Your Presidential Choice: Moron or Bigot

Here's an actual, guaranteed quote from Bush's press conference, as he lectures us on diction:

"...people who hate America, people who have been trained in some instances to disassemble. That means to not tell the truth."

Here's the video clip of Bush saying it. Note the pause between sentences--he's over his head and he knows it: http://www.overspun.com/video/BushDisassembles.wmv

By the way, that clip was on NBC news, which also had a snippet of the Watergate tapes with Nixon and Haldeman discussing their suspicion that Mark Felt was Deep Throat. It included an interesting exchange which went like this:

Nixon: Is he a Catholic?

Haldeman: He's a Jew

Nixon: Christ! They put a Jew in there?

Haldeman: That explains it.

Interestingly, neither the Bush nor Nixon quote was on ABC News. What's more, it turns out Mark Felt wasn't Jewish! So they were bigoted AND ignorant!

From happier times... 

The Latest News:

Chemotherapy has gone remarkably well. They've conquered the nausea problem with a lot of pills, and I generally feel a bit tired (naptime every day!) but otherwise I'm O.K. My friend and neighbor Mike cut hair in the army, and volunteered to give me an army regular so that when and if my hair falls out, there's less to fall. He gave me the best haircut I've had in years---I now have the hairless ears of a teenager. See the picture below.

My personal barber does his magic

Another great card trick--this kid is GOOD!
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/invisiblecards.html

Exciting Moments in Lung Therapy

Well everyone, today I went for my chemotherapy treatment. It was supposed to be a three hour affair, but excitement ensued. Later, the nurses thanked me for making it a less than boring day. At the time, though, exciting the nurses was the least of my thoughts.
What happened was this: they were supposed to give me two drugs, both through intravenous drip. They told me the first one, TAXOL, sometimes caused an allergic reaction. So the night before and this morning, I took 5 steroid pills to prevent it. (If didn't feel sick, I could probably hit a baseball better than ever). Anyhoo, they started the drip, and after a few minutes, my whole body felt funny. NOT funny ha ha. Then I turned beet red. But the nurses were on it, and injected stuff in my IV line and I soon settled down. At one point, there must have been 5 nurses and oncologist in the room. Fortunately Sandy wasn't or there'd have been a major freak-out. (When they told us there was a small chance of an allergic reaction in the first fifteen minutes, Sandy wisely beat a hasty retreat to the waiting room).
When they started the drip again, all was well, but they had to drip it in V..E..R..Y.. S..L..O..W..L..Y to prevent problems. So it took over 8 hours. But I had a good book (Skeletons in the Zahara, a great story about shipwrecked sailors surviving in the desert. Lately I've been drawn to tales of survival--I wonder why? I really recommend the documentary Endurance, about Shackleton's survival in a much colder climate even than Boston in May). The rest of the day was uneventful, and I actually feel fine now. I go back in 3 weeks for another session.

A Very Cool Site

Here's the deal. Go to this site, type in the name of an author or subject, and watch what happens. Click on any of the letters to get a close up view. It's way cool!

http://amaztype.tha.jp/

Recent Bushisms

I’ve been accused of just using old funny Bush quotes. Here are some from last year:

"I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me." —Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004

"Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy level of our children are appalling." —Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2004

"I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country." —Washington, D.C. Jan. 14, 2004

"After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week — we will have an all-volunteer army!" —Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004

"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a — you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

"I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." —second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

Today's Statistic

Which One Has the Crisis ?!
Social Security Trust Fund. : + $1,742,332,508,629
The Gross National Debt : – $ 7,779,321,441,652

Today's Link

What a heck of a card trick! This guy is good, and there's no camera tricks-- just click on "click here to download" and it'll play:
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=coolcardtrick.wmv

Lung and Other News 2

Here's the latest from the lung front, but first a bit of other news:

Sunday Sandy and I represented the Babson Toolachs in the Wellesley Parade. Funny story: we were in a red Volkswagen convertible with a “Wellesley Education Foundation” sign on the front. Except I noticed ten minutes before it started that it read “Wellelsey Education Foundation”. Pretty embarassing, especially for Spelling Bee winners. Quickly we rallied, fixed the error, and wrote “sp” next to it. So it looked like an intentional joke. Anyhoo, it was a great time, with me and Sandy waving like Prince Charles and Lady Diana to the crowds, right in front of some tremendous Clysdale horses (better than being behind them!) . (Actually, right behind them was a street cleaning machine-- they thought of everything!)
As for my little problem, for those who are interested, read on. I saw the oncologist yesterday and I start chemotherapy tomorrow. It turns out they love my case because it's so unusual. I have what's called adenocarcinoma, and normally it would be at a very bad stage. But, because it's walled off by scar tissue, they think they can get it. (By the way, all my doctors are terrific). I had to kick a bit when the nurse at first said they couldn't schedule chemo for ten days (a shortage of chemo booths, if you can believe it). I had a polite hissy fit, and they rescheduled me for tomorrow. After two bouts of chemo, they "reevaluate" and then either go to radiation, more chemo, or surgery. After surgery, I have more chemo. So I'll be quite druggy for a while. But the new chemo is supposed to have fewer side effects. We'll see. In any case, I plan to keep the blog going, so check in once in a while---if I don't nod off, I'll keep posting.

Spelling Champs?

Quotes from Our Dear Leader

George W. Bush, the greatest orator of our time (with accurate citations):

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." Reuters, May 5, 2000

"I think we agree, the past is over." On his meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning News,
May 10, 2000

"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis." Meet the Press, April 15, 2000

"I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California." Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000

"We want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make sure
there's not this kind of federal cufflink." Fritsche Middle School, Milwaukee, March 30, 2000

"The fact that he relies on facts -- says things that are not factual -- are going to undermine his campaign." New YorkTimes, March 4, 2000

"I understand small business growth. I was one." New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2000

"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road." To reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000

"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign." Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000

"How do you know if you don't measure if you have a system that simply suckles kids through?" Explaining the need for educational accountability, Beaufort, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000

"I've changed my style somewhat, as you know. I'm less I pontificate less, although it may be hard to tell it from this show. And I'm more interacting with people." Meet The Press, Feb. 13, 2000

"I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth." Nashua, N.H., as quoted by Gail Collins, New York Times, Feb. 1, 2000

"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case." Pella, Iowa, as quoted in the San Antonio Express News, Jan. 30, 2000

"Will the highways on the Internet become more few?" Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000

"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve." Speaking during Perseverance Month" at Fairgrounds
Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000

"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." At a South Carolina oyster roast, as quoted in the Financial Times, Jan. 14, 2000

"We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor just like you like to be liked yourself." At a South Carolina oyster roast, as quoted in the Financial Times, Jan.14, 2000

"There needs to be debates, like we're going through. There needs to be townhall meetings. There needs to be travel. This is a huge country." Larry King Live, Dec. 16, 1999

"The important question is, How many hands have shaked?" Answering a question about why he hasn't spent more time in NewHampshire, In the New York Times, Oct. 23, 1999

"Keep good relations with the Grecians." Quoted in the Economist, June 12, 1999

Today's Rant

The Sad Decline of ABC News:

Now that Peter Jennings (like me, a lung cancer sufferer) has left ABC News for a while, the decline of the show has followed. Clearly, ABC, afraid of the right wing bullies who had falsely accused Jennings of being a biased liberal, saw their chance to curry favor, now that the big guy is laid low. One recent show is an example: After ten minutes on the photos of Sadam Hussein, the reporter opined that pictures of the dictator in his skivvies "may have violated the Geneva Convention." This in a show that failed to mention the torturing to death of two Afghanis (one an innocent cabdriver) that was covered in the Times, NBC News, and elsewhere. I guess torturing the innocent isn't as important a violation.
This same show had an "investigative report" on the Resurrection! In what looked like a Daily Show parody, there was Elizabeth Vargas in Jerusalem, reporting on her "investigation" of the raising of Jesus from the dead. Hot news! What these intrepid reporters discovered was that some scholars think he physically rose from the dead, and some don't!
I've been tracking ABC for a while, and comparing it to NBC (CBS is hopeless). It's clear what's going on, and it's shameful. What allows these bumbling right wing idiots to destroy our economy and our good name around the world is simply that the press choose to do what ABC has done in spades---ignore news that might offend conservatives. Peter, we need you! Get better soon!

Today's Link

Here's a video of a very talented young woman. What her talent actually IS is hard to say:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/japantalent.html

Today's Story

I thought you all might like to read a touching true story. I like this lady:

Quinto winnings will pay for sofa, new toilet brush
ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune Last updated: May 21st, 2005 07:35 AM

Newly rich, Lettie Kistler remains a practical woman.
The 86-year-old Tacoma resident won last Saturday's $2.04 million Quinto drawing. Her top priorities for the money? Furniture and household cleaning supplies, according to a news release issued by Washington's Lottery.
"I'm going to buy a new davenport," Kistler told lottery officials when she picked up her check for $1.5 million – her winnings minus taxes. "And one of those long-handled brushes to clean out the toilet. Then I don't have to lean way over and scrub."
Kistler apparently has been coveting the special brush for some time but didn't think she could afford it on her Social Security income, lottery officials reported.

Lung News

I talked to the surgeon last Thursday about my situation, and here’s the scoop. They’ve been conferring about me because, as he said, “you are a unique case, so we have to have a unique solution.” Lucky me. The good news is that, though it is definitely a “garden variety lung cancer”, because of my earlier pneumothoraxes (three mysterious times my lung collapsed when I was in my twenties), it’s isolated by scar tissue in one part of my pleural space, and hasn’t come from anywhere else in my body. Every other part of my lung space tests benign. This means it’s treatable with a good chance of total recovery.
The less-than-great news is that they are going to use “all three bullets in their arsenal” as he put it. That means chemotherapy, radiation, and finally, after two or three months, more surgery. So it won’t be fun this summer. The best part is that I’m requred to walk 45 minutes a day, which wife Sandy will enforce like Nurse Ratched. And I’ll probably not be teaching in the fall, since I’ll be recovering from the three bullets, all aimed at me. And I won’t be going to London, in all likelihood, since he said getting shot comes first.
All in all, it could have been a lot worse. Why it happened is a mystery—just randomness. After all, I'm not even a smoker. Still, the uniqueness of it (caused by three pneumothorax treatments 35 years ago) has probably saved my life. So I’ll just soldier on and keep you posted. Knowing there are a lot of great people pulling for me will help me recover.