143 days of experience... Examining Barack Obama.

The chain mail claiming that Barack Obama only had 143 days of REAL experience before forming his presidential exploratory committee is all over the internet. You wanna know the REAL story? Here ya go...

Here are some facts and links to sources. Read them and form your own opinion.

1) Cheri Jacobus posted her article on The Loft, the blog for GOPUSA, on May 5, 2008 :
www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=707

2) Barack Obama took the oath of office for the Senate on January 4, 2005:
www.obama.senate.gov/about/

3) Barack Obama announced his presidential exploratory committee on January 16, 2007:
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16652674/

4) Barack Obama made his formal announcement speech on February 10, 2007:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IHvOYY6feI

5) The US Senate was in session for the following number of days since Barack Obama took office:
2005 - 136 days
2006 - 136 days
2007 - 180 days
2008 - 136 days as of Sept 12

That is definitely 143 days of experience, many times over in fact. Not to mention his six years in the Illinois State Senate, and his decade of work as a lawyer specializing in constitutional law.

Nice try, though.

Palin in the gun over sacking emails

James Grimaldi, Eagle River, Alaska
September 5, 2008

ALASKA Governor Sarah Palin, the running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, wrote emails that harshly criticised Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.

The emails, never before made public, were shown to The Washington Post by a former public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, who was fired by Mrs Palin in July.

Mr Monegan has given copies of the emails to state ethics investigators to support his contention that he was dismissed for failing to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, who at the time was feuding with Mrs Palin's family.

"This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he's been promoted," said the February 7, 2007, email sent from Mrs Palin's personal Yahoo account and written to give Mr Monegan permission to speak on a violent-crime bill before the state legislature.

"It was a joke, the whole year long 'investigation' of him," the email said. "This is the same trooper who's out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organisation, and that he'd 'never work for that b----, Palin'."

Asked about the emails, campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said Mrs Palin was merely alerting officials to potential threats to her family and that there is no evidence that she ever ordered the trooper to be fired.

Mrs Palin is under investigation by a bipartisan state legislative group that was authorised last month to look into whether she pressured Mr Monegan to force Trooper Wooten from the force, and whether his failure to do so led to his dismissal.

Mrs Palin had promised to co-operate with the inquiry, but this week she hired a lawyer to fight to move the case to the jurisdiction of the state personnel board, which she appoints.

When Mrs Palin entered the governor's office in late 2006, Trooper Wooten already had been reprimanded, reassigned and suspended for five days for incidents reported by her family. They had filed complaints in April 2005 after her younger sister's marriage fell apart and a bitter child-custody dispute began.

Mrs Palin has said previously that she discussed the trooper with Mr Monegan only in the context of security concerns for the family. Mr Monegan has said that Mrs Palin never directly told him to fire the trooper but that the message was clearly conveyed through repeated messages from the Governor, her husband and three members of her cabinet.

I got nothin...

I am going to TRY to start blogging again (If I remember, I am thirty now... the memory ain't what it used to be :oP) but unfortunately I have pretty much nothing to say right now so this is what you get...

Aren't we gorgeous? :oD

I know all of the archives are OLD, but I will add some new stuff soon, I swear!

Top 25 Favorite Flickr Photographers of 2005

These are some pictures from my top 25 favs from flickr. They are definately worth a look, so feel free to click on the image and go to their flickr sites and check them out!

Photography

My photography seems to be going well. I was dry for a while but I am feeling inspired again. I have come to terms with the fact that I will never be satisfied with my work. In fact, I don't think I want to ever be fully satisfied, because then I may stop taking pictures.

I got some rain shots today that you can check out on my flickr, and I got Adam and Gretta to agree to pose for me. I have had a lot of ideas running through my head for photos, ideas I wish I had written down, so I think it's time to carry a pen and pad of paper with me all the time so I can write it all down.

More to come later.

Art

If anyone has any ideas for photos, lay them on me so I can try them out...

Giving thanks

Catching Air (black & white), originally uploaded by paperdollimages.

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. Mine was pretty good. I got some good pictures of my cousin Sam skateboarding (you can click on the one above to see my flickr), and I had fun with the Idaho family. I actually brought food this year and they loved the chicken ramen salad that I made.

I was thinking about the things I am most thankful for, so I will list them here.

My husband. I have to list him first because he is the biggest part of my life. I really have no idea where, or how miserable, I would be wihout him.

My family. I grew up with the best family. I had no idea at the time how unique we are. Families like ours, who adtually LIKE each other, are so hard to find.

My sister. She is the most important person in my life. Adam is my husband but the way I love him is different. Tricia has been there for me since we were babies. She is the only person who completely understands and knows ME. I love her so much in a way only sisters can understand.

My neices and nephews. I get to see Bill, Angela, and Ruby all the time and it's such a neat thing to be a part of their lives while I watch them grow into the people they will be. My nephew Jayme is the only one who is blood related to me and he is my sisters son so I feel a special bond to him and love him more than I ever thought I could love someone I hardly know. I can't wait to spend more time with him.

My trip to Arizona!! My sister asked her boyfriend, Jim, to fly me out as a christmas present to her so I am going to Arizona! Jim is such a great guy to do it. I will be gone from December 6th to the 20th, and I am going to have the BEST TIME. I miss home SO MUCH.

My camera, and my photography talent. I doubt myself all the time, and it seems so wrong to call myself talented, like I am arrogant. But, I am so grateful that I have what people call "a photographers eye" and that my FIL bought me such an amazing camera to develop it with.

Those are the main things. I hate typing on this laptop so I will leave it at that. oP

Twisted

twist16, originally uploaded by paperdollimages.

Things are bad. I thought we were struggling enough as it was, and then Monday they got a LOT worse.

For the past two years Adam has worked at Sam's Club overnights so he can go to school full time during the day. Well, at Sam's Club, all of the pallettes are supposed to be labeled with what is in them and if they can be stacked in the steel before they come to the store. The WalMart distribution center is supposed to have all of that done and then send it to the individual stores. Well, last Friday the night crew guys were putting up some of the shipments from the week that couldn't be stocked, and there was a pallette of product out in Adam's section that needed to be put in the steel. Adam checked the pallette slip to see what it was, but it was just product numbers, and the pallette wasn't labeled as "do not stack", so he stacked it with another pallette and proceeded to put it in the steal. When he almost had it all the way up, it crumbled because the bottom pallette was full of boxes that couldn't be stacked, so they collapsed. Adam told his manager that the pallette wasn't labeled, and his manager looked it and and saw that it wasn't labeled.

Well, Monday he went into work and they fired him. I am SO FUCKING PISSED about it right now I could hit someone. Adam is seriously the BEST night crew guy they have. He works the hardest, EVERYONE knows it, and even when I go into the store to shop people always tell me how awesome an employee he is. He has always worked so hard for them, and been so loyal to them. And it's like the company won't take responsibility for their OWN mistakes, they have to $h!t all over him and then throw him away. It is NOT his job to check every pallette to see what it is and if it should or should not be stacking. That shit is supposed to be labeled BEFORE it even gets to the store. It has never been his job, and now he is being fired because something that ISN'T HIS JOB wasn't done.

I don't know what the hell we are going to do now. Adam feels so shitty about it and it just breaks my heart to see him cry because he feels like he disappointed me. He was fired Monday night at work, and Tuesday morning he was already up and writing his resume, talking to people at school about jobs, going to the job placement center at his school, signing up to be a tutor, and filing for unemployment. Yesterday he went to talk to a guy he knows about working on him making web pages and ads for his magazine and stopped in a few places to get applications. Today he is going to a bunch of places, even a slaughter house, and applying for jobs.

Oh and this is another thing that makes me SO MAD about the situation. The unemployment office told him that he could actually be turned down for unemployment because he is a full time student. WTF??? I get that they are worried that being a full time student may make it harder for some people to either get a job, or be willing to get a job, but Adam worked full time and went to school full time for two years before he lost his job. He has already proven that he can and will do it, and he told the guy he talked to that he would be willing to switch to night school to get a job. I swear if they turn him down and basically FORCE him to quit school to get unemployment until he gets a job, I will be PISSED. How much sense does that make? UGH.

So yeah, we are fucked. Gretta is even mad about it, and it's her mission to find out who's responsibility it was the label the pallettes and let them know that their incompetance got Adam fired and she is going to push for them to get fired. She already voiced her anger about the situation at work and they were reviewing the video tapes of the night crew that next morning when she went in. Adam is also going back to Sam's to talk to the store manager about why he was fired, and let them know that he expects his vacation pay in his last check since he earned it and saved it up and was fired for something that wasn't his fault. We are also thinking of filing a complaint against WalMart for the shitty policy that got him fired instead of the person who should have labeled the pallette.

If Adam can't get a job soon, I am going to have to sell my camera, too. UGH I hate this. What am I going to do without a CAMERA? That's like my LAST THREAD of sanity left being sold off to the highest bidder.

Could my life suck ANY MORE?

Peek-a-boo

Peek a Boo, originally uploaded by paperdollimages.

It's been a while, I think. I can't remember really. Gretta bounced a check to me, the only check she has written me for babysitting. Nice. Now my phone is shut off cuz her returned check sucked up the money I was going to pay the bill with. So, I am going to babysit until she gets her tax return. She has two choices, pay me, and although I quit babysitting we can still be friends, or don't pay me, and not only lose a babysitter but the only real friend she has. I hope she makes the right decision.

I have been feeling drained and dry when it comes to my photography. I want to take these amazing pictures, and I see other people's amazing pictures all the time, but it feels like maybe I don't have it in me. Like I am just faking being a photographer. Maybe it's the struggle of every "artist", you never feel good enough. Not that I am an artist by any stretch of the imagination. Just another thing I am faking.

The Visitor

The Visitor, originally uploaded by paperdollimages.

I gave Gretta the letter and she didn't seem particularly mad about it. Probably because she knows I am right. I haven't had a chance to discuss it with her yet though. That will come when the kids aren't around.

So, instead of handle things with her, I took pictures of my husband and played with long exposures. This is the best one I got.

Spinning

spinning, originally uploaded by phil h.

This is not my photo, I actually saw it on Flickr and had to share. How bad ass is this??

Today was good

shabby, originally uploaded by paperdollimages.

Finally a good day. Didn't have to babysit, got to go shopping and get a few things I needed, had chinese for lunch in the restaurant, got coffee from somewhere besides my kitchen, and discovered some spies on my message board. Overall, not too shabby.

Fall Leaves

Fall Leaves, originally uploaded by paperdollimages.

Finally. It's Autumn.

Sorry, I know it's been a while. I doubt anyone reads this anymore to be honest. I have been busy, and I have so much to talk about but I really don't feel like typing it all out. So here is a rundown...

Having problems with Gretta and getting her to pay me for babysitting. I have gotten $150 for two and a half months of babysitting, when we agreed on $350 a month. Part of it is that her EX disappeared, part of it is because I am not a priority to her. Thinking of getting another job.

Ordered my new lens last week. Should get it early this week. It's a Tamron 70-300mm telephoto macro lens. I am SUPER excited. More pictures to come when I get it.

Things with Adam are wonderful. He even cleaned for me yesterday.

Still miss my sister like crazy and wish I lived in AZ.

Kittens are doing great. I will post pictures of them too.

Auf Wiedersehen!

The Point System

The Point System

In the world of romance, one single rule applies to the men: Make the woman happy. Do something she likes, and you get points. Do something she dislikes, and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played.

Here is a guide to the point system:

==============================

SIMPLE DUTIES:

You make the bed. (+1)
You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow. (0)
You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets. (-1)
You go out to buy her what she wants. (+5)
In the rain. (+10) But return with beer. (-15)
You check out a suspicious noise at night. (0)
You check out a suspicious noise and it is nothing. (0)
You check out a suspicious noise and it is something. (+5)
You pummel it with an iron rod. (+10)



It's her pet. (-25)

==============================

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS:

You stay by her side for the entire party. (0)
You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college buddy. (-2)

Named Tina. (-4)

Tina is a dancer. (-10)

Tina has breast implants. (-80)

Tina has really big breast implants. (-200)

==============================

HER BIRTHDAY:
You take her out to dinner. (0)
You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar. (+1)

Okay, it is a sports bar. (-2)

And it's all-you-can-eat night. (-3)
It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, and your face is painted
the colors of your favorite team. (-10)

==============================

A NIGHT OUT:

You take her to a movie. (+2)
You take her to a movie she likes. (+4)
You take her to a movie you hate. (+6)
You take her to a movie you like. (-2)

And it's called "Death Cop". (-3)
You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans that was featured on "Oprah". (-15)

==============================

YOUR PHYSIQUE:

You develop a noticeable potbelly. (-15)
You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it. (+10)
You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts. (-30)
You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." (-10,000)

==============================

THE 'BIG' QUESTION:

She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5)
[Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT you say.]
You hesitate in responding. (-10)
You reply, "Where?" (-35)
Any other response. (-20)

==============================

COMMUNICATION:

When she wants to talk about a problem, you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned expression. (0)
You listen for over 30 minutes. (+50)
You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV. (+500)

She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep. (-5,000)

Damn it's been a while.

Yeah, I can't believe it, but I actually have had a LIFE for the past few weeks and haven't had time to get on here and update. Something I NEVER thought would happen.

So uh, what to say... I have a pregnant cat. I'm sure I mentioned it before. She is like HUGELY pregnant now, and I think she has a good 5 or 6 kittens stuffed up in there, and I think the kittens are doing the hokey pokey on her innards cuz she can't go a day without leaking cat shit all over the place. It has actually been better today, but yesterday she tried to squeeze her fat ass under the couch and in the process of partially flattening her belly in an attempt to slide under she must have put too much pressure on her bowels. *SPLAT* All over my floor and RIGHT under my feet when I got off the couch to find the remote. SWEET. I wonder if that's some kind of beauty treatment in third world countries.

I also have a thriving business. Yeah, right. I did sell two more pictures and I have an order for four more. That will bring me up to a whopping SEVEN PICTURES SOLD. I rock. I wish people would pay $100 a pop so I could make more money and actually pay my car payment this month. I won't get into why I currently CAN'T pay my car payment.

And can I just say, I LOVE me some MySpace. I have now found 7 friends from high school and it's awesome catching up with them. Finally heard from Mike, my absolute FAVORITE guy in my circle of friends in school. He is doing well, apparently bought himself a big old house in AZ, and he is in love. Idn't that sweet.

Otherwise life is full of babysitting, walking kids to school, internet, and cleaning up after cats. Fun, fun. Saturday will be the highlight of my month though. I get to drive to Boise and meet my friend Julie. I am SO incredibly stoked, and will of course take pictures and post some on here eventually.

Quote of the day...

I'm a bad ass laundry doing mother fucker.
~ Hilary

My life is about to change...

My life is about to change... Besides the obvious changes like bigger belly, being sick, and nesting like crazy, poop will rule my world. I will all of a sudden be responsible for something that depends on me for it's survival. My schedule is going to change, my budget stretched thin, and my patience is going to be put to the test.

My slut of a cat got herself knocked up.

This is the worst possible timing. We are moving this week so I hope she can hold out until after we move, but she is already getting fat and lazy, her nipples are sticking out really far, and she doesn't want to venture outside anymore like she used to. The moment I decide that I don't want to try to get pregnant anymore because I don't want to deal with pregnancy or little needy poop machines for a while I am blessed with a pregnant cat. At least the new apartment is all tile.

The only thing I worry about is Tessa. She doesn't do well with other cats. We have had Koko for about 6 months and they have never gotten along. We have had Roxy for about two months and Tessa harasses her every chance she gets. I have a feeling Tessa may try to attack kittens. If that happens Gretta is going to have to take Tessa and we will take Roxy until we give all of the kittens away.

Hopefully Tessa will behave.

I am obsessed with notebooks.

Yesterday Adam and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (different from the original, much funnier than the original, and Johnny Depp is SO PRETTY in it) and get me a birthday present. I had a hard time deciding since we didn't have enough to get me a camera lens.

For some reason, I am obsessed with notebooks right now. We went into the bookstore, big mistake, and I migrate right ot the doary section. I found an ADORABLE little lined diary that has retro circles in the front and doesn't say "Diary" or "journal" anywhere on it. Of course, I had to have it. So that was present number one.

Present number two was the game Scene It. SO FUN! If you haven't played it, you should. I was actually surprised at how good I was at it, and you can play with only two people, or in teams, which is what we did last night. I knew the answers to some questions that surprised everyone else (apparently they thought I was STUPID or something) and I got some really easy questions (like what's the donkeys name in Shrek... DUH) so Adam and I whooped some ASS first game. Adam kinda gave up second game so Gretta and Darin skated through game two.

But, that's wasn't all folks... Adam called his dad last night because we got a message that he wanted our address to send us something. We assumed it was a new processor for the computer since the one we have is a dinosaur and I can't load Photo Shop onto my computer because of it. Turns out, he decided to go one up...

HE IS SENDING US A LAPTOP!!! I am WICKED excited. Of course I am going to have to fight Adam tooth and nail to ever use it, BUT I have the excuse that I can't use PS on the computer so I need the notebook! Hahaha.

So, that's why I am obsessed with notebooks.

Ban the banners

I am so sick and tired of people thinking that they have the RIGHT not to be annoyed or uncomfortable, so they try to ban anything and everything they deem inappropriate or unnecessary. I am extremely annoyed at their arrogance, so I should be able to pass a law that bans them from being anywhere near me. In fact, why not ban them from becoming citizens at all. If you can't beat the ban extravaganza, why not join it?

So, I decided that I want to ban something. Everyone else is doing it. I don't want to be left behind. How can I possibly be hip and trendy if I don't jump onto a banning bandwagon. How can I possible be an upstanding and moral person if I don't speak out against something with absolutely no regard for the feelings of the people who are doing what annoys me. After all, I am protecting them, and protecting the CHILDREN. And even better, I can LEAD a banning bandwagon and be the lead banner. Oh, then my life will be complete.

So, I got to thinking... what can I ban... ? The use of fossil fuel because it pollutes the environment? Nah... I need my car to get to the store and buy my liquor and dead animals for my BBQ later. How about cell phone? People talking on c ell phones cause more and more car accidents every year. No, wait... I need my cell phone to call my sister and talk to her about body hair and men's obsession with balls. Okay, so how about fast food? Obesity is a huge problem in our country and obesity related illness is now a leading cause of death. But wait, that would mean no more toaster sandwiches and onion rings from Sonic. Ixnay on the astfay oodfay anbay.

OH WAIT! I'VE GOT IT! I have finally found something to ban that doesn't effect MY lifestyle whatsoever! Let's ban RELIGION! Religion causes intolerance, bigotry, arrogance, racism, judgement, emotional distress, and even physical harm and death. Religious people talk down to me because I have pink hair and don't worship Jesus. Religious zealots have burned other people (Salem), hang other people from trees and drug them from cars (KKK), cut off people's heads (Middle East), forced million of people into gas chambers (Nazi Germany), taken over entire nations slaughtering masses of people (the Crusades), flown planes into buildings and killed people (WTC and Pentagon), bombed health clinics killling the women and babies they claim to be trying to save (anti-abortion activists bombing clinics), and beaten perfect strangers down in the streets and murder then in cold blood for not allowing the correct body part to come into contact with their own body part (hate crimes all over the US). Because of religion people can actually be denied the right to enter into a legal contract with someone else if at least one fo them doesn't have a penis and the other one a vagina. Religious freaks actually build statues of people after they are killed by other religious freaks and put it them the middle of their hometowns with inscriptions like "This faggot is now burning in hell" on them. Religious people tell other people they are immoral and evil for committing muder while they push for the death penalty so they can murder the murderers. Religion causes a lot of grief. Why do we even still have it?

I say ban religion. Who cares if they have a right to practice religion. Who cares about all of those people who practice their faith peacefully, never imposing it on anyone else. Who cares about how they feel about being discriminated against because I am a big fat whiner who hates religion. WHO THE FUCK CARES?!?!?! I am annoyed, I don't like it, IT HAS TO GO!

Inspiration

Where does inspiration come from? How do you know, when you look at something, that it will be a great work of art if you can just capture it in a way that people will feel when they look at it? Can you train your mind to think outside the box? Or does seeing beauty in every day things, and being able to show that beauty to other people the same way you see it, something you have to be born with? Is inspiration ingrained or learned?

I am having the hardest time coming up with ideas and my portfolio is sorely lacking because of it. I want to create photographs that show the beauty of life, the wonder in normality. Photos that show that even when your life is mundane and simple, it's extraordinary. Of course I can wax poetic all day, but that doesn't mean that anything I take a photo of will be anything but ordinary. I have felt a bit inspired recently, but it seems like portraying what my mind sees in a print is next to impossible. I am starting to see a pattern with the things I shoot, and I don't know if it is a pattern that I want to be defined as my "style". I wish I could create raw, dirty, edgy images.

At this point I wish I could CREATE anything. I am afraid that my ability to perceive and invent will never evolve past where it is right now.