Excuse me

Found on CNN.com

Palin says she's be honored to help Obama
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday that she would be honored to help President-elect Barack Obama in his new administration, even if he did hang around with an "unrepentant domestic terrorist."

he Alaska governor said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she would be willing to help if Obama asked her for assistance on some of the issues she highlighted during this year's campaign, such as energy or services for special-needs children.

"It would be my honor to assist and support our new president and the new administration," said Palin, whom Sen. John McCain chose as his running mate in August.

"I speak for other Republicans and Republican governors, also," she said.

"They would be willing also to seize this opportunity that we have to progress this nation together, in a united front."

But asked moments later about some of the tough rhetoric she hurled from the stump, she said she was "still concerned" about Obama's ties to former Weather Underground member-turned-Chicago college professor William Ayers.

"If anybody still wants to talk about it, I will," she said. "Because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol.

"That's an association that still bothers me, and I think it's fair to still talk about it," she continued.

"However, the campaign is over. That chapter is closed. Now is the time to move on and make sure all of us are doing all that we can to progress this nation."

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, have you not figured out BY NOW that no one gives two sh*ts about Ayers. He's OLDnd OLD NEWS, all right. We have CURRENT problems to deal with. Remember the wars we have going on? The fact that your Republican friends have a** raped our economy and are destroying any chance we have of getting off their golf buddy's oil teat? That going to the emergency room is not a cost-effective medical plan?

Woman, you are willfully ignorant, utterly hiedbound and completely out of touch.

YOU LOST!

Now shut up and go home.

And yo, CNN? Yea, you guys...remember that Pew Research Poll

Internet Now Major Source of Campaign News

Many more Americans are turning to the internet for campaign news this year as the web becomes a key source of election news. Television remains the dominant source, but the percent who say they get most of their campaign news from the internet has tripled since October 2004 (from 10% then to 33% now).

While use of the web has seen considerable growth, the percentage of Americans relying on TV and newspapers for campaign news has remained relatively flat since 2004. The internet now rivals newspapers as a main source for campaign news. And with so much interest in the election next week, the public's use of the internet as a campaign news source is up even since the primaries earlier this year. In March, 26% cited the internet as a main source for election news, while the percentages citing television and newspapers remain largely unchanged.

Do you really think interviewing ignorant, hidebound, losers who shopped their way through the campaign is going to help those numbers?

Really?

Christe people, catch a clue.

Well, yea, but....

So the American Family Association is at it again:

It's hard to believe that there are companies and individuals who want to ban "Merry Christmas" and replace it with "Holiday Greetings" because, they say, they don't want to offend anyone.

Yes, because it would be so easy to get confused. I had an argument about this with a friend one time. She was/still is I assume an uberChristian, and swore up and down that they, the great conspiratorial they, wanted to Paganize the holiday. Mostly she, and the AFA, were/are referring to the retail sector, where, you know, displays like this just scream Yule, or Hanukkah, or Diwali.

I had to point out to her that they weren't trying to Paganize Christmas, being a devote Pagan at the time. I had yet to walk into a store and hear someone wish me a "Good Yule!" or a "Happy Hanukkah" or "Have a fun Diwali" or whatever. They were trying to commercialize and secularize the holiday season. Which might be egregious, but is not the same thing.

So with that red herring dropped, we come to the next line of the AFA press release:

Christians can take a stand and proclaim to our communities that Christmas is not just a winter holiday focused on materialism, but a "holy day" when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We can do it in a gentle and effective way by wearing the “It’s OK to say Merry Christmas" button.

I agree that the focus shouldn't be on materialism, but does it being a "holy day" mean that the rest of us can't celebrate it too? Just hogging all the traditions and festivities for yourself, hm?

I hearby suggest that all my readers, of any non-Catholic/Christian persuasion use the appropriate greeting for the holiday. Happy Haunkkah, Good Yule, what have you. The holiday season is for everyone, the AFA and it's followers need to know that it's our country too. They have to share.

Now, as for those of us who are of the Humanist/Atheist/Agnostic persuasion, what are we supposed to do? I give you....

Krismas!

What is Krismas?

Krismas is a secular holiday that celebrates the myth of Kris Kringle, commonly known as Santa Claus. It happens on December 25th of each year, and is also closely associated with Krismas Eve which occurs December 24th. Krismas is part of the "12 Days of Secular Celebration"

Krismas is about celebrating most of the modern mythologies surrounding Christmas, except for the mythology of the birth of Jesus as a savior.

Krismas is about giving gifts, especially those “from the heart”; it is about the magic of childhood; it is about peace on earth; and it is about goodwill towards humankind. It is about the universal truths of goodness that surround this time of year.

Who should celebrate Krismas?

Anyone who wishes to extract from Christmas all the traditions that they deem to be good, without needing to feel like they need to believe in the Jesus savior mythology might want to celebrate Krismas.

I suspect that many atheists, agnostics, neo-pagans, Buddhists, Hindus, or other non-Abraham followers may want to celebrate this holiday. Some Muslims and Jews may also wish to celebrate this holiday. There may even be a few “liberal” Christians who see the benefit of celebrating this holiday.

Why was the name "Krismas" chosen?

First and foremost, the name was chosen because it sounds nearly identical to Christmas. If someone had Trademarked the name “Christmas”, we’d probably be sued. But as far as we are aware, that name is in the public domain :-) The idea behind having a nearly identical name is that you can wish someone a Merry Krismas without needing to explain a whole new holiday, in fact the other person will probably just assume you said “Christmas”. So this holiday can blend into our current traditions very easily, without getting people who may not have the same beliefs as you all riled up. But you still don’t have to accept the part about Jesus being a savior, or even the existence of Jesus if you so choose.

(From the Krismas Wiki here)

Problem, solved! Keep wishing everyone a Merry Christmas Krismas, and be sure to spread the idea of Krismas far and wide.

I even give you a button:

Which should be linked to http://www.krismas.org Not the best button, perhaps, but it will do for now. And if you want to get away from the commercialization of Krismas, I suggest handmade/homemade gifts and decorations.

So, remember, as we ramp up to the holiday season, you share this country with people of all faiths. That means sharing the season too.

An argument for a home manager

I found an interesting article over at the NY Times, Money Is Tight, and Junk Food Beckons by Tara Parker-Pope. It's about a couple who ran themselves an experiment, living on $1.00 worth of food a day in the US, for one month.

The standout quote:

One of the biggest changes was the time they had to spend in meal preparation.

“If you’re buying raw materials, you’re spending more time preparing things,” Mr. Greenslate said. “We’d come home after working 10 to 11 hours and have to roll out tortillas. If you’re already really hungry at that point, it’s tough.”

One of my favorite arguments for having someone manage at home is that it's healthier for the budget as well as the body. Having someone at home means home cooking the bulk of the time.

Think about it, most people work an 8 hour day. That doesn't count lunch, of course, or commute time, factor those in and you're gone usually 11 hours. You come in the door, and you're tired, and your hungry, and so are your kids who have been gone that much time as well, and no one wants to go cook for 30 min to an hour to get to food. And no one wants to clean up the mess afterward. How much easier to pick up drive-through on the way home, eat, and toss the mess.

With a home manager or homemaker in the family, dinner is on the table around the time you get home. If they're doing their job much of the mess should be cleaned up (no one is perfect, I usually have a mess lingering, but that is the ideal.) And at a minimum the kids have been home for a few hours and have had a chance to mellow out. Even if said kids have been pulled in every know direction, and you're eating take-out because of it, it's a conscious decision on your part to enroll them in soccer/ballet/piano/what all, no? You have the option to make healthy, home-cooked meals a priority if you want to.

According to the article the average American spends $7/day on food. The husband and I eat very well on roughly half that. That right there is a big part of my "income" as a homemaker.

I don't like to use the term "housewife" too much because some of the Religiously Righteous like to proclaim that only a woman can care for a home, and caring for a home is the only job for women. Horse hockey! A woman can do it, a man can do it, a group of people can come together collectively and have one person do it for a number of smaller families (admittedly rarer, but I've seen a couple of households run like this and they ran very well.) The point is the someone does it. Otherwise you're all just working to like the corporate pockets, spending far too much on food prep and upkeep and fuel and who knows what else, all the while trying to buy happiness. It just doesn't work.

So, reason #2 why Home Managers are a valuable part of society: They save money and help make people healthier by cooking at home.