Yukon Cornelius wasn’t in the least bit concerned when the Abominable Snowman tumbled over the precipice. He reassured Rudolph and the rest that “bumbles bounce.”
I learned at a very young age that I share that characteristic with bumbles.
I had a very busy week. (And so did America! My, my, what a mess.)
I went to a conference and a party and a meeting with my partners. I also baked a birthday cake for my step-son who turned 15. (I have a great and easy recipe for a fudge bundt cake and icing from scratch. Let me know if you want it.) And I did all the other stuff you have to do in between. It is really not practical to stay submerged for long. Life is too short and too bloody demanding. Probably a good thing.
On the topic of bouncing, someone dear to me once explained that, historically, the stock market always, without fail, surpasses its own highs after a—glitch. I wonder if those days are gone forever.
I went to my bank’s website the other day to check my balance, and in the header was a big question “Market fears?” and a “Learn more” link that jumped to a little note written by the head bank dude about how the market was just experiencing a little correction and that everybody should just not panic.
If, by correction, he meant…
…then I am inclined to agree.
Which brings me to Sarah Palin.
Here she is being protected from witchcraft by a shaman masquerading as a Christian preacher (you’re right, there’s no difference) who ran some poor woman out of her village because he and the local mob believed that she was a witch and was responsible for car accidents in the area. This witch doctor is evidently a regular guest at Sarah’s little fundamentalist church in Nowhere-ville Alaska, where she was mayor. Sarah evidently believes the guy’s ravings had something to do with her being elected governor of Alaska…
And when it comes to ravings, she does a good job herself. Here’s an excerpt from her interview with Katie Couric:
COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? Allow them to spend more, and put more money into the economy, instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?
PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in. Where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Um, helping, oh, it’s got to be about job creation, too. Shoring up our economy, and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions, and tax relief for Americans, and trade — we have got to see trade as opportunity, not as, uh, competitive, um, scary thing, but one in five jobs created in the trade sector today. We’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All of those things under the umbrella of job creation. (via Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish)
I’m a translator, but Nonsense to Meaning is not my language combination, so I can’t help you here… You’re on your own, now more than ever before. You have to help yourselves. Get informed, get involved. Please.
The rest of the world is ROTFL! They’re not laughing at your distress (not all of them), but at your absolute ridiculousness and foolhardiness, the full extent of which is finally hitting them because you have a dotard and a bornagain potentially inches away from The Red Button.
GET A GRIP, AMERICA!
I love how you scare me and make me laugh all within one post. Yes, Bumbles bounce. But, Bumbles also had there teeth pulled so they could do no harm. Bumbles in the form of Hockey-mom and Geriatric Maverick have teeth and should this country lose its collective mind and ellect these two we can count on them to use those teeth.
And, my head hurts after trying to make sense of what Palin said. That is the most nothing I have ever read in one paragraph.
I am hoping that Obama will wake up some people at the debates tonight. I am crossing my fingers.
That the election could even be close boggles the mind and is enough to convince me that no matter what, the US are lost. If it weren’t for their military (50% of the worlds’ military budget), the rest of the world would just shake its head and move on.
Case in point, When it was Le Pen (neo-fascist) against Chirac (moderate right) in the second round of the 2002 presidential election in France, Chirac won with 82% of the vote. Had Chirac been of African or Arab descent, it would probably have cost him, but it would still have been a landslide. Oh, and 80% of the electorate turned out to vote.
The only lucky break for the US is that people over here just assume that the US electoral process is more or less like theirs, i.e. that people vote, that they are somewhat informed, and that they couldn’t possibly vote in large numbers for total retards
After all, even our fascists like Le Pen are educated, well spoken, cultured, and don’t believe that Jesus rode a Dinosaur to work.
God, what a mess. A month ago I was so sure that I was going to vote for McCain, but now…well, I’m just not certain. Years ago, Democrats were the champions of the lower income, blue-collar working class. And right now, that’s me. I’m still undecided, but at least I’m listening to both sides now.
It’s a mess, all right, and now the “bailout” has become political, so it’ll be more of a mess. McCain/Palin look more clueless and confused with each passing day, and even conservatives are catching on. But ideology trumps reason, so Republicans who are disgusted with Bush are still willing to vote for McCain. Too bad. And they defend Palin with arguments even less coherent than Palin’s interview with Katie Couric.
BTW, the interview is even better to listen to. The way Palin mumbles and bumbles her way through the words is hard to capture with text.
Vincent made a very on-topic remark:
“If it weren’t for their [USA] military (50% of the worlds’ military budget), the rest of the world would just shake its head and move on.”
Quote from CNN:
[ http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/10/news/dollar.deleveraging.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008101014 ]
“the U.S. needs to borrow $2 billion a day from its creditors overseas just to keep the lights on, and has been adding to its already substantial obligations at a rapid clip.”
If I correctly recall my Economics 101 textbook from way back when I was young and pretty,
the US is rapidly headed towards virtual bankruptcy.
While (at the same time) almost successfully having exported that unpleasant “condition” by making sure they
as good as short-circuited the world’s real economy, by lacing countless real world financial instruments with US sub-prime junk.
It will take one hell of a bounce to get us back on track.
As for Palin&McCain: I’m still wondering what planet commenter #3 is living on when he posted “I’m still undecided”.
Hi Peter.
Joshua lives on Planet USA! I talked about the cultural tendency of Americans to define themselves and then cease to think about it, as opposed to the French who are constantly questioning their own assumptions, reflecting on what others say that make them doubt their convictions or idée reçues, modifying their viewpoints as a result, and basically keeping an open mind about who they are and what’s important relative to the rest of the world. Americans do NOT do that. (That post is here: http://pamela.poole.free.fr/frogblog/?p=170).
So Americans tend to say “I’m a Republican (or whatever)” and leave it at that, without really asking why they are Republicans or what it really means to be a Republican, or what the party really stands for. And by the same token, because they don’t reflect on this kind of thing, they fail to notice when their party gradually transforms itself into something completely different.
Americans are the intellectually laziest people on the planet. I am glad that Joshua and hopefully many others are being awakened finally by the extreme nature of domestic and international events!