family

just got back from several days ins california, visiting with my aunt and cousins.  my uncle recently passed away.

it was a wonderful trip - so good to renew those time-tested relationships.  it's been perhaps 7 years since i saw those fine folks.  everything, and nothing, has changed.

a marriage
several deaths
a new life
a creeping illness

these are people i've known all my life - how good to walk among them again!

i have a little kitten.....

.....or rather, the kitten has me.  she is now 16 weeks old, 4 months, a Burmese.  she's tiny - they are a small breed.  it is wonderful to have a new little life in the house!  she is waking up to the world and everything is new and exciting to her.  having never had children, this is where i get those goodies from.

we have three other animals, two cats and a long-suffering dog.  lola has bonded most with a 3 year old cat - they're like best buds at this point.

that's all for now.  i think i have the flu.

DO SOMETHING!!!!!

this fiscal cliff bullshit is ridiculous.  first the whole concept was created to do exactly opposite what's happening.  it was thought that if a series of extreme consequences stood at the end of a budgeting process, if the process failed, heaven and earth would be moved to make sure the appropriate steps were taken to avoid the endgame.  sounds good in theory, must have sounded good at the time -

- but what if congress could not agree on anything?  simply.could.not.agree.

i think if john boehner had the power to decide himself for his caucus, it would have happened, the cliff averted.  but there is a bloc of about 75 congress people who refuse to vote for anything except exactly what they want.  to these people, compromise is a sign of weakness.

to most of the world, the ability to compromise is a significant sign of maturity - not to these bubba's.

and therein lies the rub.  how do you govern if you can't compromise?

you can't.  you go off the fiscal cliff.  and everyone's taxes get raised on New Years's day.

sandy hook

i feel so sad about the shootings in CT yesterday.  the awfulness gives rise to a host of philosophical questions, as well as practical questions.  what kind of country do we live in where guns are dealt with so casually?  i'm tired of the old saw about it being about the people, not the guns.  bullshit.  i saw the charts yesterday where countries were compared, and the US had far and away the most gun deaths.  and the most guns.  coincidence?  i think not.

people who have easy access to guns kill people.  and it's generally young, mentally ill white men.  This time, the shooter's mother had the guns - why would a suburban mom need 4 guns, including an assault rifle?  WHY??  what would adam lanza have done with his craziness had he not had such easy access to guns?  I don't know, but he wouldn't have been able to kill 27 people.  as it was, all he had to do was look around the house.

yes, of course, there should be more efficient ways to insure that those with a history of mental illness not have guns - and yesterday there was a facebook meme going around stating it was easier to get a gun in this country then to get treatment for mental illness.  very true.

obama has run his last race; there is no additional election to be concerned about - he staked his first term on healthcare, what better issue to stake his second term on than gun control.  go for it!!

the wind is howling.......

............love this time of year!  dramatic weather changes, a chance to wear winter clothes, even boots!

and while i'm wearing my first-ever red cowboy boots, what else is going on?  well, the supreme court is wading into the gay marriage 'controversy'.

the issues seem to be nicely chugging along, with major marriage wins last month at the ballot boxes - could the supremes screw it up?  for sure.  justice roberts is still recovering from the battering he took when he 'saved' obamacare - don't look for another liberal move by him.  no, this once comes down, again, to justice kennedy.  anybody's guess.

and there are two issues - the defense of marriage act (DOMA), and actual same-sex marriages.  i think we're looking at DOMA being overturned, but then a split decision.  the california case looks for a constitutional amendment making same-sex marriage OK.  i think the supremes will say goodbye to DOMA, then put the burden on the states.  or, as this lesbian sees it, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

we'll see.

It's finally over!!!

Americans have spoken - and the tune is "four more years".  One of my fears had been that Obama would take the electoral votes, but lose the popular vote. Fortunately, that didn't come to pass.   Romney was gracious in defeat, and Obama was gracious in victory.  The optimist in me says 'democracy in action'.

Four states voted in favor of marriage equality, and one state defeated a DOMA-type proposition.  A couple of men found out their ideas about rape had nasty consequences.

And now we look to Obama to fill in the blanks he himself left - what will a second term look like?  He's said he would address climate change - and it's about time.  He's spoken about immigration; there's a lot of work to be done there.

And Obamacare will be more fully implemented.  One of the major reasons I'm happy is because we will now get to see it at work.  Romney would have gutted it.  This country has need a comprehensive health care act for decades.

I hope to see a couple more Supreme Court appointees.  Let's get rid of the 5-4 cliffhangers!!

I hope a stronger Democratic Senate can tame the House, which is still full of nasty vipers, tho a few less.

I hope Obama's actions can line up with his soaring rhetoric.

sliver of a silver lining

in the middle of this monstrosity of a hurricane/cyclone, there is one arena blessedly silent - the politician's have lowered their voices to a dull roar.  supposedly out of respect for the 60 million americans in harm's way.

i don't care what it took - this political obsessive is exhausted and burned-out from the babbling voices, my own choices of candidates included.

it's become fashionable every now and then to declare that THIS moment in political discourse is the nastiest, most partisan yet.  however, i think this current cycle truly is one of the most disgusting, despicable time periods, with few, if any, redeeming characters present.  i'm bone-tired of hearing who said what first and why.  usually i thrive on political analysis, can't get enough of it.  but not this go-round.  hope it's not about me aging, or me anything - i hope we truly have hit bottom.

i read earlier today that we could be heading for a gore/bush moment - al gore won the largest percent of voters, but lost the election.  this analyst i was reading, and i'd read the same thing a few days previously, was saying this time it could be romney who wins the popular vote, but obama who gets the electoral college and thus all the marbles.

if so, then it will have happened to each party once within a 12 year time span, and then maybe there'd be a critical mass ready to get rid of the electoral college.  at which point the nations emits a huge sigh of relief.

me, i just want a little more respect back in the process. a lot less hate-mongering, a lot fewer podiums for the ann coulter's of the world.  a little more honesty - no, make that a LOT more honesty.

and for now i'm happy for a couple days break in the action.