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Bill Clinton endorses...Obama?
CLINTON: Now, one of Clinton's laws of politics is this. If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other one is try get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.
Was that in response to this ad?
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Today in class we had a timely discussion about Parliament building, or the Palace of Westminster if you want to get technical. I say timely because yesterday some Greenpeace activists had a little adventure there, out on the roof. (And a day or two before that, they practiced the same stunt at H'row, on top of a BA jet.)
After the buildings were destroyed by fire in 1834, there was a contest to design new Parliament buildings. They had to be Gothic in style (to match Westminster Abbey), and the only people allowed to enter the contest were Anglicans.
A guy named Augustus Pugin had a really great design, but unfortunately, he was Roman Catholic. So he teamed up with Sir Charles Barry, and their design—which was mostly Pugin's—won the contest. He has only recently been given the recognition he deserves.
I would post a photo, but you can see it at the top of this blog. And speaking of photos, we're finally to the point in the class where we get to see actual photos instead of drawings and paintings of London. Several of the slides we viewed today were photos taken by Fox Talbot, who apparently didn't spend all his time at Lacock Abbey. I love looking at old photos, so my thanks to Fox, who bothered to invent the process in 1835—sadly, a bit too late to capture the previous Parliament building on film, or rather, plate.
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How do you know you're in a blog funk? When an earthquake happens, and your first thought is: Hey, now I have something to blog about!
Pretty sad. But I'm seeing the same thing all over the internet. What is it about February and blog funks?
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You may have gotten an email about this from a friend—I did, telling me to tell 10 friends, but I figured it would be easier to post it here.
Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is
having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to
meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an
underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site
and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the
middle).This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers
use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for
advertising.
Here's the website. Go and click!
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A 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit England last night, centred in Lincolnshire. It happened just before 1 a.m., when I was asleep. No, the dog didn't wake me up, but she did get up sometime during the night and go back downstairs. She normally stays put until she wakes me up around 5. I was wondering why she'd done that; now I know.
Also, curiously, the door to my daughter's room was open—we keep it shut to conserve heat. Sometimes the dog opens the door and goes in there, though, but it has a weak latch, so maybe it just opened.
No one was seriously injured, according to reports. This was the biggest earthquake in 25 years to hit England. The epicentre, as near as I can tell, was around 120 miles from here.
I should have stayed up to watch the debate; I'd definitely have seen the sparks fly.
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Those of you who are regular readers here probably didn't know that a few days ago, this blog was linked to by Justin Webb, BBC's American correspondent. Consequently, a lot of people are reading this blog for the first time, and like newcomers to a neighborhood, haven't quite figured out if the people in the house next door are batshit crazy or just a little high strung.
Of course, they could read my About Me page, but that would be too easy. And still not paint a complete picture. That's one of the problems with blogs. People think they know you, based on the words that come pouring out of your keyboard, and the truth is, these here blogs are only a small window into the lives of their owners.
That's sort of the point, isn't it? If I wanted to write my memoirs—and trust me, I don't—I wouldn't have mocked all the memoirists at my table during the last writer's conference I attended. (Seriously, get a life, people! Preferably an interesting one!)
Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately, redesigning a website and working on a newsletter and other projects I've ignored too long. I'm also compulsively checking the internets for poll results, and other news from the campaigns in the States. Wish I were there, in the thick of it, frankly. And I'm tired of waiting until I wake up to read the news that inevitably occurs while I'm fast asleep.
Which brings me back to BBC World Service, the harbinger of events every morning at 5 a.m. If disaster strikes while I'm asleep, that's how I'll find out. Although, you have to take some of it with a grain of salt: I'll never forget the morning I woke to the news that "Hillary Clinton has won the nomination!" (Maybe Justin Webb could have a talk with his counterparts over here.)
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Interrupting a brief blog silence to bring you a very moving tale of a dog.
Okay, now you need a laugh. Here are some talking dogs. And here's another.
(And can I say, the day I videotape myself talking with my dog and post it on You Tube is the day you should just shoot me. Because I will have outlived my usefulness.) (And besides, I consider our conversations privileged.)
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Apparently the press release from Dems Abroad announcing that Barack Obama won the DA global primary with 65% of the vote, yet only won 1/2 of a delegate more than Hillary Clinton, was incorrect.
The official story is that Spain's total votes were miscounted and that caused the delegate numbers to be off. Instead of a 2 - 2.5 delegate split, there's now a split of 3 to 1.5. A further 2.5 votes will be selected in April.
Confused? Yeah, me too. A few hundred votes in Barcelona caused a tectonic shift in delegate allocations?
Maybe we can have a bake sale and buy new calculators.
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CNN Int'l is replaying the Dem debate that took place live last night while we were asleep. So I thought I'd do some non-live debate blogging:
10:05 a.m. Why do they keep writing on those notepads? Obama especially makes use of his notepad. What does it say? Help, get me outta here?
10:06 I need a laptop! My desk is too far away from the TV!
10:07: Obama says "uh" a lot. I noticed this in the conference calls I've listened in on too. Speech lessons!
10:10: Jorge is really handsome. He should run for something so we could see more of him.
10:10: Incidently, Campbell Brown uses the Anglo pronunciation of "Univision".
10:11: I'm using paper now, and will update during the break.
10:15: I like how CNN has the question underneath the screen while the person dodges it.
10:16: That bit where Obama mentions how "all during my lifetime" and then looks at Senator Clinton, and adds, "and during her lifetime too." Is he making a point about her age?
10:something: He nailed that economic question with "plans are the same, but who can better bring it about?" That's why I voted for him.
10: something else: Hillary's eyes go slanty when she listens—not a good look for her. Is she nearsighted? I speak from experience on this issue.
10:?? All the scribbling on notepads make him look studious. Sitting down isn't good. Standing is more presidential.
10:?? Jorge again!!!!
10:35: Obama's hands are very graceful.
10:41: Good question on the fence. My dog lifts an eye, then goes back to sleep. Fences should be taken down, she says.
10:50: Standardized tests! Don't get me started!
10:55: Good response from Obama on "All hat no cattle." She laughed too.
11:00: Did he just say "Some of 'em are pretty good?" Was that in a jokey way, or an arrogant way?
11:05: Awkward comic timing on that xerox comment of hers. Whoever gave her that line needs to take a class.
11:11:08: He seems to have two different voices, one for speeches and one for everyday talking.
11:15: mandates, schmandates. Pretty good defense by both on their respective positions.
11:17: Jorge again! Give that man his own show!
11:20: Debates are actually kind of boring.
11:35: Jorge! I am basically just waiting for the next Jorge moment, I realize.
11:40: The dog tuned out some time ago:
That's it. Next time I'm getting a laptop.
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Last night, after a full day banging away at the keyboard, I collapsed, exhausted, on the couch, ready for some entertainment from the 19-inch TV we keep for those purposes.
As my husband and I enjoyed a bottle of wine and a plate of crackers, hummus and cheese, we were treated to scenes of rioters in Serbia attacking our embassy. Even though the rioters were hundreds of miles away, the violence felt a little too close, a little too real.
Living in a foreign country brings a measure of vulnerability, even in a perfectly civilized country like Britain. My American-ness sticks out every time I open my mouth, and consequently I'm careful of what I say. I'm also aware that there are plenty of people here who really don't like Americans, and for this reason I'm very careful of what I write here. I don't want to give anyone a big clue of where to find me, or where my daughter went to school, or where I'm going on Friday. I'm also the web manager for an organization of American women, and I'm even more careful there about posting any identifying info—no names, photos, or locations on the public part of the site.
You just never know.
So, watching those scenes of our embassy in Belgrade on fire brought a measure of discomfort. No, it won't happen here—the MOD would never allow it—but for those embassy employees in Belgrade, it's all too close.
I happen to agree with America's recognition of Kosovo, so it's not like I'm once again condemning my own country. It's just that there's one more group added to the "hates America with a red hot passion" list. That can't be good.
Before I signed off yesterday, I read a lot of commentary about the Democrats Abroad overwhelming vote for Barack Obama, and how those of us on the front lines of the war for America's reputation voted for the candidate they thought best able to repair that reputation.
Perhaps. No one is more acutely aware of our reputation abroad than Americans whose safety depends on a foreign country's police force.
As I watched the American Embassy plaque fall from its position on that building in Belgrade, I found myself thinking January 21 can't come too soon.
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Results from the Democrats Abroad Global Primary were finally released today. Looks like overall, Obama won 65.5% to 32.6%. (Other candidates got less than 1% each.)
The total UK vote was 68.9% for Obama; 30.1% for Clinton. (2144 to 936)
My friend in the Czech Republic was one of 44 people voting for Obama, while 9 Americans there voted for Clinton.
Oddly, Hillary Clinton received 100% of the one vote cast in the Congo, which was the focus of legislation passed by Obama. Obama also won 100% of the vote, in the British Virgin Islands, Camaroon, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Macedonia, and Madagascar, while Clinton won 100% of the vote in Liechtenstein.
Altogether, there were 22,755 votes cast. 22 delegates were at stake, but unfortunately they were each half-delegates, meaning those poor people will be split in half upon arrival at the Denver convention. This is actually what is meant by the term "split convention."
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They called us a cult. Then they called us "latte-sipping, Volvo-driving liberals". But we just laughed, especially those of us Dean supporters who never drank Kool-Aid or coffee, and whose Volvos were older than our beat-up Birkenstocks.
Now, four years later, they're doing it again: Paul Krugman referred to Obama supporters as "cult-like" and just the other night, one of Hillary Clinton's union endorsers called us "latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies."
Here's a video of those "trust fund babies" marching in East Texas to the county seat, where there's been a long history of disenfranchisement, in order to vote early at the only location offered to them.
Cult-like? Latte-drinking? Trust fund babies?
But those are just words, and we've been told words don't matter.
Here are some more words:
We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.
Those students in Texas want a more perfect union, and they marched to make it happen. 931,633 (and counting) Americans also want a more perfect union, and have tossed in a few dollars to make it happen.
Those of you reading this are here because words do matter; you seek them every day. Those students in East Texas were inspired by words, and hope, and they refused to settle.
If that's a cult, sign me up.
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Today we hiked around Cookham Dean again, after having done reconnaissance there on Sunday, when the weather was fine, crisp cold and not a cloud in the sky:
Sunday: Overlooking the Thames, toward Bourne End
In contrast, today we hiked through clouds, literally, as fog descended over southern England. The views of the Thames were totally obscured, and it was difficult even to see across the common to the right trail.
We came across this truck, and I had a chance to share my knowledge of military acronyms with my friends. I think they were a little surprised to hear me drop the F bomb.
Wednesday: Situation back to normal English February weather.
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I see my peeps in Wisconsin are voting today, despite the single digit temperatures. Yes, I have peeps in Wisconsin too, in addition to New Mexico, Louisiana, Ohio, and yes, Texas. I lived in all those places, once or twice.
It seems as if Wisconsin is natural territory for Obama, but that's just my warped perception. When we were there we were affiliated with "the UW", as it was referred to. I can see Barack Obama racking up huge numbers from the 40,000 students in Madison's various student housing projects, and among the professorial enclaves in West Madison.
And, contrary to its reputation, Wisconsin does have more than a few black voters. After the diaspora of the early 20th century, when large numbers of blacks moved away from the sharecropper South to Chicago, there was another mini-diaspora, to more prosperous cities like Madison and Milwaukee. My neighbor was a black woman originally from Franklin, Louisiana, who'd moved to Chicago and then to Madison. I always felt I had more in common with her than I did with my white bread neighbors.
A funny you-had-to-be-there story: Once, when we were driving home (to Louisiana), somewhere in Illinois or Missouri we noticed another car with Wisconsin plates. Curious, we peered into the car, and beheld a black family. Okay, not too unusual. The next car also bore Wisconsin plates and a black family. After 20 or so cars, we were definitely seeing a trend. An African-American convoy. When we pulled in front of the last one, my daughter, who was around 12 at the time, said "I feel like Harriet Tubman! Except...we're going the wrong way!"
So, if you live in Wisconsin, consider yourself one of my peeps. Our six years there were among the best we had anywhere, and the people there are truly among the friendliest in the world, regardless of whether they are black, white, or striped like a badger.
(Did you know Wisconsin is known as the Badger State because of the Cornish miners who settled there, digging like badgers into the ground?)
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There have been a lot of amazing videos created for the primary campaign, beginning with my friend Phil's 1984 video and, of course, the will.i.am "Yes we can" video—which I totally didn't get. I didn't recognize a single person in it, mainly because I live on a different continent and apparently, in a different decade—I thought it was a sweet little homemade video put together by a bunch of ordinary, but rather nice-looking, folks.
Anyway, the best video I've seen so far is this. Maybe it's the historian in me, but I found the succession of old photos of unknown Americans particularly compelling. The only person who might be a household name is the astronaut, but you can't tell who he is. Just an ordinary American, going to the moon.
The music's a little somber, but these are somber times, as anyone serving in Iraq or facing foreclosure or wondering where they'll get health care can tell you. Yet it's uplifting, especially when you see the shot of the crowd surrounding the Lincoln Memorial at the end.
A new chapter in American history. Can't wait to read it.
If I knew how to embed videos on my blog, I'd probably make an exception to the "no YouTube videos" policy here at WDIK to post this one. And if I were the type of person to send out mass emails to all my friends, I'd send this. But since I don't, and I'm not, just go watch it. And tell me if you liked it as much as I did.
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Cookham Dean penal colony
Yesterday on our hike around Cookham Dean we passed by this free-range turkey penal institute centre. There was a sophisticated electric fence around the three structures, to either keep the foxes out or the turkeys in, I'm not sure which. I didn't get close enough to determine if it was on, and the dog stayed well away—she's experienced the shock of an electric fence before, and it's not an experience she wants to repeat.
As you can see, there are no turkeys incarcerated there now but I was told by another rambler that the baby turkeys would arrive in the summer.
In other news, I've been busy with various projects, none of which include blogging (not here, anyway) but I have posted a couple of recipes over at WFB. Later I'll post a most delicious recipe for Tortilla Soup, which does not include any turkey, free-range or otherwise. So don't wait for Wednesday to check it out!
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I woke to terrible news this morning in Illinois, the sort of news no parent with children attending college wants to hear.
About a year ago, when my daughter was trying to decide which school to attend, a madman in Virginia opened fire on classrooms of students at Virginia Tech. At the time, my daughter's best friend was in Virginia visiting colleges, and she ultimately decided to attend Va Tech.
While I didn't play much of a role in my daughter's decision, I really wanted her to attend the safest school. But it's pretty hard to determine where a school killing is least likely to occur. One of her choices was a large state school that was the scene of carnage a few decades ago. I was glad she didn't choose that school.
Carnage and college are two words that shouldn't go together.
Today my heart goes out to the parents of those students killed in Illinois. I cannot imagine their pain.
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Having heard a report on Farming Today about spring coming early, the groundhog crept out of her den to take a photo of the daffodils, and noticed her shadow.
Fortunately it was not February 2 and therefore, meant nothing.
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Here's a tip many paid and unpaid writers will find useful:
To pluralize a proper noun like "Clinton" you should simply add an "s":
ex: The Clintons are earning millions from Bill's consulting and speeches.
The proper way to form a possessive from a plural proper noun like "Clintons" is to add an apostrophe:
ex.: The Clintons' self-financing of Hillary's campaign has raised questions among progressive bloggers.
Note that you would not add an apostrophe and an "s" after a proper noun that has been pluralized:
ex.: The Clintons' income tax returns have not been released, though it is assumed that the couple files jointly. [Not "Clintons's]
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(Photo courtesy of Diane)
Hey, join in the Sorta Super Tuesday voting fun and vote for Roxie and Velma in the Humane Society's Spay Day USA 2008 contest! Roxie and Velma are the cat companions of Diane, frequent commenter and friend of WDIK.
And in this election, unlike those currently taking place in the U.S., you can vote twice!
They are too many unwanted cats and kittens, and puppies taking up room at animal shelters instead of bringing joy to people's lives. So do your part today. Vote, and learn more. And if your dog or cat is not spayed/neutered, make an appointment today. (I'm talking to my friend in Virginia—yes, you! He won't mind, and really—they're not that cute!)
And, on a personal note, having been bitten, twice in one week, by two different unneutered males, I urge you to neuter your dogs. Especially the ones with big teeth.
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