Debate thoughts

We watched the presidential debate Friday night. I've never wanted to watch a debate before, and I don't remember ever watching one all the way through, but I was really looking forward to this one (maybe I'm finally growing up?). I spent most of the debate e-mailing back and forth with my friend M (I have three friends M) who was watching on a different channel, while Bill yelled periodically at the TV. Ok, I admit I yelled, too.

McCain spent a lot of his time telling folksy stories, while Obama actually explained his stance on the issues.

I thought that both candidates did quite well, but the main things we all noticed (me, M, and Bill) was the body language. Obama addressed many of his comments to McCain while looking directly at him, while McCain almost never looked at Obama, and leaned away most of the time, Even when they shook hands.Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Obama actually addressed McCain directly, calling him "John," while McCain spoke only to Jim Lehrer, using the third person, "Senator Obama." The condescending and frequent "Senator Obama does not understand this issue," only irritated me because it was obviously not true.

I can't wait for the vice-presidential debate, although I'm going to have to have someone tape it for me, as I have band rehearsal that night. I mentioned to a kindly little old lady while I was volunteering at the Charlie Brown for Congress office yesterday that it should be painful to watch. She startled me by vehemently exclaiming,"I hope so!" (Maybe I should re-think the little old lady part. She might get mad)

After all this, I'm still up in the air about who to vote for* because McCain is obviously a closet Pastafarian.

*NOT!!

Pirates attack Navy Tanker

Brother Phil sent me this link today. Pirates apparently attacked a Navy Tanker off the coast of Somalia yesterday.

A security team aboard the vessel opened fire on two small boats near Somalia after they ignored warnings and pursued the ship, a U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesman said.

"From all appearances it does look like it was a pirate attack and the incident is currently under investigation," he said by telephone from Bahrain.

Ok, my only question is WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? It's a US Navy ship for crying out loud. They were in SKIFFS! Are they complete idiots or only halfwits?

On the other hand, this is obviously very good news for global warming, since there is a scientifically proven inverse correlation between global temperature and the number of pirates.
Luckily, the Flying Spaghetti Monster only needs large numbers of pirates. Common sense and intelligence apparently don't enter into the equation. And he was obviously protecting them with his noodly appendages, as they survived the attack.

ARrrrr and RAmen.

Dear Elizabeth Dole UPDATE

I received this e-mail a couple of days ago from the Kay Hagan campaign in response to this e-mail I sent to the Elizabeth Dole campaign. At least it looks as though an actual person might have read it and responded with a modified form letter. It also took them three weeks to get back to me, which also makes me think that someone is actually reading Kay's e-mails and responding personally.

Dear Ms. Soule,

Thank you for your support! Kay is focused on running a grassroots campaign and she is proud and excited to receive support from a diverse group of people. The reason she has been able to make it this far is due to the support and efforts of folks like you, and it really means a lot to us. Be sure to stay up to date and visit our website frequently, and I hope you'll take some time to help us get the word out about Kay by telling your friends and neighbors. Thanks again!

My original e-mail was appended.

Saturday Night

I try not to post too many videos on this blog because I know at least one reader (Hi Pater!) has dial-up and can't download them, but this one was too good to pass up:

Wildlife? or Scenes from the garage

Last weekend, Bill slammed the door of the house open and yelled, "Laurie! Come out here! NOW!" I rushed out the front door, rushed back in and through the house, snatching my camera up on the way, and went out the garage door in time to take this: Yes, a flock of foraging wild turkeys had just made its way around our house and was headed across the street. We counted 23 of them, and then these two came running at top turkey speed around from the front yard (we live on a corner) to catch up.As you can see, we live in a housing development which wouldn't appear to be conducive to wildlife, although we often have the smell of skunk wafting in in the evenings (Bill had one in the garage once, stealing some catfood), and treefrogs can be surprising loud in the evenings. Bill has lived here for 20+ years, and he used to see the occasional coyote. Up until West Nile virus hit, we had large, loud flocks of yellow-billed magpies. It is rare to see one anymore. Apparently they've been replaced by turkeys.

A few minutes later they came back the other way, and even later, we saw them going past our house and around the block again - still with all 25 of them.
Why, you might ask, is all the landscaping green when we live in an arid state in the middle of a drought? I ask myself that all the time.