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Aug. 1st, 2012 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* Half of the counties in the US are now disaster areas due the the climate change caused drought that is killing crops across the Midwest.
* Congressman Kelly wants you to know that today was a day that will live in infamy like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 because as of today, the Affordable Care Act guarantees women access to birth control through their private insurance. The arguement is that other people having the freedom to chose birth control is somehow an attack on the religious freedom of people not involved in that woman's choice. Basically, this man is claiming that other people having religious freedom and bodily autonomy is against his religion and therefore all their freedoms should be taken away. A bunch of other Republicans weighed in saying similar things. That's right, woman being allowed to purchase insurance with their own money that covers the pill is a terrorist "Act of War" against America. We really need some 9/11 specific term along the lines of Godwin's law. Why do the Republican hate our freedoms so much? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#48454403
* Mitt Romney's tax plan demands we raise taxes on everyone else to give even larger bonus tax cuts for people like him. Mitt Romney's personal cut of the bonus billionaire tax cut would cost 125 average middle class families $2000.00 each. Mitt Romney's tax rate last year was 13.9% last year, yet he says it needs to be vastly lower and the rest of us need to make up the lack. I was behind a car today with a screed painted onto their back window about President Obama's plan to "destroy billionaires." I had to laugh. When I was working minimum wage, my tax rate was 25% when I figured in pay roll taxes. The people in front of me were essentially claiming that somehow Mitt Romney would go bankrupt if President Obama raised his personal tax rate to 17-18%. Really? REALLY? I find that highly unlikely. I also find it hard to believe that people rich enough toss away more than what I made in a year or two of teaching on a single outfit would even notice a couple of percentage point raise in their tax rate. Yet, that money could be invested in things like education, fixing roads and bridges, buried power lines, research into new medicines and technologies, etc.. Sigh.
* Michelle Bachmann has raised approximately a million dollars on the strength of her racist demands for a Mccathy style anti-muslim witch hunt based on no evidence except unfounded accusations of a hate group and the strong belief that all Muslims are terrorists. I weep for my country.
* On the Occasion of Gore Vidal's passing.:
* Trans Victories In Illinois And Alaska!: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/08/trans-victories-in-illinois-and-alaska.html
* "Yo Chick-Fil-A, How's That Gaybaiting Working Out For You?" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/08/yo-chick-fil-hows-that-gaybaiting.html
* The Daily Show and Romney Abroad: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-july-31-2012/democalypse-2012---national-geogaffe-ic---romney-abroad
* Stephen Colbert on Romneys and Dressage: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/417192/july-31-2012/rafalca-s-impact-on-mitt-romney-s-vp-pick
* Stuff got done today. I've done out the math, and I think I have gas and food money even if the IRA money doesn't hit my account before I leave for Seattle. I figure the doctor won't cash the check I write Monday until after business hours, so that should be fine. There's a good chance the money will clear Friday or Saturday based on past occasions, and if it doesn't that it hits Monday. (They guarantee Tuesday). Similarly, my must pay bills got out in tomorrow's mail, and processing delays may give me a bit of wiggle room. I got a full five hours of sleep. Of course, I need nine on a good day and day three of sleep dep is not even close to good, but it's better than what the cats have been letting me have. I'm also on day three of forgetting to take meds before leaving the house which means I get an ugly gap in coverage during which all I can do is lie very still and try not to throw up. Add that to the exhaustion and above average bad chronic pain, and cooking something elaborate then going out again to be social just wasn't happening. No Big Gay Potluck for me. :( Tomorrow should be a rest day, cats and phone allowing. Or not. I just realized that I forgot a Doctor's appointment because they moved it to today and I'm used to that appointment being on Mondays. Fuckfuckfuck!
There was no sign of any power washing today and the poor plants missed one of the sunniest days in weeks.
* More Olympics Day 3 and part of Day 4: Is white water rafting new? I've no memory of it on previous occasions, but I missed chunks of the last two Summer games. Ooo! I lady from my state medalled in Judo! Phelps in now the most decorated Olympian. Congratulations, Micheal Phelps. I love that there exists in the world a multiple gold medalist in archery called Im Dong-hyun who happens to be blind. It's like he's a real life super hero. He also broke the first world record in the 2012 Olympics a bit before the opening ceremony.
Women's Gymnastics: You know, it was a pleasant surprise to see adult women doing gymnastics. It's pretty rare, but I noticed both the US and Romania brought one. It's such a cannibal sport, and we feed it children. The Canadians were glorious on floor, weren't they? I love the Canadian commentators. They are just generally so excited for everybody kind of the way I am, and were big on giving spotlight time to top competitors from other countries. They also would remind the watchers that there wasn't any question of the Canadian team getting a team medal, but were having fun with the home team leading the Romanians for a couple of rotations. "It won't last, better tweet it fast!" They seemed so over the moon when the team came in fifth, "We made the top five!" *cheers* (I'm not kidding about how much more likable and gracious the Canadian coverage tends to be compared to ours. The openly gushed over Chinese, American, Romanian, and Russian routines, and sounded sympathetic and genuinely sorry when thing happened like the Chinese girl landing wrong on her vault, costing her team any chance at the bronze. Of course I can't look at Costas without loathing after the racist commentary in the Greek opening ceremony.) I loved watching Romania, Russia, and China on the uneven bars. Gabby Douglas was such a delight to watch just generally. Seriously, she's my favorite on the woman's side this year, so elegant, talented and charismatic. Aly and Jordan were wonderful.
* My school was small and our coaches were spread very thin. For example, that time Andy Christos kicked me in the ribs and arms over and over during a soccer games because I was the goalie and had the ball? That happened because one coach was reffing four games at once and he didn't see what happened so the goal he made by kicking me until my arms gave out counted as legal. It was the same in other sports. I wanted to learn high jump, long jump, triple jump, and maybe pole vaulting. Instead, I was left to run with no coaching. We each got a try on the first day of practice for a season on every station (except pole vault obviously) with a couple minutes of instruction in advance. The top three or four on each got coaching. (I wasn't a sprinter and likely wouldn't have ever been good, but I wanted to learn).
Now apply that to gymnastics. We got ten minutes of group training on a specific skill each day, then were left essentially unsupervised while the top person on each apparatus got one on one coaching. Imagine me trying to put together a competition routine with zero talent, vague memories of the previous Olympics, and my knowledge of ballet. (I was good at ballet, but that was an outside activity with a real teacher). I'm not saying training would have made me any good (it wouldn't); I'm just saying it's a wonder only one person broke a limb in the course of the five or six years we had gymnastics, and it wasn't me. Seriously look at the men's and women's apparatus. Now imagine letting a bully infested group of unsupervised middle schoolers (or ninth graders. Ninth grade was the last year we had it) loose on the apparatus and expecting them to teach themselves to do it with minimum guidance or input. We could have been killed!
* Congressman Kelly wants you to know that today was a day that will live in infamy like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 because as of today, the Affordable Care Act guarantees women access to birth control through their private insurance. The arguement is that other people having the freedom to chose birth control is somehow an attack on the religious freedom of people not involved in that woman's choice. Basically, this man is claiming that other people having religious freedom and bodily autonomy is against his religion and therefore all their freedoms should be taken away. A bunch of other Republicans weighed in saying similar things. That's right, woman being allowed to purchase insurance with their own money that covers the pill is a terrorist "Act of War" against America. We really need some 9/11 specific term along the lines of Godwin's law. Why do the Republican hate our freedoms so much? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#48454403
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* Mitt Romney's tax plan demands we raise taxes on everyone else to give even larger bonus tax cuts for people like him. Mitt Romney's personal cut of the bonus billionaire tax cut would cost 125 average middle class families $2000.00 each. Mitt Romney's tax rate last year was 13.9% last year, yet he says it needs to be vastly lower and the rest of us need to make up the lack. I was behind a car today with a screed painted onto their back window about President Obama's plan to "destroy billionaires." I had to laugh. When I was working minimum wage, my tax rate was 25% when I figured in pay roll taxes. The people in front of me were essentially claiming that somehow Mitt Romney would go bankrupt if President Obama raised his personal tax rate to 17-18%. Really? REALLY? I find that highly unlikely. I also find it hard to believe that people rich enough toss away more than what I made in a year or two of teaching on a single outfit would even notice a couple of percentage point raise in their tax rate. Yet, that money could be invested in things like education, fixing roads and bridges, buried power lines, research into new medicines and technologies, etc.. Sigh.
* Michelle Bachmann has raised approximately a million dollars on the strength of her racist demands for a Mccathy style anti-muslim witch hunt based on no evidence except unfounded accusations of a hate group and the strong belief that all Muslims are terrorists. I weep for my country.
* On the Occasion of Gore Vidal's passing.:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* Trans Victories In Illinois And Alaska!: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/08/trans-victories-in-illinois-and-alaska.html
* "Yo Chick-Fil-A, How's That Gaybaiting Working Out For You?" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/08/yo-chick-fil-hows-that-gaybaiting.html
* The Daily Show and Romney Abroad: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-july-31-2012/democalypse-2012---national-geogaffe-ic---romney-abroad
* Stephen Colbert on Romneys and Dressage: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/417192/july-31-2012/rafalca-s-impact-on-mitt-romney-s-vp-pick
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
* Stuff got done today. I've done out the math, and I think I have gas and food money even if the IRA money doesn't hit my account before I leave for Seattle. I figure the doctor won't cash the check I write Monday until after business hours, so that should be fine. There's a good chance the money will clear Friday or Saturday based on past occasions, and if it doesn't that it hits Monday. (They guarantee Tuesday). Similarly, my must pay bills got out in tomorrow's mail, and processing delays may give me a bit of wiggle room. I got a full five hours of sleep. Of course, I need nine on a good day and day three of sleep dep is not even close to good, but it's better than what the cats have been letting me have. I'm also on day three of forgetting to take meds before leaving the house which means I get an ugly gap in coverage during which all I can do is lie very still and try not to throw up. Add that to the exhaustion and above average bad chronic pain, and cooking something elaborate then going out again to be social just wasn't happening. No Big Gay Potluck for me. :( Tomorrow should be a rest day, cats and phone allowing. Or not. I just realized that I forgot a Doctor's appointment because they moved it to today and I'm used to that appointment being on Mondays. Fuckfuckfuck!
There was no sign of any power washing today and the poor plants missed one of the sunniest days in weeks.
* More Olympics Day 3 and part of Day 4: Is white water rafting new? I've no memory of it on previous occasions, but I missed chunks of the last two Summer games. Ooo! I lady from my state medalled in Judo! Phelps in now the most decorated Olympian. Congratulations, Micheal Phelps. I love that there exists in the world a multiple gold medalist in archery called Im Dong-hyun who happens to be blind. It's like he's a real life super hero. He also broke the first world record in the 2012 Olympics a bit before the opening ceremony.
Women's Gymnastics: You know, it was a pleasant surprise to see adult women doing gymnastics. It's pretty rare, but I noticed both the US and Romania brought one. It's such a cannibal sport, and we feed it children. The Canadians were glorious on floor, weren't they? I love the Canadian commentators. They are just generally so excited for everybody kind of the way I am, and were big on giving spotlight time to top competitors from other countries. They also would remind the watchers that there wasn't any question of the Canadian team getting a team medal, but were having fun with the home team leading the Romanians for a couple of rotations. "It won't last, better tweet it fast!" They seemed so over the moon when the team came in fifth, "We made the top five!" *cheers* (I'm not kidding about how much more likable and gracious the Canadian coverage tends to be compared to ours. The openly gushed over Chinese, American, Romanian, and Russian routines, and sounded sympathetic and genuinely sorry when thing happened like the Chinese girl landing wrong on her vault, costing her team any chance at the bronze. Of course I can't look at Costas without loathing after the racist commentary in the Greek opening ceremony.) I loved watching Romania, Russia, and China on the uneven bars. Gabby Douglas was such a delight to watch just generally. Seriously, she's my favorite on the woman's side this year, so elegant, talented and charismatic. Aly and Jordan were wonderful.
* My school was small and our coaches were spread very thin. For example, that time Andy Christos kicked me in the ribs and arms over and over during a soccer games because I was the goalie and had the ball? That happened because one coach was reffing four games at once and he didn't see what happened so the goal he made by kicking me until my arms gave out counted as legal. It was the same in other sports. I wanted to learn high jump, long jump, triple jump, and maybe pole vaulting. Instead, I was left to run with no coaching. We each got a try on the first day of practice for a season on every station (except pole vault obviously) with a couple minutes of instruction in advance. The top three or four on each got coaching. (I wasn't a sprinter and likely wouldn't have ever been good, but I wanted to learn).
Now apply that to gymnastics. We got ten minutes of group training on a specific skill each day, then were left essentially unsupervised while the top person on each apparatus got one on one coaching. Imagine me trying to put together a competition routine with zero talent, vague memories of the previous Olympics, and my knowledge of ballet. (I was good at ballet, but that was an outside activity with a real teacher). I'm not saying training would have made me any good (it wouldn't); I'm just saying it's a wonder only one person broke a limb in the course of the five or six years we had gymnastics, and it wasn't me. Seriously look at the men's and women's apparatus. Now imagine letting a bully infested group of unsupervised middle schoolers (or ninth graders. Ninth grade was the last year we had it) loose on the apparatus and expecting them to teach themselves to do it with minimum guidance or input. We could have been killed!