Reflections on a gloomy day
It’s one of those ugly days, overcast and rainy and generally gloomy. And it matches the news lately.
The earthquake and tsunami, terrible and horrible.
Libya.
Obama fiddling and dribbling and acting so clueless that “Hamlet-like” would be a compliment.
Republicans doing what Republicans do.
The hot breath of tax time beginning to be felt on the back of my neck.
As a self-employed person, my annual and futile scramble for some sort of health insurance that won’t use up an inordinate amount of my income.
But enough about me.
There’s a little ray of sunshine here, if you can believe Hillary when she says she won’t run. I, for one, lost all ability to figure her out when she accepted the position as Obama’s Secretary of State and has continued so long in the post.
Yeah…but Neo the rain did end here, and we’re looking at 60’s on Friday. Spring does seem to take its time coming to New England, which is why all of us who live here get so cranky.
Saw that BHO and family are heading to Rio this Sunday. Nothing like checking out for a little vacation during some of the worst foreign situations I can remember. Of course the MSM will cover his ass as usual.
Hmph. I’m about to take MY March weekend getaway, which consists of traveling a few hours from here with Mr Whatsit to do what we can for my frail, aging parents, in spite of the fact that I’m hobbling around on a cane after a recent fall. I don’t want to hear one word about San Diego or Palm Springs.
On the other hand, I do have a ray of sunshine of my own: under a lilac bush in the backyard, my winter aconite is up and blooming through the snow, a splash of sunny yellow in the otherwise bleak and muddy March landscape. This isn’t mine, but here’s how it looks:
http://tinyurl.com/64ha8t2
These days, we’ve got to take our hope where we can find it.
Now this is what I call a getaway.
Cassini Approaches Saturn
“I, for one, lost all ability to figure [Hillary Rodham Clinton] out when she accepted the position as Obama’s Secretary of State and has continued so long in the post.”
Anyone who believes anything emanating from her mouth about her future plans, is in serious need of a sanity check. Neo, glad to see you’re suitably skeptical.
Those old rainy day blues and the approach of tax day can get a girl or a guy down. But the sun eventually shines through and our spirits lift as the spring flowers begin poking up in the yard.
We have had a tough day today. Our lovable old akita-golden retriever mix is gone, she just got tired of living I guess for she died in her sleep. She had been on a downhill slope for about 2 months so it wasn’t unexpected but sad nonetheless.
I too remain mystified as to why HC joined team Obama. But I’m not convinced she has absolutely no interest in making a challenge run in 2012. The party’s heavy hitter might just give her a wink, a nudge, and a pile of cash if they believe BHO’s re-election chances are shaky.
I’m on the brink of just tuning out for awhile. I listened to Rush Limbaugh today playing newscasters talking about Japan and Libya interspersed with Obama talking about vacation and the NCAA basketball finals, and I just wanted to cry. I’m not normally a gloomy person but sometimes I think I can’t stand to hear one more thing from or about him. And Nancy Pelosi was lecturing the Republicans about fiscal responsibility and passing a budget and it’s enough to make you scream.
Sorry, Parker.
That sort of thing puts everything in perspective. It’s probably the best way for her to go, though.
This is from whitehouse.gov. I am not making this up.
“The White House Blog
President Obama’s 2011 NCAA Brackets
Posted by Jesse Lee on March 16, 2011 at 12:20 PM EDT
As he does every year, the President filled out his brackets predicting the winners of the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments, but discussing it with Doris Burke of ESPN, he began with a call to stand with the people of Japan:
One of the things I wanted to do on the show was, as people are filling out their brackets — this is obviously a national pastime; we all have a great time, it’s a great diversion. But I know a lot of people are thinking how can they help the Japanese people during this time of need. If you go to usaid.gov — usaid.gov — that will list all the nonprofits, the charities that are helping out there. It would be wonderful for people to maybe offer a little help to the Japanese people at this time — as they’re filling out their brackets. It’s not going to take a lot of time. That’s usaid.gov. It could be really helpful.
-Go to usaid.gov
As for the brackets, they speak for themselves. He’s not seeing a lot of Cinderellas in the final rounds and he’s calling Kansas for the men and UConn for the women — look at a large size pdf or check them out below:”
Hillary is really earning her money this week defending Obama’s Libya policy. She’s a practiced liar, but she’s not good at it.
I’m sorry, Parker. Losing a good dog really hurts.
This is interesting coming as it does on the heels of Bill’s ctiticism of Obama’s energy policy and it’s effects on the economy. Maybe this will allow further comments.
Evening Star by William Blake
Thou fair hair’d angel of the evening,
Now, while the sun rests on the mountains light,
Thy bright torch of love; Thy radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves; and when thou drawest the
Blue curtains, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full, soon,
Dost thou withdraw; Then, the wolf rages wide,
And the lion glares thro’ the dun forest.
The fleece of our flocks are covered with
Thy sacred dew; Protect them with thine influence.
This is what I wrote when Clinton accepted the nomination to State:
“I had sincerely not thought it possible that Barack Hussein Obama would want Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State. Nor had I thought it possible that she would want to be his Secretary of State. I must confess, then, that I do not understand these people. At all. Especially Obama. Unfortunately, I think that William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad understand him all too well.”
http://weblog.theviewfromthecore.com/2008_12/ind_005621.html
There is this good news:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51404.html
which means that there is a very, very good chance Palin will get the nomination.
Yahoo!
Neo, your ‘Obama is Hamlet’ holds up very well. For example:
“One of the things Obama seems to either be unaware of, or to not care about, is the psychological effect his stalling has on the troops and on our enemies. It demoralizes the former and cheers the latter.”
Thanks Rickl & Mrs Whatist. She was a buddha dog, calm, and beautiful. If dogs can be said to smile Tango smiled all day long.
LisaM,
It is depressing when ‘Rome’ is burning while all the so-called leaders are acting like they have Saturday Night Fever. But you are not alone, millions realize the condition we’re in. Hold on, there is still time to turn the situation around. Revenge at the ballot box 2012.
Curtis,
I was looking at the comments on that politico article and saw the same familiar patern-people trying to say Palin has no chance or she has no ideas…..it is so predictable-if you follow her comments on facebook she clearly has ideas- they just dont like them……Oh how I would love to see a debate between Obama and Palin without Palin being restrained by the “reach-across-the aisle
” wing of the Republican party….that would be awesome!
Check out Palin’s “$4-per-Gallon President ” article on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150112361088435
Palin: our “La Passionata”.
“They Shall Not Pass!”
Well, if you are feeling down and want to see a good movie, I recommend “Battle LA”-probably not Neo’s cup of tea however…you need to be into both war movies and sci-fi or at least suspense type movies….i did misss the first 5 minutes or so so i cant vouch for that portion of the movie….
ironically, part of “Battle LA” was apparently filmed in the other “LA”- Louisiana
“Hillary is really earning her money this week defending Obama’s Libya policy. She’s a practiced liar, but she’s not good at it.”
It would take a lot more practice than even HRC has had to cover for BO. An army of Pinocchios?
Parker, my condolences on losing Tango. She sounds like a wonderful companion. I’m glad it was a peaceful end. I’ve had to make the decision to put a beloved dog down, and held him as he went, and I pray my current dog goes in her sleep.
I left this thread and went to PJM and saw this:
Victor Davis Hanson compares Obama to Hamlet
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/262335/president-hamlet-victor-hanson
Obama is so bad I was actually hoping Hillary would run against him in a primary, giving us two chances to defeat him instead of just one.
jon baker, isn’t it case of “me thinks thou dost protest too much.”
I feel for you too Parker. I had a German Shepherd as a kid. Wonderful dog and I still remember the feeling of unreality when I came home and she couldn’t move. She had slipped a disc and we had to put her down after a month of misery. She was so devoted that she jumped off a cliff to follow me one time. I had been rope climbing and I guess she thought I was leaving her. Amazing and fortunately, she landed on an old rotting log that was superb cushion. It was old growth forest we were in, but I think it was that leap that probably caused the later malady.
Obama fiddling and dribbling and acting so clueless that “Hamlet-like” would be a compliment.
An English professor pointed out to us that Hamlet actually accomplished a fair amount. He put on a play within a play. Result: he fingered his father’s murderer. All the while with a running commentary.
‘Hamlet-like’ would be a compliment under any circumstances
From Neo’s “Republicans doing what Republicans do” link:
In fact, the idea that it’s not enough to slash $10 billion is ludicrous to some lawmakers – especially longer-serving Republicans. In private conversations around the Capitol, they are growing increasingly frustrated with the cavalcade of outside groups, talking heads and conservative lawmakers who seem to be driving the debate
If this isn’t disinformation by the Politico, those longer-serving, increasingly frustrated Republicans deserve to be primaried next year.
Is the budget balanced? Is the national debt paid?
Those “tools” can no longer do the job.
There’s a legit reason for the gloominess. Finance author Nassim Taleb wrote a book a few years ago titled “The Black Swan”. In it he makes the case that investment managers ignore the likelihood that “unforeseen events” with huge implications happen much more frequently than conventional wisdom suggests.
The steady state world that most of us perceive is really an illusion. Consider the past decade (lifted from an article written by Doug Kass this week):
Natural Disasters:
* the 2003 European heat wave (40,000 deaths);
* the 2004 Tsunami in Sumatra, Indonesia (230,000 deaths);
* the 2005 Kashmir, Pakistan, earthquake (80,000 deaths)
* the 2008 Myanmar cyclone (140,000 deaths);
* the 2008 Sichuan, China, earthquake ( 68,000 deaths);
* the 2010 Russian heat wave (56,000 deaths);
* the 2010 Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, earthquake (315,000 deaths);
* The 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident in Japan (number of casualties unknown).
Man-Made and Market Disasters:
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon;
* a 75% decline in the Nasdaq after bubble burst;
* financial derivatives roil the world’s banking system and financial markets from 2007-2009;
* a 30% drop in U.S. home prices;
* BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill;
* the 2010 market flash crash (a 1,000-point drop in the DJIA in a single day);
* the broadening scale of unrest in the Middle East;