commonreader thinks I am a cranky pants for thinking that people are not very charitable. Though I know some very charitable people, some who do not have a lot to give and give it anyway, there are things that drive me up the wall about some forms of charity.

I have noticed that kids who go to private school or maybe fancy charter schools have mandatory service type activities. The fancier their schools, the more ridiculous the activities of the "Hey, I flew to Africa and helped bring brown people together by teaching them about the circus arts!" Then there are the people who just cannot throw their stuff away and donate it to Goodwill. I know there are some very picky Goodwills in certain parts around here, but I still don't think you should be dumping your garbage on them just because you can't bring yourself to throw it away. I also love people who get mad at charities when they are donating large items, and the charities do not have the time or manpower or organization skills to come pick it up.

In addition to the above, there were other things about the crazy person that I lived with who I don't talk about much anymore. I lived with the crazy person for two months, and it took me at least six to get over it. T was upset that I was angry about it for so long. Crazy person had a great deal of self-importance. It drove me up the wall that this person was both a liberal and a moron. (You may say that statement is redundant, but aren't there people who agree with you for stupid reasons?) So crazy person was going to be charitable to Africa by collecting old (barely useable shoes) from kids in her suburb and mail them to Africa. Then this would create jobs because people in Africa would relace the shoes and give them away and sell them. I always thought that it might be cheaper to just make shoes in China and send them to Africa than do it this way or just send them shoes with proper laces if sending things in boats really is that cheap. (I think it may be inexpensive if you can fill up the shipping container.)

On the other hand, I had a roommate who donated like $10 to every charity she got anything from even when she was a student teacher. She said it was Christmas time, and she couldn't turn them down. My mom donates her time and skills to working at the free clinic for free two days a week. She also makes meals for her friends church on Sundays that are delivered to old people at lunch time on Monday because Meals on Wheels is somewhat expensive for some people. Sometimes when other people forget to cook on their day, she picks up the tab for fried chicken or something for the old people. One time we went to visit her, and she had donated her furniture to a lady who had 9 children and not bought new furniture yet. My mom has always been like this. She bought some fleece and made little blankets and gave them to some oncologist to give to his patients because people get cold after chemo.

Lewis Carroll explained the current events to us like this.

How do most people feel about the current state of the economy?
"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."

"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

Describe the current state of the political parties.
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it. “No room! No room!” they cried out when they saw Alice coming. “There’s plenty of room!” said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

How do most people feel when any of the prominent economists speak.
Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter’s remark seemed to her to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. “I don’t quite understand you,” she said, as politely as she could.

I guess that means an economist gets to be the hatter at the tea party.

Throw in a reference to something Baltimore related just for fun.
Why is a raven like a writing desk?" When Alice gives up, the Hatter admits he does not have an answer himself. Lewis Carroll originally intended the riddle to be just a riddle without an answer, but after many requests from readers, he and others, including puzzle expert Sam Loyd, thought up possible answers to the riddle. One possible answer is "Poe wrote on both", a reference to Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote The Raven. - from Wikipedia

Here is porn specifically for randomdreams. It's work safe for the rest of you.

I don't think he thought his brilliant plan all the way through.

I saw this video on one of the lists I am on and thought it was pretty cool.

You should watch the movies that I post because they are hilarious. Sometimes someone is like I just discovered Tim Minchin several months after I linked to his video, and I feel like I am a Twitterer. But I am not. I am sharing this stuff for your amusement. (I was amused by it all the first time I saw it, but I may watch it again.)

If only I had LEDs and sheep and too much time on my hands...

Something strange is going on in freonsmurf's blog. Does this look like someone has hacked him to you?

Read flwyd's entry. Thanks.

I took this great picture of a squirrel yesterday.

McCain and Obama roast each other at the Alfred Smith charity dinner. They were pretty funny. It didn't seem like people liked the AIG joke by Obama though.

And you know what happens when anyone finds anything remotely interesting, it gets a diary.

I am not sure why they are talking about Princess Chunk's balls. She is a girl, a very big girl.

Update: Princess Chunk is a Prince. Also, the owner had abandoned him because her home was foreclosed on. I believe that Prince Chunk is a better name than Powder, the cat's original name.

I am sorry for making you people want to puke. Here is an excerpt from a state department briefing to make you feel better.

QUESTION: And what does the U.S. Government have against Boy George 
– (laughter) – You denied him a visa.

MR. CASEY: Sorry, I should have swallowed before you said that.
(Laughter.) Let’s see if I spit the water over any place else. (Laughter.)

I’ve seen the report that’s out there. Obviously, visa records are 
confidential. But I’d simply note that there often are difficulties for 
individuals who either are currently subject to criminal charges or 
otherwise may have criminal records. So I think you might want to look 
toward some of those reasons as why he might be having some difficulties 
here.

QUESTION: It’s tragic really.

MR. CASEY: Do you really want to hurt him? (Laughter.)

Yeah, Libby.

QUESTION: Switch topics from Boy George?

MR. CASEY: Yes, please.

When the lady who comes every two weeks to clean our house arrived, she asked if I knew anyone else in the Baltimore area that needed their house cleaned. She is looking for more work right now. If you are in the Baltimore area and need someone to clean your house, let me know.

Sometime ago, I took a few political quizzes. Mike Gravel kept popping up near the top of the various candidate preference list. This was interesting because on most of these quizzes, my ideal candidate is 50% away from all available candidates. After speaking to my sister, she found herself similarly aligned with Mike Gravel on a few of the quizzes.

At this point, it was too interesting not to do a little research. Mike Gravel was a Democratic Senator from Alaska who served from 1969-1981. He was a strong critic of the Vietnam War who worked to end the draft. He also worked to shine light into the darkness by making the Pentagon Papers part of the public record.

Now, at this point some people are going to say, "He is a Democrat. I don't care." The devotion to party labels in this case is a little flawed. It's like saying "Ron Paul is a Republican. I don't care." Neither Mike Gravel or Ron Paul are truly representative of their parties.

( Here are some relevant PBS videos )

Despite the lack of coverage, Mike Gravel was still a political candidate in the Democratic field up until last week when he endorsed the Green Party Jesse Johnson for President. Gravel was kept out of some of the debates due to the arbitrary debate rules cooked up by the television stations and the major party candidates. A hedge fund manager from New Hampshire put up over a million dollars of his own money in order to make it possible for Gravel to participate in one of the debates.

Today, I read that Mike Gravel left the Democratic Party and is now running as a Libertarian.

Anyway, it is easy to get caught up in the political circus of the major candidates right now and love or hate any one or all of them. But I think that the most important thing that all people want is an honest government. All governments, by their nature, are prone to corruption. Corrupt governments tend to be really bad for their citizens. The checks and balances in our government are designed to reduce corruption, but ultimately it is our responsibility as citizens to read about the candidates and try to pick the least crooked of the bunch.

Now that you have spent the time reading this and watching the videos, hopefully I will not have an interaction with you like the one I had at my Pilates class.

This is here mostly for ziggy_stardust.

Mary Townsen fell on a knife because she put it down with the blade pointing up.