings for the enemy.

2. No political will to impeach the bastard? No problem. Canada can capture him and have him join Saddam in the prisoner's dock being tried for crimes against humanity.

3. Gay marriage. Canada has it. We don't. Conquer us and deliver marriage equality. No activist judges needed. No more posturing like this is really a moral issue. The "historical sanctity of marriage" is pure bull. Ask Eleanor of Aquitaine if either of her marriages had anything to do with the sanctity of marriage.

4. Universal health care and lower cost prescription drugs. No need to cross the border to enjoy the savings.

5. Pairs figure skating. We (USA) just can't seem to establish any competence in this discipline, whereas the Canadians have produced a string of Olympic and World medalists.

6. The money. With the staggering amount of debt our country now has, it's only a matter of time before inflation starts to de-value the currency (even more than it already has). Shopping with Canadian dollars always seems to deliver more bang for the buck. Or more loot for the looney.

7. Canadian television. One of the best series I've ever seen (airing on the Sundance Channel) was a Canadian production entitled, "Slings and Arrows." It was so good, I live in fear that some US producer will co-opt the idea and bastardize it (kinda like we've been doing with BBC programming). Put the Canadians in charge of our television programming!

8. It solves the problem of illegal immigation from Mexico. Canada has two official languages: English and French. Having to learn two languages will raise the bar high enough to dissuade illegals. So would making a few well publicized arrests of American businesses who hire illegals, but where's the political will to do that?

9. Legitimizing the American fascination with royalty. Canada recognizes the British royal family as its monarchy. We would no longer have to hide our secret fascination (bordering on addiction) with tabloid stories about the second most dysfunctional family in the world.

10. End the ridiculous debate over whether the Star Spangled Banner should be translated into and sung in Spanish. Sing with me now, Oh Canada.....

Happy Birthday, MTV (remember me?)

2006-08-02T00:50:00.000-04:00

On the lighter side of the news, today is the 25th anniversary of MTV. And like any aging phenonemon, it is avoiding any celebration that might possibly call attention to passage of time. (I guess 25 TV years is equivalent to 50 human years.)

When it first debuted, I watched the channel religiously. After the baby came, I rarely watched. In fact, USA for Africa was about the last time I watched until Real World New Orleans, which I watched with my then teen-aged daughter. I was astonished that the music video no longer figured into the network programming. I was also taken aback that MTV hadn't aged along with me. I was firmly out of its target demographic. Some reward for past loyalty!

The whole cult of youth thing really bothers me. Last season's West Wing is a case in point. My politics are as liberal as they've ever been, so I was rooting for Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) to win (although Arnold Vinick's heart to heart talk with President Bartlett over his falling away from religion really struck a chord with me). Then I heard that the producers, in an attempt to attract younger viewers, had switched their original plan (Vinnick wins) to make Santos the victor. Argh. Does it always have to be about the youngsters? Don't we count any more?