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Monday, September 30, 2013

The Politically Under-Informed Majority in America

While I realize that the data is a bit dated, the premise still holds.  A national survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania provides us with some insight regarding Americans understanding of the document that so many quote, particularly when referring to their right to bear arms and their right to privacy.  This is particularly pertinent in today's partisan environment where neither side of the political divide, both in Washington and on Main Street, has any patience for the views held by their political opponents.

The survey of 1230 adults taken in September 2011 showed the following:

    only 38 percent could name all three branches of the United States government.

    one third of respondents could not name a single one of the three branches.

      only 51 percent of Americans knew that a two-thirds majority vote by Congress is needed to overturn a Presidential veto.

   91 percent of respondents knew that the United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States, however, only 62 percent of respondents knew that the Supreme Court is responsible for determining whether or not a law is constitutional.

    only 48 percent of respondents knew that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision has the same effect as a 9-0 decision.

       only 15 percent of respondents knew that John Roberts was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (in an interesting twist, 27 percent knew that Randy Jackson was a judge on American Idol).

Here are a few questions from the official U.S. citizenship test and how well respondents did:

       a respectable 78 percent knew that the first ten amendments to the Constitution were called the Bill of Rights.

  76 percent knew that the Declaration of Independence established American independence from Great Britain.

   only 42 percent of respondents knew that jury duty is reserved exclusively for American citizens.

       a paltry 13 percent of respondents knew that the Constitution was signed in 1787 with 55 percent stating that it was signed in 1776, the year that the Declaration of Independence was signed.
A study in 2005 titled "An Overview of the State of Citizens' Knowledge About Politics" by Michael X. Delli Carpini examines a history of the level of how well Americans are informed about domestic politics and a comparison of political knowledge in other countries.  Here's a quote from his paper:

"...a 1992 report by the Center for the Study of Communication at the University of Massachusetts found that while 86% of a random sample of likely voters knew that the Bush's family dog was named Millie and 89% knew that Murphy Brown was the TV character criticized by Dan Quayle, only 15% knew that both candidates favored the death penalty and only 5% knew that both had proposed cuts in the capital gains tax."

On average, over the past fifty years, Americans have been able to correctly answer only four out of ten questions in a political questionnaire and the author suggests that rather than being uninformed about political issues, Americans are under-informed.  It seems that when the Democrats and Republicans take more distinctive stands on various key issues, the public can more easily differentiate between the two.

All that said, research suggests that when comparing knowledge of national legislatures in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, Americans averaged less than three in ten correct responses compared to six in ten for the United Kingdom and 9.8 out of eleven for Canadians.

Research suggests that citizens that are better informed tend to be more tolerant and are less likely to change their opinion in the face of misleading information but are more likely to change their opinion when they are presented with relevant information that proves their opinion wrong.
In closing, here's a quote from Paul Blumberg's 1990 paper, The Politics of Ignorance:

"America's embarrassing little secret ... is that vast numbers of Americans are ignorant, not merely of the specialized details of government which ordinary citizens cannot be expected to master, but of the most elementary political facts - information so basic as to challenge the central tenet o f democratic government itself."

Think about that the next time you listen to someone's vitriolic and politically polarized commentary on the current state of politics in America.  Perhaps they are speaking from their own ignorance.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Ted Cruz - Hypocrisy in the Senate

Now that the Ted Cruz "non filibuster" is behind us, it's time to take a quick look at a bit of financial background for this spokesperson for the anti-ObamaCare club.

From everyone's friends at Open Secrets, here is a listing of his assets for 2011:

Notice the heavy leaning towards Goldman Sachs products?  That may or may not have something to do with the fact that his wife, Heidi Cruz, is a Vice President at Goldman Sachs and, according to Huffington Post, he gets his health care through Goldman's gold-plated health care plan which, back in 2009 was estimated to cost, on average, $40,543 in annual premiums according to the New York Times.

Here is a listing of his liabilities for 2011 which add up to between 13 and 29 times the net worth of most American families (which was $68,828 in 2011 in case you were wondering):

Here is a closer look at his liabilities for 2012 showing that he has a margin loan from Goldman for between $250,000 and $500,000 and a loan and line of credit from Citibank for between $250,000 and $500,000 each.  Mr. Cruz's outstanding loans total between $750,000 and $1.5 million, excluding between $200,000 and $500,000 in mortgage loans as noted above.

If you subtract the range of liabilities from the range of assets, Mr. Cruz's net worth is somewhere between -$204,951 to $3,526,994, putting him in 55th place in the Senate.

Here's a look at his total family earned and non-investment income for 2012:

We can only imagine that his wife's salary is well more than $1,000 annually, given that she has risen to the upper ranks of management at Goldman.  Unfortunately, by law, Senators do not have to declare the actual income levels of their spouses.  It is also key to notice that his salary plus bonus from Morgan, Lewis and Bokius was a whopping $1,759,161 or nearly 35 times the average household income of an American family.

While the Affordable Care Act is far from perfect, it's pretty hard to accept that a wealthy man (by most measures), who is covered by a gold-plated health care plan or who, at the very least can afford the best health care that America has to offer, is hypocritical enough to insist that it's a bad deal for those Americans who desperately need some form of health protection.

Who Owns the United States Federal Debt?

With the critical phase of the debt ceiling negotiations about to take place, I wanted to take a look at  who currently holds America's federal debt, particularly foreign owners, and how their ownership levels have changed with time.

From the Treasury website, here is a chart showing which nations are major foreign holders of Treasury securities by month:

In total, foreign nations own $5.590 trillion worth of Treasury Bills, T-Bonds and Notes with the majority being held in longer term T-Bonds and Notes.  According to the Monthly Statement of the Public Debt for the end of July 2013, there was total outstanding marketable debt of $11.464 trillion as shown here:

This means that 48.7 percent of all marketable U.S. federal government debt is foreign-owned.  China and Japan are the number one and two holders with China holding $1.277 trillion worth of Treasuries and Japan holding $1.135 trillion worth of Treasuries.  If you add in the Treasury Bills, Bonds and Notes held by the Federal Reserve, a total of $2.048 trillion in mid-September 2013, 38.9 percent of America's federal government debt is held by three parties.

By way of comparison, the world's second largest nominal sovereign debtor nation is Japan.  Here is a pie chart showing who holds Japan's $9.68 trillion worth of government bonds:

Notice that only 9.1 percent of Japan's outstanding bonds were owned by foreigners at the end of the third quarter of 2012.  Obviously, this makes the highly indebted Japanese government less prone to pressures exerted by external forces.  For another comparison, here is a chart showing the percentage of gilts (United Kingdom sovereign bonds) held by overseas owners from 2000 to the present:

Currently, only 31. 2 percent of gilts are held by overseas investors, a far cry from the U.S. rate of 48.7 percent, and a rate that has been very stable for the better part of a decade.

Let's close by looking back in time at the holdings of the number one owner of U.S. Treasuries (after the Federal Reserve, of course).  For the purposes of this graphic, I am using China's holdings on December 31 of the years between 2000 and 2012 and the holdings for July 2013:

Notice that since 2010, China's holdings of Treasuries have remained more or less static when compared to the growth levels between 2000 and 2010?  During that time, the total value of marketable Treasury debt grew from $8.841 trillion to its current level of $11.464 trillion, an increase of 29.7 percent at the same time as China's holdings of America's debt remained more or less static.

One has to wonder whether the foreign holders of America's debt, particularly China and Japan, will eventually reach a final point of frustration because of the ongoing political intransigence over debt negotiations and the seemingly endless rise in the debt level itself.  With China now controlling 11.1 percent of all outstanding Treasury securities, they could easily put a great deal of pressure on the current or future Administrations on various key economic and diplomatic issues.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Real, Unpolished for Public Consumption, Stephen Harper

Very few Canadians are aware of Stephen Harper's Civitas Speech. The speech was made at the Civitas meeting in Toronto on April 25th, 2003. The following essay was written by Mr. Harper and  the content follows the speech closely. The essay was written in June 2003 and was posted on the Christian Coalition International (Canada) website. It is very difficult to find on the internet now, however, there is a copy available on the Cannabis Culture website. I actually find it really quite amusing that there is a copy on a website promoting cannabis, but then again, Mr. Harper did sing and play a little ditty at the National Arts Centre entitled "With a Little Help From My Friends" so if it's irony you're looking for, you've found it twice.

I have read through the entire essay and I suggest that, despite it being mind-numbling boring and policy-wonk esoteric in parts, it gives us a glimpse into Mr. Harper's psyche before his political handlers put a spit-shine on his image that made him appear to be palatable to a variety of Canadian voters from coast to coast. In his essay, he discusses the issue of joining the social conservatives and the economic conservatives. To most Canadians, the concept of social versus economic conservatives is both irrelevant and esoteric, however, to those fixated on Conservative Party policy like Mr. Harper, the issue is key. The report was written for the Citizens' Centre Report a staunchly conservative publication which grew out of Ted Byefileds Alberta Report (now defunct).  One of the key passages in Mr. Harper's missive is as follows:

"Rebalancing the conservative agenda will require careful political judgment. First, the issues must be chosen carefully. For example, the social conservative issues we choose should not be denominational, but should unite social conservatives of different denominations and even different faiths. It also helps when social conservative concerns overlap those of people with a more libertarian orientation.  Second, we must realize that real gains are inevitably incremental. This, in my experience, is harder for social conservatives than for economic conservatives. The explicitly moral orientation of social conservatives makes it difficult for many to accept the incremental approach."

Remember that whenever Mr. Harper refers to "social conservatives", you can substitute the words  "religious right" and you'll have an approximation of the group that he is referring to.

He also refers to the "Left" and its system of moral relativism, moral neutrality and moral equivalency and its descent into moral nihilism, particularly as it relates to its lack of desire to fight in the war on terrorism.  He also notes that the "Left" states that the war was unjustified and that it cannot be won.  Apparently, Mr. Harper, while he is many things, is hardly what could be considered as a prophet.

So, grab a drink, sit down and let's look into the mind of Stephen. I apologize in advance for this very lengthy posting but I felt that it was necessary to post his essay in its entirety.  Any sections of the lecture that are in bold print were selected for special emphasis by me.  Note, in particular, his comments about the  morality of the use of marijuana, particularly pertinent now that the Liberals have taken a firm stance on its legalization:

Here we go:

“The Canadian Alliance wrapped up its leadership race a little over one year ago. At the time, the chattering classes told us the race was about the so-called "unity" issue - the question of whether we should have one "conservative" party or two. But I asked the 100,000-plus members of our party a different question: do we actually stand for something, or don't we?
I posed this question because what Alliance members feared most was seeing our agenda slipping away. Simply put, our members worried less about having two so-called "conservative parties" than about having no conservative party at all.

I believe the majority of members supported my leadership bid for approaching the debate in these terms. My mandate as leader is therefore to ensure that the Alliance remains a strong and principled voice for conservatism in national politics.

There are two ways conservatives can respond to the challenges faced at the national level. Our party has explored both over the years, in two important phases. These two phases were not "Reform" and "Alliance": they were not about name or organizational changes.

Rather, our party underwent one period in which it was policy-driven, and another period in which it was process-driven. In the policy-driven phase, the party emphasized what it stood for. It took stands on a litany of issues, from its fight against he Meech Lake/Charlottetown constitutional agenda, to the battle for deficit reduction, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility. This was the period in which the party grew from nothing to become an important electoral and parliamentary force.

However, for the past half-decade or so, the party moved into a phase in which it emphasized process. Specifically, the party focused its energies on a process by which it could garner greater electoral success. This was called "coalition building." In practice, it involved disassembling the party's institutional structures in order to bring in new supporters from other entities. In terms of policy, conferences were held to create and sell a new "vision." In practice, this amounted largely to making existing policy stands vague or simply invisible. Whatever the electoral potential of this approach promised by the polls, the results were clearly going in the opposite direction.

Those two options still confront us today. One option is to work within an existing political party to create a conservative "coalition." In my judgement this option is the way to go, and the best vehicle to do it is the Canadian Alliance.

I also believe that a combination of existing political parties, such as the Alliance and the PCs, could potentially be an ever better vehicle. But that is not Joe Clark's opinion. It appears not to be Peter MacKay's. In fact, there is no guarantee or likelihood it will ever be the opinion of a federal PC leader. They seem to prefer to use the PC Party to build their own coalition.

While I may disagree with the Tories choice, it certainly makes more sense than the other option - to work outside both entities and, in the name of "uniting the right," to promote their mutual failure. To use George W. Bush's phrase, whatever your political objective or party, electoral success requires a "coalition of the willing" and nothing less.

Whatever attraction a coalition of parties may have, we need to concentrate on what is actually doable. That is, we need to form a coalition of voters and, to attract them, a coalition of ideas.

What is the "conservative coalition" of ideas? Actually, conservatism and conservative parties, as we've known them over the decades, have always been coalitions. Though these coalitions are complex and continually shifting, two distinctive elements have long been identifiable.

Ted Byfield labelled these factions "neo-con" and "theo-con." More commonly, they are known simply as economic conservatives and social conservatives. Properly speaking, they are called classical or enlightenment liberalism and classical or Burkean conservatism.

The one called "economic conservatism" does indeed come from classical liberalism. Its primary value is individual freedom, and to that end it stresses private enterprise, free trade, religious toleration, limited government and the rule of law.

The other philosophy is Burkean conservatism. Its primary value is social order. It stresses respect for customs and traditions (religious traditions above all), voluntary association, and personal self-restraint reinforced by moral and legal sanctions on behaviour.

The essence of this conservatism is, according to Russell Kirk, "the preservation of the ancient moral traditions of humanity. Conservatives respect the wisdom of their ancestors: they are dubious of wholesale alteration. They think society is a spiritual reality, possessing an eternal life but a delicate constitution: it cannot be scrapped and recast as if it were a machine."

In the 19th century, these two political philosophies, classical liberalism and Burkean conservatism, formed the basis for distinct political parties that opposed one another. On the one side was a liberal party in the classical sense - rationalist, anticlerical but not anti-religious, free-trading, often republican and usually internationalist. On the other side was an older conservative party - traditionalist, explicitly or implicitly denominational, economically protectionist, usually monarchist, and nationalistic.

In the 20th century, these opposing forces came together as a result of two different forces: resistance to a common enemy, and commitment to ideas widely shared.

The common enemy was the rise of radical socialism in its various forms. In this context, Burkean conservatives and classical liberals discovered a commitment to a core of common ideas. Both groups favoured private property, small government and reliance on civil society rather than the state to resolve social dilemmas and to create social process. Domestically, both groups resisted those who stood for public ownership, government interventionism, egalitarian redistribution and state sponsorship of secular humanist values. Internationally, they stood unequivocally against external enemies - fascism, communism and socialist totalitarianism in all its forms.

For decades, conservative parties were successful, often dominant, coalitions in western democracies. But conservatism has been in trouble in recent years. Partisan success has been much less common. In some countries, the traditional conservative coalition even appears to have broken down.

The irony is that these hard times have fallen on the heels of perhaps the most successful period in democratic conservatism's history - the Reagan and Thatcher revolutions. I believe that it is this very success that is at the heart of the current difficulties.

The Reagan-Thatcher revolution was so successful that it permanently undermined the traditional social-democratic/left-liberal consensus in a number of democratic countries. It worked domestically to undermine the left-liberal or social-democratic consensus, causing those parties to simply stop fighting and adopt much of the winning conservative agenda. Socialists and liberals began to stand for balanced budgeting, the superiority of markets, welfare reversal, free trade and some privatization. At the same time, the fall of the Berlin Wall signalled the collapse of Soviet Communism as a driving world force, depriving conservatives of all shares of a common external enemy.

It is critical we realize that this breakdown is not a fundamental incompatibility between "neo-cons" and "theo-cons," between economic and social conservatism. Even in the worst-case example, Canada's Mulroney coalition did not break up because of divisions between these groups. Rather, it broke up over regional and constitutional questions, and the abandonment of both forms of conservatism. In fact, the strongest economic and social conservatives both found homes within the Reform and Canadian Alliance parties.

The truth is that strong economic and social conservatives are more often than not the same people, and not without reason. Except at the extremes of libertarianism and theocracy, the philosophical fusion has become deep and wide-spread. Social conservatives more often than not demand the government stop intervening in individual decisions, just as classical liberals often point to the religious roots of their focus on the individual. As the American humourist P.J. O'Rourke observed, "the great religions teach salvation as an individual matter. There are no group discounts in the ten commandments, Christ was not a committee, and Allah does not welcome believers into paradise saying, 'you weren't much good yourself, but you were standing near some good people.'"

O'Rourke also summarized the moral and civilizing importance of markets by reminding us that "the rise of private enterprise and trade provided a means of achieving wealth and autonomy other than by killing people with broadswords." Private enterprise and trade, as Adam Smith pointed out, can turn individual selfishness into useful social outcomes. In fact, the founder of classical liberal economics came to his theories as much by his study of moral philosophy as anything else.

What this means for conservatives today is that we must rediscover the common cause and orient our coalition to the nature of the post-Cold-War world.

The real enemy is no longer socialism. Socialism as a true economic program and motivating faith is dead. Yes, there are still lots of statist economic policies and people dependent on big government. But the modern left-liberal economic philosophy has become corporatism. Corporatism is the use of private ownership and markets for state-directed objectives. Its tools are subsidization, public/private partnerships and state investment funds. It is often bad policy, but it is less clearly different from conventional conservative economics than any genuine socialism.

The real challenge is therefore not economic, but the social agenda of the modern Left. Its system of moral relativism, moral neutrality and moral equivalency is beginning to dominate its intellectual debate and public-policy objectives.

The clearest recent evidence of this phenomenon is seen in international affairs in the emerging post-Cold-War world - most obviously in the response of modern liberals to the war on terrorism. There is no doubt about the technical capacity of our society to fight this war. What is evident is the lack of desire of the modern liberals to fight, and even more, the striking hope on the Left that we actually lose.

You can see this if you pay close attention to the response to the war in Iraq from our own federal Liberals and their cheerleaders in the media and the universities. They argue one day that there are no weapons of mass destruction, yet warn that such weapons might be used. They tell us the war was immoral, then moral but impractical, then practical but unjustified. They argue simultaneously that the war can't be won, that it is too easy for the coalition to win and that victory cannot be sustained anyway. Most striking was their obvious glumness at the fall of Baghdad. But even previous to that were the dark suggestions on the anniversary of September 11 (hinted at even by our own prime minister) that "we deserved it."

This is particularly striking given the nature of the enemy here, the bin Ladens and the Husseins, individuals who embody in the extreme everything the Left purports to oppose - fundamentalism, fascistic nationalism, misogyny, bigotry.

Conservatives need to reassess our understanding of the modern Left. It has moved beyond old socialistic morality or even moral relativism to something much darker. It has become a moral nihilism - the rejection of any tradition or convention of morality, a post-Marxism with deep resentments, even hatreds of the norms of free and democratic western civilization.

This descent into nihilism should not be surprising because moral relativism simply cannot be sustained as a guiding philosophy. It leads to silliness such as moral neutrality on the use of marijuana or harder drugs mixed with its random moral crusades on tobacco. It explains the lack of moral censure on personal foibles of all kinds, extenuating even criminal behaviour with moral outrage at bourgeois society, which is then tangentially blamed for deviant behaviour. On the moral standing of the person, it leads to views ranging from radical responsibility-free individualism, to tribalism in the form of group rights.

Conservatives have focused on the inconsistency in all of this. Yet it is actually disturbingly consistent. It is a rebellion against all forms of social norm and moral tradition in every aspect of life. The logical end of this thinking is the actual banning of conservative views, which some legislators and "rights" commissions openly contemplate.

In this environment, serious conservative parties simply cannot shy away from values questions. On a wide range of public-policy questions, including foreign affairs and defence, criminal justice and corrections, family and child care, and healthcare and social services, social values are increasingly the really big issues.

Take taxation, for example. There are real limits to tax-cutting if conservatives cannot dispute anything about how or why a government actually does what it does. If conservatives accept all legislated social liberalism with balanced budgets and corporate grants - as do some in the business community - then there really are no differences between a conservative and a Paul Martin.

There is, of course, much more to be done in economic policy. We do need deeper and broader tax cuts, further reductions in debt, further deregulation and privatization, and especially the elimination of corporate subsidies and industrial-development schemes. In large measure, however, the public arguments for doing so have already been won. Conservatives have to more than modern liberals in a hurry.

The truth of the matter is that the real agenda and the defining issues have shifted from economic issues to social values, so conservatives must do the same.

This is not as difficult as it sounds. It does not require a radical redefinition of conservatism, but rather a shifting of the balance between the economic and social conservative sides that have always been there.

In particular, Canadian conservatives need to rediscover the virtues of Burkean conservatism as a key component of that balance. Rediscovering this agenda, to paraphrase Ted Byfield, means not just worrying about what the state costs, but also worrying about what the state values.

For example, we need to rediscover Burkean or social conservatism because a growing body of evidence points to the damage the welfare state is having on our most important institutions, particularly the family. Conservatives have to give much higher place to confronting threats posed by modern liberals to this building block of our society.

Take, for example, the debate over the rights of parents to discipline their children - the so-called spanking debate. Of course, there are legitimate limits to the use of force by parents - limits outlined in the Criminal Code. Yet the most recent Liberal Throne Speech, as part of its "children's agenda," hinted at more government interference in the family. We saw the capacity for this abuse of power in the events that took place in Aylmer, Ont. Children there were seized for no reason other than the state disagreed with the religious views of their parents. No conservative can support this kind of intrusion, and conservatives have an obligation to speak forcefully against such acts.

This same argument applies equally to a range of issues involving the family (all omitted from the Throne Speech), such as banning child pornography, raising the age of sexual consent, providing choice in education and strengthening the institution of marriage. All of these items are key to a conservative agenda.

We also need to rediscover Burkean conservatism because the emerging debates on foreign affairs should be fought on moral grounds. Current challenges in dealing with terrorism and its sponsors, as well as the emerging debate on the goals of the U.S. as the sole superpower, will be well served by conservative insights on preserving historic values and moral insights on right and wrong. As we have seen in recent months, these are debates where modern liberals (with the exception of Tony Blair) have no answers: they are trapped in their framework of moral neutrality, moral relativism and moral equivalence.

But conservatives should have answers. We understand, however imperfectly, the concept of morality, the notion that moral rules form a chain of right and duty, and that politics is a moral affair. We understand that the great geopolitical battles against modern tyrants and threats are battles over values. We can disagree vehemently with the values of our civilization's opponents, but that does not deny the validity of the cause in their eyes. Without clear values ourselves, our side has no purpose, no meaning, no chance of success.

Conservatives must take the moral stand, with our allies, in favour of the fundamental values of our society, including democracy, free enterprise and individual freedom. This moral stand should not just give us the right to stand with our allies, but the duty to do so and the responsibility to put "hard power" behind our international commitments.

Rebalancing the conservative agenda will require careful political judgment. First, the issues must be chosen carefully. For example, the social conservative issues we choose should not be denominational, but should unite social conservatives of different denominations and even different faiths. It also helps when social conservative concerns overlap those of people with a more libertarian orientation.

Second, we must realize that real gains are inevitably incremental. This, in my experience, is harder for social conservatives than for economic conservatives. The explicitly moral orientation of social conservatives makes it difficult for many to accept the incremental approach. Yet, in democratic politics, any other approach will certainly fail. We should never accept the standard of just being "better than the Liberals" - people who advocate that standard seldom achieve it - but conservatives should be satisfied if the agenda is moving in the right direction, even if slowly.

Third, rebalancing means there will be changes to the composition of the conservative coalition. We may not have all the same people we have had in the past. The new liberal corporatist agenda will appeal to some in the business community. We may lose some old "conservatives," Red Tories like the David Orchards or the Joe Clarks.

This is not all bad. A more coherent coalition can take strong positions it wouldn't otherwise be able to take - as the Alliance alone was able to do during the Iraq war. More importantly, a new approach can draw in new people. Many traditional Liberal voters, especially those from key ethnic and immigrant communities, will be attracted to a party with strong traditional views of values and family. This is similar to the phenomenon of the "Reagan Democrats" in the United States, who were so important in the development of that conservative coalition.

To be successful as a conservative party - indeed, to have any success at all - the Canadian Alliance must be driven primarily by policy, not by process. I have written many times that the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance made gains in the past by taking principled conservative stands on the issues of the day. I believe our party has been doing that under my leadership on a range of issues - from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to defence and foreign policy, taxes and spending, childcare and criminal justice, healthcare reform, and even on environmental matters like the Kyoto accord.

The rediscovery of the conservative agenda requires us to maintain the coalition of ideas that is the heritage of enlightenment liberalism and Burkean conservatism. Yet contemporary reality requires us to re-emphasize the Burkean tradition as a key part of our conservative agenda. In other words, while retaining a focus on economic issues, we must give greater place to social values and social conservatism, broadly defined and properly understood.

Eight years ago, I wrote that the Reform Party had to become the principal force in the democratic Right in Canadian politics by adapting contemporary issues to a new conservatism. This remains the essential task of the Canadian Alliance - to unify conservatives in a broad coalition of conservative ideas."

Now you've had a glimpse into the mind of the man that Canadians have elected as Prime Minister since 2006.  It is quite clear that, in his mind, Canadian politics is a winner-take-all game and that his version of blended social and economic conservatism with a heavy leaning toward whatever it takes to pacify his Evangelical base.  You have to have a pretty narrow view of what is right and what is wrong to believe that your side of the political spectrum is the only moral one.  In this essay, Mr. Harper confirms that his greatest priority is to foist his agenda of morality on us all.


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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Lia Stampz – Sketchy Time!

Feline Thankful blog party winners HERE

Hello! It’s time for a brand spanking new challenge at Lia Stampz and this time it’s a SKETCH challenge!

Here is my take on it..

I made a TAG !

I have used Tisha by Lia Stampz and it’s only available at Whimsy Stamps! I have coloured her with regular Faber Castell colour pencils.  The scalloped shape is drawn freehand. The spider web PP is a digi freebie. If you can see, I have tied a black string instead of making four separate panels. This made my work a wee bit easier :) YOU can do this too!

The yellow self-adhesive gems are from Pie Lane.

I hope you will play this time around, I didn’t see ANY of my friends participating in the last challenge!

Challenges: Little darlings challenges, Paper makeup stamps, The crazy challenge

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

WINNERS: Feline Thankful Blog Party!

Yellooowww!!! Thank you everyone who stopped by my blog and commented on the Feline Thankful blog party post. Special thanks to those of you who actually liked my work and decided to follow or comment on other posts too. Thank you!

So today we Feline girls were deciding on how to pick up winners. was lagging for me and everyone was using their LOL. It was wee bit too late to look for a hubby so I decided to try my! He picked up two numbers, one from the first half and the other from second half. The other bestie is taking part in the hop so couldnt ask her! (mentioning this only so she doesn't get mad :P ; “why him? why not me?”)

I can’t post your direct numbers here as there were quite a few people who commented twice, I had to make a list on Word and sort things…. sooooooooo the winners are…

You have won

4 Digis from

Jennifer Scull

You have won

10₤ Gift Certificate from

Craftroom logo

Girlies congratulations! Please contact for your respective prizes and MENTION what you have won.

I hope you guys had a fun hop, there were lots of winners! Don’t be sad if you haven't won YET. Yes, the grand prizes are still to be announced! So keep a watch at Feline Playful… the grand prizes will be awarded reallll soon.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Feline Thankful Blog Party

THIS POST IS STICKY! Scroll down for new posts.

Hello everyone and welcome to our FELINE THANKFUL BLOG PARTY and HOP!! We are SO THRILLED you have chosen to party with us. We have organized this blog party to thank all of those who have joined us as followers – over 1800 of you and counting!! We want to say "THANK YOU" to all of you who have been so supportive of this wonderful blog that tracks over 500 challenges!

A very SPECIAL THANK YOU to KAREN HOWARD, who started this blog just over a year ago and actually ran it solo for quite a while. Now a team of 14 ladies make up the DT for Feline Playful, led by SHELLEY and we continue to add NEW CHALLENGES almost daily including winners for those challenges, DT calls, blog candy and more. We are hosting this BLOG PARTY to say "THANKS!!" to all our followers for their continuing support. We have joined forces with a very long list of FANTASTIC SPONSORS who have donated images, store credit/$ vouchers and Guest DT Spots to PARTY WINNERS.

There are 3 WAYS TO WIN:

1. JOIN THE BLOG HOP - Our blog hop starts September 21 at 9:00 am (GMT) - which just happens to be the International Day of Gratitude - and ends September 27 at 9:00 pm (GMT). Each DT member (we have both past and present DT members playing along) will be awarding prizes at the end of the week to random commentors on their blog. And commentors will also be entered into a GRAND PRIZE draw at the end of the week. The hop order is at the end of the post.

2. FIND THE SECRET MESSAGE - Each DT member on the blog hop will share a letter on their blog. Once you have all the letters, unscramble them to discover a secret message. E-mail your answer to All correct answers will be entered into a draw for a GRAND PRIZE.

3. VISIT FELINE PLAYFUL - Enter your name using Mr Linky and you will be entered to win one of our DAILY PRIZES. You only need to enter once to be eligible to win all week long (but you do need to be a follower of FELINE PLAYFUL please). At the end of the week we will also be selecting at least 1 GRAND PRIZE winner.
Add your name to Mr Linky and check back daily to see if you're one of our lucky winners.

So what are you waiting for? Let's get this party started!!!

Collect your letter for the secret message dearies! My letter is “N”.

And here is my thank you card for all of you!

Sorry about the picture quality, it’s a cellphone pic. My camera has betrayed me again.

The glitter balls and silver ric rac stickers are from Pie Lane (one of our sponsors). The frame image is a photoshop brush. After printing it out, I pencil shaded the design. I finally used my DCWV glitter stack (after over an year of hoarding it I think), the black and white stripey DP. The button, gems, pearls and ribbon are from my stash.

Please leave a comment in order to win:

4 Digis from

All That Scraps have the CUTEST, most adorable digis! Click on the logo above to go directly to their store.

10₤ Gift Certificate from

Craftroom logo

The craft room has got everything! You name it, they have it! EVERYTHING in one place. Click on their logo above to go directly to their AWESOME shop!

You can comment any day from 21st to 27th September. Plenty of time to win the prizes I have to offer!

Here is the Hop order:

Please remember to follow the order of the hop so that you don't miss any of the DT members’ posts and most importantly THE LETTER. If you get lost along the way, please return to FELINE PLAYFUL to find the hop order. Most of all, have fun and remember to keep coming back to FELINE PLAYFUL for all challenge listings, etc. each day.

Next stop on the hop is Gemma. Happy hoppin people!

Hello everyone, this is going to be a quick post still have that darn migraine. The card that I have to show you today is based on the CASE Study challenge.

This headache is ruining my cards! I don't like the placement of the pink and ivory panel. The pink panel should have been visible from the left side. It would have looked better.

Those are scored lines on the caramel layer. The damask stamp is from Inkadinkadoo and sentiment from Fiskars. I added wee bit of hand stitching and lots of copper glitter balls from Pie Lane. Here’s a close up.

I think I will rest for a couple of days. I create when the migraine goes for a walk LOL but I think I need to just not do anything for a day at least.

Monday, September 26, 2011

CASE-A-Diva: Betty Wright

Hello bloggers!!

I took a day’s break.. it was Sunday after all plus I have a migraine which was much worse yesterday. So today I am CASEing Betty Wright. Oh my goodness! I couldnt decide for a long time which of her cards to CASE, I kept drooling. Seriously. Her gallery is filled with hot, beautiful colours and awesome layering. I decided I can never make an exact CASE of her cards so I better just pick up a few elements and make my own thing. I chose the card shown below from her gallery, I will also be entering this at Wee Memories.

My card:

My take is a bit simpler, but I took all the elements I could take from Betty’s gorgeous card; the damask paper, fancy border, fancy bow, hearts, glitter. And NOW I notice there is a wee bit of lace trim there! What is WRONG with me! GOD!

These hearts are hand drawn, this is why they are a bit uneven. The beautiful gold glitter balls are from Pie Lane. Everything else from my stash.

Okay so be gentle on me folks. This is Betty we are talking about! I could only CASE so much! I gotta go make something for CASE Study challenge. See you tomorrow!

Crafty hugs!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

CASE-A-Diva : Julie Tilman

Hello hello!

Today I am CASEing Julie Tilman! I TRIED to CASE her card shown below and I took the colour story from PDCC100.

Here’s my card:

I forgot to do so many things here… I thought I’d add some scoring, some yellow spatters… but FORGOT.

Can you see the gold thread over the lace and beaded ribbon? It looks really nice in person. I have placed a wooden button over the bow and then a gem button over the wooden one. Looks great, right?!

The sentiment is by Hero Arts, and frame from my Silhouette stash.

Anyhoo, details and detail shots:

The hearts were drawn free hand. These papers are from Ujjwal’s Store. I have distressed them with Archival ink in Sepia. The jumbo glitter and bronze glitter balls are from Pie Lane.

I think this flourish stamp is Inkadinkadoo. The beaded ribbon and awesome lace is from my stash.

On a sad note, I wont be getting my inks and embossing powders till FEBRUARY!!!! I am so sad :( I will however get my Silhouette blades though. Aaah lets hope Archival ink Sepia lasts till Feb!

happy crafting people!

Challenges: PDCC100, Verve, Bearly Mine, DYSU, FTR21 (vinatge tones:sepia, sentiment, flourish, archival ink, ribbon, lace, buttons,  gold thread),

Friday, September 23, 2011

Wee Memories about a Playdate with Lily Pad

*SECOND post of the day. Click HERE to view PREVIOUS card.

Sorry about the picture quality, these are cellphone pics.

Hello again, I am back with another card. I was at Ujjwal’s blog earlier drooling over her Lily Pad card. I thought I’d play along too. I was going to do a CAS card but don’t know what hit me and I decided to make this.

I CASEd Amy Sheffer’s card shown below for CASE-A-Diva dare.

Eeeee! I know! NOT CAS! haha I was suppose to just stick a butterfly where the flowers are but I thought I’d use some gorgeous papers from Ujjwal’s Store. In the picture above, they look REALLY orangey but they are not THAT bright. I drew the flowers very roughly, cut them up , distressed them and then rolled them.

I toned down my card a bit as compared to Amy’s card. Her cards are always filled with AMAZING details. But I tried to keep the elements same.

Details and detail shots:

I got the correct flower colours here! This shimmery, textured, gorgeous gold yellow paper is from Ujjwal’s store. I didnt have any orange ink in cats eye queues so I distressed them with my ever loyal Crayola markers in Yellow Orange and Orange.

The leaves are punched and coloured with Crayola in Olive Green.

The last few of the frames left from my Silhouette stash. Don’t have the new blade yet. Sentiment by Hero Arts

The gorgeous gems are from Pie Lane.

Hope you like it.

CASE-A-DIVA: Laurie Schmidlin

* For Feline Playful blog party click HERE.

Sorry, Cellphone pictures again.

Yeloow! I am back today with another card for CASE-A-Diva and this time I am CASEing Laurie Schmidlin’s super fabby distressed beauty shown below.

And also entering the Wee Memories no pattern paper challenge.

Here is my take on it.

I have kept all the details almost same. I chose to go horizontal with the ribbon and sentiment.

I am not to happy with the scoring from MS board. The cardstocks used here are very sturdy so it was quite hard getting some good score lines. I like bits of hand stitching here and there.

The sentiment frame is traced from a template and cut “manually” lol  this is why it’s a bit uneven. I will get my hands on Spellbinder dies SOMEDAY! *wishful thinking*

Jumbo Glitter on butterfly by Pie Lane – Sentiment by Fiskars – Inks: Archival ink (sepia), ColorBox Cat eye queues in Lava Black and Sepia Gold – Markers: Crayola (brown)

Here is a little tip. I do this all the time… when you dont have the right colour cardstock, just do this:

The base of my card is the same cardstock as the layer to which I have adhered the scraps and sentiment. I just coloured the edges and voila you have colour base of YOUR choice.

I think I will CASE Andrea Ewen now, I am SOOO enjoying this! Happy crafting people, see you tomorrow!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

CASE-A-DIVA: Theresa Kline

* For Feline Playful blog party click HERE.

* For Lia Stampz post, click HERE.

* For GingerLoft post, click HERE.

Sorry about the picture quality. These are all CELLPHONE pictures.

Hello everyone, the Verve Divas are daring us this month to CASE one of them. There are 19 divas and plenty of options to choose from, from CAS to cute to shabby chic. I chose Teresa Kline’s card shown below.

I am CASEing her sketch and colour scheme of blue.

The scalloped card shape is drawn freehand. The flowers are handmade. I have done a bit of hand stitching. The frame is a digi stamp by Raindrop Echo and the sentiment is Fiskars.

The heart shape is also hand drawn and is covered in snow white glitter. The gorgeous gems at the bottom left are from Pie Lane.

Hope you like it.

Challenges: Verve, Ribbon Carousel, Sentimental Sundays, Bearly Mine, Catered Crop (Flowers, sentiment, inks, ribbon, button, stitching, distressing), Crafty sentiments, Creative Craft Challenges, Whoopsi Daisy

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Showcasing my itsy bitsy spider

Nothing special about this card. In fact it is quite below average. I made this card only because I wanted to share with you guys this cute spider I drew. I love it, he is too cute! I wanted to add a red tongue but forgot.

I used the PDCC colour story.

I have used Pie Lane yellow holographic stickers (the horizontal lines) and their gold glitter balls. Added some scoring and faux stitching and tried my hand at a window card.

Dont forget to stop by anytime from 21st to 27th to enter the Feline Thankful blog hop. There are prizes on each and every stop. If you choose to complete the hop, your name will be added up for the GRAND prize which is VERY GRAND!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

GingerLoft – Vintage or Distressed

If you are looking for my Lia Stampz post, click HERE.

Helloooo! It’s time for a new challenge at GingerLoft and our theme this fortnight is “Vintage or Distressed”.

Here is what I came up with.

The gorgeous image is called “Star gazer”. I have distressed all the layers with French blue and green (colourbox queue). The butterflies are from my SIlhouette stash. I don’t know why but my hand stitching is looking a bit untidy. Not the zigzag one, the zigzag looks incredibly spot on!

I added a few pearls on the lace and one on each butterfly. Finished it off with a fancy bow.

That’s it from my side! Hope to see your vintage/distressed creations at GingerLoft dahlings! tata!

Don’t forget!

Challenges: Verve, FRT21 (stitching, distressing, ribbon, lace, diecuts, vintage), Wags and Whiskers, Paperworks Co., Whoopsi Daisy

Friday, September 16, 2011

Lia Stampz – Move Around

Hello firends! This is my first DT post for Lia Stampz. This fortnight’s challenge is to make a moving element on your card.

Here is what I came up with.

This image is called Lily and you can find her at Lia Stampz HERE. I have coloured her with regular Faber Castells and grey parts are pencil shaded. The paper is a digi freebie, I have distressed it with Lava Black (colourbox queue).

Can you see the crisscross hand stitching?? I have been meaning to try different types of stitches and this one seemed perfect for the image. Right?

The cutie twin hearts are from Pie Lane.

So where’s my moving element?? TADAAA!

The entire front flap (the image and the pattern paper) is a pocket. It’s a pretty spacey pocket, I can add quiet a few tags here if I want to.

You like? The sentiment on the tag is also from Lia Stampz. I used the scraps of pattern paper from the card on it. I inked the edges here as well. Hope you liked it and I am hoping to see your creations at Lia Stampz challenge blog!!

Crafty hugs!

Challenges: CR84FN38, Delightful Challenges, PCJ 19, Some odd girl,

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Joel Shapira is a top performing classical and jazz guitarist based in the Twin Cities. His educational background includes studies with some of the world’s greatest players and teachers including jazz legends Joe Pass, Tal Farlow and Gene Bertoncini, as well as master classical instructor Alan Johnston. A native of St. Paul, Joel attended Berklee School of Music in Boston and The Mannes School of Music in New York City where he lived, performed and taught for eight years.

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Monday, December 15, 2003

Like the script from a great movie

Sydney Morning Herald: "Let's negotiate, Saddam says"

But one of Saddam's arresting officers said yesterday that the dishevelled former dictator had immediately offered to negotiate when captured on Saturday night.

"He said: 'I'm Saddam Hussein, I'm the president of Iraq and I'm willing to negotiate'," recalled Major Brian Reed, operations officer for the first brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division.

Major Reed said he responded to Saddam: "President Bush sends his regards."

Quote of the day (so far!)

No comments:


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Monday, January 23, 2012

Release the drones!

I get the impression that Conor Friedersdorf's rundown of Team Obama's pseudo-legal excesses in the War on Terror might have struck a nerve at the White House because now AG Eric Holder is going to ride the lectern and explain why the remote-control killing of (American, regrettably) Anwar al-Awlaki was A-OK.

Tom Maguire can't wait: "I absolutely cannot wait."  Yeah, I said that.
Excellent.  The same chap who thought that waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (as we do routinely with US soldiers and airmen in training) represented a loss of America's soul will now explain why whacking disagreeable Americans on a one-off basis is acceptable.  Maybe in the same speech he will explain his plans to close Gitmo (another blot on our national character) while preserving all of its capabilites at Bagram.  The Niemann media watchdogs just can't figure out why this is being ignored by Big Media, although any righty could explain it.
Cue. The. Laughtrack.
I guess just like "only Nixon can go to China" now it's "only Obama can have indefinite detention."  Nobel Peace Prize and all that.

1 comment:

ibc said...

estimated 9 million out LGBT people in the US alone. That estimate reflects only a slightly less thคาสิโนออนไลน์an 4% of the entire population, yet we hear that more than 9% of the population is actually gay. Our community is still struggling for equal rights, to marry legally, to be out without discrimination and all the other legal rights afforded to straight people.


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Friday, November 06, 2009

Thinking about vaginal breech births

I have put a comment about the screening of this video at the MIPP blog.

A point that was only touched on in the discussion after the showing was the disenfranchising and deskilling of midwives in breech births. It has become an obstetric consultant ‘act’, even though every midwife should be ready and competent in spontaneous breech births. Midwife Fiona Hallinan mentioned that Box Hill hospital is setting up consultant cover for breeches – it’s all about defensive medicine. RWH refuses to support a woman’s choice, and staff will bully her into compliance with their wishes to do an elective Caesar. I was told that this is because they can’t be sure someone is competent at all times. And as Lionel Steinberg pointed out, an obstetrician goes against the current ‘gold standard’ at his own risk. The insurance will pay out for a baby’s brain damage in an undiagnosed breech birth where the midwives haven’t got a clue what to do, but won’t support the obstetrician who goes against the rules.

The video ‘A breech in the system’ made the point that the woman was lucky that the obstetrician on call at the time was competent – had learnt about breeches in India and PNG. There was great rejoicing around that fact. It’s tragic that an obstetrician needs to be given ownership of a spontaneous birth that a midwife could just as well have attended.

There was a lot of padding in ‘A breech in the system’. Beautiful underwater footage, lots of Byron Bay alternative hocus pocus – none of which seemed to make any difference. ECV (external cephalic version) got some bad publicity, and it ‘didn’t work’ either!

In the current climate of serious threat to all midwives’ right to practise on our own authority, breech births are a bit of a distraction. This video is good in that it demonstrates spontaneous birth – something we need to value and hold on to.

Sif said...

I found the documentary and the discussion afterwards very interesting. I was particularly interested in what was said about the intention of the woman giving birth, that as long as her intention was to birth vaginally, her success was likely to be much higher than that of a woman who was "open to all options" - i.e. open to having a pre-emptive c/section.

I was a little concerned about the idea that a doula or a birth assistant need to build a woman's confidence to enable her to birth a breech baby vaginally, but the "definition" of a doula in the documentary was quite confusing anyway - part midwife, part birth educator... Hmmm, besides putting undue pressure on a birth assist to be quasi-medico quasi-sensei, I would say this MISleads women into a false sense of security that they don't need to work with their own bodies or know what they want because their birth assistant will make all their decisions for them, protect them and advocate for them.

I find that a little disempowering to the birthing woman, as if she is a child who needs to be taught what to think and how to act, and needs someone to defer to - or even blame, if her birth doesn't run to her hearts desire (if she even knows what that is)...

Joy Johnston said...

I also noted that confusing statement in the film, that the doula is some sort of mix between midwife and childbirth educator. NO and NO!.
The research that supports the use of a doula was quite clear that this person has no professional responsiblity - no investment in clinical decision making. A birth 'helper' who coaches and cajoles and encourages a woman to do 'it' in a particular way is not being a doula.
[And, BTW, this is a very different issue from the midwife's duty of care, by definition, to 'promote normal birth'.]
Michel Odent says it well, in discussing the woman's need to be free in labour: "And when I see a labouring woman on the floor - about to go off to another planet - and nobody around except a midwife reading a newspaper, I am optimistic." [I might add, "or knitting"]

Joy Johnston said...

ps: the reference is 'Birth and Breastfeeding: rediscovering the needs of women in pregnancy and childbirth', Michel Odent 2007. Pub: Clairview. Page 27


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It’s just one of those races that I do every Labor Day with a few friends.  Some friends have come and gone over the years. Some we were glad to see go and others not so much.  Our core group has remained the same and so has our race day routine.  Meet at 6am.  On the hour plus ride there we talk about past races, kids, money, drinking, other people, drinking…you get the idea. When we arrive at the New Haven green we use the port-o-potties early so they’re somewhat tolerable.  And then we chat some more until the gun goes off and we start our 12.5 mile adventure.

Most people think of Yale University when they think of New Haven, CT.  Well, there’s a lot more, um undesirable neighborhoods in and around Yale and the race route exploits some of the local color.  I have heard many things from spectators and other runners throughout the years on this course.  Here’s a sampling from this year:

A fat guy sitting on a bench clapping: I could do what you’re doing, I just can’t do it right now.

A little boy handing out water: Get your water here…get it while it’s cold…y’all look hot!

A woman at the 8 mile mark (of a 12.5 mile race!): You’re almost there!

We all agree that the “you’re almost there” comment should be used only when you’re about 5 steps away from the finish line.  At mile 8 it’s just insane!

This year the race day was 70+ degrees with 85% humidity.  God I love the Northeast.  Needless to say I was  dripping wet by mile 3.  I felt really strong most of the way and was able to knock off a few flat 7 min miles in the final two or three.  I just enjoy picking off people in front of me and using my mantras.  A favorite for this day was “keep your pace, run your race.”  It keeps my mind busy.  There were no PRs (personal records) to be had but I did finish about a minute faster then last year (1:32:33).  For those non-runners, a minute is a pretty good chunk of time.  Running is a game of seconds.

It was tricky finding a spot to pin my bib!

We would be transformed into three drowned rats in about 30 minutes!

Some of the running stars were out.  The race draws elite athletes because of the prize money.  They get their own tent but there was still a line of them in front of their private port-o’s 15 minutes or so before race time. If you’re one of very few people who follow running then you may know Matt Tegenkamp – he won the race in 1 hour and Megan Peyton (even I don’t know who this is?) won it for the women in 1:09.  Yep, that’s fast!

Because of the crappy weather there weren’t as many spectators, and therefore not a lot of good signs.  The only good ones we saw were:

Actually, they were the only signs we saw.

The best part of the race (always!) is the finish.  At this particular race there is beer and giant loaves of bread in the park just waiting for you!  Despite the fact that I felt like I had on an adult diaper that had been repeatedly soiled, I got my Red Hook beer and my bread and sat with my friends to give our race re-cap.  There were tales of woe, of seeing things that shouldn’t be seen (peeing, puking, snot rocketing) and finally reaching the finish.  We are usually entertained by the meth heads, homeless people and perhaps a wandering clown at this point but alas, the weather seemed to keep them away as well. Booooo!  We did have the pleasure of seeing a woman smoking.  With a race bib number on.  In a park filled with people who just ran a race! I wanted to throat punch her…or take her picture but I didn’t have my phone on me.  Missed opportunity.

Newspaper in wet shoes works!

Newspaper in wet shoes works!

This is the sixth year I’ve done this race.  I missed one year when I was pregnant with the twins and instead cried my eyes out at my kitchen table because I couldn’t be there.  This race is so ingrained in my life, it’s just a given that I’ll be doing it each Labor Day.  It’s as scheduled of an event as my summer vacation and just as important.  I feel really lucky that I have running friends who race with me year after year.  I feel lucky that my hubs stays home with the boys so I can have my time away.  I feel lucky that I can run, and I’ll do it for as long as I can… which may be about as long as it takes for the funk to clear out of my running shoes!  Yikes!

Do you have an annual race you do?  What did you do this Labor Day weekend?

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  1. Great Job shedding a minute off your time!! New Haven is an interesting place. Our car broke down there earlier in the summer and let’s just say it was an interesting experience and we got a new car! :). This year on Labor Day I reminisced about the sprint tri I did on Labor Day last year! Not happening this year with the rainstorms and fractured elbow! Glad you had a good weekend!

    1. “Interesting” is the perfect word to describe New Haven! I hope that elbow heals soon, although you’ve been able to do quite a bit with the injury!!

  2. This is the best race recap I’ve read in a long time! Thanks for sharing the local color with us. Love the classy little kid handing out water! I can’t believe that lady just lit up like that after running 12+ miles. Crazy! One year I was volunteering at our local Girls on the Run 5K and saw a woman out on the course, with her child, puffing away on a cigarette. DURING THE RACE!! Insane!

    1. Thank you!!!
      OMG DURING the race? Now that really beats all!! People are nuts!!!

  3. Funny. Love those people who yell you’re almost there when you have miles to go! The annual race I run is right in my town, New Milford’s Village Fair Days 8 miler. It’s an extremely challenging hilly course with a steep uphill near then end, going directly into a steep downhill for the finish. But its a fun event and we can walk to the start from our house. Glad you had a fun race!

    1. That is very cool you have a race you can WALK to the start of! I have that with the triathlon and it’s just so great.
      Did you run it this year? Your husband?

    • Kate on September 3, 2013 at 11:48 AM
    • Reply

    I just don’t understand why people smoke anywhere. It doesn’t make sense!! Congrats on shaving off the minute! Happy September 🙂

    1. Me either!? Especially at a race!! Too weird.

  4. I just love that you have this as an annual rite of summer. You know what time you’ll be doing it, where you’ll meet your friends, and what time you’ll hit the port-a-potties! I’m so impressed with your time! Even this non-runner knows that is AWESOME!!
    The only thing we did on Labor Day was eat copious amounts of cook out food at my in-laws. Your tradition is perhaps healthier than ours!! 😀

    Congratulations on another Labor Day well done!! –Lisa

    1. Thanks Lisa! And, don’t worry, I celebrated my race with some wine & a cheeseburger on the grill!! Did I leave that part out? Ha ha!!

  5. They may have been the only signs but come on…May the Course Be With You is pretty darn funny!

    This is the first year I’ve raced at all so nothing is annual yet. I’ve one one local race that I’m likely to do again.

    1. Definitely two really good ones…AND ones I’ve never seen before!
      That’s great about your local race. Often those are the best ones. Here’s to new traditions!

  6. haha! I can’t believe that boy called you all hot. That’s kinda…a lot of things.
    New Haven isn’t so far from me, and there are definitely some colorful characters there! I can barely walk to my mailbox in high humidity so of course I’m thinking awesome things about y’all. And the peeing/puking/snot rockets stuff…I’m not sure I could handle it. I went to a fair on Sunday and it was much of the same, actually! And the snot rockets I saw? My daughter’s.

    1. So funny!! I read that about your daughter:-)

    • Hope on September 3, 2013 at 12:47 PM
    • Reply

    You’re funny Allie. That’s an awesome tradition to have. I can’t stand the “you’re almost there” comment….and I’m a slow runner so even if I’m 5 steps out…it’s gonna take a lot longer than 5 steps.lol. I can’t believe sister girl was puffing on cigs at the race. At least pretend you’re healthy at the event…smh. Love this race recap.

    1. Thanks! I know, right? Since we’re at a race lets wait to have a smoke when we get to the car maybe?

    • Kim on September 3, 2013 at 3:30 PM
    • Reply

    Great job knocking off a minute!!!
    Love the WTF sign!!
    And, I have to tell you – your abs look amazing!!!

    1. Thanks Kim!!! That is a great compliment coming from YOU! You’re an animal!!:-)

  7. So great that you took a minute off of your time! But I’m sad there weren’t anymore signs because I know how much you value your spectators! I had no idea there were undesireables in new haven! When I think CT I think big houses and picket fences, but obviously there are bad neighborhoods everywhere! Anywho y’all look great and this was a fantastic recap.

    1. We have our fair share of bad ‘hoods here in CT!! Thanks Nellie:-)

  8. OMFG! I used to live in CT so I TOTALLY GIVE YOU SO MUCH CREDIT for running in that humidity!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s like mother nature is strangling you! But you kicked her ass! LOL!

    1. You did??? Well shit, I used to live in LA!!! Sometimes mother nature needs a swift kick…and then a hasty retreat to air conditioning and cold water:-) Thanks GiGi!!

    • Kim on September 3, 2013 at 6:20 PM
    • Reply

    OMG… I have to admit, my ADD had me totally skimming this entry…but then…. THEN the words “adult diaper” jumped out at me and I knew I had to go back and start over. So glad I did… As a just starting out novice “it’s actually more of a fast walk” runner… this was totally interesting!!! 🙂

    1. Ha ha!! I always reel ’em in with the “adult diaper” comment:-) Thanks for actually reading!!
      Soon enough you will move up to “quick jogger!”

  9. Congratulations on making a better time! You have been at this for a while…good deal to see improvement over time. When I saw the picture on IG, I was like…Good Lord that’s a tall friend she has there. I don’t know why when I saw it in the post, I thought you were going to explain her height or something….very silly of me. I thought she may have been some elite athlete as you mentioned.

    Race sounds very entertaining & intriguing, 12.5 miles and all, but um..no ma’am! I was doing BODYPUMP yesterday 🙂 I worked all weekend but I’m happy to be off now.

    1. That is SO funny! The “tall girl” is my friend Anne. I can’t wait to tell her you thought she was an elite! She is in my mind since she was one of my very first running friends!! She’s just a very “seasoned” runner and has run a ton of marathons and is the fitness director at a local gym. And an amazing friend.
      You love your BODYPUMP and I LOVE that!! Glad you’re getting some much needed time off!

  10. that’s really great, congratulations! I’ve always wanted to do one of those big championship races or historically huge races and be able to compare my times from year to year! i think there are very, very few races I have run more than once so it would be interesting to see how I did each year!!

    1. You should start doing it! I have a few I do every year and I need only look at my garage wall (where I keep all my bibs with my times on them!) to check my “race results.” It’s very interesting…:-)

  11. Congrats! I love that you have this tradition – things always seem so much more meaningful when you have a tradition! Love the signs – too funny!

    1. They really do!!
      The signs never disappoint…even where there’s only two!

  12. I have a Memorial Day run in NJ that I do every year with friends – or had, I should say. I will have to find a new tradition down here. Despite the humidity, you have such a great attitude about racing! Your love for the run always shines through!

    1. I’m sure it won’t be hard to find another fun run on Labor Day (or any holiday) in your new home! In fact, it’s a great way to meet people & get involved with your new ‘hood! I’m looking forward to reading more about you “settling in!”

  13. That is awesome!!!! A minute off is huge and it was hot!!! Way to go! The best was the person at mile 8 saying you are almost there….that made me laugh out loud. At that point in th erace you are in enough pain to just want to yell at them too and be like..”are you kidding! I have like 4 miles to go!”
    Sounds fun. I did not do a Labor Day race…but wish I had!

    1. Yep – you get it!! I know she was trying to be encouraging but it was the opposite of that!! Thanks Jen:-)

  14. Hey Allie
    Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting! You are a “no-reply” blogger so I couldn’t respond to your blog. If you go into your settings you should be able to edit that and add an email address!

    Best, Jodi

    1. Hi Jodi! I love your blog. I thought I fixed the “no-reply” issue!! Thanks for letting me know…:-)

  15. You were flying! That’s an awesome time- especially for heat and humidity. Congrats!! It’s crazy how humid it was this weekend and now I’m cold. 🙂

    1. I wish I felt more like I was flying instead of trudging through mud! That humidity is a killer but yes, now it’s “cold” in the mornings but I LOVE IT!! Thanks Laura!!

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Posted at 4:32 PM ET, 11/22/2010

Psst: DADT repeal is still not quite dead

By Greg Sargent

Okay, a quick update on what's going on with the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Short version: It still isn't quite dead.

As you know, the news broke this morning that the Pentagon will release its much-anticipated report gauging the impact of repeal on November 30th, one day earlier than expected. It's reported to find that the policy can be repealed with only minimum and isolated risk. So how does this change the game?

The central question still remains: Will the Senate Democratic leadership agree to hold a cloture vote on the Defense Authorization Bill containing repeal, and will the leadership commit to a two week period of floor debate? This is key because in combination with the Pentagon report, holding this debate -- and allowing the full and open amendment process that Republicans have insisted on -- could remove the last pretext GOP moderates have to withold their support.

So here's what to watch: A senior leadership aide tells me the final decision on whether to hold that cloture vote and open debate will likely be made later next week. That's because Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, has said he will hold hearings later next week on the released Pentagon report. The Senate Dem leadership intends to watch closely how the moderate GOP Senators publicly react to the Pentagon report in those hearings. If they seem to be softening, the prospect of getting 60 votes for repeal increases -- this is a real possibility, as far-fetched as it may seem -- which would ratchet up the pressure on Senate Dems to allow the cloture vote and agree to the protracted floor debate.

So that's where we are. Repeal isn't quite dead yet. But if it's going to happen, it will only be because the Senate leadership tries to make it happen.

By Greg Sargent  | November 22, 2010; 4:32 PM ET
Categories:  Senate Dems, Senate Republicans, gay rights
Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   StumbleUpon   Technorati   Google Buzz   Previous: Left accuses GOP of economic "sabotage"
Next: Happy Hour Roundup

"But if it's going to happen, it will only be because the Senate leadership tries to make it happen."

It's about damned time. . .

Posted by: Michigoose | November 22, 2010 4:46 PM | Report abuse

Let's all hope DADT lives on and on. It's Bill Clinton's greatest, bipartisan achievment and a wonderful compromise that will prevent America's, exceptional military from going the way of the weak, Euro-weenie military.

Repeal on life support?

Pull the plug!

Posted by: battleground51 | November 22, 2010 4:48 PM | Report abuse

Gibbs said in his news conference today that the Senate hearings for
DADT repeal will start December 1st and that is why the report was released a day earlier.

Levin wants the hearings next week so that the first Monday of December the Senate can start on the two week process of the Defense authorization act.

I suspect that the DREAM act will be voted on next week.

Don't know when there will be a vote on the START or taxes. That may come up at the last minute just before the Congress leaves for the Christmas break.

I have a feeling that the "compromise" on taxes will be a 2 year extension of ALL tax cuts provided that each year of tax cuts for the rich will be a year of unemployment insurance (2 years tax cuts for rich=2 years of unemployment insurance). Also, the "compromise" on taxes will probably include a deal on the debt ceiling and it will be tied to tax overhaul to be worked upon in 2011. There aren't 60 votes for just tax cuts for the middle class in the Senate so that won't happen.

To not piss off the base the Senate Democrats MUST work to pass DADT repeal and the DREAM act because the base will be upset with the so called tax "compromise". The sting on the tax "compromise" will be less if both DADT repeal and the DREAM act are passed.

Let's see what Schumer has up his sleeve.

Posted by: maritza1 | November 22, 2010 5:07 PM | Report abuse

It looks like at least some of the Democrat, lame ducks are going to thumb their noses at America on their way out with legislative, stink bombs like repeal of DADT and Obama inspired, outlaw "immigrant", amnesty bills.

We can only hope the Republican patriots can once again cause failure all down the line for those liberal stinkers.

It's what's good for America.

Posted by: battleground51 | November 22, 2010 5:17 PM | Report abuse

WHAT does Johnny Pistole say about this???

When is Congress going home for vacation? How many weeks are left?

I know the Senate actually has a two-track process. So, it is possible to devote two weeks to one bill, while other bills are being considered on the other track.

However, all the Republicans have to do is hold up for a few weeks - and their numbers increase. Why would any Republican agree to work with Obama under those conditions ? Especially when the liberals are talking in such scorched-Earth terms about never compromising.

That is just the rub - the democrats talk tough, but at the same time they really need Republicans to work with them.

In addition, Mark Kirk will be sworn in, so the democrats lose one vote in the Senate this coming Monday.

Posted by: RedDogs | November 22, 2010 5:23 PM | Report abuse

CNN is reporting today that Plouffe is entering the White House in January while Axelrod is leaving earlier then expected. Axelrod will be leaving right after the State of the Union which will be at the end of January or early February.

Axelrod is leaving early to get a break before he has to start on Obama's re-election campaign. I suspect that Axelrod will take off for two or three months to rest. He needs it. He has been going full throttle since 2007.

I am glad that Plouffe is starting earlier. He is as organized as Axelrod was disorganized. Hopefully Plouffe is what Obama needs to sharpen the message and coordinate with Schumer on the combo of policy and message. Plouffe has always been much more on the ball than Axelrod.

Posted by: maritza1 | November 22, 2010 5:52 PM | Report abuse

Let's be serious here. HOW MANY Republican votes are out there for this?

Is Lisa Murkowski still a part of the Republican leadership? Is she going to keep that position??? I really can not see her going out on a limb for DADT

The Republicans just won the election. And somehow the democrats believe they have Republicans who are going to go against their own party, and start to implement the liberal agenda in a lame duck session ??? It just seems like a stretch to me.

I don't see Joe Manchin voting with the democrats on any high-profile liberal agenda issue.

That means the democrats need at least 3 Republican Senate votes. I don't know about Ben Nelson or Blanche Lincoln, however those two will probably not be too eager to cast this vote either.

I don't know about the other democrats - many of which are up for re-election.

The other Republican Senators, why would they want to go with Obama during this lame duck ???

Let me be clear about something else: if Obama was so intent on pushing through these items, early last summer was the time for it. If Obama really thought a lame duck push-through was possible, he shouldn't be going on these foreign trips, he should be lining up the votes during the entire month of November.

Obama has done little on any of this all month. Next week it will be December 1.

Posted by: RedDogs | November 22, 2010 5:53 PM | Report abuse

I have not heard of Republican Senators willing to hand Obama a victory in this atmosphere.

Linda Murkowski is not going to do it, she is going to try to keep her leadership position.

Posted by: RedDogs | November 22, 2010 5:58 PM | Report abuse

All, Happy Hour Roundup posted:

Posted by: Greg Sargent | November 22, 2010 6:07 PM | Report abuse

It's actually not a gays in the military issue. It's a lesbians in the military issue.

Women comprise 14 percent of the armed forces, but 50 percent of the DADT discharges. It's all about women becoming more tolerant of lesbians, not men becoming more tolerant of gays.

Posted by: blasmaic | November 23, 2010 7:20 AM | Report abuse

Leftist hack Sargent indulges himself in wishful thinking and pipe dreams as usual.

Posted by: screwjob22 | November 23, 2010 7:27 AM | Report abuse

Here's what most young people think of DADT:

Just let it go!

Posted by: scathingres | November 24, 2010 8:44 PM | Report abuse

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