Sally, I saw this posted at my friend Meg's blog, Member's Lounge, and just had to bring it back to the coop to share with you!
Now, wasn't that fun? And don't you love it how Bristol has refudiated Mama by sharing her re-engagement to her baby daddy with the entire world first? I know it's not new news, but that whole family is just a gift to America that keeps on giving! I haven't had this much fun since Gracie Allen died. I told Meg that Bristol's mama just drug her whole adultessence out in front of God and everybody and now the girl has retalicated against her mama in kind. She wins the Award For Most Passive Aggressive Daughter In Alaska–a place that unaccountably harbors more Cluster B Personality Disordered females per female capita than any place in the Lower 48 other than L.A. I counted them.
'Bye, honey!
Loulou
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
She Said, She Said
There are few notes on my index card of "Insightful Comments by Sarah Palin." The card designated as "Insightful Comments by Michelle Bachmann" has been used for a wad of gum. No sense wasting the card.
If Nancy Pelosi says, "Sorry, Charlie!" to Charles Rangel, I'll add those words to her card. Women like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are in a different stratosphere when it comes to smarts and maturity. Don't bother with index cards; just listen.
Shirley Sherrod has shown her wisdom and character in a week when both were in short supply. The remarks taken out of context by a conservative blogger got her fired in a Fire, Ready, Aim fiasco. She proved herself to be a very down-to-earth, wise woman in subsequent interviews.
What she'll do now is still undecided, but I'll go out on a limb here and say it won't involve appearing on a TV show with Kate+8. (It's all yours, Sarah!)
Learning that Shirley Sherrod 's fate was decided, in part, by what FOX Television host Glen Beck might think, was a shocker. It was bad enough in a Republican administration, but NOW...?
Holy crap.
Another woman who has impressed me in recent months is Elizabeth Warren, the take-no-prisoners head of the Government Oversight Panel on the financial crisis and how the TARP money was used. I listened to hours of those hearings and liked her level-headed, no-bull manner. A Harvard Law professor, she came across as likable, non-pretentious, and extremely knowledgeable. There was no posturing in her manner. She knows her stuff.
Feel free to collect my wisdom on a gum wrapper, but I thought she'd be a shoo-in to head the newly forming Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Silly me. It seems that conservatives and bankers don't like her. Pundits speak of that distinction as if it were a bad thing-- afraid she'd do the job too well, perhaps. She cares about the middle class and advocates more transparency in the financial murkiness which swirled unchecked during the past decade.
The banks and financial agencies spent over $50 million last year for lobbying efforts, the Chamber of Commerce over $13 million. Would putting her in a position to stand up when necessary against that kind of influence really tilt the process?
I've heard some of the arguments against her. They're afraid she'd make businesses shy away from hiring, expanding, etc. for fear of more regulation, a familiar tune that's whistled regularly these days.
She's not anti-business; she's for a more level playing field.
Shows what I know; I'd have thought that would be the idea.
Health Care Reform: Guest post by Barbara O'Brien
Yesterday I was honored to be contacted by Barbara O’Brien, who blogs for The Mahablog, Crooks and Liars, AlterNet, and elsewhere on the progressive political and health blogosphere. She is also a panelist at the Yearly Kos Convention and a featured guest blogger at the Take Back America Conference in Washington, DC.
She asked me if she could submit a guest post about health care reform, to which I responded with an enthusiastic “yes!” Here it is:
Health Care Reform Will Help Everybody
“Many Americans assume the new health care reform act will benefit mostly the poor and uninsured and hurt everyone else, according to polls. As Matt Yglesias wrote, “Basically, people see this as a bill that will take resources from people who have health insurance and give it to people who don’t have health insurance.” Those who still oppose the reform say that people ought to pay for their own health care.
We all believe in the virtues of hard work and self-reliance, but these days it’s a fantasy to think that anyone but the mega-wealthy will not, sooner or later, depend on help from others to pay medical bills. And that’s true no matter how hard you work, how much you love America, or how diligently you take care of yourself. The cost of medical care has so skyrocketed that breaking an arm or leg could cost as much as a new car. And if you get cancer or heart disease — which can happen even to people who live healthy lifestyles — forget about it. The disease will not only clean you out; it will leave a whopping debt for your survivors to pay.
And the truth is, we all pay for other peoples’ health care whether we know it or not. When people can’t pay their medical bills, the cost of their health care gets added to everyone else’s bills and insurance premiums. When poor people use emergency rooms as a doctor of last resort, their care is not “free.” You pay for it.
Another common fantasy about medical care is that the “free market” provides incentives for medical companies to develop innovative new drugs and treatments for disease without government subsidy. It’s true that private enterprise is very good at developing profitable health care products. But not all medical care can be made profitable.
For years, the U.S. government has been funding medical research that the big private companies don’t want to do because there is too much cost for the potential profit. This is especially true for diseases that are rare and expensive to treat. An example of a recent advance made possible by government grants include new guidelines for malignant pleural mesothelioma treatment developed by MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers. Another is a blood screening test developed by mesothelioma doctors like thoracic surgeon Dr. David Sugarbaker. The health reform act provides for more dollars for such research, from which even many of the tea party protesters will benefit.
The biggest fantasy of all was that people who had insurance didn’t have to worry about health care costs. But the fact is that in recent years millions of Americans have been bankrupted by medical costs, and three-quarters of the medically bankrupt had health insurance. And yes, insurance companies even dumped hard-working, law-abiding patriots. But the health care reform act will put an end to that, and now America’s hard-working, law-abiding patriots are more financially secure, whether they like it or not.”
Thanks, Barbara, for this thoughtful and timely post.
Please come back again!
She asked me if she could submit a guest post about health care reform, to which I responded with an enthusiastic “yes!” Here it is:
Health Care Reform Will Help Everybody
“Many Americans assume the new health care reform act will benefit mostly the poor and uninsured and hurt everyone else, according to polls. As Matt Yglesias wrote, “Basically, people see this as a bill that will take resources from people who have health insurance and give it to people who don’t have health insurance.” Those who still oppose the reform say that people ought to pay for their own health care.
We all believe in the virtues of hard work and self-reliance, but these days it’s a fantasy to think that anyone but the mega-wealthy will not, sooner or later, depend on help from others to pay medical bills. And that’s true no matter how hard you work, how much you love America, or how diligently you take care of yourself. The cost of medical care has so skyrocketed that breaking an arm or leg could cost as much as a new car. And if you get cancer or heart disease — which can happen even to people who live healthy lifestyles — forget about it. The disease will not only clean you out; it will leave a whopping debt for your survivors to pay.
And the truth is, we all pay for other peoples’ health care whether we know it or not. When people can’t pay their medical bills, the cost of their health care gets added to everyone else’s bills and insurance premiums. When poor people use emergency rooms as a doctor of last resort, their care is not “free.” You pay for it.
Another common fantasy about medical care is that the “free market” provides incentives for medical companies to develop innovative new drugs and treatments for disease without government subsidy. It’s true that private enterprise is very good at developing profitable health care products. But not all medical care can be made profitable.
For years, the U.S. government has been funding medical research that the big private companies don’t want to do because there is too much cost for the potential profit. This is especially true for diseases that are rare and expensive to treat. An example of a recent advance made possible by government grants include new guidelines for malignant pleural mesothelioma treatment developed by MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers. Another is a blood screening test developed by mesothelioma doctors like thoracic surgeon Dr. David Sugarbaker. The health reform act provides for more dollars for such research, from which even many of the tea party protesters will benefit.
The biggest fantasy of all was that people who had insurance didn’t have to worry about health care costs. But the fact is that in recent years millions of Americans have been bankrupted by medical costs, and three-quarters of the medically bankrupt had health insurance. And yes, insurance companies even dumped hard-working, law-abiding patriots. But the health care reform act will put an end to that, and now America’s hard-working, law-abiding patriots are more financially secure, whether they like it or not.”
Thanks, Barbara, for this thoughtful and timely post.
Please come back again!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Mama, Aunt Nellie Ruth, and Sex Talk
I’ve been thinking about my mother a lot here lately. September 15 of this year will mark the second anniversary of her death.
Mama had a great sense of humor and it is her laughter that I miss most. She came from a large family, 17 of them in all. Four of her siblings have survived her. My Uncle David, the youngest, has my mother’s sense of humor. We talk frequently and he always makes me laugh.
My mother’s oldest surviving sister, my Aunt Nellie Ruth, is in her mid 80’s. She and Mama were entertaining individually but together, they were ready for Saturday Night Live or Def Comedy Jam.
A few years ago, we were having Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' home, when my aunt announced that she had dreamed that her deceased husband, Turner, was standing in her bedroom. My father, who should have known better, inquired, "So Nellie Ruth, what do you think Turner wanted?"
"He looked like he wanted to," pause for effect, "have sex."
Without missing a beat my mother responded, "With whom?"
My aunt proceeded to explain that she was still a fine looking woman and that she could have any man that she wanted. She then gave my brother-in-law the eye, turned to my sister and announced, "I could have your man if I wanted him." I don't know what was said after that as I had to leave the dining table to get a cloth to clean up the iced tea that I had sputtered all over my plate. Never laugh when you have a beverage in your mouth.
I think my sister has never forgiven our aunt for having designs on her husband.
Aunt Nellie Ruth is actually a very proper lady; she never shows her bosom. She always tucks a scarf into the neckline of any dress that she fears may reveal her bosom. Actually, she refers to it in the plural, as in, "my bosoms." She has a yellow chiffon yard sale find that she wears a t-shirt under so as not to drive men wild with a glimpse of her bosoms.
I witnessed my favorite exchange between my mother and her older sister a couple of summers ago. I accompanied my mother to my aunt's home where she was sitting on the front porch. It was August; it was hot; and my aunt was sitting on her front porch with a paper fan and a fly swatter. Aunt Nellie Ruth isn't fond of air conditioning; she says it makes her joints hurt. Mama and I joined her on the porch and we were all making small talk, when a huge old beige Cadillac with shiny tail fins pulled up and parked in front of the apartment next door. The elderly driver took ten minutes to extricate himself from behind the wheel, nodded good day at us, and slowly shuffled into his home.
As soon as he closed the door, my aunt spoke up, "He ought to be 'shamed of himself, carrying on like that at his age."
My mother swatted at a fly with a rolled up magazine and gave her sister a puzzled look, "Ruth," my mother called her by one name, either Nellie or Ruth, when she felt that it might be necessary to chastise my aunt in some way, "what are you talking about?"
"He's been 'round to his girlfriend's house, laying up in there with her all weekend. It's just acting common; they don't even try to hide it."
I paused in my fanning and perked up at this allusion to sex among the elderly. My mother sniffed dismissively, "Ruth that man is over 80 years old and he can't even stand up straight, let alone have sex with anyone."
There was a pregnant pause as Aunt Nellie Ruth mulled this over before offering her counterpoint, "He could be having oral sex."
With another emphatic sniff, my mother opined, "He doesn't have enough breath to have oral sex."
The water that I was drinking went down the wrong way and I was racked with coughing spasms that were so distracting that my aunt neglected to make a follow up response. I vowed to stop drinking any liquids when I was in her presence.
Conversation just isn’t the same without Mama.
Mama had a great sense of humor and it is her laughter that I miss most. She came from a large family, 17 of them in all. Four of her siblings have survived her. My Uncle David, the youngest, has my mother’s sense of humor. We talk frequently and he always makes me laugh.
My mother’s oldest surviving sister, my Aunt Nellie Ruth, is in her mid 80’s. She and Mama were entertaining individually but together, they were ready for Saturday Night Live or Def Comedy Jam.
A few years ago, we were having Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' home, when my aunt announced that she had dreamed that her deceased husband, Turner, was standing in her bedroom. My father, who should have known better, inquired, "So Nellie Ruth, what do you think Turner wanted?"
"He looked like he wanted to," pause for effect, "have sex."
Without missing a beat my mother responded, "With whom?"
My aunt proceeded to explain that she was still a fine looking woman and that she could have any man that she wanted. She then gave my brother-in-law the eye, turned to my sister and announced, "I could have your man if I wanted him." I don't know what was said after that as I had to leave the dining table to get a cloth to clean up the iced tea that I had sputtered all over my plate. Never laugh when you have a beverage in your mouth.
I think my sister has never forgiven our aunt for having designs on her husband.
Aunt Nellie Ruth is actually a very proper lady; she never shows her bosom. She always tucks a scarf into the neckline of any dress that she fears may reveal her bosom. Actually, she refers to it in the plural, as in, "my bosoms." She has a yellow chiffon yard sale find that she wears a t-shirt under so as not to drive men wild with a glimpse of her bosoms.
I witnessed my favorite exchange between my mother and her older sister a couple of summers ago. I accompanied my mother to my aunt's home where she was sitting on the front porch. It was August; it was hot; and my aunt was sitting on her front porch with a paper fan and a fly swatter. Aunt Nellie Ruth isn't fond of air conditioning; she says it makes her joints hurt. Mama and I joined her on the porch and we were all making small talk, when a huge old beige Cadillac with shiny tail fins pulled up and parked in front of the apartment next door. The elderly driver took ten minutes to extricate himself from behind the wheel, nodded good day at us, and slowly shuffled into his home.
As soon as he closed the door, my aunt spoke up, "He ought to be 'shamed of himself, carrying on like that at his age."
My mother swatted at a fly with a rolled up magazine and gave her sister a puzzled look, "Ruth," my mother called her by one name, either Nellie or Ruth, when she felt that it might be necessary to chastise my aunt in some way, "what are you talking about?"
"He's been 'round to his girlfriend's house, laying up in there with her all weekend. It's just acting common; they don't even try to hide it."
I paused in my fanning and perked up at this allusion to sex among the elderly. My mother sniffed dismissively, "Ruth that man is over 80 years old and he can't even stand up straight, let alone have sex with anyone."
There was a pregnant pause as Aunt Nellie Ruth mulled this over before offering her counterpoint, "He could be having oral sex."
With another emphatic sniff, my mother opined, "He doesn't have enough breath to have oral sex."
The water that I was drinking went down the wrong way and I was racked with coughing spasms that were so distracting that my aunt neglected to make a follow up response. I vowed to stop drinking any liquids when I was in her presence.
Conversation just isn’t the same without Mama.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Speak Up, You're Mumbling!
Conversation with my 90 year-old mother in the dermatologist’s waiting room:
Mother: “It sure would be nice if they had some music playing here while we wait.”
Me: “They do.”
Mother: “Are you sure? I don’t hear anything.”
Me: “That’s because you’re deaf. If they had the music cranked up loud enough for you to hear it, everyone else would be driven out of the room.”
Mother: “I’ve told you, I’m not getting hearing aids! They don’t work and they’re expensive! I keep getting ads in the mail all the time for them. Did you have the company send them to me?”
Me: (Sighly deeply) "No, I didn’t have them sent to you. I get them too—they send them to everybody who’s over a certain age.”
Mother: “What are they playing?”
Mother: “It sure would be nice if they had some music playing here while we wait.”
Me: “They do.”
Mother: “Are you sure? I don’t hear anything.”
Me: “That’s because you’re deaf. If they had the music cranked up loud enough for you to hear it, everyone else would be driven out of the room.”
Mother: “I’ve told you, I’m not getting hearing aids! They don’t work and they’re expensive! I keep getting ads in the mail all the time for them. Did you have the company send them to me?”
Me: (Sighly deeply) "No, I didn’t have them sent to you. I get them too—they send them to everybody who’s over a certain age.”
Mother: “Well, I don’t need them.”
Me: “Fine.”
[Pause]
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