Pirate Nurse Dux's Bitter Woman Blog

TopFive.com — Signs You're in Ron Paulville

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:42:13 EDT

==============================================

C L U B T O P 5

The ready-to-serve humor list!

==============================================

NOTE FROM CHRIS:

Supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul are starting their very own cities "containing 100% Ron Paul supporters and/or people that live by the ideals of freedom and liberty." The first such Ronburgh is located in West Texas.

Yes, f'reals: http://paulville.org

The Top 14 Signs You're in Ron Paulville

14> The local Paul-Mart sells nothing but guns, knives, batteries and tinfoil hats.

13> Since they don't expressly involve the "pursuit of happiness," funerals are banned.

12> Despite a score of 25-2, little league games last 20 or more innings, with the trailing team refusing to admit defeat.

11> Littering is discouraged, although it *is* okay to waste your vote.

10> Constant complaints about the size of the city government -- even though there *is* no city government.

9> It's easier to get a bazooka permit than decent sushi.

8> Mayor Willie Nelson's prayer breakfast? Oreos.

7> Yours is the only town in Irrelevant County.

6> All the men dress in drag and... oops. That's RuPaulville!

5> Your house keeps getting egged by those hoodlums from across the tracks in Noneoftheaboverton.

4> *Nobody* belongs to the Homeowners' Association or Neighborhood Watch.

3> The citizens of nearby Perotville and Nader Heights all think you're nuts.

2> "City Hall" is just a guy in a tent with a spiral notebook.

and Topfive.com's Number 1 Sign You're in Ron Paulville...

1> In a bedroom community where the motto is "Like minded people, coming together," you're either in Paulville or Hefnerland.

==============================================

Do not publish or broadcast without permission.

The Web's Best Original Humor http://www.topfive.com/club.htm

==============================================

The Audacity of Hope: Faith

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:00:15 EDT

"What our deliberative, pluralistic democracy does demand is tht the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals must be subject to argument and amenable to reason. If I am opposed to abortion for religious reasons and seek to pas a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or invoke God's will and expect that argument to carry the day. If I want others to listen to me, then I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including no faith at all." — Barack Obama

Hillary's Role in an Indian Farm Tragedy

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:51:38 EDT

Following is a link to "An open letter to Hillary Clinton from a Wellesley College Alumna.""Dear Hillary,By polling logic, I should be your supporter - Democrat, older woman, white, liberal. I was even in a dorm with you in college. I have pulled for you for years. But something this past summer fundamentally changed my responsibility to my children and grandchildren. In the time I have left in my life to protect them and others, I need to speak out.I saw a News Hour piece on Maharastra, India, about farmers committing suicide [see here and here]. Monsanto, a US agricultural giant, hired Bollywood actors for ads telling illiterate farmers they could get rich (by their standards) from big yields with Monsanto’s Bt (genetically engineered) cotton seeds. The expensive seeds needed expensive fertilizer and pesticides (Monsanto, again) and irrigation. There is no irrigation there. Crops failed. Farmers had larger debt than they’d ever experienced.And farmers couldn’t collect seeds from their own fields to try again (true since time immemorial). Monsanto “patents” their DNA-altered seeds as “intellectual property.” They have a $10 million budget and a staff of 75 devoted solely to prosecuting farmers. Since the late 1990s (about when industrial agriculture took hold in India), 166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land."To read the entire letter, go to:<http://tinyurl.com/3zlpzj>

Funny New Bumper Sticker — No McBush!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:30:20 EDT

Funny, inexpensive, and to-the-point.

<http://www.nomcw.com/>

Qwotz — May 16, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:14:31 EDT

“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order: the continuous thread of revelation.”

“Never think you’ve seen the last of anything.”

“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” — Eudora Welty, American short story writer and novelist (1909-2001)

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself a fool.”

“If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”

“Nature has no principles. She makes no distinction between good and evil.” — Anatole France, French writer, (1844-1924)

“True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes”

“Those who are of the opinion that money will do everything may reasonably be expected to do everything for money.”

“Ignorance makes most men go into a political party, and shame keeps them from getting out of it.” — Edward F. Halifax, English statesman; (1881-1959)

Swift Boaters Set Sites on Obama

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:12:28 EDT

Swift Boat Vet Operative Vows To "Attack Obama Viciously"

By Greg Sargent - May 14, 2008, 9:55AM TPM Central

Check out this little nugget buried in today's Washington Post piece on the efforts by the Obama and McCain campaigns to steer donors away from third-party groups:

"We will attack Obama viciously on all fair issues, whether they are national security, whether they are taxes or the economy," promised Chris LaCivita, one of the Republican strategists behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group that attacked Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry in 2004.

LaCivita added: "At the end of the day, every individual has a right to participate in the political process whether John McCain likes it or not. It's their constitutional right."

Hmmm -- "attack Obama viciously," huh? Don't say you weren't warned.

To read more of the story, go to:

< http://tinyurl.com/5av2pv>

Barack's Fast Bash Back at McBush

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:04:19 EDT

Analysis: Obama reacts fast to Bush on diplomacy

By CHARLES BABINGTON, WASHINGTON (AP) — In President Bush's hint that Barack Obama wants to appease terrorists, Democrats heard troubling echoes of 2004, when Republicans portrayed John Kerry as irresolute and weak on national security.

Determined to end the similarities there, Obama and his allies counterattacked Friday with a multi-pronged response that was as fast and fierce as Kerry's response to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads was slow and uncertain.

And while the Democrats' first-day responses focused on Bush's speech this week in Israel, Friday's reactions mainly targeted John McCain, the GOP presidential candidate who seemed largely on the sidelines at first.

Obama, appearing unusually feisty and at times sarcastic, led the countercharge himself. Campaigning in South Dakota, he departed from planned remarks to rebuke Bush and McCain, and then called a news conference for a second dose.

"I was offended by what is a continuation of a strategy from this White House, now mimicked by Senator McCain, that replaces strategy and analysis and smart policy with bombast, exaggerations and fear-mongering," the Illinois senator said.

Bush's speech Thursday to the Israeli parliament, he said, wasn't about policy.

"It was about politics, about trying to scare the American people," Obama said. "And that's what will not work in this election because the American people can look back at the track record of George Bush, supported by John McCain," and conclude that the nation was misled about the Iraq war's justification, cost, length and benefit to America.

To read more, go to:

<http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jhuSCSHf0_NnOvpd5kajS5SdNBdgD90N00R01>

Perfect Timing or Perfect Planning?

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:59:15 EDT

From Politico.com:

With her deep party ties, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was supposed to own the superdelegate primary.  But in the last two months, it’s been the rookie, Democratic rival Barack Obama, who has maximized his superdelegate moments.

When new images of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “Goddamn” America sermon emerged in March, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was escorted to a stage to dub the Illinois senator a "once-in-a-lifetime leader” and steady the candidate.

In the aftermath of another staggering wave of Wright publicity, and after Obama was thrashed in the Pennsylvania primary, it was former Democratic National Committee chairman and one-time Clinton backer Joe Andrew’s turn to stanch the bleeding, as Obama fought for a close finish in Andrew’s home state of Indiana.

And then there was former presidential challenger John Edwards on stage this week in Michigan, endorsing Obama and putting the brakes on any momentum Clinton might have seized from her West Virginia primary rout.

It is unclear whether the timing of these show-stopping endorsements was the product of luck or design. Both the candidates and the superdelegates are on virgin turf, feeling their way through a primary phase that hasn't been tested since the nominating rules were written in the late 1980s.

Obama’s campaign won’t elaborate on its superdelegate strategy. “As people tell us they support us, we release it,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.

To read more of the story, go to:

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10396.html>

Clinton's Death Star Strategy

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:46:01 EDT

[From Politico.com]

Rats don’t swim toward sinking ships, and pols don’t back no losers, and this is why Hillary Clinton is in such trouble.

In a relatively short amount of time, Clinton has gone from being the inevitable winner to being the underdog to being a dead woman walking.

She needs superdelegates to win the nomination, but what is her argument to superdelegates?

Can she promise them she will win a majority of the pledged delegates that voters have chosen in primaries and caucuses? No.

Can she promise them she can take the lead in the popular vote? No.

Can she promise them she can win a majority of the primary and caucus states? No.

But can she get the superdelegates to overturn the will of the voters, slap African-Americans and young voters in the face and shatter the party? Well, yeah, she can try for that Death Star option.

To read more, go to:

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10177.html>

Bill Maher: Dems, It's Time to Grow a Pair!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:17:13 EDT

"And, finally, New Rule: If voting can destroy the Democratic Party, then the party isn't very democratic. Democrats need to stop freaking out about how this long primary battle between two popular candidates needs to be settled "yesterday!" Because the candidates are bloodying

each other! They're causing irreparable harm! Mommy and daddy are fighting!! Hey, you people need to reach into your teenager's knapsack and pull out a Paxil or a Prozac and chill out.

Democrats, your task is not just to choose between this pair, it's to grow a pair. Now, I know the idea of a very close race brings up some pretty bad memories for Democrats, but these are Democratic primaries. There are no Republicans in this race, so there's nobody organized enough to actually steal the election.

What is so terrible about a long, drawn-out contest? A season of "American Idol" is, what? 87 weeks? That's a lot of time just to pick a cruise ship entertainer. This is the presidency we're talking about.

I understand that a lot of Democrats feel passionately about their candidate, and that's great. But then their passion gets the best of them and they go on websites like dailykos and post stuff like the Obama supporter who wrote, "I will vote for Hillary, but then I will leave the country." Yes, because who could live in a nation that elects the person that you just voted for.

And that is what is so great about the Internet. It enables pompous blowhards to connect with other pompous blowhards in a vast circle-jerk of pomposity.

But, that doesn't mean I'm throwing my hat in for Hillary. For one thing, she'd say I was shooting at her. And I know she's going to have a tough time catching Obama, because he's black and she's not that fast.

But, this is America. We don't call the election before we know who the real winner is. That, after all, is the job of the Supreme Court."

— Bill Maher

To watch the rant, go to:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltx-Hd23Y7Y&feature=related>

Slate: Obama Doomsday Scenario Contest Result [Satire]

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:38:24 EDT

Slate is a daily Webzine offering analysis and commentary about politics, news, and culture. Trailhead, a blog by Christopher Bream that runs in Slate, invited readers to imagine what would have to happen for Barack Obama to lose the Democratic nomination.

Among the winning efforts:

"Obama is actually 34 years old, too young to be president. —Marc Sylvestre

Video surfaces of Obama at that Rev. Wright “God Damn America” sermon that he claims he didn't attend, especially if the video shows him applauding that statement. —Brian Weber

Obama photographed raising pinky while sipping latte! —Benjamin Clark

Customs agents find one of Natalee Holloway's “Carlos ’n Charlie's Aruba” T-shirts in his luggage. —Tom Grayman"

To read the entire list, go to:

<http://tinyurl.com/69k3ao>

Freakonomics — Parsing the Indiana and North Carolina Primaries

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:12:28 EDT

If you haven't read it (and why the hell haven't you?), "Freakonomics," by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, is a study of how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. Freakonomics has been expanded by the authors from a semi-regular newspaper column, to a book (now in an expanded 2nd edition), to a collection of Freakonomic blogs that are always a fascinating read.One blog entry by Justin Wolfers, supplies an economic perspective on this week's races:"A few highlights:With Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton trading victories in North Carolina and Indiana, it’s tempting to call Tuesday’s primary vote a split decision. Instead, political prediction markets have declared Senator Obama a clear winner.Senator Obama began Election Day rated a 76 percent chance to win the Democratic nomination. By the time the poll results were finalized, the markets had reassessed his chances at 89 percent. This 13 percentage-point rise makes Tuesday’s primaries the best day of the campaign for Senator Obama since the surge of momentum he enjoyed after the Iowa caucuses.On the flipside, Senator Clinton’s chances of securing the nomination were cut in half, falling from 22 percent to 10 percent.The political junkies amongst us will be easily recognized today: we are the bleary-eyed folks hovering over the coffee pot.For more, go to:<http://tinyurl.com/4wlsyq>

Hillary Lends Herself Another $6.4 Million Dollars

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:55:32 EDT

From one pocket to the other. At what point will her megalomania be slapped upside the head with a reality check? Or has this already happened, and Hillary's reality check bounced?

For the updated story, go to:

<http://tinyurl.com/5y8yna>

The Rats are Leaving the Clinton Ship

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:22:06 EDT

[WashingtonPost.com] INDIANAPOLIS, May 6 -- After failing to win the decisive sweep in North Carolina and Indiana that could have reshaped the Democratic race, disappointed aides to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded it would be difficult for her to catch Sen. Barack Obama in either delegates or overall votes in the six remaining contests.

To read the rest of the story:

<http://tinyurl.com/6k36zr>

Qwotz — May 7, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:14:40 EDT

“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions.”

“You can judge a leader by the size of the problem he tackles. Other people can cope with the waves, it’s his job to watch the tide.”

“He’s suffering from Politicians’ Logic. Something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it.” — Antony Jay, British writer and journalist, (b.1930)

“Apparently Arnold was inspired by President Bush, who proved you can be a successful politician in this country even if English is your second language.”

“Scientists announced that they have located the gene for alcoholism. Scientists say they found it at a party, talking way too loudly.”

“A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: “Duh.”” — Conan O’Brien, American television talk show host and writer, (b.1963)

“We are growing serious, and let me tell you, that’s the very next step to being dull.”

“There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice.”

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, dramatist and statesman, (1672-1719)

THANK YOU PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:15:34 EDT

You did an AMAZING job! You were ENERGIZED, you were DRIVEN, and you made the CRUCIAL difference in this campaign. YOU ARE WINNERS — and BARACK OBAMA will be our Presidential nominee because YOU turned out and YOU turned up the HEAT!

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

Now, let's keep up the momentum, and keep the drive going. Volunteers from every state in the union phone-banked into your states. Volunteers from every state in the union contributed to help in your primaries and caucuses.

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

THANK YOU NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:13:20 EDT

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

THANK YOU INDIANA VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:11:05 EDT

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

TopFive.com — Pointless Presidential Debate Questions

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:17:50 EDT

Because I know you care, and some days you just need a laugh. ;) Dux

==============================================

C L U B T O P 5

The choice of humor breeders everywhere.

==============================================

NOTE FROM CHRIS:

The recent Democratic presidential debate on ABC has been soundly ridiculed, as debate moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos delayed questions about real issues like the economy and the Iraq war in order to ask "important" questions such as one about flag pins proving patriotism. 

But hey, if you're going to ask stupid questions at a presidential debate, why not go all out?  

The Top 17 Pointless Presidential Debate Questions

17> "Senator Clinton, if you are elected president, do we have to worry about you receiving a blowjob in the oval office?"

16> "Senator McCain, you're old enough to be Senator Obama's father. Are you?"

15> "Senator Obama, if elected, do you promise to bring sexy back?"

14> "Mr. Nader, what have we told you about not taking your pills for those delusions of grandeur?"

13> "Your thoroughly documented military experience in Viet Nam is all well and good, Senator McCain, but were *you* ever shot at in Bosnia?"

12> "Senator Clinton, boxers or briefs?"

11> "Senator Obama, if your name could rhyme with that of any international terrorist, whose would it be and why?"

10> "Senator Clinton, considering the recent strain on relationships between the US and our European allies over the Middle Eastern conflict and the dollar's free fall against the Euro: French President Sarkozy -- dreamboat or boyslut?"

9> "Senator McCain, maybe your first-hand knowledge could settle this important question once and for all: In your experience, did dinosaurs at anytime coexist with mammals?"

8> "Senator Obama, please finish the following sentence: 'My grandmother is so white...'"

7> "Senator McCain, if the bases are loaded with Obama on third, would you bean Clinton anyway?"

6> "Senator Clinton, If I lob softballs, would you consider me for Ambassador of the Sexy?"

5> "Senator Obama, how would *you* accessorize Senator Clinton's pantsuit? Remember, she's a Spring."

4> "Congressman Paul, how is your wife doing with that fish-sticks business of hers?"

3> "Let's say you win the presidency, Senator Clinton, and decide to redecorate the Lincoln Bedroom. Does the carpet match the drapes? (heh heh)"

2> "Senator McCain, wouldn't your inability to raise your arms over your head compromise your presidential responsibilities when it comes to photo-ops at the YMCA?" 

and Topfive.com's Number 1 Pointless Presidential Debate Question... 

1> "Senator Obama, where were you on the night Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered?"

==============================================

Do not publish or broadcast without permission.

------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.topfive.com/contact.shtml

------------------------------------------------------------------

C L U B T O P 5

The Web's Best Original Humor http://www.topfive.com/club.htm

==============================================

McCain Thinks You Overuse Healthcare

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:49:55 EDT

[From The American Prospect]Why John McCain Wants You To Give Up Your Health Insurance"The McCain Agenda: McCain believes that Americans use too much health care, and he has created a plan that will make care less affordable so millions of Americans will use less.Government health insurance, like large employer health insurance, is based on a simple concept: Risk pooling. The more of us in this together, the more our health risks will average out among the population. When I'm sick, many more will be well, and so the group will be able to bear the costs of my illness. Moreover, the greater the size of the pool, the greater our ability to negotiate better deals, demand fairer treatment, and generally find market strength in numbers. This is true, in a maximal sense, for Medicare, with its tens of millions of members and ability to set doctor-payment rates. And it's relatively true for large employers. Democrats, in general, want to expand this model, bringing more people into government and employer options, and ensuring that ever fewer individuals are forced to face the health system on their lonesome.In contrast, McCain would like to take the health-care system in the opposite direction, toward an individual market where individuals seek coverage without the protection of large insurers or the government. Thus, the core of McCain's health-care proposal is a tax credit designed to ease people out of employer insurance and help employers pull away from offering coverage."To read more on this story:<http://tinyurl.com/4xx6gm>

McCain's Folly — His Health Insurance Plan Leaves Too Many Behind

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:41:30 EDT

[From The New Republic]"A few months ago, when John McCain decided to address the public's anxiety about unaffordable medical care, he gave the sort of speech we've grown accustomed to hearing from Republicans over the years. Let's encourage people to drop their employer insurance and shop for coverage on their own, he said, since that will create a vibrant market in which people can find better bargains. And since some people will still have trouble paying for insurance, let's give them a tax credit that would help offset the cost.A big problem with this scheme, as critics like me pointed out, was that it wouldn't do much for people who were already sick. Insurance companies generally won't offer coverage directly to people with "pre-existing conditions," since they represent such bad financial risks. (It turns out people with medical problems need medical care!) So buying insurance on their own really isn't an option." To read the story, go to:
<http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=a88ab4f7-d570-47ad-ab80-a7e817ddab6b>

Hillary's Gas Tax Holiday? Only the Oil Companies Will Profit

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:34:50 EDT

So what will *you* do with your $35? You know, the one Hillary promises you'll get if you vote for her? The summer "gas tax holiday" that Barack Obama refuses to endorse because it's an economic fraud?

You won't even notice it – because odds are that the oil companies won't lower the price you pay at the pump, and will probably just pocket the difference.

For an interesting read on the subject:

<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aQgAcP5he5WA>

The Empire Strikes Back on YouTube

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:38:09 EDT

The Movie everyone is talking about — The Empire Strikes Back
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5f-10R5TpU> May the force be with Obama, the candidate who promises HOPE to our country......

TopFive.com — Other Things That Are Barack Obama's Fault

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:26:48 EDT

From TopFive.com, a truly fun list for your enjoyment!

==================================================================

Alger Hiss just walked in with my secret pumpkin.

TOPFIVE.COM'S LITTLE FIVERS -- POLITICS

http://www.littlefivers.com/politics/

==================================================================

May 6, 2008

NOTE FROM THE SPEAKER:

We all know Barack Obama made his pastor

say terrible things about the United States.

And we all know that at the age of eight, he

was teaching adults how to blow stuff up.

What other awful, anti-American activities

do we just *know* Barack Obama has done?

The Top 9 Other Things That Are Barack Obama's Fault

9> New Coke was "change," too, and look where that got us.

8> Ishtar, Waterworld and Gigli: his fingerprints were all over

them.

7> Forced Johnny Damon to the Yankees at gunpoint.

6> Who killed the electric car? Sen. Obama. With the Revolver. In

the Conservatory.

5> Mariah Carey's success.

4> By not watching it, he got your favorite show canceled. You

know, *that* show. The one that got canceled and stuff.

3> Spent last winter going from glacier to glacier spraying

aerosol cans.

2> Personally tuned up the motorcycle, built the ramp, and

assembled the shark cage for Fonzie to jump.

and the Number 1 Other Thing That Is Barack Obama's Fault...

1> He deliberately, viciously, and with malice aforethought,

shredded a former First Lady's cloak of inevitability.

[ http://www.topfive.com ]

==================================================================

Selected from 34 submissions from 10 contributors.

This week's list authors are:

------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Livingston, Decatur, AL -- 1, 4

John English, Provo, UT -- 2, 3, 6 (Triplebuster!)

Mark Sweatt, Marietta, GA -- 5

Neil Chandler, Basking Ridge, NJ -- 7

Kim Walker-Daniels, Sun Prairie, WI -- 8

Slick Sharkey, Miami, FL -- 9

Sam Seaborn, Newport Beach, CA -- Banner tag

The Speaker, Washington, DC -- The Speaker

------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Things That Are Barack Obama's Fault

RUNNERS UP list -- Obamanations

------------------------------------------------------------------

Coke BlaK. 'nuff said.

(Kim Walker-Daniels, Sun Prairie, WI)

He wrote the last three seasons of West Wing.

(Russell Cannon, Anniston, AL)

He's glad he's about to prove that Strom Thurmond, George Wallace

and David Duke were correct.

(Nancy Anton, Portland, ME)

Obama not only wrecked the Beatles, he broke up Soundgarden,

Salt'n'Pepa, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

(Bill Livingston, Decatur, AL)

Spelled the word "American" wrong on one of his grade-school

tests.

(Jim Phynn, Horsham, PA)

==================================================================

[ TOPFIVE.COM'S LITTLE FIVERS ]

[ "Top 10" lists on a variety of subjects ]

[ http://www.littlefivers.com ]

==================================================================

[ Do not forward, publish, broadcast, or use ]

[ in any manner without crediting "TopFive.com" ]

==================================================================

[ To lobby the Speaker: top5politics@topfive.com ]

[ To subscribe: http://www.littlefivers.com/subscribe.html ]

[ To unsubscribe: http://www.littlefivers.com/unsubscribe.html ]

==================================================================

Chris White

TopFive.com

Studio City, CA 91406

USA

Qwotz — Cinco de Mayo, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:21:31 EDT

Si se puede!

“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers.”

“The main difference for the history of the world if I had been shot rather than Kennedy is that Onassis probably wouldn’t have married Mrs. Khrushchev.”

“Economics is a subject that does not greatly respect one’s wishes.” — Nikita Khrushchev, First secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, (1894-1971)

“My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy the ice cream while it’s on your plate.”

“There’s nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head.”

“Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.” — Thornton Wilder, American writer (1897-1975)

“Outside every fat man there was an even fatter man trying to close in.”

“Laziness has become the chief characteristic of journalism, displacing incompetence.” “If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.” — Kingsley Amis, English novelist, poet, critic and teacher (1922-1995)

Qwotz — May 4, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:50:38 EDT

“Extremists think “communication” means agreeing with them.”

“A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they’re dead.”

“I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.” — Leo Rosten, Polish born American comic novelist, (1908-1997)

“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”

“Have you considered that if you “don’t make waves,” nobody including yourself will know that you are alive?”

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.” — Theodore Isaac Rubin, American writer and psychiatrist, (b.1923)

“The truth is not wonderful enough to suit the newspapers; so they enlarge upon it, and invent ridiculous embellishments.”

“I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think.”

“It’s a great mistake, I think, to put children off with falsehoods and nonsense, when their growing powers of observation and discrimination excite in them a desire to know about things” — Anne Sullivan, American teacher , (1866-1936)

“Absolute virtue is as sure to kill a man as absolute vice is, let alone the dullness of it and the pomposities of it”

“We are all born mad. Some remain so.”

“What do I know of man’s destiny? I could tell you more about radishes.”

— Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, (1906-1989)

Qwotz — May Day, Part 3, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 03 May 2008 21:43:02 EDT

“To get others to come into our ways of thinking, we must go over to theirs; and it is necessary to follow, in order to lead.”

“Learning is its own exceeding great reward.”

“There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.” — William Hazlitt. British writer, (1778-1830)

“Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but unlike charity, it should end there.”

“Communism is the opiate of the intellectuals with no cure except as a guillotine might be called a cure for dandruff.”

“They say women talk too much. If you have worked in Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by men.” — Clare Boothe Luce, American diplomat and playwright, (1903-1987)

“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.”

“It is usually expensive and lonely to be principled.” — Paul Theroux, American travel writer and novelist, (b.1941)

“The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull. This is not always easy to achieve.”

“A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.”

“The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.” — Dean Acheson. American statesman, diplomat and lawyer, (1893-1971)

Qwotz — May 3, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:03:18 EDT

“Too many people expect wonders from democracy, when the most wonderful thing of all is just having it.”

“An optimist is someone who gets treed by a lion but enjoys the scenery.”

“A pessimist is one who builds dungeons in the air.” — Walter Winchell. American newspaper and radio commentator (1897-1972)

“The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

“Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.”

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” — Colin Powell. American General, US Secretary of State, (b.1937)

“We must dare to think about unthinkable things because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless.”

“In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects.”

“In the long course of history, having people who understand your thought is much greater security than another submarine.” — J. William Fulbright, American Senator (1905-1995)

"Indiana? Those people are sh*t!" Gee thanks, Hillary!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:37:44 EDT

Want to know what the Clinton campaign "really" thinks of Indiana voters?Forward to every contact you have...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-MzByUHIzw&feature=email

How to Win Friends and Influence Voters

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:43:28 EDT

It all started as a phone call to a friend last night, nominally to see whether she had signed her kids up for swimming lessons this summer. She had, and then she mentioned that we hadn't gotten together in a while. I told her that I had today off, but that my boring plans for the day included cleaning the house, cooking a big batch of venison chili, and watching the PA primary returns with my kids.

She said, "Yeah, us too!", except that she was planning on ordering pizza. So of course I asked if she wanted to haul the kids over tonight, turn them loose in the backyard, and the adults could chill in front of the TV while getting our politics on. She liked the idea — except that she was going over to her sister's house.

[famous_last_words_MODE_ON] "Why don't you invite them over here?" [famous_last_words_MODE_OFF]

Push came to shove, and now it looks like there will be about twenty adults in my living room, and who knows how many kids in my yard tonight. Guests (some of whom I've never met!) to the "PA Primary Potluck" are bringing all kinds of food, beer and Obama gear, and it looks like a Good Time WIll Be Had By All.

So now I guess I have to clean the damned house.

Earth Day, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:29:16 EDT

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

“I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.” — John Muir, English born American engineer, naturalist, writer (1838-1914)

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.” — e. e. cummings

“At times on quiet waters one does not speak aloud but only in whispers, for then all noise is sacrilege.”

“Awareness is becoming acquainted with the environments, no matter where one happens to be. Man does not suddenly become aware or infused with wonder; it is something we are born with. No child need be told its secrets; he keeps it until the influence of gadgetry and the indifference of teen-age satiation extinguish its intuitive joy.” — Sigurd F. Olson (Naturalist author of The Singing Wilderness)

Qwotz — April 21, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:15:08 EDT

“The whole effort of a sincere man is to erect his personal impressions into laws.”

“Man associates ideas not according to logic or verifiable exactitude, but according to his pleasure and interests. It is for this reason that most truths are nothing but prejudices.”

“Very simple ideas lie within the reach only of complex minds.” — Remy de Gourmont, French novelist, poet, playwright, and philosopher, (1858-1915)

“Journalism without a moral position is impossible. Every journalist is a moralist. It’s absolutely unavoidable.” — Marguerite Duras, French novelist, screenwriter, playwright and film director, (1914-1996)

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.”

“In all my work what I try to say is that as human beings we are more alike than we are unalike.” — Maya Angelou, American poet, (b.1928)

We're Looking Rather Foolish Down Under

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:17:08 EDT

Nature of US Politics Put to the Test

EVEN after all the hype, this week's vote in Pennsylvania will be a watershed primary election.

This isn't because it could determine whether Hillary Clinton's campaign continues on its brutal, nihilistic path towards the destruction of the most promising figure in the Democratic Party since Kennedy.

It isn't because it's been an age since the last primary vote and every nasty toxin in American culture has been drawn to the surface by the Clinton poultice.

It isn't even because Pennsylvania is an indisputably important and large state that any Democrat needs to win in November.

It is because the Clintons haveturned Pennsylvania into a microcosm of what they think the general election will be in November.

And the Clintons are running as the Rove Republicans. If they fail to destroy Barack Obama as effectively as Karl Rove -- George W. Bush's master of the dark arts -- destroyed Al Gore and John Kerry in 2000 and 2004, with tactics just as brutal but even more personal, then they will have driven American politics to a critical point. They will have shown that the paradigm that has reigned in US politics for at least two decades has been shattered.

To read the whole story, go to:

<http://tinyurl.com/6g6var>

This Just IN: Clinton Running Out of Time

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:14:35 EDT

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AFP) — Barack Obama's camp warned Sunday Hillary Clinton was running out of "real estate" in her quest to deprive him of the Democratic presidential nomination, as their next voting showdown loomed.

Two days before the Pennsylvania primary, the Illinois senator's team piled on the pressure, as Clinton aimed to stretch her small polling advantage into a much-needed thumping win here, as their marathon enters the final straight.

"The math is very unforgiving at this point when it comes to delegate counts, and that's what it's all about," Obama backer, Senator Richard Durbin said on Fox News Sunday.

"You understand the Clinton campaign is running out of real estate."

To read the whole story, go to:

<http://tinyurl.com/58uw5g>

Qwotz — April 20, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:48:12 EDT

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

“Look up, and not down; Out and not in; Forward and not back; And lend a hand.”

“Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.” — Edward Everett Hale, American clergyman and writer, (1822-1909)

“Education is hanging around until you’ve caught on.”

— Robert Frost, American poet, (1874-1963)

“Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.”

“Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.”

— Joseph Campbell, American author, editor, philosopher and teacher, (1904-1987)

PA Primary Night — Get Your Barack Party On!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:39:33 EDT

You've worked, you've slaved, you've canvassed. You've walked a thousand miles in another woman's shoes, all in the name of helping get Barack Obama elected.

When the polls close on Tuesday night, get together with your friends and watch. Whether it's CNN, MSNBC, or your local station, put it on and get down.

If you want to feed the masses that night, I'll offer a little help in the form of —

Pirate Nurse Dux's Hot Spinach-Artichoke Dip

15 oz ricotta cheese (one tub)

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 c half-and-half

1 c mayonnaise

Blend together until smooth.

1 c grated Romano cheese

8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 oz pimento peppers, chopped (one jar)

12 oz marinated artichoke hearts, chopped (one jar)

2 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Stir into cheese mix.

2 T dried onion, ground

2 t dried dill

2 t black peppercorns, ground

2 t sea salt, ground

Season to taste.

Mix all ingredients together in an 8 x 11 baking dish. Bake at 300° for 25 to 30 minutes.

Enjoy! ;) Dux, Bitter Nurse

Qwotz — April 19, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:31:53 EDT

“The avocation of assessing the failures of better men can be turned into a comfortable livelihood, providing you back it up with a Ph.D.”

“Never play cards with any man named “Doc.” Never eat at any place called “Mom’s.” And never, never, no matter what else you do in your whole life, never sleep with anyone whose troubles are worse than your own.”

— Nelson Algren, American writer and novelist. (1909-1981)

“The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even once.”

“The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.”

— Rene Descartes, French mathematician, philosopher and scientist, (1596-1650)

“The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they’ll sleep at night.”

“When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.”

“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”

— Otto von Bismarck, Prussian Prime Minister, (1815-1898)

“I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes, or of appearing naive.”

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”

— Abraham Maslow, American philosopher and psychologist, (1908-1970)

Qwotz — Tax Day (Schedule D), April 15, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:10:29 EDT

“The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.” –Mark Twain

“The people are hungry. It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.” –Lao Tzu

“The tax collector must love poor people - he’s creating so many of them.” –Bill Vaughan

“The thing generally raised on city land is taxes.” –Charles Dudley Warner

“Qui vult dare parva non debet magna rogare.” –Latin, unknown author [Translation: “He who wishes to give little shouldn’t ask for much.”]

“What we should have fought for was representation without taxation.” –Sam Levenson

“The Government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.” –George Bernard Shaw

“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least amount of hissing.” –Jean Colbert

“Tax reform means, ‘Don’t tax you, don’t tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree.’” –Senator Russel Long

Qwotz — Tax Day (Part C), April 15, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:07:45 EDT

“For every benefit you receive a tax is levied.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I’m proud to pay taxes in the United States. The only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money.” –Arthur Godfrey

“The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance.” –Thomas Jefferson

“The power to tax involves the power to destroy.” –John Marshall

“The less taxes, the better. Removing taxes removes money from the government. Removing money from the government removes power. A less powerful government is always a good thing.” –Frank Unibaum

Qwotz, — Tax Day (Part Deux), April 15, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:04:10 EDT

“Never before have so many been taken for so much and left with so little.” –Van Panopoulos

“Next to being shot at and missed, nothing is quite as satisfying as an income tax refund.” –F. J. Raymond

“The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.”

“We don’t have a trillion dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough. We have a trillion dollar debt because we spend too much.”

”History shows that when the taxes of a nation approach about 20% of the people’s income, there begins to be a lack of respect for government... When it reaches 25%, there comes an increase in lawlessness.” –Ronald Reagan

“People want just taxes more than they want lower taxes. They want to know that every man is paying his proportionate share according to his wealth.”

“The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” –Will Rogers

Qwotz, — Tax Day, April 15, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:00:04 EDT

“I’m spending a year dead for tax reasons.” –Douglas Adams

“Governments last as long as the undertaxed can defend themselves from the overtaxed.” –Bernard Berenson

“The fundamental class division in any society is not between rich and poor, or between farmers and city dwellers, but between tax payers and tax consumers.” –David Boaz

“And I’m the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he’ll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that’s one resort he’ll be checking into. My opponent, my opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I’ll say no. And they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them, Read my lips: No new taxes!” –George Bush

“There is no such thing as a good tax.”

”We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” –Winston Churchill

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” –Albert Einstein

Qwotz, — April 14, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:16:24 EDT

“An ambassador is a man of virtue sent to lie abroad for his country; a news-writer is a man without virtue who lies at home for himself.”

“Tell the truth, and so puzzle and confound your adversaries”.

— Henry Wotton, Sr., English author and diplomat (1568-1639)

“There is no philosophy without the art of ignoring objections.”

“False opinions are like false money, struck first of all by guilty men and thereafter circulated by honest people who perpetuate the crime without knowing what they are doing.”

“Every country has the government it deserves.”

— Joseph Marie de Maistre, French diplomat, writer, philosopher and politician, (1753-1821)

TODAY'S Reasons for Supporting Barack

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:16:40 EDT

Okay, I'm chatting with another Obama Friend, and she reminds me that this needs to be said. Barack Obama is currently under fire for his "bitter" comments in PA. HE'S NOT BEING PC — HE'S BEING A REALIST!

If you haven't read "The Audacity of Hope," you NEED TO. Putting all of today's hoo-ha about the "bitterness" of the PA voters in perspective, HE'S RIGHT. I am "kissing cousins" to those PA folks he's talking about, and he's spot on. His absolute honesty is one reason why I support Barack.

I'm one of those people who can't find a candidate/party that aligns with my causes.

I'm a gun owner, Life NRA member, hunter, Hunter Education InstructorI'm a woman, a mother, pro-choice, and feministI'm a Registered Nurse, but have had such non-traditional female careers as stockbroker, investment banker, and railroad track laborerI'm a Libertarian who thinks less government is more.
AND, I think Barack Obama is the best choice to lead us, and I think he's the best choice to protect my kids' future.
The HELL with "PC." If you've read "The Audacity of Hope," (and if you HAVEN'T you MUST!), you'll realize that Obama is maybe the least PC candidate there is — AND THAT IS WHY I BELIEVE IN HIM!

THIS ECONOMY SUCKS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 08:10:37 EDT

Another friend just lost a job. This is what I wrote to her.

Sue, I am so sorry to hear about your job loss! I've been there all too many times, and the gut-wrenchingness of it is hard to take. We, and particularly you, are victims of a political system that rewards sending jobs overseas, cutting or eliminating healthcare benefits, failing to give working parents child care assistance, and much more. The nation lost over a quarter million net jobs last quarter — you'd think someone in this administrationcould staple on a pair of balls and call it a "recesssion," which it truly is. When we work for Obama, we work for all of us.

Qwotz, Part Deux — April 11, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:52:21 EDT

"The reason that everybody likes planning is that nobody has to do anything."

"It doesn't matter what I say as long as I sound different from other politicians."

"Too often I find that the volume of paper expands to fill the available briefcases." — Jerry Brown, Attorney General and former Governor of California, (b. 1938)

"Diplomacy is the art of letting somebody else have your way."

"Vote Labor and you build castles in the air. Vote Conservative and you can live in them."

"Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home." — David Frost, English television presenter, (b. 1939)

And Now For Politics Completely Different

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:34:55 EDT

Or at least it would sound completely different if Barack Obama took British comedian John Cleese up on his offer to become his speechwriter.

"I am due to come to Europe in November, but I may be tied up until then because if Barack Obama gets the nomination, I'm going to offer my services to him as a speechwriter because I think he is a brilliant man," Cleese, 68, told the Western Daily Press regional paper.

Cleese, who donated $2,300 to Obama's campaign, first became internationally famous in the 1970s as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. One of his best-known roles was as a government official for the Ministry of Silly Walks.

For the complete story, read:

<http://snipurl.com/2428a>

Bill, Bill, Bill — You're Really Not Helping Here

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:03:00 EDT

From Politico.com: Former President Bill Clinton gave a passionate defense Thursday of his wife’s claim about “landing under sniper fire” – just as the damaging controversy was dying down.

Bill Clinton said the news media treated her like she’d “robbed a bank” and claimed she was experiencing end-of-day fatigue, even though she had made the claim in morning speeches.

"Now I say that because, what really has mattered is that even then she was interested in our troops. And I think she was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone. And you woulda thought, you know, that she'd robbed a bank the way they carried on about this. And some of them, when they're 60, they'll forget something when they're tired at 11 at night, too.”

CBS News producer Ryan Corsaro, who covers Senator Clinton, reports she made the claim in mid-morning on St. Patrick’s Day.

CBS also has aired videotape of the senator making the claim on at least two other occasions.  The Eleanor Roosevelt claim also has been questioned, since Pat Nixon traveled to Vietnam in 1969.

To read the whole story, go to:

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9535.html>

Qwotz — April 11, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:56:28 EDT

“ ‘Tis better to plumb the depths of unity than forever scratch the surface of variety.”

“If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way.” — Emile Zola, French novelist, critic and activist. (1840-1902)

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” — Tennessee Williams, American playwright. (1911-1983)

“One of the embarrassments of being a gentleman is that you are not permitted to be violent in asserting your rights” — Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. (1862-1947)

“Psychoanalysts believe that the only ‘normal’ people are those who cause no trouble either to themselves or anyone else.”

“The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight.”

“Nothing is inevitable until it happens.” — A. J. P. Taylor, English historian (1906-1990)

Obama's Happy, Drama-free Appeal

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:15:45 EDT

From Politico.com:

In the days and weeks ahead, the Barack Obama campaign is going to pose a simple question to the undecided voters and undeclared superdelegates who will decide the Democratic nomination for president: If Hillary Clinton can’t run a good primary campaign, how is she ever going to run a good campaign against the Republicans?

And while she says she is ready from Day One to be president, she is at something like Day 430 into being a presidential candidate and her campaign seems to be going from bad to worse to train wreck.

To read more, go to:

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9436.html>

Qwotz — April 7, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:57:42 EDT

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”

— Thomas Jefferson

“No one can get an education, for of necessity education is a continuing process.”

“A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat.”

— Louis L’Amour, American writer, (1908-1988)

“There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail.”

“Education makes machines which act like men and produces men who act like machines.”

— Erich Fromm, German born American social philosopher and psychoanalyst, (1900-1980)

And Another One Bites the Dust

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:28:04 EDT

From the New York Times:

Mark Penn, Chief Strategist of Clinton Campaign, Steps Aside

"Mark Penn, the architect of much of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, has agreed to step aside as chief strategist in the wake of revelations that he lobbied on behalf of a trade treaty with Colombia that Mrs. Clinton opposes."

To read the entire article:

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/us/politics/06cnd-penn.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin>

Giving the 2nd Amendment a 2nd Chance in PA

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:03:24 EDT

From Politico.com, we read that Obama is making an effort to work with and understand the pro-gun voter —

"The campaign has asked gun rights advocates like state Rep. Dan Surra, a Democrat from rural Elk County with an “A+” rating from the NRA, to form a coalition of supporters who can vouch for Obama.

“It is clear out there that I am for Obama, and they have reached out to me as a sportsman and a gun owner,” Surra said Thursday. “There has been an outreach to pro-gun legislators, pro-gun people who are sympathetic to Obama’s message.”

To read the full article:

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9398.html>

"It's Still the Economy Stupid"

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:17:32 EDT

An excerpt from an article by Robert Pollin for AlterNet.org (3/20/2008), under "Dollars and Sense" —

"Under Bill Clinton, working people and the middle class lost out to Wall Street. But I think the chances are higher for a major shift in direction under a new Democratic administration, particularly one under Obama. My hunch on Obama -- and it is only a hunch -- follows from how he stacks up as a political figure, compared to Hillary Clinton. Obama is obviously not bound up with the history of Clintonomics. His campaign also emerged as a widespread popular movement that has energized a new generation of voters.

But more important than hunches by me or anyone else is the economic reality before us -- that conditions for all but the wealthy have stagnated for a generation, under Reagan, Clinton, and the two Bushes; and that in the short term, we are staring a recession and ongoing financial crisis in the face. The pressures for a viable progressive agenda focused on financial stability, a jobs stimulus, universal health care, and green growth have correspondingly grown. Neither Clinton nor Obama can avoid this reality."

To view the entire article:

<http://www.alternet.org/election08/79987/>

Obama Beats Clinton by Double Digits — In Honesty

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:35:57 EDT

"A recent Gallup Poll found that 53 percent of Americans think Clinton isn't "honest and trustworthy." Just 29 percent said the same of her Democratic rival Barack Obama, and 27 percent said it of Republican John McCain."

To read more:

<http://www.gazette.com/news/clinton_34974___article.html/percent_honesty.html>

Too Bad, So Sad — No Michigan Re-Do for Clinton

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:57:13 EDT

From the WashingtonPost.com:

The decision Friday by the Michigan Democratic Party executive committee not to hold a of re-run of their presidential primary further complicates Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (N.Y.) chances of catching Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in the popular vote count.

For the whole story:

<http://tinyurl.com/4nvyu7>

Imagine What Dr. King Would Say About Iraq

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:04:48 EDT

Worth listening to again, Dr. King's remarks on our involvement in Vietnam:

<http://youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U>

“What a country calls its vital economic interests are not the things which enable its citizens to live, but the things which enable it to make war. Petrol is much more likely than wheat to be a cause of international conflict.” (Simone Weil)

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” (Albert Einstein)

Even Clinton's OWN PARTY is Turning Against Her!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:30:23 EDT

This just in —

IA Poll In Pennsylvania May Signal End To Clinton Campaign

By Matt Towery

(4/4/08) The elite of her own Democratic Party are turning on her. The media generally are undercutting her campaign. Her campaign coffers are looking barer every day.

Now a new poll suggests that the April 22 Pennsylvania Democratic primary could be the straw that breaks the back of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

To read more —

<http://tinyurl.com/ywtghx>

;) Dux

Qwotz — April 2, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:44:22 EDT

“You would not tolerate for one moment the conduct in an individual that is commonplace in the acts of some nations. You would lock up such a person.”

“The evolution of knowledge is toward simplicity, not complexity.”

— L. Ron Hubbard, American science-fiction writer, novelist and founder of Scientology; (1911-1986)

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”

— Albert Einstein, German born American physicist (1879-1955)

Hillary's Universal Health Care Doesn't Include Her Staff

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:25:15 EDT

Another case of "Do as I say, not as I do!" for Hillary. Universal health care is only "universal" if someone else has to pay for it, right? Once again, Ms. Clinton fails to put her money where her mouth is, and fails to pay for the health insurance for her own staff —

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9274.html>

I think we're seeing a pattern here, folks.

If She Won't Pay Her Bills, How Will She Handle Our Money?

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:53:40 EDT

You definitely do not want to be called on by the Clinton people to supply campaign services. Many a printer, caterer, and event coordinator is having to consider their efforts a "donation," 'cuz it sure looks like they won't get paid.

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9259.html>

Was Chelsea Out of Line? Yes, According to CNN

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:31:30 EDT

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's a link to the CNN video interview of the college student who asked the hard question of Chelsea ...

<http://tinyurl.com/2coq6p>

Judge for yourself.

Qwotz — March 29, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:19:51 EDT

"Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content." (Louis L'Amour)

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." (Albert Einstein)

"We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us." (Albert Einstein)

"The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is the cutting edge of the mind." (Diane Arbus)

"The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make." (William Morris)

STRICTLY FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:37:19 EDT

STRICTLY FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT!
Admittedly, this is not Obama/election related, but I get the feeling that we're here because we have common goals, interests, and maybe even amusements. If that ties us together, and we use those ties to WORK together this year and this election, BARACK ON!

Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age. (William Feather)

And from TopFive.com’s Ruminations —

I was so moved by Barack Obama's speech that I cried upon hearing it. I cry during President Bush's speeches, too, but that's because I'm an English teacher. (Miles Walker)

I was worried that the mechanic might try to rip me off, so you can imagine my relief when he told me all I needed was turn signal fluid. (Sunnyland Slim)

As a long-time fisherman, I finally figured out why the hole in the front of men's brief's is called a "fly": When your shorts get twisted, you have to fish around in your pants to find it. (Phil Garding)

A word to my neighbors, present and future: If you really want to be taken seriously, make sure your dog can't be knocked over by a quick blast from my garden hose. (Kevin Wickart)

This year I resolve to lose 20 ugly pounds. My BB gun and the neighbor’s cat will both figure prominently in the success of this resolution. (Duxall Inarow)

[Ruminations is a TopFive publication. TOPFIVE -- The Web's Best Original Humor. <http://www.topfive.com>]

;) Dux
Take what you can. Give nothing back.

Qwotz — March 27, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:06:30 EDT

Albert Einstein, German born American physicist (1879-1955) —

"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"

"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

"The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything."

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

Qwotz — March 25, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:09:16 EDT

"It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes."

"There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher."

"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."

— Flannery O'Connor, American writer (1925-1964)

"If you're not in New York, you're camping out."

"No man should be in public office who can't make more money in private life."

"The law is bigger than money – but only if the law works hard enough."

— Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York (1902-1971)

;) Dux RN

McCain's New Taxes Proposed for You and Me

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:43:10 EDT

From the Washington Post:

McCain's tax plan, Gordon and Kvaal said, would cost more than $2 trillion over the next decade, delivering 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of taxpayers and 4 percent of benefits to the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers.

...[snip]...

Gordon and Kvaal have a point on tax cuts, [McCain's Senior Policy Advisor] Holtz-Eakin said, though he added that voters should wait until the senator fleshes out his tax proposal before passing judgment.

"It will make deficits expand up front, no question," Holtz-Eakin said, adding that helping corporations ultimately helps workers because it ensures an employer remains internationally competitive. "That place has to be economically viable; otherwise, they have a problem."

http://snipurl.com/22h6d

Qwotz — March 24, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:31:55 EDT

"One man's wage increase is another man's price increase."

— Harold Wilson, British Politician and Prime Minister. (1916-1995)

"Everybody should have an equal chance — but they shouldn't have a flying start."

— Harold Wilson, British Politician and Prime Minister. (1916-1995)

"I'm an optimist, but an optimist who carries a raincoat."

— Harold Wilson, British Politician and Prime Minister. (1916-1995)

"The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate."

— Joseph Priestley, English Chemist and Clergyman, (1733-1804)

"It is no use speaking in soft, gentle tones if everyone else is shouting."

— Joseph Priestley, English Chemist and Clergyman, (1733-1804)

"Many a man is praised for his reserve and so-called shyness when he is simply too proud to risk making a fool of himself."

— Joseph Priestley, English Chemist and Clergyman, (1733-1804)

Qwotz — March 22, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:08:12 EDT

"Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think about what you shall write."

— William Cobbett, Pseudonym Peter Porcupine, English popular journalist (1763 – 1835)

"Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor in the country as an extended system of taxation and a great national debt."

— William Cobbett, Pseudonym Peter Porcupine, English popular journalist (1763 – 1835)

"The tendency of taxation is to create a class of persons who do not labor, to take from those who do labor the produce of that labor, and to give it to those who do not labor."

— William Cobbett, Pseudonym Peter Porcupine, English popular journalist (1763 – 1835)

"A new thinker is only one who does not know what the old thinkers have thought."

— Frank Moore Colby, American writer (1865 – 1925)

"Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible."

— Frank Moore Colby, American writer (1865 – 1925)

"We always carry out by committee anything in which any one of us alone would be too reasonable to persist."

— Frank Moore Colby, American writer (1865 – 1925)

"When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way."

— Wayne Dyer, American motivational speaker and author (b. 1940)

"It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there's nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized."

— Wayne Dyer, American motivational speaker and author (b. 1940)

"The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about."

— Wayne Dyer, American motivational speaker and author (b. 1940)

I'm Supporting Bill Richardson's Nomination for VP

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:50:43 EDT

I watched today's endorsement of Barack Obama by Governor Bill Richardson, and was once again impressed by the intelligence and vision of the man. If he was Barack's choice for VP, they would be an unbeatable team.

And possibly the best thing to ever happen to this country.

Strike that -- without a doubt the best thing that could ever happen to this country.

;) Dux, Pirate Nurse

Where's Mamie When We Need Her?

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:08:44 EDT

Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski (former National Security Advisor) nails it in this video from MSNBC. How does visiting other countries or being the wife of the president prepare you for the politics of capital hill? If that was the case, then our top choice for candidate should probably be a travel agent, and Mamie Eisenhower should have run against Jack Kennedy.

Watch the video and enjoy!

<http://tinyurl.com/353k4c>

;) Dux, Pirate Nurse

Interesting Parallel — 1992 vs. 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:19:27 EDT

The race is close -- where do we stand?

Does Barack still have a chance?

How close is this race?

These thoughts were posted by a friend to another group I belong to, and really helped put everything into perspective for me. You need to read. believe, and pass it on —

"I was feeling discouraged this morning, when I remembered that in 1992, Bill Clinton was the fresh-faced inspirational movement candidate, who by this point in March was still battling Jerry Brown in the primaries, was riddled with sex scandals, and as late as the summer heading into the Dem Convention was running *third* behind Bush and Perot.

Yet the scandal-tarnish and disillusionment from the early glow didn't matter when he inspired us again at the Convention, beat the pants off of Bush in the debates, and won easily in November.

Of course every situation is different, but it made me feel better."

I believe. Yes We Can!

;) Dux, Pirate Nurse

Qwotz — March 19, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:06:45 EDT

"My place in history will depend on what I can do for the people and not on what the people can do for me."

— William Jennings Bryan, American politician and orator. (1860-1925)

"Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the individual to protect his own rights; American civilization will teach him to respect the rights of others."

— William Jennings Bryan, American politician and orator. (1860-1925)

"Ben Franklin may have discovered electricity – but it is the man who invented the meter who made the money."

— Earl Warren, American Republican politician and judge, (1891-1974)

"Many people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress, but they consider the things government does for others as socialism."

— Earl Warren, American Republican politician and judge, (1891-1974)

"Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for."

— Earl Warren, American Republican politician and judge, (1891-1974)

Qwotz — March 18, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:03:01 EDT

“Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.”

“Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust.”

“Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters.”

— Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the United States

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.”

“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.”

“I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on.”

“I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.”

“If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault; if they betray you twice, it’s your fault.”

“It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.”

“Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.”

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat & reformer

SNL's Tracy Morgan Responds to Tina Fey

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:13:55 EDT

Hit 'em hard, Tracy!

<http://tinyurl.com/287zvd>

;) Dux, RN

Qwotz — Happy Feast Day of the Green Brew!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:13:50 EDT

"I showed my appreciation of my native land in the usual Irish way: by getting out of it as soon as I possibly could."

— George Bernard Shaw, Irish literary critic, playwright and essayist. (1856-1950)

"I think being a woman is like being Irish. Everyone says you're important and nice, but you take second place all the same."

— Iris Murdoch, British novelist and philosopher, (1919-1999)

"Other people have a nationality. The Irish and the Jews have a psychosis."

— Brendan Behan, Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright. (1923-1964)

"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy."

— William Butler Yeats, Irish Writer, Dramatist and Poet. (1865-1939)

"If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized."

— Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, novelist, dramatist and critic, (1854-1900)

"It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody."

— Brendan Behan, Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright. (1923-1964)

"We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English."

— Winston Churchill, British orator, author and Prime Minister (1874-1965)

;) Dux, Pirate RN

Hey Geraldine! Your Bigotry is Showing!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:04:28 EDT

[From CNN.com ...]

In her first interview with the Daily Breeze, published late last week, Ferraro said: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

[... snip ...]

She also said Clinton had been the victim of a "sexist media." This is not the first time Ferraro has made a racially sensitive remark about a black presidential candidate.

In an April 15, 1988, article in The Washington Post, Ferraro is quoted as saying that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."

<http://tinyurl.com/2frcal>

What you see is what you get!

;) Pirate Nurse Dux

CONGRATULATIONS MISSISSIPPI VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:14:26 EDT

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

Now, let's keep up the momentum, and keep the drive going. Volunteers from every state in the union phone-banked into your state. Volunteers from every state in the union contributed to help in your primary.

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

The New World of Hope

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:06:51 EDT

With the author's permission, a poem —

[Inspired by an article in Rolling Stone Magazine about Barrack Obama]

The tides of history

are rising faster and faster.

Survival does not

resolve through weapons.

The tools of survival come from

human character, judgment, intelligence

and morality.

It is time for "WE".

The work is laid out...

Close the gaps, work together, eliminate

greed, cynicism, and the hierarchy of one.

Work in conjunction, affiliation, and cooperation

Not in discord, alienation, and antagonism.

We can do it...Yes we can.

Our work is never done.

S. Shields, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS WYOMING VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:49:55 EST

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

Now, let's keep up the momentum, and keep the drive going.

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

Plant the Seeds of Hope — Earth Day April 22nd

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:44:00 EST

Declare your support for Barack Obama and Earth Day, 2008, as part of a nationwide demonstration of Barack Obama supporters concerned about environmental issues. During the weekend of April 19th and 20th (the weekend before Earth Day, April 22nd, 2008), let others know that Barack is the Environmental Candidate you support—

Wear your Barack Obama t-shirt to your garden center, nature center, or on an outing with your family and friends to the zoo!
Wear your Obama 08 shirt as you join with other local Earth Day supporters in a community project or event.
No local events available? Organize your own Obama/Earth Day event! Is there a local park, river or roadside that needs a clean up? Organize a few Obama Volunteers to help, put out signage and call your local paper!
Jog, blog kiss a frog! Write haiku, plant a tree, proudly do it publicly!
Be creative, and use your imagination to help spread the word that Barack Obama has a plan for the environment that we can support.

If you aren’t already familiar with our candidate’s stand on environmental issues, check out the Barack Obama website for his Plan for a Clean Energy Future. There you will find his goals for our country, including:

Reduce Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
Invest in a Clean Energy Future
Support Next Generation Biofuels
Set America on Path to Oil Independence
Improve Energy Efficiency 50 Percent by 2030
Restore U.S. Leadership on Climate Change

Need more information?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/

Today's Best Bumper Sticker!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:50:43 EST

"McCain: Like electing Bush's older, crankier, and even more insane brother."
I love my work!
;) Dux, Pirate Nurse

CONGRATULATIONS OHIO and RHODE ISLAND VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:06:21 EST

You did an AMAZING job! You don't really think the results of these incredibly close, incredibly important races was a FAILURE, do you? You were ENERGIZED, you were DRIVEN, and you made the CRUCIAL difference in this campaign. YOU ARE WINNERS — and BARACK OBAMA will be our Presidential nominee because YOU turned out and YOU turned up the HEAT!

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

CONGRATULATIONS TEXAS and VERMONT VOLUNTEERS!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:04:13 EST

EVERY STATE should have volunteers and Obama supporters who worked as hard as you have. Without your efforts, just think what might have happened [and shudder!]!

PASS. IT. FORWARD!

YES WE CAN!

;) Dux Pirate Nurse

Qwotz -- Onward Barack Soldiers!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:52:06 EST

"The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of common man."

-- William Beveridge, Indian born English economist and social reformer, (1879-1963)

"Scratch a pessimist and you find often a defender of privilege."

-- William Beveridge, Indian born English economist and social reformer, (1879-1963)

"The trouble in modern democracy is that men do not approach to leadership until they have lost the desire to lead anyone."

-- William Beveridge, Indian born English economist and social reformer, (1879-1963)

"The People have a right to the Truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

-- Frank Norris, American novelist (1870-1902)

"There's nothing so improves the mood of the Party as the imminent execution of a senior colleague."

-- Alan Clark, British Conservative politician, historian and diarist (1928-1999)

"There are no true friends in politics. We are all sharks circling, and waiting, for traces of blood to appear in the water."

-- Alan Clark, British Conservative politician, historian and diarist (1928-1999)

Qwotz — Primary Tuesday, March Forth!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:52:33 EST

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

-- Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish born american inventor and educator, (1847-1922)

"America is a country of inventors, and the greatest of inventors are the newspaper men."

-- Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish born american inventor and educator, (1847-1922)

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

-- Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish born american inventor and educator, (1847-1922)

"There are lots of people who can't think seriously without injuring their brains."

-- John Jay Chapman, American author (1862-1933)

"The world of politics is always twenty years behind the world of thought."

-- John Jay Chapman, American author (1862-1933)

"Wherever you see a man who gives someone else's corruption, someone else's prejudice as a reason for not taking action himself, you see a cog in The Machine that governs us."

-- John Jay Chapman, American author (1862-1933)

Fading Flower of Texas

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:50:20 EST

Folks, I could not resist sharing parts of a newspaper column entitled "Hillary is a fading flower as Texas looms" by award-winning syndicated Milwaukee columnist and commentator Rick Horowitz. Appearing in today's Wisconsin State Journal, and sung to the tune "The Yellow Rose of Texas," here are a few stanzas for your enjoyment —

There's a yelling rose in Texas, that I am going to see,

Her name is Rodham Clinton, They call her Hill-a-ree.

She battles with the best of them, just listen to her shout,

But her polls are running backwards and her time is running out.

...

She's the sturdiest of flowers, she bends but never breaks,

She's ready for a struggle, for anything it takes.

You can talk about New England states, and even O-hi-o,

But she'd better carry Texas or it's time for her to go.

...

She was counting on a cakewalk, but then she got a shock,

Her rearview mirror was empty, then suddenly Barack,

He caught her, then he passed her, he left her in the dust,

So she's down to final chances, and the Lone Star State's a must.

...

She's the sturdiest of flowers, she bends but never breaks,

The wind is getting stronger, the ground around her quakes,

She can "coulda, woulda, shoulda," and speak of might-have-been,

But she'd better carry Texas or there's nothing left to spin.

;) Dux RN

Qwotz — February 28, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:02:16 EST

"He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak."

-- Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and writer. (1533-1592)

"I speak the truth not so much as I would, but as much as I dare, and I dare a little more as I grow older."

-- Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and writer. (1533-1592)

"Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity."

-- Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and writer. (1533-1592)

"The introduction of religious passion into politics is the end of honest politics, and the introduction of politics into religion is the prostitution of true religion."

-- Lord Hailsham, British lawyer and politician, (1872-1950)

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right."

-- Lord Hailsham, British lawyer and politician, (1872-1950)

Boxers or Briefs?

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:52:14 EST

There's important news, and there's important news. This just in, from an interview of Barack Obama by US Magazine [2/27/2008]:

So, boxers or briefs? Bill Clinton said he wore boxers in a 1992 interview with MTV.

"I don't answer those humiliating questions. But whichever one it is, I look good in 'em!"

<http://tinyurl.com/ywpfge>

;) Dux

Qwotz — February 27, 2008

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:14:29 EST

"Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807-1882)

"It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807-1882)

"The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807-1882)

"A union of government and religion tends to destroy government and degrade religion."

-- Hugo Black, American jurist, lawyer and politician (1886-1971)

"The Framers [of the Constitution] knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny."

-- Hugo Black, American jurist, lawyer and politician (1886-1971)

"Our Constitution was not written in the sands to be washed away by each wave of new judges blown in by each successive political wind."

-- Hugo Black, American jurist, lawyer and politician (1886-1971)

;) Dux

Get Your Blog On!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:49:58 EST

If you haven't checked out some of the local, regional and national ObamaBloggers, get started. There's a community out there, a broad, strong, active community with enough brain power to keep this campaign's momentum going at warp speed.

Have you checked out your local neighborhood? Guess what? You probably have kindred political spirits within blocks off you with whom you can connect to share the spirit. Get connected, get your blog on, get your Barack on now!

Looking for a quick Barack fix? Check out some of these:

The femisinst perspective:

<http://obamastraws.blogspot.com/2008/02/raspberry-du-jour-hrc-goes-nuclearshame.html>

Worth the time:

<http://tinyurl.com/3y9wnn>

Want to see a kid out-wonk a reporter on healthcare? Priceless!

<http://www.peterlevine.ws/mt/archives/2008/02/one-gotcha-inte.html>

Haven't watched it lately? Still inspirational, and with new material at the end!

<http://www.dipdive.com/>

;) Dux RN

Get Creative and Get Your Barack On!

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:17:40 EST

Not every event has to be scheduled, not every effort has to be planned. Sometimes it's the little efforts that add up to the big results. Low on cash, time or energy? Try one of these ideas—

Have you received Barack Obama mailings, flyers, cards or other campaign material for your primary? REDISTRIBUTE THEM!

Take your flyers to work and leave them in the break room.
Leave your mailbox stuffers and door hangers at the doctors office.
Print off a few extra talking-points flyers from your computer and take them to the library.

Wear a button or badge, or even just a stick-on "Hi! My Name Is – BOB and I'm Voting for Obama!" name tag.

Ever take cookies or treats to your office? Put a hand-lettered sign near them that says, "Thanks for your vote for Barack Obama!"

And of course, if you have a primary coming up in your state, PLEASE join your local "Soap for Hope!" event (check your local state listings as your primary nears for details!).

;) Dux

Quotes for this political season

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:30:46 EST

"Vote: The only commodity that is peddleable without a license."
-- Mark Twain, American humorist, writer and lecturer. (1835-1910)

"American youth attributes much more importance to arriving at driver's license age than at voting age."
-- Marshall McLuhan, Canadian communications theorist, educator, writer and social reformer, (1911-1980)

"Voting is simply a way of determining which side is the stronger without putting it to the test of fighting."
-- Henry Louis Mencken, American journalist and critic (1880-1956)

"Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good."
-- Henry Louis Mencken, American journalist and critic (1880-1956)

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
-- George Washington, 1st US President (1732-1799)

"Journalists are like dogs, when ever anything moves they begin to bark."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher, (1788-1860)

"Intellect is invisible to the man who has none."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher, (1788-1860)

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher, (1788-1860)

"If you are afraid of being lonely, don't try to be right."
-- Jules Renard, French writer, (1864-1910)

"What the people want is very simple - they want an America as good as its promise."
-- Barbara Jordan, American member of Congress, (1936-1996)

"There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure."
-- Barbara Jordan, American member of Congress, (1936-1996)

"If you're going to play the game properly, you'd better know every rule."
-- Barbara Jordan, American member of Congress, (1936-1996)

"Votes are like trees, if you are trying to build a forest. If you have more trees than you have forests, then at that point the pollsters will probably say you will win."
-- Dan Quayle, American 44th US Vice President. (b.1947)

Obama House Party Recipe — Buffalo Chicken Dip

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:53:02 EST

We had friends, both brand new and very old, over to watch primary results come in, and served this Obama Party Recipe #2. I've made this two different ways — as a Buffalo Chicken Dip and as a Rajun Cajun Seafood Dip. Both have been renamed "Dux's Crack DIp" by a colleague. Very simple, pretty cheap, and gets huge raves.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 c cooked, chopped up chicken [OR two 10 oz cans of chicken meat]

2 8 oz pkg cream cheese, cubed

1 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 c ranch dressing

1/2 c chopped celery

1/3 – 1/2 c Louisiana-style hot sauce, to taste (I like Frank's Chili Lime, but you be the judge)

Chop and mix together all of the ingredients, and place in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes until heated through, stirring once after about 20 minutes to mix the cheeses. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or bread. This makes for a seriously fun dip, and is a fast and easy start for any Obama Action Party!

Enjoy! ;) Dux RN

Obama House Party Recipe — Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:09:13 EST

Maybe this is slightly off-topic, but I've been holding house parties and get-togethers for Barack Obama fans and friends. Never one to miss an opportunity to cook and entertain (I'm slightly domesticated, although it would be hard to tell just by looking at me), I've put together a few recipes that are quick, easy and seem to appeal to the masses. Here's a real winner (I swear they licked the bowl clean!) --

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 12 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 c chopped up fresh spinach

2/3 c grated parmesan or romano cheese

1 2 oz jar sliced pimento

2/3 c mayonnaise

1/2 c half & half

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, and pour into a loaf pan/baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees just until heated through. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or bread. Get out of the way!

Enjoy! ;) Dux RN

Hot Buttons

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:56:55 EST

I don't know what's gotten into me, but this Obama guy is sure pushing a lot of my hot buttons. I just spent another hour joining groups and creating events on my.barackobama dot com for states in which I don't even live. I'm already getting DOZENS of responses and signups in Rhode Island and Texas. Yesterday I talked to people on the street, people at the hospital, my asthma doc, and people at the gas station. I drove two neighbors to the polling place, and watched another neighbor's kids so she could go vote.

I haven't had this much fun with my pants on in years.

Many Issues, One Candidate

Pirate Nurse Dux � Bitter Woman — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:56:59 EST

I can not be now, nor will I ever be, a single-issue voter. I don't have that luxury, and in all fairness, I do not want it. I am a woman, a mother, a wife. I am a nurse, a student, a teacher. I belong to groups as diverse as the National Rifle Association, Atheist Moms, and Mensa.

There will never be a candidate that solidly supports all of the issues that I feel are important. That being said, each of my issues has its own weight, its own importance in my life and in the lives of my husband and children. I balance my needs for privacy, security, and financial well-being against my needs to support women's reproductive rights, freedom from religion, and support for our Constitution (all of the amendments, not just the popular ones).

The candidate who best represents the diversity of my issues, and who requires me to compromise my own values the least, is Barack Obama.