mmm-hmm

great weekend. good food, good friends, good conversations & good work completed. classes start Tuesday for the fall quarter. I'm trying to take it easy--meaning I'm taking a full load, but none of those crazy extra science courses that typically keep me up at nights. I'll be taking my quals sometime soon, so I'm writing away! And trying to secure meetings with my evasive advisor.

on another note, I received a disturbing "pro-McCain" email from a conservative Christian friend over the weekend. Not disturbing because it was pro-McCain (hey, we're all free to our views), but disturbing because it was laden with half-truths & evangelical/conservative propaganda. Do people really believe Obama is a Muslim? People, THINK for a minute! The fact that he has raised his children in Christian church and celebrates Christian traditions and makes Christian claims and has been known for decades as a Christian here in Chicago... well... really none of that matters. Because he's black & his middle name is Husain. And in saying the other week "I don't know why people still think I'm Muslim," people have distorted that sentence to say "I'm Muslim & don't get why people care." Watch the interview, people.

More of the email went on to say who cares if Palin has experience--she "loves God" and that's enough. Wow. Since when did we start electing Christians to the white house regardless of qualifications?? Oh, whoops. Sorry. My bad... Bush was elected twice. And that's sure does us a lot of good. Regardless, Palin's theology disturbs me more than her politics. The "de-gayification" rally held at her home church last weekend is just one example.

On another note, an Alaskan friend of mine wrote to share about a rally help by Alaskan women against Palin over the weekend. It was organized over coffee by a few friends and turned into quite the affair!


Happy Monday!

palining

WARNING: this post is of political nature & may be offensive to some... if you are a fan of sarah palin maybe just scroll down & check out photos from the lake. They're pretty & shouldn't induce you to rage against the screen.

That's right. I'm "PALINing" this morning... I know I know, photos of Mollie are what you came for... but I'm finally catching up on the Charlie Gibson interviews & need to share my deep sense of satisfaction (and terror regarding this November). I feel validated: it's clear he's just as unimpressed with her unintelligible, lots-of-words-little-content answers & reliance on poor rhetoric as I am (tell me again, Mrs. Palin, how do you propose to cut national spending??? For those of you who missed it, her answer sounded a lot like "blah blah blah de blah"... if you don't know, please just say it?). Thank you, Charlie: for reminding our nation that this woman is not a) sufficiently 'deep thinking' or b) sufficiently experienced to run this country. I'm going to have to disagree with you, McCain: I'd LOVE someone from the "ivory tower" in the office! Please, give me someone who will take the time to step back & THINK about decisions before pushing them! I'm getting awfully sick of shit for brains politicians speaking on the international stage for our country. If the GOP wins again, puh-lease, McCain, stay healthy??? His head seems a bit more tightly screwed on than his dear running mate's.

The comment I logged on to discuss... she stated that ordinances limiting the purchase of semi-automatic guns should not be supported because they will only stop individuals from buying guns who will "use them ethically." um... hmf. Use them ethically. okay. Loaded statement. The absolute only scenario for which I define gun use as "ethical" is hunting by necessity (meaning, shooting our own meat.. the amount we NEED). For which semi-automatic weapons aren't necessary (I thought shotguns were commonly used? Drew has a handsome bow/spear thing he seems to like...). Sport hunting? nope. Any gun use against a human? nope. But then again, I'm just a crazy Mennonite. So tell me, how would you define "ethical" gun use? And what's so bad about making them a bit harder to get?

As she can see Russia from her state, she must be close with Putin. As Jon Stewart put it, Alaska's also close to the North Pole... so maybe she's also tight with Santa? If she's elected this November, let's take that opportunity to ask Santa for a better economy.

For those of you who missed SNL last night: be sure to YouTube "Tina Fey, Palin, SNL"!