What's YOUR zip code?

An awesome article from Friday's NYT. Enjoy.
Are YOU planning to watch the New 9-0?

Sarah Palin

I received this from MoveOn.org in my email box today. Please take a second to read it:

Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

• She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.¹
  
• Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.²
  
• She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. ³
  
• Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.⁴
  
• She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.⁵
  
• She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.⁶
• How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.⁷

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-9301282-YooBQ3x&t=8

Working girl

I have started the new job, but won't be posting any specifics, as I want to keep my professional life separate from my private life. W. got to meet his teacher, and that went really well. He had a lot of fun doing some rocks/dumptruck work. I had fun at work getting the garden area outside my classroom, as well as outside of the other toddler classrooms, ready. Another teacher and I filled EIGHT big black trash bags with garden debris, spent plants, etc. What a sense of accomplishment!
Tonight's the big night for Obama. Don't mess up, Dude!

Amen to that

Couldn't have put it better myself... Take a look/listen.

In the news

On a sad note, the saxophonist (LeRoi Moore) for DMB died yesterday of complications from an ATV accident he had earlier this summer. Very very sad.
On a lighter note, check out this video from the Today Show. Each Olympics, they do a spoof of one of the sports. For Athens, Al and Matt did synchronized swimming. I think this one is even better, especially because of the music and their outfits. Check it out.

The latest pics

Here are some not-so-recent pics that we recently uploaded. Most are from late-July, I believe.

Finished pillow--I stitched the design and made the pillow. The design is called Summer Line-Up and is by The Trilogy. I did a Spring one a few months ago and turned it into a pillow; I am now working on the Autumn one.

This pic of W has become our new desktop background on our pute.


My butterfly bush and cosmos. A little blurry; I need to try to get a better one since it has even more blooms on it right now.

Look closely and you'll see a bright green preying Mantis on the stem of a cosmo.

A very happy bumblebee--they love my flowers in the front yard--who can blame them?? We also have a large number of Monarch butterflies that enjoy the floral buffet, but I have yet to capture a picture of any of them.

My little gardening buddy. He loves deadheading the flowers--unfortunately, now he thinks ANYTHING is fair game for deadheading--not just the dead ones!

Back to normal

Things are slowly getting back to normal after a lovely visit from my sister-in-law and her two kids. They live in Tokyo, so they had been in the States for about six weeks this summer; we were their last stop. My niece will be four in October and my nephew turned one this past March. Needless to say, the house was a ZOO. We did things like story time, Terhune Orchards, the park and Princeton. I must say, my niece, while the oldest of the cousins, is the most demanding. Maybe it's because she's a girl, maybe it's because she's three. I don't know. She definitely knows what she wants when she wants it and isn't shy about it. Bless her heart, my sister-in-law is working so hard with her please-and-thank-you's. She says some really hilarious stuff; she's very intelligent and has a great vocabulary for her age. Perhaps the funniest thing happened when Mike took the three kids to the swings (brave soul!). My niece was wearing Crocs and discovered how fun it was to kick them off while swinging and have Uncle Mike retrieve them for her. The first time it happened, she said, "Go get my shoe." Mike asked her to say please, which she did; then, as he went to get the shoe, it dawned on him that she had kicked it off on purpose. He asked her if she had; she said "yes," and he told her that if she did it again that he wouldn't get it for her. Well, lo and behold, she did it again. When he refused to get it for her, she said, and I quote, "Well, I'm gonna tell my mom, and we're gonna take your swings and ruin your way of life!" It was all Mike could do to keep from laughing. "Ruin your way of life"??? Where in the world did she pick up THAT?!

A fungus among us

So I've been having mega issues with my ears for the past month or so. Last Tuesday I went to my regular doctor and she diagnosed me with an outer ear infection in my right ear. On Thursday, the left ear started acting up. I called and made an appointment with the ENT she referred me to. I went to the ENT today. He says I have a FUNGUS in BOTH ears. Gross. I probably got it from swimming (the one time this summer I actually put my head under) or maybe from the shower. So I have these lovely drops to use twice a day for ten days. Five drops in each ear. Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop... wait five minutes... stick cotton in to prevent solution from coming out and staining skin and clothing (!!!!)... repeat process with other ear. He also recommended some oh-so-stylish earplugs to wear when swimming and showering. They sized me as a "medium" for them and of course when I went to get them from the receptionist, they were out of that size. So she gave me a little can of putty-like stuff to use until they get another shipment of them in. I have to go back and see the ENT in one month. Really, a FUNGUS?! I disgust myself.

What's your theological worldview?

Thanks to Deanna for posting this nice quiz.

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Classical Liberal You are a classical liberal. You are sceptical about much of the historicity of the Bible, and the most important thing Jesus has done is to set us a good moral example that we are to follow. Doctrines like the trinity and the incarnation are speculative and not really important, and in the face of science and philosophy the surest way we can be certain about God is by our inner awareness of him. Discipleship is expressed by good moral behaviour, but inward religious feeling is most important. Emergent/Postmodern 64% Classical Liberal 64% Modern Liberal 57% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 54% Roman Catholic 50% Neo orthodox 39% Reformed Evangelical 25% Charismatic/Pentecostal 21% Fundamentalist 4%

Dis-orientation

I had assistant teacher orientation for Montessori today. It was really eye-opening. It's a different philosophy from that of a regular classroom. Not different in a bad way, of course. It puts so much focus on the child and the environment and is all about the teacher being a facilitator, as opposed to a "leader". The onus is on the child to learn; the teacher simply provides the environment, basic instruction materials for that learning to take place.
I think it's an environment in which W will thrive. It's one that will take some getting used to for me, but I think it will be a great opportunity for growth as an educator. I'm really looking forward to this new experience.

Did you hear that?

Well, I didn't. I have a raging ear infection in my right ear. My right ear has been giving me fits for the past month or so (problems with the inner ear), but last night it was unbearable. I went to the doctor today. She diagnosed me with an outer ear infection. She couldn't even see past the eardrum to see if there inner part was still messed up. So I'm on antibiotic ear drops twice a day for seven days. That's pleasant.
Did you hear that John McCain wants his wife to participate in a "wet t-shirt/pickle-licking/other various sundry inappropriate things" contest? That's right. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The man needs to THINK before he speaks. Actually, it might be better if he just didn't speak at all...
Show of hands: How many of you out there check the air pressure in your tires? Of course you do! It can help with gas mileage, plus it's handy to know if you need to put more air in to avoid a flat tire. Well, according to John McCain, it's silly to check the air in your tires. Really, John? Oh, that must be because you have People to do that for you... He thinks this is so hilarious that he'll send you an "Obama Energy Plan" tire pressure gauge if you contribute $25 to his campaign. Not clear if it's an operational tire pressure gauge, but if it is, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of his "joke"? Ha, ha, John.
Think about it this way: Under-inflated tires make you lose about 1 mile per gallon to road friction. This translates to about 1 gallon of wasted gas per tankful. McCain may think this is funny, but for me (and probably for you, too, that's real money!). This simple, immediate, FREE action Obama and many others have suggested will save consumers about half of what McCain's gas tax "holiday" would without any other changes and without chipping away at funding for roads and bridges. So check your tire pressure. Oh, and save yourself around $23 (how much gas would that buy right now??) and head over to the auto parts store or Wal-Mart and BUY a gauge for around $2 (or even less!).
For more tips on fuel economy, check out this handy-dandy site put together by our friends in Washington! Click and Clack have some good tips, as well.