Lightning Illuminates

I attempted live-blogging from the election night Illuminati gala, but while the wifi gave four bars, the internets were denied to me. The computers projecting news feeds on wall screens were wired in.

I got there earlier than planned, and the dining event was still in full swing. Madame ChairLady added me to the list, and I pinned on a name tag. A non-sucky band played, and among the animal and pasta and cake and cookie dishes was a salad bar with raw cauliflower.

Seeing the faces of people in the crowds broadcast from around the country moved me. So much worry that skullduggery would steal this, or that a close count would drag things out. So much joy that Obama has been declared the winner. News bureaus say so, concession speech, VICTORY speech. A done deal.

My companions needed to stay late to finish their hosting duties. So I was still there when our Governor, Christine Gregoire went over the top and made a victory speech on television. I got a bumper sticker and two bilingual campaign buttons. I had my picture taken with Barrack. Now to read the speeches that I half heard above the roar of the crowd.
Posted by Prisstopolis at 12:39 AM 0 heard from
Labels: election night, pictures, politics, presidential campaign, raw food

Fu Yu

The voting has been done. Straight Democratic ticket, and if one of the non partisan judicial candidates enjoys the similarly gendered, so much the the fairer meting of justice there shall be. I picked up a free coffee with brown sugar at Starbucks. It was made from burnt beans that were over-boiled, truly an incentive to stick to carrot juice or green tea! I voted against all of the initiatives except for one increasing public transportation. It is expensive and will probably fail.

Here in Washington State we considered something billed as the "death with dignity" initiative if you were in favor, or as "medically assisted suicide" if you were against it. I'm in the against camp, even though it is likely to pass. I've looked at the argument in favor. The prescription would be available only to those expected to expire naturally within six months, and they would have to submit to a psychological interview and be determined to be mentally competent.

In Judaism, doing away with yourself is a strict no-no. It can be looked at as self-murder. The way that we rationalize it and forgive those who are assumed to have done this, is to believe that they must have been depressed, they must not have been in their right minds. So I'm in favor of thorough pain relief, I'm in favor of treatment for depression, and I'm definitely in favor of not unnaturally prolonging lives of comatose people dependent on respirators. Hospitals and hospice care have come a long way in establishing guidelines to prevent that from happening. A lot of people that I know who have religious faith and practice seem to able to support this initiative and not find a conflict. Our State voted on a similar initiative 16 years ago and it failed at that time. This one is considered to be drafted more carefully.

The fuyu? More Japanese persimmons. Marked down because they were getting soft. Perfectly sweet and ready to dig into.

What a Vice President Does (The less, the better.)

The Vice President is just there to serve as a backup in case the presidential disk crashes. There is also the rarely required tie-breaking vote in the Senate. NOTHING ELSE.

Voters hope that if a VP assumes the presidency, ongoing administration policies will be continued, but the new guy has no obligation to do so. Ideally, a running mate is chosen based on sharing the philosophies of the main candidate.

All of this adviser, lobbyist, little helper, ghetto enforcer, brains behind the machine, surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top window-dressing is not why we have one. Although a VP can come in handy to represent the U.S. at foreign funerals, or to toss out the first baseball of the season.

A conscientious VP would spend time every day reading the congressional record, the newspapers, twitter, and anything the president sends over.

The idea is to stay informed, to be ready if called upon.

Plumber Joe, Surfer Joe, Peggy Sue

I haven't seen Mark Russell on a television set near me lately, but he used to show up several times a year on public channels with his red, white, and blue draped piano and political satire set to Broadway tunes. The last time that the stock market suffered a "correction," he explained that two days earlier had been "Black Monday, followed by Gray Tuesday, and today is Beige Wednesday."

Wikipedia informs me that Marky-baby is still above the sod. I never saw him use any rock and roll songs, but he's my inspiration for this little ditty.

Do you know plumber Joe
Keeps your float valve on the go
That plumber, plumber Joe-ho ho
Oh when you gotta go you you need a plumber in the know

Kitchen sink, to pour a drink
Like to hear those glasses clink
I neeed a workin' kitchen sin-hi-hink
Can't pour a drink without a workin' kitchen sink

Water flow, money dough
Cheddar to top your nacho
He's keepin' your taxes lo-ho-ho
Because a liquid lucre has got to have that flow!

(Chuck Berry style guitar solo)

Quarter mill, such a thrill
Or just a think tank well-paid shill
This message is getting shri-hill-hill
We can fix this mess if you just let me DRILL BABY DRILL