Tag Archives: News

Flying Cat, Police & SCOTUS

Well, this time I remembered to put subjects down when I thought of them to remind myself of what I wanted to write about.  =)

Today we actually got a few things done, hubby got the place vacuumed of all the cat fur…not a fun job. We did some outside work.  Hubby got it done much faster then I thought it would take. I got #8 of strawberries cleaned and frozen, shortcake made, laundry done & a blog post.  Tomorrow, debating on making up some egg salad and need to finalize our taxes….fun, fun….  I really need to get back focused on our project….need to get that done.  What I need to do, is put on my ipod to my classical music and just tunnel vision myself.

I finished the Secret Lives of the Supreme Court last week. That was a very interest for a SCOTUS geek like me….grin I’m now reading True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy.  I’m really enjoying how he wrote it.  It is filled with humor, personal insight…..telling a story without it being dry.  So far you get to know people like he knew them….  I have been trying to give myself reading time…it really helps for chilling out and keeping my sanity.  =)

I so can’t wait for more hiking weather…just to get out of the house more.  The gym is getting ho-hum…I think I’m getting restless with it.  I don’t want stop it, just want to get more drive again and less boredom.  Changing between the treadmill & elliptical is helping.  But by the time I get my abs in, I don’t feel like getting my weights in….not good.  But as long as I’m maintaining for now, it is a good thing.  Once we get out more, it won’t be so bad.

We discovered that our other cat, Sakura, can fly….grin  But unlike her brother, she didn’t care that we saw her.  We have a black leather chair that spins with a foot stool about 5-6ft away from the end table.  As we were watching a Ron White stand up, I saw out of the corner of my eye a chunky furry body flying through the air from the end table to the chair….she landed on the top of the chair and it went spinning around in circles.  LMAO  She just looked at us like “What? I do this all the time”  Holy cow…..we just lost it…  I don’t get these 2 cats….we’ve never had cats act like they don’t give a rats ass about us correcting them and don’t care if they do things in front us that they are not allowed to do.  They are something else…we have never had cats fly before….LOL

There is one thing that I find very different to me here in Portland.  I guess there is a history of police brutality from the PDX police.  And from the news reports it sounds like they have taken a lot of steps to correct the actions of the past.  But there have been a few deaths from police shootings in the last year or so.  One of the shooting, sounds like the cop totally screwed up, but unfortunately we had one a few weeks ago and there has been protests….but this one doesn’t sound like a screw up.

This last shooting, the guy was covered in blood, had a knife and was acting crazy.  A knife is a deadly weapon, I would prefer and would hope that they could find another way to disarmed them….but a knife is not something that you play with when it comes to the public and your safety.  So with the info that has been released, at this time I feel it was more like a justified shooting….but I like to hear the all the info.

I hate the arm chair “cops” that act like they know what should’ve been done without being in that situation and knowing all the facts.

Now yes, I know that there are cops that abuse their authority….ever dealt with a small town cop on a power trip?  Not fun.

But now a days, in most places (there are some cites that are nothing but corruption…..not going to name the ones I won’t trust) most cops are just doing their job, trying to keep the public safe.

Maybe I just have been lucky with my dealing with cops, especially the county and state cops in IN, even when I’ve gotten pulled a lot when I was younger and dumber (very well deserved pull overs, 90% of the time). I’ve only had one bad experience, it was in FL and that was due his attitude and talking to others…this cop was known for being an ass….so I don’t actually count him.  Every other cop I’ve dealt with has always been professional.  I treated them with respect and it has always been returned.

My first two jobs were in food service and when cops and emergency responders came in they got 50% off. There are two main reasons for that.  One you know their jobs don’t pay…..so two, if you take care of them and they keep coming back they keep even a better eye on your place.  One of places I worked, it was the only location in all of Lake Country that hadn’t been robbed, because we had cops there all the time. And when they saw cars that they didn’t recognized in our parking lot after hours, they called us to check on us to make sure that everything was ok.  So it is a win-win situation.

So, even though I know that PDX police’s history has been spotty, I’m very uncomfortable with how quickly that they “burned at the stake” no matter what the info is….like the knife and the threats.  It so ties the hands of the good cops that are putting their lives on the line to do a thankless job.

Well, if you follow my tweets with all the links, you know that I’ve totally tied up in the retirement of Justice Stevens.  When you are addicted to politics, history and social issues you know that the Supreme Court is a huge part of our advancement in society, ie Civil Rights…women being allowed to control their own bodies.  What is really sad about Justice Stevens retirement is that he is seen as the force on the liberal side when he is actually old republican moderate.  It is the court that has changed.

The right-wing-nuts rally against “activist judges” (which is code for liberal judges) but their hypocrisy shows because the actual activist judges on the bench are the conservatives.  They are always rolling back our rights…..I feel as if they are going to throw us back to segregation and back alley abortions.  Screw our rights as long as corporations are allowed to do what they want and the white men keeps their power…..ggrrrr No ONE tells me what I can or can’t do with my body, my husband respects that.

Time to do a little bit of reading.  =)

My Random Thoughts

Eat Me!
  • 08:36 Real Officers know not to ever fuck with/disrespect their SR Enlisted, once she did, it was over… tinyurl.com/yeecb9w
  • 08:38 Anti-Gay Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, was arrested Wednesday morning for DUI after leaving the popular gay bar… DOH!
  • 10:40 RadarOnline – Chief Justice John Roberts “seriously considering” stepping down from Supreme Court “for personal reasons” – WOW! if true…
  • 11:16 RadarOnline.com obtained new information Justice Roberts will NOT resign. The justice will be staying on the bench. – Fuck RadarOnline.com
  • 12:47 Sitting behind 1 car at the DEQ, last time I was here there was 50+ cars, so this is better…
  • 13:14 now sitting at DMV, I’m 208, serving 199, at least there is a flock of brats running around… could be worse… Right?
  • 13:16 mmmm… Love sitting to stale chain smokers…. I wonder, where do they get that hacking cough???
  • 13:20 lol… Bible thumpers tried to convert me as I sit at the DMV… That went over real well…
  • 13:49 DMV part 2… Great way to find out no credit cards accepted, cash/check only… I’ve not wrote a check in years…
  • 14:36 After 2 years I just realized my Indy Colts plate cover on my Jeep covers the expiration dates of the plate… doh! I know nothing…
  • 16:52 why is it the weather turns to shit whenever the Canadians come to Portland? Been near 50-60F for 2 weeks, Monday 40 and rain…
  • 16:54 so the days the Canadians are here, shitty weather, the day they leave, great weather.. Canadians… I’m judging you… Harshly… tisk tisk
  • 19:03 oh yeah, I ran 4 miles again today, I hope I can do 4-5 Friday but my legs are pretty sore right now, ice packs 
  • 23:54 The Daily Show – Chatroulette – Once of the funniest clips they have done, I hurt from laughing… tinyurl.com/yg6b6ot

Hey Strangers!!

Just taking it easy, if you call yelling at the TV easy……grin

WHO DAT!!!  Saints are looking much better then it started when Cardinals did the 1st TD.  Good going Saints!  I would so love to be in New Orleans for a home game.  I really love how the team and the city have come together.

Very cool!  Colts have won.  GO HORSE!!!

Sucks that Purdue lost their 3rd game in a row.  =(  What the hell?!?  ggrrrr

I really should be doing our books and more of my online work.  But sometimes you need days like this. Spent some time working on my own little projects.  Really need to make a list of things that I should focus on.  But even got more distracted then I planned, totally redid one of my blogs and it wasn’t planned at all….lol  I haven’t gotten a thing done that I planned today (even this) and it is already 8pm….ggeeezz….I started this around 2pm…icks

**It is now 10pm….lol  As you can see from my blog (paulineantoinette.com), I’ve totally redone it…..I’m very pleased with it.  I used our own pictures for the rotating header.  Just need to adjust a few of them.  But this layout made it so easy to make it my own.  =)

Alright, what has been going on with me so far….good thing for twitter, really helps to share what is going on, because by the time I do an entry I have no idea….lol

Well as of 2/21 we will be doing the gym on a regular basis for 2yrs.  For us, that is huge. I’m still getting people telling me how good I’ve done with my weight lose and workout.  This week wasn’t the best of working out. I got the treadmill in and my abs, but no motivation for my weights…not good.  So hope for a better week this time.

Last Saturday we drove up to Seattle, one of our very good friend was celebrating his birthday by having a get together at a funk show at the Tractor Tavern.  We saw Olympic Sound Collective & Eldridge Gravy and The Court Supreme, the other band was Black Cherry Crush, but they didn’t have a link on the Tractor’s site.  Holy cow, it has been years since we’ve seen a live act and that loud.  Our ears were ringing all day Sunday….lol  We had a blast…..we love visiting with our friends up there.  We actually got up early enough Sunday to get on the road & made the expressway in Seattle before it closed to the southbound lane.  That expressway is a big help on dealing with Seattle traffic…..I hate that part of I5….lol

We got home by 4pm, was crashed out by 11pm and you would think we would be fine at 8am for the gym…..well, it didn’t happen.  When the alarm went off, I was so loopy and confused.  When you wake up like that, means you need more sleep.  So we crashed some more.  For once, I didn’t feel guilty about missing the gym since it was needed.  Just not happy that I’m 4miles under what I do in walking for the week.  But I’ll be back to my norm next week.  =)

We finally got a break in the winds, we’ll see how long it lasts.  Getting a steady wind of 20-30mph with gusts up to 40/50mph on a regular basis can drive you batty.  But we’ve has temps in the high 40s/low 50s this week.  It has been very nice.  =)

Hubby’s Jeep got egged by in November (that assholes) and we finally got it in and taken care of this week.  Good thing we got full coverage and it was covered by comprehensive….nice bonus is that we don’t have a deductible.  =)  But now I need to take my Dakota in next week, it sometimes dies out when in idle, especially when in reverse…..probably the fuel injection.

The kitties are feisty as ever….grin  They really do make us laugh and give us joy.  Alexis is partial deaf and we think is going senior since she’ll cry out so loudly for no reason.  When she wants my attention, she wants my attention.  Drew can’t handle it when I go to bed and he isn’t there by my side.  Sakura is as evil as ever…..loves to bite…grin  Hubby so spoils her and doesn’t like to yell at her at all…..grin  He brought a new toy mouse for them that squeaks when they impact it.  Sakura is loving it big time, growling over it, carrying it around, throwing it in the air as she bats at it.  Drew doesn’t seem to carry for it, but he doesn’t seem to play with the bigger toys much.  He loves the really small toy mice.

Pretty much, I’ve just been doing my work and every day stuff.  Nothing very exciting I’m afraid. =(  But it keeps me busy.  =)

Now for a service announcement, as you know Haiti is suffering…..every time I see a story on the news or online, I end up crying….I’m too soft when it comes to things like this.

Even if we aren’t there to help, we can send money to organizations that can do best work.  Just make sure that you are giving to legit organizations and not scams.  It is best to find ones that are reported on by news organizations or go to the State Department or White House site to find the best way to give.  Just give what you can, as you have heard it has added up very fast.

Haiti Text-To-Give Numbers, via Gigaom and Mobile Giving Insider
•Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross
•Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to International Rescue Committee
•Text HAITI to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
•Text YELE to 501501 to donation $5 to Yele
•Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to The United Way
•Text CERF to 90999 to donate $5 to The United Nations Foundation
•Text DISASTER to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International
•Text RELIEF to 30644 (this will connect you with Catholic Relief Services and instruct you to donate money with your credit card)

Again, why is this only on Comedy Central?

Peace!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-29-2009/for-fox-sake-

_____________

FOX “News” is VERY biased… MSNBC is VERY biased… CNN is just fucking lazy and stupid. We need another Walter Cronkite…

Political Figures

I’m sadden by the passing of Ted Kennedy. I’m not a big fan of the Kennedy family legacy stuff and Camelot talk.

JFK & RFK each had potential, but it was not realized so why go on about it what could’ve been. And honestly with out the political capital that LBJ got with his reelection after JFK’s death the Civil Rights and the Great Society programs would’ve never passed. That legislation really helped to move our society forward and gave the poor and old the safety nets.

What also always bothered me about how people go on about the Kennedy is family is how they gloss over and white wash over Joe Kennedy’s shaddy business/political dealings and his Anti-Semitism. The good thing he did was teaching his family public service, even if it was for his own ambitions it worked out in the end that they had a positive effect on the country. The generations following him are the ones that built the Kennedy name for public service.

But Ted Kennedy’s story is interesting in that you see someone who was over shadowed by his brothers and when they murdered, he had an intense pressure put on him about going for president. So in a lot of ways, even with his wealthy upbringing, he was set up to fail. But he found away to come out on his own….especially after the pressure of becoming president was removed. He keep his humility and didn’t care if he didn’t get credit if it would derail the goal. He honestly tried to help people who were less fortunate and that I admire, because he really didn’t have to.

I think what saddens me is the end of the era when our elected officials (overall) use to know how to work together even if they were very partisan. They knew that they were there to serve us and do what was right, not use the system just for themselves. They were able to argue, fight over issues but still respect each other afterwards. They no longer actually learn about the issues and work them. That is what is missing today.

What is also kind of strange is that Ted Kennedy has been in the Senator my whole life. Kind of weird to know that he will no longer be there, even if hasn’t been there for the last year. You just knew that he was there fighting for the less fortunate and it was reassuring to know that someone in power thought of them and was doing their best.

While today, one of the GOPers in the gang of six admitted to his town hall that he was there to stop health care. So he is either a liar and a coward to the people that voted him in or a liar and coward to the other senators he serves with….that is just screwed up….he really doesn’t care about what is good for this country…he isn’t offering solutions, just knows how to say no.

I had so hoped that Kennedy would be able to come back enough to help get health care passed. We needed someone with his stature, backbone and know how to get it passed.

But I knew when he didn’t go to his sister’s funeral that the end was near. And then when we heard the breaking news on ABCNews (none of the other news sites had it yet), the last images of Diesel start to play in my head. I started to pic how Kennedy looked towards the end, because we just saw the same thing happen to D. =( Then images of other friends that lost their lives to brain tumors. It is a horrible way to go….but, at least for him, he got to live his life fully….our friends didn’t get to see their kids/grandkids grow up and start to live their lives.

All the stories and memories that I’m reading about Kennedy doesn’t help, sounds like someone that would’ve been interesting to meet. And I’m a MAJOR sucker for a good life story and I’m a softy for them. So I tear up often and easily…..it really drives me nuts…because I can’t never enjoy the story without getting a stuffy nose and having to blow it….blah

I got the feeling I’ll be picking up Ted Kennedy’s memoir when it comes out….that is a lot of history.