It happens in the midwest too

There was an earthquake last night! Or, I should say, early this morning. Erich and I are quite disappointed that we slept through it. Apparently people in the Chicago area had furniture moving around. And we slept through it! Yaaargh!

Oh well. I felt an earthquake once before, during the summer of 2004. The windows rattled. <sarcasm> And that's about the most exciting thing that ever happens in the Midwest. </sarcasm>

Did anyone else feel it? If so, I hope you had a great earthquake and no damage!

Link

I do not want this man as my president

There, I said it.

[quotes are taken from here]

This is from the other day:

"It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," he said, according to the Huffington Post Web site.

Here's his follow-up today:


Transcribed:

"I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter. They are angry. They feel like they've been left behind. They feel like nobody is paying attention to what they're going through. So, I said, well you know, when you're bitter, you turn to what you can count on. Some people, you know, they vote about guns, or they take comfort in their faith, and their family and their community. And they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country, or they get frustrated about, you know, how things are changing. That's a natural response. Now, I didn't say it as well as I should have because, you know, the truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, those are important. That's what sustains us. But, what is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they're being listened to, you know, and so they pray and they count on each other, they count on their families. You know this in your own lives. And what we need is a government that is actually paying attention, a government that is fighting for working people day in and day out, making sure that we are trying to allow them to live out the American dream, and that's what this campaign is about. We've got to get past the divisions, we've got to get past the distractions in our politics and fight for each other."

Mr. Obama is doing an abysmal job of appealing to the small towners of Pennsylvania and Indiana. I HOPE. I usually don't jump into political arguments, but this really angers me. Is it just me, or does he seem to be implying that government done his way can replace religion? That's certainly the gist I got from this rambling. The simple folk must be thinking, "Oh, gee, no one's paying attention to me, so I guess I'll try guns and prayer." Give me a break.

These are issues that many people care deeply about, and he brushes them off, claiming those people are "bitter." Here's a tip, Barry: when people care about things, they want validation. So thank you for exposing yourself so clearly as someone who will not validate those bitter, praying, simple small town folk.

Then again, it's understandable that Obama would think faith=frustration, given that his own "ex" pastor hates America. I suppose now that his campaign has taken off and he will create the government of everyone's dreams, we all won't need petty things like prayer. Sure, we can keep those traditions cuz, well, like, you know, they're important and stuff. Let's just get over that little faith stumbling block and put away your guns (those nasty crutches for bitterness) and I'm sure you'll love all the immigrants once you get to know them, and then we can all start living the American dream! Which is. . .what?

I don't like Hillary Clinton either, but she at least knows how to validate people:

"The people of faith I know don't 'cling to' religion because they're bitter," she said. "People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich."

People really need to open their eyes about Obama. Look beyond his demeanor, his words, and see him for the man he is. He doesn't care about you. He doesn't know you, he's not one of you. And he's getting bad at pretending he is.

Tagged

I was tagged by pianomomsicle from her blog.

The Rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Hmmm, this seems a little familiar. That's okay, I can come up with many more things about me! Here we go:

1. Whenever I get back from Europe, I'm astounded at how much bigger everything is here, especially cars and roads, and I bemoan the fact that American suburbia is completely pedestrian unfriendly. I live about 1/8 mile from a Jewell-Osco, but it's a really ugly walk.

2. I have very sensitive hearing. I had suspected it for many years, but then I had my hearing tested once during college, and it was confirmed. There's a scale from 0-100 for different types of sounds, 0 being perfect hearing and 100 being profoundly deaf. Most people are in the 20-40 range for most areas of the test--I hovered around the 5 mark. Since I'm not an audiologist, I can't elaborate any further. But seriously, be impressed by my hearing. Anywho, that means TVs can drive me batty and there are certain rooms in museums that I can't linger in because the security devices emit high-pitched noises. And the family joke is, I can hear my brother breathing in his bedroom when I'm downstairs in the family room on the opposite end of the house. Har har.

3. I will try any type of food, and I will probably like it. Notable exceptions: cilantro and truffles (the fungus, not the chocolate). GAG!

4. I have an abnormal uterus. You can read all about it in my other blog. (Disclaimer: unless things like uteri and fertility specifically interest you, you probably don't want to read my other blog. This doesn't offend me.)

5. I miss Erich. :( This isn't weird or random, but it's true right now. He's in Spain until Sunday.

6. I'm a little bit addicted to FreeCell. I'm going through all the games in order (I'm on #358 out of a million, so I'm, like, halfway there, right?). I even recently got Erich, who is not the obsessive type, on board and he plays it a lot now too. I'm kinda proud of that fact. Of course, I know it's only a matter of time before he gets much better at it than me and I won't be so proud any more.

7. I can and have watched HGTV for hours and hours on end. First of all, they have a great logical flow to their programming. Second, they employ blatant TRICKERY wherein the end of one show leads into the beginning of next without a break and before you know it, you're hooked in for another half-hour. It's inspiring though: sometime soon I shall post nice touches I've added to my domicile, thanks in part to HGTV. And also, I want a new house.

I'm going to break the last two rules of this meme. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. The end!