Happy Thanksgiving!

And...Happy Day-After Thanksgiving Shopping!!

See you in a few days...

2008 Presidential Campaigns

I read this article at 8:30am today and it has been open on my computer screen ever since because I wanted to make sure I blogged about it. But, now that it's almost 8 hours later and I haven't had time to compose some witty thoughts about it, I want to make sure that I at least get the gist of it up here...because it's hysterical. So, I shamelessly quote the following article from The Chicago Tribune:

"It's the ultimate inside-the-Beltway fantasy, a political tease too titillating to surrender, because it ends with the prospect of two women running against one another for president of the United States in 2008.

Or, in some scripts, it ends with the clash of two dynasties, a titanic grudge match that will determine the most powerful family in the most powerful nation on the planet. Plot too tired, movie been done?

Well maybe in Hollywood, but in Washington, fantasy politics is all the buzz. Now that the midterm elections are history, politicos are only too happy to salivate over the contests to come. Like rotisserie baseball, presidential scenario-spinning requires a few leaps of faith and the usual creative mind. After that, it's all delicious speculation.

Scenario One: Democrats rally around Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) as their presidential candidate in 2008, after she is reelected in a roar from New York in 2006. President Bush attempts to preempt Hillary's expected star-power run with a trump card of his own, naming national security advisor Condoleezza Rice as his vice presidential running mate in 2004.

Bush-Rice triumphs at the polls, making Rice the first woman and the first African American to be vice president. Then in 2008, it's Hillary vs. Condi."

Think about it...if you want to read more here is the whole article.

MAKE IT STOP!!!

Somehow, even from within the walls of a minimum-security federal prison, James Traficant (ex-OH Senator) keeps finding a way to make headlines. His latest stunt? According to Roll Call, just in time for the Holiday Shopping Season, Traficant is going to be auctioning off some of his personal artifacts. No problem, right? He's a felon who's in a bit of a financial hardship, you see he's as part of his conviction he is required to return illegal campaign contributions totaling $96,000, pay over $20,000 in back taxes to the IRS and pay legal fines of over $150,000. Auctioning his prized possessions seems like a good fundraising (pun intended) move. After all, there are obviously people in the state of Ohio that will buy this stuff...after all 27,487 of them voted for him in this past election (even though he would have to serve from the Grey Bar Hotel.)

The Problem??? Among the more than six dozen items to be auctioned off is a custom-made walnut and marble-topped desk with matching 12-foot-long credenza and six leather chairs that the auctioneer said came from Traficant's Washington, D.C., office. The local auctioneer claims that the desk has "Property of the House of Representatives" stamped inside it and that it's been stored for some time in a garage at Traficant's Ohio horse farm. A 1995 law prohibits House members to acquire any of the furnishings from their offices. The one exception is their desk and chair. They are allowed to purchase the set for approximately $1500.00 upon leaving office. There is no record on file of Traficant purchasing his desk. So, Bob Ney (R-Ohio), Chairman of House Administration is launching an investigation into exactly what it is that Traficant has and how it was acquired.

In other words...MORE of my tax dollars are being poured into this loser....when will he just go away?

Funny Stuff for your Tuesday Morning

As part of my morning ritual everyday, when I get to the office I check-in with a few of my favorite bloggers. So this morning I was reading Jamie McDonald's blog (via my husband's blog) and he had a link to Cyborgirl. Like Jamie says, she has some good stuff over there. One of the funnier things I found on the web in weeks was THIS link that she had. Check it out....

Fans Gone Wild...next on Fox

Sad but true, the sports highlights shows that aired Saturday night and Sunday could have included the above subtitle in their opening credits thanks to the out of control fans that celebrated wins after numerous college football games this weekend.

It's an age old tradition...you win a big game...you tear down the goalpost. Schools obviously oppose the tradition, as it is an expense to replace the goal posts, people could get hurt, yadda, yadda, yadda. So...the schools employ security guards to guard the goal posts at the end of the game. Well...from this weekend's festivities at college football games across the country you can see that the excess expense is in employing the security guards because they do not keep fans off the goal posts, nor do they keep them safe.

The problem this week is that the goal posts weren't the only victims in these stadiums, people were hurt and carried off the fields on backboards and stretchers. Players and Mascots got into fistfights on the field. And the wild celebrations didn't end on the football fields. In Columbus, Ohio, home of THE Ohio State University the celebrations metastasized into a violent, alcohol-fueled bacchanalia that left nearly a dozen upended and burned cars, smashed windows in campus-area businesses

I know it's hard to remember at times...but it's only a game people! It's great to win, but do it with style. It's hard to lose, but lose with grace. There is no reason for the extremity of these celebrations and the unfortunate part is that these crazed fans could ruin the "College Football Experience" for those of us who just like to go and scream our brains out for our team.

No more PAULA for these two...

Jenna and Barbara Bush, Dubya's twin daughters, turn 21 today and their parents breathe a huge sigh of relief. No more underage drinking spectacles for these two.