Ok, I will try not to blog about politics a lot anymore but I just can't help it. I cannot, I just cannot understand voting on a ticket with Sarah Palin on it. I'm not talking about her tripping over her words on public television, I'm not talking about her reveling in the fact that she could be a Vice Presidential Hockey Mom, and I am not going to take up this space telling you how I feel about a woman whose kids clearly need a little more mom and don't need her helping to run the free world. That is not my business (though I do think that it raises a lot of questions about working mothers and the words 'should' and 'could').
What I want to say is that the Vice President has a very important job. Though it is hierarchically a step down from the President, Mr. Leader of the Free World (some say), it is a position that creates and leads the strategy of what the UNITED STATES. It is the position that must manage the cabinets domestic and international and all the people that work in the cabinets. S/he must act as a spokesperson for the President and as an adviser on specific issues. S/he is also Chairman of the Board for NASA and sits on the Board of the Smithsonian. S/he is the presiding officer of the Senate.
Lastly, should the President die or be impeached, the 25th Amendment goes into effect and the Vice President then becomes the President.
While the President is the figurehead, the Vice President must be the figurebrain if you will. S/he maintains the fort while the President represents both domestically and abroad. The Vice President is charged with advising on best routes, best practices, and best strategies.
Regardless of your opinions about the Presidential candidates, can you really argue that Sarah Palin is cut out for the role of Vice President?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Two things on my mind today
So we bring in a lot of interns and fresh out of college young people. This is a really good learning environment and as a consulting company, we have a lot of administrative 'stuff' to do all the time - so good intern and fresh out of college work! Anyhow so there is a new cohort of interns and shiny just-graduated faces in for the Fall semester and I just saw one of them slumped back in his chair, hair still wet, and clearly very, very excited to be stuck in the office for another day of work.
I remember coming out of college after that first summer and how I hated being trapped in everyday. I hated the monotony of getting ready in the morning then going and sitting in my chair all day (of course in those days there was no Crackbook or online Scrabble and godforbid blogging to occupy oneself during the workday). I mean I still hate the monotony. I hate it with a passion. But I succumbed to the idea that you have to do this 5 days a week - there's really no getting out of it. I think as I began to have more responsibility and make more money that that feeling somewhat subsided. But oh I remember being that kid I saw today. No freedom to just go and get a burrito after rolling out of bed and watching tv in the morning. No randomly running into friends on campus and grabbing a beer. No pajamas and sweatpants to class. Those first few summers were rough I tell ya.
I think I tried to buck the system by only staying at Job #1 for 8 months. Of course you all remember how I left to drive tour trolleys. That was a great job. But the monotony of that got to me too. But I was outside, I wasn't stuck in an office, and I had way more people interaction than at job #1. I mean part of the problem was that job #1 just generally sucked. The people sucked, the environment sucked; it sucked the life out of you everyday. Funny, me and all my roommates were working at the same place then. I remember how that company stressed over and over again how they would never lay people off -EVER they said. Yup, they dumped like 70% of their staff a few years back. Bastards.
Anyhow the other thing I want to tell you is that Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash is back in the stores for the holiday season (yikes! it's the holiday season) (actually I knew that because I have been consuming pumpkin flavored goodies like they're being banned in Prohibition lately). Now I actually really do not like regular Diet Sierra Mist but I really, really like this stuff. And for the record, I think it would be really tasty with a splash of vodka. Or two.
Discuss...
I remember coming out of college after that first summer and how I hated being trapped in everyday. I hated the monotony of getting ready in the morning then going and sitting in my chair all day (of course in those days there was no Crackbook or online Scrabble and godforbid blogging to occupy oneself during the workday). I mean I still hate the monotony. I hate it with a passion. But I succumbed to the idea that you have to do this 5 days a week - there's really no getting out of it. I think as I began to have more responsibility and make more money that that feeling somewhat subsided. But oh I remember being that kid I saw today. No freedom to just go and get a burrito after rolling out of bed and watching tv in the morning. No randomly running into friends on campus and grabbing a beer. No pajamas and sweatpants to class. Those first few summers were rough I tell ya.
I think I tried to buck the system by only staying at Job #1 for 8 months. Of course you all remember how I left to drive tour trolleys. That was a great job. But the monotony of that got to me too. But I was outside, I wasn't stuck in an office, and I had way more people interaction than at job #1. I mean part of the problem was that job #1 just generally sucked. The people sucked, the environment sucked; it sucked the life out of you everyday. Funny, me and all my roommates were working at the same place then. I remember how that company stressed over and over again how they would never lay people off -EVER they said. Yup, they dumped like 70% of their staff a few years back. Bastards.
Anyhow the other thing I want to tell you is that Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash is back in the stores for the holiday season (yikes! it's the holiday season) (actually I knew that because I have been consuming pumpkin flavored goodies like they're being banned in Prohibition lately). Now I actually really do not like regular Diet Sierra Mist but I really, really like this stuff. And for the record, I think it would be really tasty with a splash of vodka. Or two.
Discuss...
Monday, September 29, 2008
I went to the New Kids Concert
I write not with contempt or disdain because I had a great time, sang along, and totally got into the atmosphere of 13,000 women reliving their adolescence through an evening singing and dancing to the songs they knew all the words to 15 years ago.
I've always liked (ok, really, really liked) live concerts. There's something akin to religion about them - a huge hall filled with people who all have something strong in common and who all know all the words to the 'hymns'. They sing, they dance, and by its nature, a feeling a community is generated and you feel like other people understand your feelings. Everyone leaves feeling euphoric and amped up. Granted the tithe is a little more than the average weekly donation, but I think it's worth it.
This concert was no exception though I went with a sardonic chip on my shoulder because I was never a real fan in my teenage years. Not because I was a music snob - just because I was never your normal teenager. Most of the women there were in their 30s and 40s and dressed to the NINES in their old t-shirts littered with pins of each member of the band. Some wore mini skirts with leggings, some did their hair up with bottles of aquanet, and some even brought their band member dolls with them. It was really actually quite neat (if neat covers the sentiment) to see just what an impact this band had on so many girls.
I was surprised at how many songs I actually did know and totally got a kick out of them dancing and rehashing the moves from back in the day. I think they're better looking now than they were then. And boy, can they ever push out those falsettos. They were upbeat and fun, and the songs from the latest album were modern and had a hip-hop edge to them a lot of the time. They did a piece on a center stage, they did little solos, and there was some really hot dancing. We all sang, we screamed, we danced, and went back to a time when idolizing a band was the most important thing during our waking hours.
Ok now for the pictures:
Jody's 30th birthday dinner was a Maggione's before the concert. We were dropped up and picked up in a limo. It was good (high-caloric!) times.
Here you can see me and Beth rocking out at the concert. I think you can also see my pin that was given to me from the vast Moro collection.
This is Sarah, Katie, Erin, and Amy clearly getting into things.
13,000 women. There was screaming, there was arm-waving, there was adoration.
This was the set in the middle of the floor.
I think this was Beth remembering what it was like to read TigerBeat and have a 12 year old crush on a pop star.
Jody and Jill ROCKED the flare.
And finally, a shot of all the girls singing along to something. See how hard it was to not be in the moment?
I've always liked (ok, really, really liked) live concerts. There's something akin to religion about them - a huge hall filled with people who all have something strong in common and who all know all the words to the 'hymns'. They sing, they dance, and by its nature, a feeling a community is generated and you feel like other people understand your feelings. Everyone leaves feeling euphoric and amped up. Granted the tithe is a little more than the average weekly donation, but I think it's worth it.
This concert was no exception though I went with a sardonic chip on my shoulder because I was never a real fan in my teenage years. Not because I was a music snob - just because I was never your normal teenager. Most of the women there were in their 30s and 40s and dressed to the NINES in their old t-shirts littered with pins of each member of the band. Some wore mini skirts with leggings, some did their hair up with bottles of aquanet, and some even brought their band member dolls with them. It was really actually quite neat (if neat covers the sentiment) to see just what an impact this band had on so many girls.
I was surprised at how many songs I actually did know and totally got a kick out of them dancing and rehashing the moves from back in the day. I think they're better looking now than they were then. And boy, can they ever push out those falsettos. They were upbeat and fun, and the songs from the latest album were modern and had a hip-hop edge to them a lot of the time. They did a piece on a center stage, they did little solos, and there was some really hot dancing. We all sang, we screamed, we danced, and went back to a time when idolizing a band was the most important thing during our waking hours.
Ok now for the pictures:
Jody's 30th birthday dinner was a Maggione's before the concert. We were dropped up and picked up in a limo. It was good (high-caloric!) times.
Here you can see me and Beth rocking out at the concert. I think you can also see my pin that was given to me from the vast Moro collection.
This is Sarah, Katie, Erin, and Amy clearly getting into things.
13,000 women. There was screaming, there was arm-waving, there was adoration.
This was the set in the middle of the floor.
I think this was Beth remembering what it was like to read TigerBeat and have a 12 year old crush on a pop star.
Jody and Jill ROCKED the flare.
And finally, a shot of all the girls singing along to something. See how hard it was to not be in the moment?
Pictures from my $10 weekend
$10 weekend knocked me out financially the rest of the week...not too bright this one. But can't you see how lovely all my purchases are?
p.s. My shoes didn't pose for that picture. I have a bad habit of leaving shoes all over the house and they were making a trail in the kitchen that day. They are, however, quite photogenic.
p.s. My shoes didn't pose for that picture. I have a bad habit of leaving shoes all over the house and they were making a trail in the kitchen that day. They are, however, quite photogenic.
Monday, September 22, 2008
$10 weekend
Ok - this has nothing to do with my $10 weekend, but there were SIX cops on detail on A street on my way to work today. Drinking their Dunks, checking their cell phones...A Street is no more than a mile long, if that. SIX cops. You figure out the math - it's so ridiculous. The people of A Street will be very safe today.
Anyhow...I'd like to say I made it through the weekend only spending $10 but that would be a big ludicrous lie. In fact, I made a lot of purchases of $10 or less. And I'm maybe in love with some of them.
First and foremost, I spent the best $10 I've spent in a long time and bought some cute pj pants at Old Navy. This allowed me to not feel guilty about throwing away the ones I've been wearing for at least 7 years now. I'm not kidding. So $10 well spent. I also went looking for long-sleeved scoop neck T's for work there which I feel are a little 'classier' than your typical long sleeved T and classy enough that I can pair them with work pants. I now have 4 of them - but guess what, they were $10 each. And in other clothing news, because I have BIG FEET it's often hard to find shoes, uh, anywhere. But Payless often has shoes that will work for work. You know Payless and Old Navy are in the same category - you know they're not going to last forever, and you're ok with that. Because you paid $10 for your shirt. I have this little pair of black flats which go great with work pants, jeans, and skirts - so I bought a red pair too. You know for flare.
I kind of spent 15 X $10 on a new hairstyle to lift myself out of a funk (it kind of worked, but at least I look cuter now). I think I needed a little modernization and something to meet my new professional role. So, see, $10?
Then I went to Christmas Tree Shops and bought three mirrors, $10 each. I've been thinking about doing this for a while. They are hung on the side wall in a row now in the living room. I love it and I'm glad I finally did it. There is a now a little less personality in the room so I need to work on that. Now it just looks really modern and maybe a little cold. Not my aim, but a new project to think about I guess.
In final news, I have decided to have an Election night gathering. I think it will be exciting. Anyway it turns, it's going to be history folks!
Anyhow...I'd like to say I made it through the weekend only spending $10 but that would be a big ludicrous lie. In fact, I made a lot of purchases of $10 or less. And I'm maybe in love with some of them.
First and foremost, I spent the best $10 I've spent in a long time and bought some cute pj pants at Old Navy. This allowed me to not feel guilty about throwing away the ones I've been wearing for at least 7 years now. I'm not kidding. So $10 well spent. I also went looking for long-sleeved scoop neck T's for work there which I feel are a little 'classier' than your typical long sleeved T and classy enough that I can pair them with work pants. I now have 4 of them - but guess what, they were $10 each. And in other clothing news, because I have BIG FEET it's often hard to find shoes, uh, anywhere. But Payless often has shoes that will work for work. You know Payless and Old Navy are in the same category - you know they're not going to last forever, and you're ok with that. Because you paid $10 for your shirt. I have this little pair of black flats which go great with work pants, jeans, and skirts - so I bought a red pair too. You know for flare.
I kind of spent 15 X $10 on a new hairstyle to lift myself out of a funk (it kind of worked, but at least I look cuter now). I think I needed a little modernization and something to meet my new professional role. So, see, $10?
Then I went to Christmas Tree Shops and bought three mirrors, $10 each. I've been thinking about doing this for a while. They are hung on the side wall in a row now in the living room. I love it and I'm glad I finally did it. There is a now a little less personality in the room so I need to work on that. Now it just looks really modern and maybe a little cold. Not my aim, but a new project to think about I guess.
In final news, I have decided to have an Election night gathering. I think it will be exciting. Anyway it turns, it's going to be history folks!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
How many Days until the election?
I was talking to some folks at work (public health = entirely liberal and left leaning, sometimes a little too left for this employee)and was told that when companies that do political polls do the polling, they only call landlines. This means that anyone without a landline (i.e. most people under 30)won't get their opinions included in those polls. This makes me think that since polls show young people to be more in favor of Obama 55 percent then exciting things might happen on election night. Record turnouts have been coming out to vote since the late nineties - more and more people are understanding the importance of community organizing and how it leads to greater changes. As a social worker, it warms my little heart.
It's too early to be too literate or too opininated. But it's never too early to get what Sarah Palin would have named you if you were her kid! My name would have been Stag Tunnel Palin. You can just call me Stag. I'm going to go outside now and look for Portugal out my window. After all, it's the closest country across the ocean from Boston you know.
P.S. There are 45 days until the election and 122 days until we get this turkey out of office.
It's too early to be too literate or too opininated. But it's never too early to get what Sarah Palin would have named you if you were her kid! My name would have been Stag Tunnel Palin. You can just call me Stag. I'm going to go outside now and look for Portugal out my window. After all, it's the closest country across the ocean from Boston you know.
P.S. There are 45 days until the election and 122 days until we get this turkey out of office.
Hope Found
GOP senator: A 'stretch' to say Palin is qualified
Thu Sep 18, 10:47 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president.
"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."
Could Palin lead the country if GOP presidential nominee John McCain could not?
"I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said.
McCain and other Republicans have defended Palin's qualifications, citing Alaska's proximity to Russia. Palin told ABC News, "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."
Hagel took issue with that argument. "I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."
Hagel, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In July, Hagel traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Though he didn't expect to be asked, Hagel had said he would have considered serving as Obama's running mate.
Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,500, before becoming Alaska's governor in December 2006.
Palin visited soldiers in Kuwait and Germany last year and said in an interview with ABC News that her only other foreign travel had been to Mexico and Canada. She also said she had never met a foreign head of state.
Hagel told the newspaper that other governors have been elected to serve in the White House without experience in Washington. He said judgment and character were also important for the job.
"But I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world," Hagel said. "I think that's just a requirement."
Thu Sep 18, 10:47 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president.
"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."
Could Palin lead the country if GOP presidential nominee John McCain could not?
"I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said.
McCain and other Republicans have defended Palin's qualifications, citing Alaska's proximity to Russia. Palin told ABC News, "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."
Hagel took issue with that argument. "I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."
Hagel, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In July, Hagel traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Though he didn't expect to be asked, Hagel had said he would have considered serving as Obama's running mate.
Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,500, before becoming Alaska's governor in December 2006.
Palin visited soldiers in Kuwait and Germany last year and said in an interview with ABC News that her only other foreign travel had been to Mexico and Canada. She also said she had never met a foreign head of state.
Hagel told the newspaper that other governors have been elected to serve in the White House without experience in Washington. He said judgment and character were also important for the job.
"But I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world," Hagel said. "I think that's just a requirement."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Bank of America Welcomes You
Citizen's Bank has lost its fight with me. Kristen 1, Citizen's Bank 0.
Dear Kristen Risley,
Thank you for your follow up email and your feedback. We appreciate the time you took to express your thoughts and for providing us with the opportunity to respond. Please be assured that as a valued customer of Citizens Bank, our commitment is to provide you with the highest level of customer service and consistently exceed your expectations. We are sorry that, in this instance, we did not meet that goal. We very much value our relationship with you, and, going forward, will strive to restore your confidence in Citizens Bank.
We apologize that ATM deposit envelopes were not available for your to make a deposit. However, per your original email, you were aware that your account had already become overdrawn. Funds need to be deposited prior to the account balance becoming overdrawn A deposit after the account is overdrawn will not prevent the overdraft fees from being assessed.
As you depend on ATM deposits to manage your account due to your work schedule, you may wish to keep a few ATM deposit envelopes in your possession to avoid this situation in the future.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us via email or by calling our 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800 922-9999. Thank you for using our Online Banking Services.
Sincerely,
S. Palmer
Email Team Advocate
Dear Kristen Risley,
Thank you for your follow up email and your feedback. We appreciate the time you took to express your thoughts and for providing us with the opportunity to respond. Please be assured that as a valued customer of Citizens Bank, our commitment is to provide you with the highest level of customer service and consistently exceed your expectations. We are sorry that, in this instance, we did not meet that goal. We very much value our relationship with you, and, going forward, will strive to restore your confidence in Citizens Bank.
We apologize that ATM deposit envelopes were not available for your to make a deposit. However, per your original email, you were aware that your account had already become overdrawn. Funds need to be deposited prior to the account balance becoming overdrawn A deposit after the account is overdrawn will not prevent the overdraft fees from being assessed.
As you depend on ATM deposits to manage your account due to your work schedule, you may wish to keep a few ATM deposit envelopes in your possession to avoid this situation in the future.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us via email or by calling our 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800 922-9999. Thank you for using our Online Banking Services.
Sincerely,
S. Palmer
Email Team Advocate
Friday, September 12, 2008
Response to the Response
Dear Mr./Ms. Ventura:
I appreciate your help on working on this issue with me and the rebate you were able to assign to my account. That being said, it would be one thing if I hadn't been able to deposit money at 1) a single ATM (not the case I went to two different ATMS) , or, 2) if it had only been not well-stocked with envelopes on one night. But for the ATM to not be stocked when I repeatedly went back is just really poor business and poor performance.
Not only that, but for the answer I got on the phone when I first called was for ME to call my branch and ask them to stock envelopes? What kind of response is that? It's not my job to make sure that Citizen's Bank does its job and can manage its operations. It IS my job to make sure that my account has money in it to clear my transactions. I was following due diligence and doing the responsible part of putting money back in my account to make sure that this happened. If Citizen's Bank cannot organize its operations over a two day period to make this happen, then Citizen's Bank should not be making me pay for their errors.
Boston residents have a lot of options for banking and I, in addition to posting this correspondence on my blog, am making sure to let people know of my dissatisfaction. Our business does its banking with Citizens to the tune of 10s of millions of dollars a year. I will make sure to bring up in our next operations meeting that we may want to consider our other options. Banks who do not provide adequate standard services should not be patronized by our organization.
Kristen Risley
I appreciate your help on working on this issue with me and the rebate you were able to assign to my account. That being said, it would be one thing if I hadn't been able to deposit money at 1) a single ATM (not the case I went to two different ATMS) , or, 2) if it had only been not well-stocked with envelopes on one night. But for the ATM to not be stocked when I repeatedly went back is just really poor business and poor performance.
Not only that, but for the answer I got on the phone when I first called was for ME to call my branch and ask them to stock envelopes? What kind of response is that? It's not my job to make sure that Citizen's Bank does its job and can manage its operations. It IS my job to make sure that my account has money in it to clear my transactions. I was following due diligence and doing the responsible part of putting money back in my account to make sure that this happened. If Citizen's Bank cannot organize its operations over a two day period to make this happen, then Citizen's Bank should not be making me pay for their errors.
Boston residents have a lot of options for banking and I, in addition to posting this correspondence on my blog, am making sure to let people know of my dissatisfaction. Our business does its banking with Citizens to the tune of 10s of millions of dollars a year. I will make sure to bring up in our next operations meeting that we may want to consider our other options. Banks who do not provide adequate standard services should not be patronized by our organization.
Kristen Risley
Citizen's Bank has written back
Dear Kristen Risley,
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the charge to your account. Citizens Bank is aware that situations may occur that are beyond your control. In such cases, we are able to issue a one time credit to your account. I have initiated a $78.00 rebate to your account. Please allow two to three business days for the credit to apply. I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
We offer two types of overdraft protection for your Checking account. You can link your checking account to a liquid savings account, so the funds are automatically drawn from your savings account to cover any items that are paid in your checking account. We also offer an Overdraft Line of Credit. The Citizens Overdraft Line of Credit will automatically transfer funds from a line of credit to your Citizens checking account (up to your available credit line) when you write a check or make a withdrawal for more than your checking account balance. The exact amount you need is transferred into your checking account to cover checks or withdrawals. You may set up either of these services at your local branch or over the telephone at the number listed below. We can also mail you an application for the line of credit option only.
If you have any further questions, please contact us via email or by calling our 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800 922-9999. Thank you for using our Online Banking Services.
Sincerely,
R. Ventura
Email Team Advocate
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the charge to your account. Citizens Bank is aware that situations may occur that are beyond your control. In such cases, we are able to issue a one time credit to your account. I have initiated a $78.00 rebate to your account. Please allow two to three business days for the credit to apply. I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
We offer two types of overdraft protection for your Checking account. You can link your checking account to a liquid savings account, so the funds are automatically drawn from your savings account to cover any items that are paid in your checking account. We also offer an Overdraft Line of Credit. The Citizens Overdraft Line of Credit will automatically transfer funds from a line of credit to your Citizens checking account (up to your available credit line) when you write a check or make a withdrawal for more than your checking account balance. The exact amount you need is transferred into your checking account to cover checks or withdrawals. You may set up either of these services at your local branch or over the telephone at the number listed below. We can also mail you an application for the line of credit option only.
If you have any further questions, please contact us via email or by calling our 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800 922-9999. Thank you for using our Online Banking Services.
Sincerely,
R. Ventura
Email Team Advocate
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sorry if I'm Driving You Away with my Content
I'm just really concerned right now that the polls are so close everytime I see statistics.
By Dan Payne
September 11, 2008
TODAY, on the anniversary of the horror of Sept. 11, 2001, we should recall what happens when an unqualified candidate captures the presidency. An incurious western governor, George W. Bush, arrived in Washington unprepared for the job. And it showed every day of his presidency.
John McCain's health could kill us. It's conceivable that a 72-year-old hot head who has had four bouts of cancer might not make it through his first term as president, leaving the country in the hands of a person whom McCain (a former POW) met one time. One time! I've spent more time shopping for a car than he spent choosing a potential president. Yet Sarah Palin could be one heart attack, one stroke, one metastasized melanoma away from becoming president of the United States.
Sarah Palin is Clarence Thomas, completely unqualified but cynically chosen for being a member of a demographic group that usually votes Democratic. No wonder so many women are insulted by the choice.
Will Hillary voters buy Palin's extreme antiabortion stance that allows no exceptions, not even for incest or rape; her belief in "market- and business-driven healthcare"; her support for teaching creationism in public schools; her rejection of global warming as man-made?
Stopping the Russians. In a goofy attempt to give Palin foreign policy credentials, McCain (an ex-POW) said Alaska is near Russia. Come to think of it, there haven't been any Russian invasions since she's been governor.
The day she was picked, she called herself "commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard." This is so preposterous even Mitt Romney didn't try it. The head of the Alaska Guard told the Associated Press that he and Palin play no role in national defense.
God is in the pipeline! Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States invaded Iraq as a "task that is from God." While she was there, she urged them to pray for a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."
Palin's pipeline to pork. McCain (an ex-POW) has for years attacked the practice of earmarking, where powerful members of Congress deliver federal funds for pet projects back home. McCain even published "pork lists." The Los Angeles Times found that three times in recent years McCain's pork lists contained earmarks for Wasilla, Alaska. Its mayor, Palin, had hired the town's first lobbyist, who steered almost $27 million in federal earmarks to a place with 6,700 residents. This year, as governor, her pork list fattened up to $197.8 million.
Abramoff connection. The lobbyist our "reform" mayor hired was tied to disgraced lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff. The Washington Post reports that Steven Silver - a former chief of staff to now-indicted Alaska GOP Senator Ted Stevens - was hand-picked by Palin at a time when Silver included as a client the Abramoff lobbying firm.
Troopergate, the iceberg cometh. Dead ahead, Palin is facing a report from a special prosecutor chosen unanimously by the Alaska Legislature. The prosecutor is looking into charges that she fired the State Police chief in July because he failed to remove a trooper who had been married to Palin's sister. The brother-in-law went through a messy divorce with child-custody issues.
A month after she took office, Palin's husband met with the chief to complain about the trooper. The chief has saved e-mails from Palin where she demanded the dismissal. In one angry e-mail that's surfaced, she actually curses (!) over the lack of action.
The prosecutor's report is due out in October. McCain (an ex-POW) has his cronies in Alaska working feverishly to stall its release.
The weekend anchor. David Letterman said she looks like the weekend anchor on Channel 9. In fact, she's a hard-right, small-town operator who tapped into the corrupt Ted Stevens money pipeline in Washington. She knows how to use Alaska's gun-toting cowboy image to her advantage. She's got a Taliban-like tolerance for beliefs unlike her own.
To the extent he thought about it at all, McCain (an ex-POW) picked her to fix his problems with GOP evangelicals and juice the ticket. That's a lousy reason to let someone so completely unfit stand so close to the presidency.
Dan Payne is a Boston-area media consultant who has worked for Democratic candidates around the country. He does political analysis for WBUR radio.
By Dan Payne
September 11, 2008
TODAY, on the anniversary of the horror of Sept. 11, 2001, we should recall what happens when an unqualified candidate captures the presidency. An incurious western governor, George W. Bush, arrived in Washington unprepared for the job. And it showed every day of his presidency.
John McCain's health could kill us. It's conceivable that a 72-year-old hot head who has had four bouts of cancer might not make it through his first term as president, leaving the country in the hands of a person whom McCain (a former POW) met one time. One time! I've spent more time shopping for a car than he spent choosing a potential president. Yet Sarah Palin could be one heart attack, one stroke, one metastasized melanoma away from becoming president of the United States.
Sarah Palin is Clarence Thomas, completely unqualified but cynically chosen for being a member of a demographic group that usually votes Democratic. No wonder so many women are insulted by the choice.
Will Hillary voters buy Palin's extreme antiabortion stance that allows no exceptions, not even for incest or rape; her belief in "market- and business-driven healthcare"; her support for teaching creationism in public schools; her rejection of global warming as man-made?
Stopping the Russians. In a goofy attempt to give Palin foreign policy credentials, McCain (an ex-POW) said Alaska is near Russia. Come to think of it, there haven't been any Russian invasions since she's been governor.
The day she was picked, she called herself "commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard." This is so preposterous even Mitt Romney didn't try it. The head of the Alaska Guard told the Associated Press that he and Palin play no role in national defense.
God is in the pipeline! Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States invaded Iraq as a "task that is from God." While she was there, she urged them to pray for a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."
Palin's pipeline to pork. McCain (an ex-POW) has for years attacked the practice of earmarking, where powerful members of Congress deliver federal funds for pet projects back home. McCain even published "pork lists." The Los Angeles Times found that three times in recent years McCain's pork lists contained earmarks for Wasilla, Alaska. Its mayor, Palin, had hired the town's first lobbyist, who steered almost $27 million in federal earmarks to a place with 6,700 residents. This year, as governor, her pork list fattened up to $197.8 million.
Abramoff connection. The lobbyist our "reform" mayor hired was tied to disgraced lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff. The Washington Post reports that Steven Silver - a former chief of staff to now-indicted Alaska GOP Senator Ted Stevens - was hand-picked by Palin at a time when Silver included as a client the Abramoff lobbying firm.
Troopergate, the iceberg cometh. Dead ahead, Palin is facing a report from a special prosecutor chosen unanimously by the Alaska Legislature. The prosecutor is looking into charges that she fired the State Police chief in July because he failed to remove a trooper who had been married to Palin's sister. The brother-in-law went through a messy divorce with child-custody issues.
A month after she took office, Palin's husband met with the chief to complain about the trooper. The chief has saved e-mails from Palin where she demanded the dismissal. In one angry e-mail that's surfaced, she actually curses (!) over the lack of action.
The prosecutor's report is due out in October. McCain (an ex-POW) has his cronies in Alaska working feverishly to stall its release.
The weekend anchor. David Letterman said she looks like the weekend anchor on Channel 9. In fact, she's a hard-right, small-town operator who tapped into the corrupt Ted Stevens money pipeline in Washington. She knows how to use Alaska's gun-toting cowboy image to her advantage. She's got a Taliban-like tolerance for beliefs unlike her own.
To the extent he thought about it at all, McCain (an ex-POW) picked her to fix his problems with GOP evangelicals and juice the ticket. That's a lousy reason to let someone so completely unfit stand so close to the presidency.
Dan Payne is a Boston-area media consultant who has worked for Democratic candidates around the country. He does political analysis for WBUR radio.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Why I'm not voting for McPalin
From the Los Angeles Times
Opinion
Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.
This could be huge.
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.
Opinion
Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.
This could be huge.
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.
Customer Service Complaints Run Wild
I'm on the tear again with Citizen's Bank. Might I suggest you do your banking elsewhere:
Hello:
I overdrew my account on Monday night with a $300 transaction. This I take responsibility for. Seeing online that I had done so I went to my Citizen's Bank to deposit some money early in the AM to get out of the negative balance. There were no envelopes. I have no way to make it to a bank during business hours. If there are no envelopes at the ATMs I cannot deposit money. Resultingly, during the day more transactions posted putting me further in the hole. Transactions for which I will be subsequently charged each time for. Last night after my 3 shifts, I went back to TWO different ATMS to try again and they were both out of envelopes. What can I do? This is not my fault - it is the fault of Citizen's Bank. I should not be charged over and over again when I made the effort twice, and at multiple ATMS to rectify my problem.
I called 18009229999 this morning and all they could do was give me the number of the branch so I could ask them to stock more envelopes. Clearly my problem is greater than this - this is a bigger issue for people who can't get to the bank during business hours and need to make transactions. Isn't this the point of 24 hour ATMs?
I would like to speak with someone about all of the charges I am about to incur. I cannot withstand $200 of overdraft charges. I'm running around trying to keep money coming in and not having a bank that I can count on does not help the situation at all.
I can be reached via email and phone.
Thank You,
Kristen Risley
Hello:
I overdrew my account on Monday night with a $300 transaction. This I take responsibility for. Seeing online that I had done so I went to my Citizen's Bank to deposit some money early in the AM to get out of the negative balance. There were no envelopes. I have no way to make it to a bank during business hours. If there are no envelopes at the ATMs I cannot deposit money. Resultingly, during the day more transactions posted putting me further in the hole. Transactions for which I will be subsequently charged each time for. Last night after my 3 shifts, I went back to TWO different ATMS to try again and they were both out of envelopes. What can I do? This is not my fault - it is the fault of Citizen's Bank. I should not be charged over and over again when I made the effort twice, and at multiple ATMS to rectify my problem.
I called 18009229999 this morning and all they could do was give me the number of the branch so I could ask them to stock more envelopes. Clearly my problem is greater than this - this is a bigger issue for people who can't get to the bank during business hours and need to make transactions. Isn't this the point of 24 hour ATMs?
I would like to speak with someone about all of the charges I am about to incur. I cannot withstand $200 of overdraft charges. I'm running around trying to keep money coming in and not having a bank that I can count on does not help the situation at all.
I can be reached via email and phone.
Thank You,
Kristen Risley
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
