Moogie's Blog

Election campaigns are like parties.  There are the invitees, there are those you invite because you "have to"  and there are the party-crashers. 

We had a bunch of contenders for the nominations of both political parties.  Some we liked, and some we felt we had to invite.  Hillary belongs in the latter category.  Barack Obama is sort of like a party-crasher.  The good guests, the ones you really enjoy, circulate, socialize,  and go home.   You always wish they could have stayed longer.   The "have-to" invitees seem to consume way too much food or alcohol, talk too much and too loud, and stay too long.  Once in a while, one of the party crashers has a fascinating story that I want to hear, but that is usually the story that is overwhelmed by some boring discourse. 

In the next few weeks, we shall see Hillary over-staying her welcome.  It is a symptom of not having sensitivity.  I am not saying she won't get the nomination, she very well may still pull something out of the air. 

What I am talking about is this tendency of politicians to just assume they are the center of the universe.  Hillary thinks it is "her turn."   That is why politicians are not in entertainment.  They haven't learned "always leave them wanting more."  Who said that?  It is never anyone's "turn." 

I think Hillary has her eyes on re-stocking her bank account somehow with the hundreds of thousands of $10 contributions that have been sent to Mr. Obama.  Don't do it please Mr. Obama.  Those people didn't send their $10 to her.  They sent it to you to run against her. 
If she's so interesting and full of ideas, she can write another book.  Of course, maybe we've had enough.

There's a Persian saying "It's better to have a smart enemy than a stupid friend."  I was praising Mr. Obama for having enough sense to stay away from Al Sharpton (a smart man), and Jesse Jackson (a hypocrite), but Reverend Wright does not grasp which side of the bread to which to apply the butter. 

It is not the side on which the bread is going to land when it is dropped.  Ok dumb dumb? 

Evidently Reverend Wright (I hope I spelled his name right) does not fear a John McCain Presidency, or else he is having his pockets relined at a New York tailor shop !

I haven't owed a car since 1990 when the fun Porsche 914 (that was purchased used from a little old lady who worked at the savings and loan and who only drove it to the beach) decided that air was not sufficient coolant and decided it never wanted to be driven again. I drive a company car when I have to, but soon I want to purchase a car.

My best friend has helped me along and even test drove some for me...here are (I think) my top candidates.  I seem to want a goofy looking semi-boxy hatchback, with AWD.  Pretend price is no object.

Here are my top contenders, in some kind of order.

VW R-32 (top reason, AWD)

Scion X-D (top reasons, reasonably priced and fuel-efficient)

Scion X-A (2006 model used) (drawback, weak engine)

VW GTI or Golf

Toyota Matrix (can't quite make myself like it)

Dodge Caliber (losing ground fast)

Jeep Compass

BMW 1 series (2009 debut)

Suburu sounds like an obvious choice, doesn't  it???  I will research those soon.

Does anyone have anything bad to say about any of these vehicles?  

Car selling is such a racket !

 

Thanks !

 

 

Funny, old Ralph is at the spoiler game again. He is known to be a Hillary-basher, so one would have thought he would choose to support an opponent of hers who now has a chance at defeating her. He will hand the Presidency to John McCain, won't he?

Ralph's followers are misinformed, in most cases. Ralph does not own a car, or real estate, it is true. But he is smart and well-provided-for, so what is true on paper is not the true picture. Wake up, wanna-be warriors !

Ralph claims to live on $25,000 per year. I know many people who could manage that, if their housing were FREE, meals were FREE, transportation were FREE. That leaves clothing (FREE?) and with $25,000 free money I would feel like a millionaire-ess!

Obama supporters may be starry-eyed, Hillary's may be determined, but Ralph's are delusional !

PS Thank you, hard working and underpaid Ralph-led researchers, who over the years have made cars safer!

What does everyone think of the ongoing political process? 

I would like to point out that Senator Obama's body language is very expansive and authoritative.  Senator Clinton, with her shorter stature, cannot match him on this point.  She seems rigid.  

Someone also dressed her like a bell hop. 

   Do I mean bell hop, or car hop?

On a matter of substance, I would also like to

THANK YOU SENATOR OBAMA,

for pointing out that then-First Lady Hillary Clinton probably actually

 DERAILED comprehensive health care reform because of the

SECRETIVE and DEVISIVE way

she mishandled the one important duty she was handed during her husband's administration. 

But, if Senator Obama makes any mis-steps, I am on the volunteer list to drive Senator Biden to Denver.

I have a few friends who all have birthdays in the latter part of January.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !

Well, now i have some serious thinking to do.  The only person I had even considered for President so far had been Senator Joe Biden (D) Delaware. (yes Paul you had me pegged).

However, Senator Biden has seen fit to throw in the towel after a poor showing in Iowa. 

Uhhh.  Now what?   I value Senator Biden's brutal honesty.  Yes, I am aware of questions about his academic career.  He outgrew that.  Which of our candidates now possess qualities that I admire?

First, I'll tell you what I have thought about.

1.   I admire people who can pronounce important words.  My favorites are nuclear, Iraq, and Iran. 

Nuclear is pronounced "new clee ar" -- not "new q lur". 

I accept anything that does not contain a "q" sound. 

Iran is pronounced "eee-ron"  not " I  ran".  Same with Iraq, which is pronounced "eee-raq" not "I  rack".  

I will accept any pronunciation which does not begin with an "eye" sound.

2.  I appreciate people who are able to visualize everyone on their level (or themselves on everyone's level).  I do not admire politicians who assume everyone outside their circle is a complete idiot.

3.  People's voices seem to affect my overall perception.

4.  People's gestures or body language must appear to be natural, or they can refrain.

5.  Pathological lying is a no-no.

Now, the first half of the debate, the Repulican half, is over.  Here's how some of the candidates struck me.

Mitt Romney has a voice like dry ice.  I perceive no warmth, although I am sure there is some.

John McCain does not have me as his audience.  He can save his dial-a-personality for the VFW.

Fred Thompson knows how to pronounce nuclear ! 

 

Was Rudy Guliani there?  How about Ron Paul?

Ok, the guy from Arkansas, he has a wit.  A quick wit is a good sign, but...nope, cannot vote for a mentalist.

 

The second half, the Democratic half, is ongoing.  Here's what I think, so far.

Hillary Clinton lied. 

Barack Obama called her on it.

Bill Richardson is smart.

 

John Edwards is still an ambulance chaser, in my mind.  True that he is not a fraud on the scale of say, a Stanley Bauman, but that does not make him the philanthropist of the year.

 

I might write more later.   Please convince me to think about this more seriously.

News people are not paying attention.  That is why people are tuning out.   It is no longer news. 

When news people pay attention, questions may occur to them.  News people enjoy constitutional protection. 

Would a news person please examine the following for incongruities, and get back to the American public.

(Dasvics already gets it.  I have confidence that several other bloggers have the ability to grasp this concept better than any of the designated "news" people out there.  Time to change drivers--the wrong people are at the wheel). 

Quote:

District of Columbia firefighters poured water on the blaze, broke windows and moved furniture onto a balcony.

There were no reports of serious injuries, Etter said. A U.S. Marine stationed at the building smashed a fifth-floor window to escape from the smoke and had to be rescued from the ledge, he said.

Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze, Etter said. The smoke appeared to come from an electrical closet on the building's second floor."

Unquote

Can we please get some additional coverage of  this?

"The blaze was located in Cheney's suite of ceremonial offices. His working office is in the West Wing. Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said the building was evacuated as a precaution. District of Columbia firefighters poured water on the blaze, broke windows and moved furniture onto a balcony.

There were no reports of serious injuries, Etter said. A U.S. Marine stationed at the building smashed a fifth-floor window to escape from the smoke and had to be rescued from the ledge, he said. The man suffered a minor cut to his hand.

The building remained evacuated while firefighters ventilated the smoke, Etter said. The displaced employees were sent to other offices or went home.

The extent of water, fire and smoke damage was unclear.

Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze, Etter said. The smoke appeared to come from an electrical closet on the building's second floor."

Yeah right.

Seasons Greetings to all !

 This time of year we all seem to celebrate "something", but most of all, can we all try to remember...its not about shopping malls.  

Thankfully, today there was some mainstream "news" coverage of the homeless problem among our military veterans.

Of particular interest was the point about our female veterans. Although they are less likely to become substance abusers, they are more likely to suffer from emotional illness (from exposure to combat stress). After the first Gulf War, the illnesses (emotional and physical) were often not recognized or treated. Now there is more recognition of these conditions, but veterans often cannot access a full range of treatment.

How many days of military spending would it cost us to build a state-of-the-art hospital to serve our veterans in every state? One center, build with private funds in Texas, the Center for the Intrepid, cost $50 million. Let's make it regional. 6 more would cost $300 million. Let's say $400 million by the time construction is completed. That's two days of war in Iraq.

TWO DAYS.

Can we get some news media interest in a project like this?

http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/content/pdf/2007_01_FA
CTSHEET_CenterForTheIntrepid_REVISED__6_1_5146_404_6_1_
6264.pdf

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/23/4049/a>

 

Just checking in...

Did anyone else notice that President Bush told Pakistan's President Musharraf that he cannot be President and head of the military at the same time?

Uh.....

Just what we need. Fake news.

In the past few days, stories have been surfacing about the well-travelled expert who has been National Security consultant to ABC News.  His name is Alexis Debat. 

This guy worked not only for ABC, but for GW University, Middlebury College, and several other consulting rackets.   He claims to have intereviewed subjects ranging from Talibanees to Barak Obama.  However, his credentials are in dispute.  His PhD, if he actually earned one, is on hold by the Sorbonne.  It was the French embassy who notified the ABC News organization that perhaps a further check should be done on his credentials....hmmm.

Here's the Washington Post story: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl
e/2007/09/12/AR2007091202333.html

Someone on these blogs was asking about a report he or she had heard regarding internal attacks on the US by the Taliban or Al Queda.   See page two of the Post article, but here's an exerpt: 

Debat last appeared on ABC in May, in a "World News" piece by Ross about the possibility of Taliban sleeper cells planning attacks in the United States. In April, Debat appeared on "World News" to analyze a foiled terror plot in Saudi Arabia, and in a "Nightline" story on U.S. ties to a group mounting attacks inside Iran.

In fact, here's the original report ...read it fast, links to this guy are being deleted very quickly.

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/09/pakistan_ex
pert_find

Debat claims the French government is out to get him, because he has disclosed details of CIA covert operations. 

Huh? 

Debat also claims to be attempting an exhaustive history of the CIA.

Here's a Mother Jones piece, too.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/
09/5453_abcs_investigat.html

The funny thing is, when I saw his picture, I thought he looked remarkably like Jon Stewart.  The real Jon Stewart, you know?  The one who does "Fake News." 

 

Here's the real Jon Stewart.

 

 

Alexis Debat.   Does this man do fake ABC News?

 

 

C'mon...somebody has got to be pulling our leg.

Health, prosperity, peace of mind, and all good things...

 

Am I missing something?  Haven't GP systems gotten very portable--and inexpensive enough that people use them to track pets, bicycles, and other possessions? 

Do they work everywhere, or must one be near a transmitter or receiver (as with mobile phones).  Or is it un-macho to use one?  I do not understand.