Monday Morning Friends Report, October 27, 2008

Fall has fallen here in mid-Michigan, and at moments, quite heavily. Today there was sleet. There is a lot of talk around here about the Michigan State victory over Michigan, an event that may or may not be earthshaking. While we knock each other around, Ohio State and Penn State keep rolling along!

The other big source of discussions is the upcoming election. People are trying to decide whether to vote for or against the stem cell research proposal, but the topic of President has been decided around here. Everyone we know is for Obama expect that lady across the street. Can't remember an election year where there seemed to be such unanimity around the birches.
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What's happening with some friends:

SCOT - has been feeling under the weather a bit, but recommends this funny little interlude: CLICK ("Monty Python Could Have Written This")

SANDY - has almost talked us into going to France with her tour group next year. Well, she hasn't been pressuring, but there are a lot of wonderful people signed up and we feel we probably should go just for the camaraderie. Could anyone send donations?

MARI - we have it on good authority that we have a new reader, and she is welcome to our ranks -- and we think she might be a Michigan fan, too!

MARSHA - we learn once again that she's a great hostess.

STEVE and BRENDA - expect to close on the house they're buying, in the next week. Congratulations and good luck!

MARIA- reports that the trivia contest is coming up next month. Very excited about this. Last year the "Five Teachers and a Creature" came in 2nd. Damn! Must be better this year!
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What some friends are reading and talking about:

IRISH MIKE AND AMY - I don't know how they found this out, but they report that the Irish Bookies are paying off on Obama already because they are accepting that he is the winner. CLICK

VODEA - is forwarding the New York Times endorsement of Obama, which you can go read here, if you like. It's very good: < CLICK

IRENE - our Australian correspondent is cheering heartily for Obama. She says:

I'm sure it is not a factor exercising the mind of American voters, but there would surely be an amazing wave of anti-American feeling if Barack Obama does not end up becoming President of the USA. Support internationally for the Democratic Party candidate seems to be near universal and affected very little by whether the non-Americans are conservative or liberal in their own political convictions. The readership of the British based, but truly international, magazine The Economist are hardly likely to be mad lefties but they are overwhelmingly cheering for Barack.

JERRY and BILL both sent this:

What if.......


What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5*?

* The Keating Five were five United States Senators (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senator )
accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_scandal)
as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis ) of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter? What would people be saying?


If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

You are The Boss... which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Educational Background:

Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

GIGI - forwards this commentary: "WHY THE BLUE STATES SHOULD SET UP THEIR OWN COUNTRY."

Dear Red States:

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. It may even include Florida and Ohio, they are seriously considering it. We've given them until Nov. 4th to decide. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country. Since we're dropping the middle states we're calling it United America, or simply the U.A.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. You can take Ted Nugent. We're keeping Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. You get WorldCom. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get Ole' Miss. We get Harvard and 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms, and the highest concentration of pregnant unwed teenagers. Please be aware that the U.A. will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, really we do, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire. We'd rather spend it on taking care of sick people, and educating our children.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines, 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy Redies believe you are people with higher morals then we Bluies..

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

IRISH MIKE - "Colin Powell finally addressed the issue. What is wrong with an American being Muslim?"


GIGI - recommends an article saying that the newspapers owe us more discussion of the real issues not the mud: Urgent Issues, Buried in the Mud CLICK
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What some folks are smiling about:

JERRY -


A READER (who will remain anonymous) - sent this racist humor.

Suppose a new student enrolls at your school. Her name is Le - a .
How would you pronounce the child's name???
Leah, Lee, Lay, Lei?? Nope, all wrong!

It's pronounced 'Ledasha' oh yes...you read it right. The dash is not silent.
Her mother is irate because everyone is getting her name wrong. When asked about the pronunciation of the name, the mother replied, 'the dash don't be silent.'
I wonder who she is going to vote for??????

Really makes you wonder if McCain appreciates some of his fervent supporters.