Seven Days Left

Only seven days left and like many others, I wish the time would fly by. Not that I enjoy wishing moments of my life away however, this election cycle is wearing everyone thin. I can only imagine how it is on the candidates.

Before you believe that this race is over though, let me give you an education: it's not over until we get the raw data in...as in the votes. As we get closer to Tuesday, I am becoming more convinced that Tuesday night may be a long night despite what the Huffington Post and MSNBC believe.

1. Polling has a margin of error and with each polling company having a bias, you should be weary of any poll you read that can not back up it's data. Basically what I am telling you is that you can find the same amount of info quizzing your co-workers or a bunch of morons on the street. There's no reason that anyone can promise and deliver that they will make it to the polls. People find more excuses not to vote than to vote.

2. The exit data numbers, especially in the early voting states, will be skewed. Remember, a ton of people in key battleground states like North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida have already voted in unprecedented numbers. And a lot of people will just not tell you the truth when you ask them who they voted for in exit polls. It happens. So unless you see raw numbers showing you that a candidate has won a battleground state with the big voting areas in, calm yourself down.

3. Don't be surprised to hear that many voters voted split tickets, as in Virginia. There are a lot of voters in Virginia who love Mark Warner and believe he was one of the best governors Virginia ever had. However, because they are a firm believer in checks and balances, they may be voting for McCain for President and Warner, the Democrat for Senate, because they are firmly aware of what can happen if you have an all Democratic House and Senate: a possibility that they will run amuck as much as ever before. After all, politicians are about as trust worthy as used car salesmen in many people's eyes thus, you need to support a system of checks and balances.

4. The machines may not work! In several key states, Ohio and Florida notably, there are already issues with electronic voting. Diebold, the maker of many of these machines, is aware that there are issues but it seems that there are still problems. How can you be sure that your vote counts? And that fear may keep some voters from the polls.

As I have preached to the hills before, research claims made by both candidates and when you go into the voting booth, be informed. It's worth waiting in line, trust me. I want to get a good nights sleep, don't you? So go vote and maybe, just maybe the votes will be counted right and we won't have to see those damn lawyers the day after the election.

What's Up?

Remember those Bud ads from a few years back? Here's the new version for your viewing enjoyment...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8Uc5BFogE

I've voted...have you?

I have worked in phone banks before, for the other side. Never did the candidate show up and fire us up like this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGraCrU_mR8

Well if Opie says so...

...you should too!

Watch Ron Howard, Andy Griffith, and Henry Winkler in a video that recalls some of my favorite shows...

This is just fantastic!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d

Because you need a laugh today...

Remember the movie Buckaroo Bonzai from the 80's? Well, if you do, you will enjoy this! Zaius Nation - Some apes are more equal than others

Profile Pic

A note about my profile picture...

The animation was created by Ivan. It is my alter ego, "Chibi Clap Joyce." It's a long story as to how I came up with the character but it has turn into a funny joke among my friends...and it's a funny way to get people to laugh.

In case you do not know what chibi is, well it's basically a Japanese anime art form. The characters are drawn with very round, almost child like faces.

So Ivan, how nice to have my own artist, always imagines when I do the chibi clap thing that I am floating like an angel. So he gave me wings (true more ways than one).

And yes, in case you are wondering, Ivan is an artist for hire.

Check out Atomic Beaver on Myspace and his web page www.theatomicbeaver.com

Weakly Update...

I wrote "weakly" because I seem to be pretty "weak" about posting on my blog lately but with Ivan visiting New York over the next few weeks (more on that later), I will have a little more computer time on my hands.

To update: on Wednesday I took off a few hours early and voted. The state of Tennessee does few things right and one of them is early voting. I was so happy to get my vote in for Obama. Now I can just enjoy election evening by watching the madness. Well, I hope I enjoy it. I pray it's not a huge Clusterfuck like 2000.

As I write this, Ivan is on his way back to New York. Over the next few weeks he will be meeting with friends and family and packing. He's moving down here. Finally we will be one place, for better or worse. It just seems the right thing to do. The economy is tanking up there and I just don't have the money or resources to compete for a job up in New York right now.

Considering we have had seperations of months and we continue to fight kidney disease and anemia, for me to be verklempt over twelve days apart sounds a little silly I know. But I guess because of the things we are fighting for (health and each other) it's difficult to seperate.

I never thought I would be this connected with one person. I always figured that I would be that crazy old lady with a bunch of dogs watching CNN all day long and yelling at the television like someone can hear me. Then I met him and my world changed.

For the first time in my life I feel a part of a large family. His parents, siblings, and cousins have embraced me. It's been a wonderful experience. But I feel guilt knowing he will be down here with me while they are up there. I hope that sooner, rather than later, we will be able to save up money to be in a position to help them as much as they have helped us.

On a political note, if you are surprised by General Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama than you really understand little about politics. Just about everyone knows that Powell and the GOP have not seen eye to eye since Powell couldn't wait to leave Bush's Cabinet in 2004. But Powell makes a point that should not fall silent on anyone's ears...this is a time of transition and a country, any country, can not be run with the same closed minded and antagonistic political mindsent that has beset our nation the past 8 years.

Lets face it, the Clinton era was marked by insanity and a boom stock market that reached false hieghts. To make things worse, we had a president who managed his personal life in such a shoddy and shameful manner that even the so called left leaning press reported his dangerous liasons.

This decade, we have seen a president that has decided to push his morality not only on our nation but other nations. The direction Bush took our country, with our own approval in 2004, has been damning. Because banks and investors were left unregulated, and greed took over common sense, we are faced with an economic crises that unfortunately parallels that of the Great Depression.

If a great white general went on Meet the Press this morning and said he was supporting Obama, no one would accuse him of supporting Obama because he is black man running for president. But idiots being idiots, earlier today, Rush Limbaugh yapped away (like we asked for his opinion?) that Powell is supporting Obama because of race. Of course, those are the same yayhoos that think I should vote for McCain-Palin because she is a woman.

Our country, our world, is at a turning point. Lets face it, the Adam Smith model of running free markets does not work when greed overtakes common sense. And so, people, along with their governments, have got to find a way to make sure that when a crises happens, those who are working hard do not lose their retirement savings because a bunch of idiot investment bankers.

I know I sound very Pollyanna but I do believe we can make this world a better place if we get over the greed and really try to fix things. Maybe I hope for that so much because, well, I need it to happen. The one I love suffers from kidney failure and lives on dialysis. Wouldn't it be nice if we invested in medical research to find a cure for kidney disease instead of investing in pills for erectile dyfunction and in countries who really do not need our intervention?

Times Like These

I like those Fighters of Foo...and here is one of my favorite songs...

Here's "Times Like These"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG294M_kYWM

You know...that one!

My mom is seventy eight years old and she has lived through the Great Depression, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, the killings of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and put up with kids and a Navy husband.

Basically I am saying she's suffered through some serious shit.

But when my mom, who's body may be broken but her spirit far from it, says that McCain looked so old last night that she felt sorry for him, well that says something.

My seventy eight year old mother thinks McCain is too old to be president and yet, she may well still vote for him because he served in the Navy and, well, she says "you know those Navy men."

I've reminded her all to well considering our father, her late husband, was in the Navy for over 30 years. And during that time, we had great healthcare benefits. When my father was dying, we didn't have to worry about paying medical bills; his benefits paid for it all. So when McCain acts as if he knows something about going without healthcare (as he claimed a few weeks ago), I know he is full of shit.

The man, when he left the Navy, had the same retirement benefits that my father did...except he had a bigger benefit check. And as a son of a Navy man, he always had good coverage. And as a senator, he has even better benefits.

So help me understand something...how does McCain empathize with the middle class that is struggling with higher copays or just "no pay" as it applies to some people's benefits?

Sigh....

He's out of touch; we're out of his mind. If I were Obama's campaign manager, I would create an ad of a dottering McCain at the debate, wondering around in a circle with the old Hall and Oats song playing, while pointing over to Obama saying "that one."

Unless Obama does something stupid, or the polls are lying, we may have seen one of the last bitter gasps of the McCain campaign last night. The polling numbers clearly show that people thought McCain looked bitter and mean. And although Obama didn't give a knock out performance last night, he was sure and steady...and that usually wins the race.

I think I would rather have "that one" be my president than the one who seems frustrated and angry and has no clue that we are going through out here in the wilderness.

It's Debate-able

Don't forget....

Debate number 2 at 9pm eastern time.

It takes place in Nashville, Tennessee...the state I currently live in. The same state that McCan will carry in less than 4 weeks and the same electorate that elected Bob Corker over Harold Ford.

Bah Humbug.

At least our grits and bar-b-que taste good.