Its been forever since I have blogged..Just returned from a family vacation to Europe.  It was great but exhausting, as you can imagine given what traveling with four kids under the age of twelve can be like.  Lots of science museums and playgrounds and zero dinners out alone with spouse at the plethora of fabulous restuarants.  More on this later, not going to write now.  Have so much unfun crap to do before I can sit down and ponder……

It’s so great being the most popular kid in the class. Everyone loves America. We know how to treat our friends and piss off our enemies. I don’t think our reputation could be much worse. Maybe, soon they will have less reason to hate us, not that we are proactively doing anything about it.

Our ally in Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has publicly rejected The U.S.’s proposed terms of our continued occupation of Iraq once the UN mandate expires in December. The initial terms were aggressive allowing the American troops to establish 50 permanent bases, soldiers and private contractors to serve with immunity, the US to operate militarily at will, and to use the airspace as if it was our own. Apparently, the State Department was led/led us to believe that Maliki would advocate this U.S. security pact and convince the current Iraqi government, made up of chaotic factions, to sign off on it. So either he was blowing smoke or he was naive enough to think that he would be able sell this bill of goods to all the different volatile pieces that make up Iraq today. Not surprisingly, he got a lot of flack from his own government, and Moktadar al-Sadr this past week took large, mostly peaceful crowds to the streets in protest. So under what appears to be a lot of political pressure, today the Prime Minister said in no uncertain terms:

The Iraqi demands are unacceptable to the Americans, and the American demands are unacceptable to the Iraqis, and the result is that we have reached an impasse…..The Iraqis will not consent to an agreement that infringes their sovereignty.

Iraq resists Washington’s demand to have a free hand in undertaking military operations without cooperation with the Iraqi government…We can not give permission to the American forces’ independent right to arrest Iraqis or execute operations against terrorism. We can not allow them to use the Iraqi skies and waters at all times.

So how is this apparent impasse, good news for us as a nation? Well, it could mean two things. It could be the beginning of a negotiation that will result in a security pact that Obama will inherit and our own Congress didn’t have a voice in. I think that could be problematic, OR it could be the beginning of the end. What if these splinter groups that are fighting against each other, become united in their desire to get the U.S. occupying forces out. What if they KICK US OUT?!?! They ask us to leave…Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing. We leave and we stop both the literal and figurative bleeding. This allows us to get back to the business of stabilizing Afghanistan and fighting the good fight. Will we leave if asked?? That is a whole other post, but in the meantime a girl can dream cant she???

Iraqi government statistics state that there are 5 million orphan Iraqi children (35% of all children).

I hope you get better soon.  We actually have some stuff in common…You went to Shakers Heights High, I went to Shaker Heights High.  You live in Fairfield County, I lived in Fairfield County.  You met my Dad through DNC related activities, I knew my Dad…. 

You are a great actor and a person who lives with a lot of grace.  Feel better.

Since Tuesday, I have been reading a lot of post game analysis of the primaries, the speeches from Tuesday and the aftermath.  There is a lot of speculation on the battle ahead against McCain, the VP selection and how do we get Hillary’s most rabid supporters to support Obama.  But I will let the better writers and experts tell you.  Here is the best of the best giving you a look at whats happened and what is ahead.

Frank Rich this Sunday says it better than anyone could.

Andrew Sullivan, who was never a fan of Hillary, has a few kind words and some hard truths.

This is very much relevant to my experience.

Mark Penn is gross.

A little sometin funny:

And the inane.

The Democratic Nominee

This weekend was a killer.

Yesterday was the RBC meeting where the fate of the Florida and Michigan delegations were decided. I watched the CSPAN coverage. It was kind of entertaining. There were some funny moments. I thought the highlight was when Donna Brazile, who is so impressive, delivered in a manner only she can, “My mama always taught me to play by the rules and respect those rules. My mother also taught me…that when you decide to change the rules in the mid-game or endgame, that is referred to as cheating.” I also liked watching Robert Wexler, a congressman from Florida. He is the one man “Impeaching Bush and Cheney” show. He argued for Obama that the Florida delegation get seated, in proportion to the popular vote, but with each delegate worth 1/2 of a vote. He is a spitter. I respect him and I am thankful for his passion. But this is an instance of when you don’t want front row seats. I am not sure it would be pleasant to share with him a small space for an extended period of time. He is a yeller too.

It seemed like a reasonable solution and Hillary got some more delegates (so did Obama) but I have this nagging feeling that it wasn’t such a good idea to break the rules and make delegate allocation decisions in the Michigan case based on polling data!!?? I think it is a bit of a Pandora’s Box letting these delegations get seated at all. She demanded that the DNC make a ruling. She got one. She doesnt like it. Too bad. Its over and lets unite and beat McInsane. Please.

So back to the rest of the weekend - Callum’s Drama and Choir Club hosted a choral group from Monte Caseros, Corrientes. It is a rural town of 30,000 in the northeast part of Argentina. It is a river and agro town that borders both Uruguay and Brasil. We had 5 guests for the weekend from this group of talented and committed singers. The choir was really amazing for a kid’s choir. So disciplined and they sang really sophisticated pieces. In contrast, Julie’s kids all have a solid understanding of music but with a lot of personality. Its like the difference between Gregorian monks chanting cannon and a Off Broadway version of Rent.

We were housing 2 adorable brothers that were the same age as Cal and Owen and their tough broad of an abuela who was making sure they were clean and well-behaved. The remaining pair, a mother and teenage daughter, were equally adorable and lovely, but there was a catch. With the mom of this adorable teenager. Ever heard of Herbalife??

Don’t get me wrong, it was really nice experience for all of us. The kids had a great time. My guests were really sweet and no problem at all. I am a big fan of cultural and familial exchanges. What was memorable, in not necessarily a good way, was the hard sell I had to endure for most of the 36 hours I was hosting. It started early into their stay with random questions about my health, how much water I drank and what I ate for breakfast. It was a relentless line of questioning so I asked the obvious question “Are you a nutritionist”. No, but she was a firm believer (commissioned salesperson) for an all natural food supplement that gave her/me all the protein we needed to start the day. Fascinating I say, don’t tell me more. She offered to make me a special breakfast protein shake in the morning. I could not wait. Needless to say, I had a very sweet, lumpy milkshake of sorts the next morning. It was one of her own concoctions (half Pina Colada, half Cookies and Cream) I chased it down with my second cup of coffee. It was also suggested to me by my health guru that I discontinue the caffeine because it was a toxic poison. Its my toxic poison.

For the entirety of the weekend I continued to get free, unsolicited advice about the other supplements and diet adjustments I could incorporate in my life. Apparently, drinking lots of water will do wonders to activate my cell growth?? It all culminated this morning with another round of lumpy shakes and some herbal pill, looking a lot like the hamster’s food, that was going to help me with my defenses. As we departed the house for the bus back to Corrientes, she generously offered me a piece of paper with her husband’s banking info, so I could wire her money for my first Herbalife provision. Not going to happen.

Its 11:00 o’clock at night. Time for some coffee!

Wow, she was persistent, and lovely.

How did you find my blog? I figured you more of a Politico or Salon reader, not a obscure personal blog that for the time being is obsessing on the Democratic Primary. Be sure to leave a comment.

I admire you. To be honest, I am an Obama supporter but I do admire you. In any other year, you would have been my candidate. But I drank the kool-aid. Not all kool-aid is Jim Jones bad . The kind I drank is the good kind, no calories, multi-fruit and with electrolytes.

I know you thought you were going to win. Everyone thought this was your year. But you got out-campaigned. In hindsight I think you would agree that the big money-focused, top down approach did not work so well. There was sexism (and racism), but that is not why you lost. You lost because someone else got more votes and more delegates. Don’t try to make the arithmetic argument. Your math is screwy. My 12 year old sees its flawed logic. You have lost.

Please suspend, end or concede your campaign, you can call it whatever you want. Sure, lets do Puerto Rico (cause the road to the White House goes through PR) and of course South Dakota and Montana need to vote. The RBC will probably seat 1/2 the Florida delegates, which is what you were asking for just a few weeks ago. But the goal posts moved for you and the only way you are going to get all the delegates you want is if you take it to the Convention. You know, it might not even matter if they seat them all if the super delegates continue to go to Obama. But anywhoo, taking it to the convention is not good for the party or good for the November outcome.

Now, you need to vote on June 4th, its your own private election. You need to vote whether or not to do the right thing for the party and your country, or very likely ensure a John McCain presidency. Please let it go. Let me really admire you again and drop out. And don’t forget to leave a comment.

ooxx e

PS Do you like the photo I chose. I think you look beautiful here…

The Hillary Clinton Deathwatch

First, it really pisses me off that there is a right, as in good, answer to this question. Personally, I don’t care if Obama is a Muslim. It would not be a deal breaker for me if he was. But the fact is that being a Muslim is a political handicap given our country’s embarrassing lack of understanding of everything Islam. So, despite much of what has been suggested, inferred, innuendoed or bashed over your head, he is not, nor ever has been a Muslim. Don’t believe me, below find the answer to this very stupid, albeit inflammatory question.

For those who need data, facts go here

For those who learn and form opinions through smart people with a sense of humor:

For those who need to hear it from the horses mouth, Obama was asked by some women during a campaign stop was he a Muslim:

My father was from Kenya,” he said, “and a lot of people in his village were Muslim. He didn’t practice Islam. Truth is he wasn’t very religious. He met my mother. My mother was a Christian from Kansas, and they married and then divorced. I was raised by my mother. So, I’ve always been a Christian. The only connection I’ve had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father’s side came from that country. But I’ve never practiced Islam.”

Need a visual:

For those who come to a contrarin conclusion by reading and minimizing imbeciles who make ridiculous arguments that are fact-famined, behold this feast of stupidity:

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/12/barack_hussein.html

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12745.htm

http://laotze.blogspot.com/

But do you know what Barack really is?? Left-handed!!!!!!!

OK, I am guilty of sensationalism. But just a minute, there is a connection and it is not that they are both guilty of drug induced, grizzly mass murders. That would be hyperbole.

When I was 7 years old, Charles Manson was busy committing horrible, terrorizing bloody murders in Southern California. We were living in San Francisco when, at around the same time, the Zodiac Murders began. I do remember conversations in my house about it, especially by my older siblings. It is any wonder I was able to get a goodnight’s sleep. In college, I took a comparative non-fiction class and together we read the highly stylized In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Vincent Bugliosi’s tome Helter Skelter . The latter is a detailed-filled, must read, retelling of the the cult, the murders and the trial of Charlie and the “girls”. Both books are chilling, but only one has body location maps and bloody police photos of the crime scenes. It really is a great, but frightening read.

What do George Bush and Charles Manson have in common? Vincent Buglisosi has written well researched, and reviewed books about their respective crimes against humanity. Published next week, Buglisosi makes the argument that if George Bush, lied, and/or withheld information to make the very public argument for war, he is guilty of the murder of hundreds of thousands Iraqi people killed in the military operation. If the brown people’s lives don’t have value, then how about the thousands of dead and disabled military personnel from the coalition of the willing?? The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder