Ideologue

The president has said that he is not an ideologue. And I believe him.

As I was saying to a co-worker recently, I see Obama as rational, realistic, and responsible. Today on Meet the Press (yes, sorry, I was watching again), the commentators kept trying to push him into one or another camp: Is he more centrist now? Is he too left-leaning?

Rational, realistic and responsible: It means that he will take a centrist or right-leaning action when that is the right thing to do. (Tho, for myself, the "right" thing to do is seldom found to the right!)

Government

It is a mistake to assign to government the attributes that belong to business. On the radio today, I heard an ad for a candidate for governor that stressed the wonderful job he did managing Harvard Pilgrim. Well, great.

I'm studying organizational management--actually pursuing an M.Ed. in it. What I'm learning was developed to benefit the bottom line. And the bottom line is never to be confused with our national interests.

Neglect of those less fortunate creates misery and fosters rebellion.

Spaghetti

Spaghetti sauce is the first thing I learned to make as a kid. You add oregano, basil, and parsley (dried) to tomato sauce, sometimes beginning with garlic and onion in a little olive oil, sometimes adding garlic and onion powder. Sometimes you even dropped meatballs into the bubbling concoction.

A little more money, and you can buy Classico. The reasons I recommend Classico: Everything else in its price range contains sugar. We love Classico Spicy Red Pepper (a.k.a. Arrabbiata).

Last week we discovered Culinary Circle, which is a lot more money, but what a sauce! Puttanesca and Arrabbiata to start, plus the Spicy Italian Sausage. These feature wine where other sauces use sugar or--horrors--corn syrup. Classico and Culinary Circle: spaghetti sauces worth picking up.

Feh

I destroyed my computer. I spilled a full mug of coffee on it, and I didn't realize that it was important to remove the battery quickly. My sweet consulted info online and did a bang-up job of cleaning it out and encouraging it to function again. In vain, however.

So now I have a new system, a new Windows 7 system, that is driving me bananas. Every single bloody thing requires setup and access specifications and searches for buttons that have been moved. Argh.

I am hoping against hope that we will be able to recover files from my old hard drive. All those songs...all those pictures. All my addresses for people! And all my recipes. Bloody hell.

Overreaction

Headlines today announce that Obama is instituting a spending freeze. So it is official: no more genuine effort to improve the country and align its moral compass with true north. Now begins the campaign for reelection.

Just because Brown won? I mean, =I= overreacted, but I expect better of Obama.

Infected

My sweet's incision is infected. We have to go back to the surgeon tomorrow to see what his options are. Just in case thought can affect outcomes, please think of us tomorrow.

And I Quote

"With its ruling [yesterday], the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington—-while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That's why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less."
—-President Barack Obama [italics, sjs]

Strength

It takes strength to express one's fears openly, to entertain doubt, to be comfortable with uncertainty, and to ask for help. We can see weakness every day in stridence.

Financing

Remember when, some months ago, I said that a big part of America's problem was that corporations have successfully passed themselves off as citizens? Well, the Supreme Court appears to suffer from that same delusion. Hence I am reprinting the following email:

Hi,

Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced a disastrous rollback of campaign finance laws. Their 5-4 decision gives corporations free rein to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections.

It's a horrible decision. But we can undo some of the damage if Congress passes public financing of elections, which would give progressives and populists who don't have industry backing the ability to compete.

I just signed a petition urging Congress to pass public financing of elections quickly--can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/fairelectionsnow/?r_by=18673-1965428-xIVt1.x&rc=confemail

Thanks!

Stymied

I have been trying to think of a way to convey how I feel about the Brown victory. In my adult life, we have never had a progressive in office. Obama was damn close, and he didn't even get a full year before backlash hit. The frustration, the sadness, the alienation that I feel—-I don't even know how to describe them.

Please follow the link below. I read it saying, "Exactly!"
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/hello-to-all-that.html

Home

My sweet was discharged yesterday. No cancer, the doc says. Thank goodness. His recovery "hit a wall," in the doc's words. I am beyond glad that he found a way around the wall.

Reactionary

Massachusetts is full, it turns out, of reactionary voters. Those people driving the highways who seem bizarrely quick to flip other drivers off? They're voting today.

My dismay is profound. There was a tool in this race, a tool for a number of purposes. Don't be the kind of tool who'd vote for him. Yes, I mean you.

Still

We are still in the hospital, my husband and I. Nausea yesterday. Today, his first solid food: crackers, toast, and chicken-rice soup.

The broth that the hospital brings is horrible. He likes the broths described below. The hospital cafeteria, on the other hand, has offered some pretty amazing meals: medium rare prime rib with green beans and pearl onions; roast leg of lamb with truly excellent, creamy polenta. You take your comfort where you can!

College Inn

If you buy broth, you should be excited. College Inn has two new(ish) options for chicken broth: white wine and herb, and coconut curry. These are beyond yummy, and it's about time!

Hospital

So my husband has been in the hospital since Thursday. He's not getting much sleep b/c of hospital noise, and he cannot pass gas. The latter is what would qualify him to come home.

He had a partial colectomy. It was supposed to be laporoscopic (sp?), but the team ended up having to make a large incision b/c of difficulties separating the colon from his spleen.

How I wish I had a magic wand.

Just/Unjust

From MLK, on his day:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/quote-for-the-1.html

Coakley

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/my-vote-for-brown-isnt-a-vote-against-obama-ctd.html#more

I am spending my days in a hospital, sitting with my husband. I just want to encourage any reader of this blog to read the above. Please. I don't have time at the moment to give the subject what it deserves. Sullivan does.

Contest

The new commercial for FIOS flashes a graph that is supposed to demonstrate its superiority. However, the satisfaction graph tops out at 46%...which is still less than half of subscribers representing themselves as satisfied. So, needless to say, I am not impressed.

Now let's turn to the Massachusetts senate race. If I am supposed to judge candidates by their commercials, a choice is obvious. We have one candidate stressing accountability for Wall Street and Washington, and one saying, basically, 'This is the truck that I'm using to drive around the state and meet people.' Really? This is a contest?

Birthday

Sunday, January 4, was the date of origin for this blog. Today being Sunday, January 3, I see today and tomorrow both as its birthday.

In the past week, I've endorsed both Burpee's gardening catalog and the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. I wonder if, for my blog's birthday, I could solicit some advertising!

Loser

Remember when I said on this blog that I had lost 4 pounds? Well, I gained them back. With another 4.

So, once again for 2010 (as for 2009), I promise myself that I will work out. I will eat right. I will pay attention, and I will not let watching out for myself fall away the moment there's homework, care for others, work stress, family nonsense, or any other distraction afoot.

Remind me.

Flash Mob

I want to be part of a flash mob!

I so =get= it, why groups of people have big fun dancing together to funky popular music in a public place, so as to take others by surprise (to promote unity, and bring joy, and more fun). Mind you, the type of flash mob that just freezes, or does some other inexplicable thing in unison, does not appeal. I just want to DANCE.

Australia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqWkWY0p-eY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao4DkbGbxl0 (you've seen this one before)
Belgium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
England:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLj5zphusLw
Italy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhbK2bMTRbI
Philippines?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlYFLn2DRRM
Russia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es_420KONN0
Scotland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNS6rlirc7Q&feature=rec-LGOUT-real_rn-1r-2-HM
Singapore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkvwrWMxThM&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_r2-2r-1-HM
Sweden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkvwrWMxThM&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_r2-2r-1-HM
USA—-
California:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzN4633mpI&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-2-HM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBsjEV_Ndss&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-2-HM
New York:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnii8jqKr3Y&NR=1
Pennsylvania:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6VRFsSidIc&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-2-HM

Duped

I like to think that I'm wise to con artists. Still, I bought for Christmas this year, for my daughter, a new netbook... which, it turns out, contains a broadband card for which I am to pay $40 per month. Not a single soul shared that info with me at purchase, of course. I didn't know until my bill came in, double its usual size.

I had thought that I was hard to fool. This brings me up short, and maybe that's a good thing. No way out of it at this point (not without hugely disappointing my daughter). So add that to what I need to earn each month.