Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

I suppose the Clinton machine is downplaying the news to make all the bigger splash if they win, and the splash-out is more "mo" for NH.
I can't ignore the numbers there, but I am surprised. It just seemed Clinton was content for an upcoming Edwards win in the Corn.
Right now, if Edwards wins , it will be an upset...could THAT propel him to a strong finish in NH, and start the steamboat steaming?

Dex,
"upcoming Edwards win in the Corn."

It's "corn and beans" as in soybeans. Those Iowa hogs need protein too...

By the way, when I was a child of nine, I had an appendectomy .
Routine...I spent two weeks in the hospital.
Now a man has his ankle re-worked and leaves in a few hours.
Progress is welcome in this area! Cuz I missed my dog sumthin' terrible!
Glad to see you are OK, on the mend, and writing again.

Yes, dnd, we all know
Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
Fed his horse on corn and beans....

Dex..
Appendectomy (without complications) almost in and out today...
Healthcare in the capitalistic environment has progressed significantly..... Rising tide floats all boats

It's all in the numbers, and bloggers love numbers...here's a number for you: When tickets became available for the recent London concert by Led Zeppelin, twenty million applications cascading in all at once crashed the system.
Oddly, with all that interest, tickets could be had , day of show, for a measly 900 pounds.

Dexter,

I wouldn't pay $1800 to see God play a guitar.

Dex,

900 pounds of what?

yo soy Horsedooty!

The LA Times/Bloomberg poll has such a small sample size that the margin of error is huge. Translation: meaningless. I'm assuming they know this so it makes me wonder what their agenda is...

I'm surprised they sprung Craig after a few hours. After surgery like that they like to check for infection. Maybe they'll do that today.

Craig, Three hours until you're are on Hardball? Start taking the Vicodin NOW!

Sorry , Senor Dooty, I ain't got that fancy British pounds sign on my keyboard!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and...well...you guys know I hate the war in Iraq and the ones who put the US military there...but, ... I had an inlaw serve there and a friend who served in Kuwait...so I received this in an email ... that guy received it from his buddy in Iraq...

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm.

from comments on the la times site about this poll
"The anti-Hillary "dems" fancy themselves to be polling experts. Usually after a poll is released, they whine about the sampling size being too small. But oh, no! Here comes OEST (several comments above) who boldly states, "The Iowa sample in this poll is way too large, so the poll is a joke. And the Democrats who think Hillary Clinton is the most electable are clueless."

Not just funny, but too funny!"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2007/09/breaking-news-n.html

try this one:

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm

Hillary's campaign is likely making its comments based upon its internal polling data rather than the commercial polls. I'm guessing that they see the race being too close to call, so rather than get out there with the delusional braggadocio of Mitt Romney, they are keeping expectations low to damp down the momentum of Obama or Edwards should one of them win.

dex, if you went in for an appendectomy today, you'd comeout with 3 cute little 1/4" round scars either at the end of the day or beginnning of the next.

Craig, it is surprising that they treated your surgery as ambulatory surgery (since you are barely if at all). You need better health coverage.

Ping, the advances in health care haven't been in the capitalistic parts of that system, unless you consider the non-profits and university affiliated research hospitals to be part of the capitalistic part of the health care system. Shorter stays in hospitals have come in large part from the capitalistic side of the system - as the insurance companies have progressively refused to authorize stays long enough to get pain and infection medications regulated post surgery and the rise in health care costs have made self pay for those additional time most surgical patients and doctors would prefer prohibitve.

more bad news for Obama ..spin this tweety
we will robably get a lecture on how the Democrats are failing America

"There is plenty of room for shifts in the final days before the Jan. 3 caucuses, with 19 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans saying they are likely or very likely to change their minds.

Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, has gained 5 points from the Lee Enterprises poll two weeks ago, while Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, has gained 4 points. Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois has seen his support drop 4 points. Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, has lost 2 points. The support for Biden, Dodd and Kucinich was unchanged." Iowa newspaper polling data
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/12/28/news/top_story/doc4775211182ecc379814340.txt

Ping, I fear you see the world rough Bushian eyes. Healthcare in the US is not excellent for many, even those with health insurance. Women having babies are shoveled in and out as if on conveyor belts. The chances of picking up a staph infection in a hospital are great. Medicine is through the roof. And God forbid you actually have to use your insurance. People cling to jobs strictly because they can't afford to take a chance on losing coverage because they'll not get it again.

I won't even get started on the so-called economy. We are being bought up by other countries.....

Dex,

I knew what you meant just busting chops.

On another matter, in my next life I am gonna be a plumber. Just spent $405 for replacement of 3 outside faucets. Maybe my water bill will be lower next month.

yo soy Horsedooty!

"But soon we can get out of these polling weeds. The only one that counts – the actual voting – is just six days away."

THANK GOD!

the goddamn phone started ringing at 8:30am..... it's been ringing all day long with one campaign or another......

I'm so sick of it!...... and I'm a political junkie.... I can only imagine how "normal" NHerites feel......

oooops..... there it goes again.....
oh goody..... a message from Fred Thompson..... ok... where's my barf bag.....

Rudy is in FL...so tell me...has any of this changed? This is old news, but I can't recall how this shook out in the end...this blurb is from early June, '07. :

"But the candidates may find themselves spending time and money on a race that nets them relatively few delegates to next year's conventions. In efforts to control the primary process, both the Democratic and Republican national parties have said they may take away half of Florida's convention delegates as punishment for moving its primary up in the calendar.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Stacie Paxton told the AP that in addition, any Democratic candidate who campaigns in Florida for a primary earlier than Feb. 5 will be ineligible to receive any of the state's delegates."

Dex.. Thanks for the link to Wake. Powerful

Pogo, Absolutely the Univ systems are part of the Capitalistic elements. The value of the amount of funding a researcher obtains is the value of that researcher... This is a segment that I touch.

Also short stays are a good thing, you want to get out of the hospital. My wife has just last week in for very radical surgery and a good Doc gets you up and moving. Much can be done from home and healing is enhanced.

ping, picking up the economic discussion from the past thread - two of the indicators that reflect why people have a dim view of the economy are disposable income and savings. Savings essentially disappeared back in 2005 when net savings for the population became close to 0, and real disposable income has risen between a whopping .7 and 2.1% depending on the year, since 2001 after a 3.7% rise in 2000, presumably as a result of the Clinton economic policies that were in place that year (which also supposedly produced the Clinton recession, which was NOT reflected in personal disposable income).. In other words, the terrific economy that the administration and its hacks tout has been modest at best for real people who earn real wages, unless of course you were a corporation (and I am neither anti capitalistic nor anti corporation), whose undistributed profits have quadrupled during the Bush administration.

Patsi.
Agree - Our Hospitals can be a dangerous place (like the other advanced Countries) The IT systems they use are old and weak compared to overall industry. We need improvements in the "Access", this I agree, and what is medically necessary is subjective in many cases.
With all that said - The USA has the best overall Healthcare. Period.
Is it perfect - No
Need improvement - Yes

Also keep Access and State of the Art in two seperate areas. Many of these procedures are very costly and what was once for the few does become available to all, in time.

Pogo, I share the concern on savings - to many people think the Government will "Take Care" and pay for my needs later in life.
Before they buy a cell phone and ring tones, wide screen tv's and CD's... Put money in the bank.
Which leads to one of my big concerns on the lack of LEADERSHIP and the Hey if I am elected I will Take Care of YOU !!

ANd YES KCG... I know that some people are struggling, These People I have COMPASSION. And not all people "waste"

the faiure of wages to keep up with the cost of living as more to do with lack of savings than cell phones..and by the ping a lot of people only have cell phones now

you are beginning to sound like someone's grandpa

After the last week I feel like someones Grandpa !!

take off those rose colored glasses gramps!

"U.S. economic forecast for 2008: Bleak
The housing crisis and high oil prices may cause a slump, analysts warn.
By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

New York
The outlook is for a rocky time ahead for the US economy as it moves into 2008.

Many economists predict that America will move closest to a downturn since the current expansion began seven years ago. If the economy does contract, economic seers expect a shallow retrenchment, most likely in the first six months of the year. Most see only limited improvement in the latter half.

A lagging economy is likely to have wide ramifications. In the heat of a presidential election year, unemployment would start to rise, making the economy a major issue for the candidates. An anemic economy would also present a challenge to the Federal Reserve Board, which might opt to keep cutting interest rates. Soft economic numbers, moreover, could have a detrimental effect on corporate profits – depressing financial markets and lowering tax receipts, straining government budgets."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1228/p01s07-usec.htm

Ping, of course that medical segment in not for profit and university related hospitals is fueled by medicare and medicaid dollars (is that part of the socialist system you decry?) - 75% of the total revenue the hospital I worked for was from such government reimbursement dollars, not to mention government grant monies that are seen much more in university hospitals than in the private non profits, in the absence of which the advances that you attribute to the capitalistic medical system would have occurred much more slowly, if at all. I imagine that the percentage of university related revenue is less than that of non profits overall, but I also know it's substantial - in fact I know it is for the largest university affiliated hospital in WV, having been in and privy to the financial data for the system it's in. And while I agree with you that getting up and out is generally better for patients, the doctors will tell you should you bother to ask them, that they would generally like at least one more day to help their surgical patients begin their recovery and rehab regimens before sending them home to rely upon their own devices to get to rehab and follow up visits that are critical following surgery.

Ping, the healthcare indicators for industrialized nations do not support your assertion that the US has the best overall healthcare. Period.

http://www.newstarget.com/020493.html

Someone mentioned it here before, but as long as health insurance companies are for profit organizations, health care will suffer. I just won a year long battle with Anthem, where they tried to screw me, the hospital, the doctors and the labs. Their approach was so screwed up and flawed it would have been laughable, had I not been on the receiving end. It would have been cheaper for them to just pay the damn claim, which they eventually did, rather than pay the administrative cost of fighting the claim. They bet I'd just cave. They lost.

There's a little insight on why health care is a priority issue with me ;-)

Ping,

I'm not crazy about the report Pogo linked us to, but I think claims that we have the best healthcare system are more jingoistic than valid. I expect our system is not quite as bad as Michael Moore makes it out to be, but I'd hesitate to say it's the best in the world.

The factors mentioned in the article Pogo linked us to, have a lot to do with American eating habits and lack of exercise, as well as lack of health insurance coverage. We can't blame all of that on our healthcare system.

OK, let's see the flipping and floping among the repugs when the defense authoriztion bill that Dumya vetoed comes back up for an override vote. It passed 90-3 in the senate and 370-49 in the house. A hale and hearty FU seems to be in order.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1207/Democrats_protest_Bushs_surprise_veto_of_defense_bill.html

Craig,

If you're lurking, I sent a message to your cq address.

from Kos:

The Miami Herald will begin outsourcing some of its advertising and design work.  The kicker?  They are outsourcing the design of the local community news.

Starting in January, copyediting and design in a weekly section of Broward County community news and other special advertising sections will be outsourced to Mindworks, based in New Delhi.

Edwards-Obama-HRC is turning out to pretty exciting, i'd say. Right down to the wire.....On the darker side- I see a Huckabee melt down....

-Hipster

Pogo....
I did see Sicko.... I enjoyed it and I like Michael Moore.....
but will admit that I kept thinking while watching it..."this is a lot of hyperbole"...

he made our healthcare system look horrible while making Canada's, Britain's, France's and even Cuba's healthcare systems seem godly

However, I do think it's good that he at least started and added to the debate about our healthcare system.....

Ed, a little grist for the mill - perhaps acess and inefficiency are stronger influences on the outcome of that study than the lifestyle (specifically diet/excercise factors you mentioned) factors many cite.

http://www.health-care-reform.net/causedeath.htm

I just got back from watching Bill Clinton. Good crowd despite the inch or so of fresh snow. Prob. about 3X the size of the Edwards speech yesterday, thank goodness it was a bigger venue. They estimate 350 for edwards yesterday, so prob. a little over !,000 today for Bill. Several people I talked to were there for Bill, and not for Hillary.

He gave a good talk, complimented all the dems. called them all his friends. Nothing at all that could have been construed as negative.

He emphasised the experience that Hillary had gotten in the White House that was not public information, or was behind the scenes.

And best of all I got my grandsons pic. taken with a President. It is pretty easy, he is so cute, when I ask, they can't turn him down.

Bill didn't answer any questions at the end, and stayed within the rope line and shook some hands afterwards. I had to barge my way to the front as the lady handler I talked to said she couldn't get me pic. access like Edwards guy did yesterday. She did tell me he would stay within the rope line, and my best chance was to try to get there. Of course once he saw my grandson he was very warm and receptive to a pic.

Don't know who will show up next week, but will keep my eyes open. Bill Richardson had to cancell today because of the weather.

Renee, hyperbole, from Michael Moore? Nah. LOL Here's a link to an article about the Cuban Healthcare system - the article's very limited, comparing Cuba to other Latin American countries, but interesting reading nonetheless.

http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/asce/pdfs/volume12/sixto.pdf

iowarick, thanks for the report.

Well, gotta fly - have a 4 day weekend ahead after a grueling 2 days in the office following a week's vacation. Whew.

Happy New Year to all - be safe and avoid the roads on NY'sE. There's lots of crazy drunk folks behind the wheel out there that can just really ruin your day.

Here's the problem I have with the Democratic health care plans-

little emphasis on taking care of yourself with heavy emphasis on drug costs, etc....big pharma is ready to make a bundle. I see it as just more big corporations writing policy. Maybe some of you candidate supporters can educate me on Democratic plans

-Hipster

Hi Hipster!

By the way, CC, good article- made me think about what to expect on Thursday night in Iowa.

I'm pulling for Obama.

Hi KGC-

Popping in, cant stay away from Iowa political discussion. Will be in and out sporadically through January- lots of work in the gym these days but i dont get the kids back until Jan 3. with season ending Feb 3.

Long story short, i am back and will be blogging back at home base occasionally during January and then full time in February. I will be C-Listing a lot more....a new years resolution to go along with losing weight, making more money......

KGC
I admit I have a bit of bias since I have lost about 30 pounds and worked my a$$ off to do it. I didn't need Govt health care to do it. I think we ARE seriously over medicated, and I fear govt will screw it all up if we get them involved. I am particularly soured on Democratic schemes since they took over Congress in 2006 and have failed to produce anything they promised or ran on.

...but I am still voting for Obama.

Hil'ry's commercial is "chicken noodle soup"? I know it was meant as a slam, but shouldn't they have called it something that's bad?

tt - I didn't notice your bionic eye in LV, however, I did have double-vision for awhile myself.

Hey Hipster,
Congratulations on the weight loss
It is hard work. Do you have any tips for us proscrastinators?

Tweety called Craig "Eugene Robinson." Maybe it's Tweety that's taking the Vicodin and not Craig...

Craig.... wow.... you've put your neck on the line by predicting Romney will win the Republican nomination..... no one can call you "chicken"......
BTW.... nice green tie..... :0}

dnd.... well, Tweety did have Eugene on in an earlier segment.....
yeah.... I watched the whole show.... could someone please help me with the cooties now.....

Hipster...... actually doing your New Year's resolutions before the New Year is kinda creepy....... only kiddin'..... huge congrats on the weight loss....

Weight loss secret-

Consume less calories and burn more than you take in.

Thats about it. Oh yeah, and use this book!
http://www.health.harvard.edu/books/Eat_Drink_and_Be_Healthy.htm

and since i lost weight and have lived in several southern states- maybe I am qualified to be President like that doofus Huckabee.

Where did they get that guy anyway? Gomer Pyle look alike contest runner up???

I think it was redst3 that lost the 30 lbs not hipster.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Hip,
Congrats on the weight loss. Job well done.

We need more Obama advocates here. I think he has the kind of soaring oratory that the rest of the candidates would kill for. But I find his substance a bit lacking. So keep your opinions coming. Inquiring minds want to know.

eat less exercise more???
what kind of secret is that?

excerpt from Huckabee's speech: RFD-TV must love him. And he makes me laugh, too...

"One lengthy story involved one of his sons, who was apparently difficult at a young age and who was left behind at home one day while the rest of the family went out. When Huckabee returned, his son presented him with a cake he had just baked -- a cake that turned out be inedible.

His son, attempting to interpret unfamiliar phrases in the recipe, decided that "a dash of salt" meant a cup of salt -- and in doing so, ruined the cake. The audience was in stitches as Huckabee described the result, a cake no human could eat, but as he said, if you set it outside, the cows would lick it for a week."

redst3 is Hipster. Its me!

I dont know how to switch back over to my moniker.

Re: Obama- I just like the guy. He's my age, he's a fresh face and I generally nod more in agreement with him than with most of the others.

I like several of the others- i do like Edwards more than in months past.

Particular favs Skinny Dennis, Ron Paul and I like Chris Dodd more and more.

-Hipster

Great job on Hardball Craig....thank you.....and thank you for covering the polls that seem to get lost in the shuffle....

Edwards can beat Mitt. I think the best shot the GOP has is probably McCain.

later gang good to be back

-Hipster

Well it sure seems to have been a busy day at Crawfordlist. I spend a couple of hours skiing up in Henniker, NH and miss all the discussion. Speaking of missing things, I missed Romney when he was at Pat's Peak Ski Area the other day. What a chump.

http://www.patspeak.com/gallery.php?idx=233

I saw many Fred 08 signs up around Geoffstown. Fred who? (One of my sons friends came up with a campaign slogan for Fred: "Liver Spots you can trust")

And a bunch of HUGE Ron Paul signs. No Guiliani signs and several Gravel signs by St. Anslem College outside of Manchester. I think that NH residents are unhappy that Iowa is stealing the limelight of the candidates attention. After the Iowa Caucus, the candidates will be here in NH for "Wham Bam, Thank you Mam" and then off to South Carolina.

I was encouraged that all of the candidates for the democratic nomination were able to speak in complete sentences and to articulate thoughtful responses to the horrible assination of Benazar Butto. Even though Hillary is not a favorite of mine, I thought that her comments were appropriate and dignified.

Hi Everyone,

I am working in Palm Beach. I am sad about Butto and I voted for Obama.... ;0)

Let the cards lie where they may. Glad you are all still kicking.

well guys (and i'm not making this up) would you believe that the numbness in my leg wore off from yesterday's surgery at precisely the moment i predicted Romney's nomination? perhaps i was channeling Joseph Smith, he made me do it. think i even winced as i uttered the fateful words -- it felt like somebody had just jammed a steak knife into my foot. gonna have to break on through and finally dig into the pain pills, sign off for the weekend. they said the nerve blocker in my leg would last 24 hours and they were exactly right. see you on the other side . . .

SHEILA!!! so good to see you back. MadMustard had to play substitue Hall Monitor the other day when the kids got a bit rowdy.

Dex,

Huckabee should get a bit part with Larry the Cabel Guy. Then they can give his son a cameo part in the next Jackass video. After that we should just ignore them.

LOL Craig! Good to be remembered.

You know, Mad is my twin. he is perfect for a subsitute!

Well I thought that when this day came I would be ready for it. It sure didn't turn out that way though. I was not prepared for what I knew was coming eventually.

I believe I had mentioned that my sister had her cancer return for the third time a while back. Well last year she spent the holidays in the hospital and this year she was home so I thought that we would have a better Christmas this year than we had last year.

Last Saturday she called me to remind me to go over to the house around noon so I was surprised when my niece called me Christmas Eve and told me she was in the hospital.

It seems she had fallen and they had a ambulance take her to the emergency room at the hospital. They admitted her over night and had said they were going to send her home.

My niece wanted them to keep her and try to find out what caused her to fall. So with that another Christmas in the hospital was all that was left.

Christmas day I went over to the house and after dinner my niece and I drove to the hospital to see her. She didn't look to bad and she was doing better than the day before according to my niece.

She still hadn't talked to the doctors yet and she was hoping to catch one of them in the morning. Well Wednesday morning she saw the doctors and then she called me. They told her she had about a week to live and had wanted to get the family through the holidays before telling the family.

They were going to have Hospice talk to them and send her home. I thought that she would be sent home either Wednesday or even Thursday. My niece visited on Thursday and told me afterwards that she didn't look good, however they were going to release her Friday to go home for her last days.

Friday morning {this morning} my niece called me and gave me the news I really didn't want to hear. My sister had died.

She had a turn for the worse Thursday night and they even tried to do a transfusion to help improve her condition, but to no avail. They called my niece at work and told her that she was going and if she wanted to be there she needed to come in as soon as possible.

When she got to the hospital she found out she was too late. My sister had passed away ten minutes before she got there. She called me and I immediately headed for the hospital.

I thought that I would be fully prepared for this day and here I was in shock and not believing that she went so fast. Today I lost my BFF and the greatest sister anyone could have.

I will miss her terribly. As she was the baby of the family I never thought that she would pass before me or my older brother.

So if you have a sick relative, family member or even a good friend take time to spend with them as you will never know when it might be the last time you have to spend it together.

God Bless all.

Hey Craig,
Wish you were here, we could have wheelchair races after taking pain pills. Woo Hoo! Behave and mend fast.

Bowmanc, good suggestion about Larry the Cable Guy, but has anyone noticed that Huckabee looks EXACTLY like the chef in the Campbell Soup low-salt commercials? It is un"canny"

Wow....anon-P. So sorry and God Bless your Family!

our prayers with you anon, hang in there

Craig....your right....Huckabee...campbells soup guy....

anon-p,
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. Our prayers are with you and your family.

Hi Craig...
I'm glad your surgery went well and that your back recovering.

Shiela...
Thanks, I really struggled with posting this. I didn't want to sour the blog with more death and destruction type talk, but had to let it out.

At least she is no longer suffering.

God Bless.

Well,

Anon you are with friends always. We may not see each other physically, but we know and care about each other.

Annon P

Please accept my condolances. I wish you and yours all the best in 2008.

Zoey, you're on! Percocet-induced wheel chair races. But it sounds like a plan for more broken bones. We're counting on you for those Iowa reports. Curious how Edwards' return to attack mode is going over (heard that he unloads on Obama and HRC on ABC world news tonight). Kinda surprised by that.

anon-p,
I am so sorry for your loss. Please know you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sheila...
And I still have to tell my daughter. I told her she was sick and she wanted to fly down to see her. She's coming down in April to visit me and I would prefer that she not fly down now.

She can't fly unless its non-stop as she is special needs and if a storm forced her to do a plane change she could end up getting on the wrong plane. I'll call her tomorrow and try to convince her to wait until later in the spring.

Thank you Bowmanc. Now I really wish I could retire next year at 62. Lose too much between pension and SS if I take early retirement. I don't want to work anymore and not get to have a few years of enjoyment before the Lord calls me before HIm.

God Bless.

anon p

God Bless you and your family.

Be brave my friend,

She would want to know and I'm sure she will be alright getting a thru flight. Do you really think she would want to stay up there during this time?

zoey...

I'm so mad that a good person like my sister and many other good people are called before {what I feel} is their time when we have people as all the evil we have right now sitting in the peoples house and getting away with murder as well as the destruction of our country.

When is the Lord going to call them before Him? They need to go more than my sister and all the good Americans dying over seas for OIL.

God Bless.

oh anon..... I am so very, very sorry about your sister.... you and her will be in my prayers tonight......

Sheila...... well.... there you finally are, girl..... welcome back.....
sorry if the "guy thing" didn't work out......

Craig..... so glad you haven't lost your sense of humor in your pain.....
take care, buddy......

Yes Craig, I thought angry John was gone but now he seems to have resurfaced. I would love to see his internals. All I know is he is running strong in my precinct and will probably win it. Hillary should do well too but I know there are a few second tier supporters who will move to Edwards if their candidate is not viable.

I went to check out my caucus location today. We are in a Baptist church and the Repubs from my precinct are meeting there too. When you walk in the door, we are on the left and the Repubs are on the right, what a hoot.

The fun part will be that we are in the sanctuary and the Repubs are in the family room which ajoins the sanctuary. The two room are separated by windows and sliding glass doors. I can only guess the Repubs will enjoy our show since many have probably never witnessed a Dem caucus. We will probably have so much fun, they may want to join in the future :)

Shiela...
She lives with her mom now and with her being hard of hearing and her other special conditions she can not be left to fly anything but non-stop.

With all the bad weather any flight plan change and she could end up on the wrong flight in a strange airport or maybe not even making the flight change she may be given because of weather related issues.

God Bless.

Zoey, would there be any way you could live blog for us from your caucus on thursday night. that'd be nifty.

and yes, Edwards as most popular second choice among also-ran supporters is one of the major findings inside today's LAT/Bloomberg poll (i read all 34 pages of the thing). For those who can stand all the number crunching, lots of interesting stuff inside:

http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2007-12/34461017.pdf

Thanks rr...
I knew that this day would come since it was the third occurrence of her cancer.

Also it is the same kind as Elizabeth Edwards has and I had heard its usually 1 to 5 years survival. I think of you and the others who have re-occurrences. At least she is no longer suffering.

God Bless.

ok, the percocet kicking in, must break away before i say something really foolish. take care anon.

The order in Iowa will be
Edwards
Clinton
Obama

Zoey,

I just wanted to belatedly introduce myself as one of the oldy moldies. I took time off for romance and to get the moths out of my head.

I'm sometimes called the unofficial Hall Monitor. Hoever, Jamie and Mad do quite a good job to shake out the bad manners too.

Craig,
I wish I could live blog on Thursday but I am going to have my hands full running the caucus and making sure everything is above reproach. Yikes, you know there is math involved. If I figure out a way to communicate some info to you guys that night I will let you know. I might have an idea.

In half an hour I get to go test the touch tone reporting results. I hope it works. Why don't you come and live blog. I am finding out people are pretty nice to you when you are in a wheelchair.

Craig...
Same too you friend. I'm glad things worked out for you with your surgery. I see you on the MSNBC shows and must say your looking really spiffy.

Take care and...

God Bless.

Nice to meet you Sheila. We definitely need monitoring. I am not sure what goes on over in the dark corner of this blog, but I'm askeered.

good night Craig,

have a good buzz........zzzzzzzzzz

I don't think Edwards is going to hit 38 but I'm not sure on the numbers

I think Obama needs a 10% + cushion to make up for his support being first time voters and caucus goers for the most part...and all the trends show him losing and Clinton picking up support.

zoey...
Be careful you don't step out of line. Sheila will put you right back in your place if you do.

Just kidding zoey. Sheila is the Official Hall Monitor, but she's also a great chef and puts recipes up sometimes.

God Bless.

"ok, the percocet kicking in, must break away before i say something really foolish."

From the latin:
In codine veritas.

Got to run for a while. Will check back later.

God Bless all.

Shelia,
I am so glad you're back.

Blue, My reaction to the "chicken soup" was "that's bad?".

Note Giuliani laughs whenever he gets a tough question. In all fairness shall we dub this the Giuliani Guffaw to go with the Hillary cackle?

dnd,

I was thinking of you when i found the most delightful carrot cake recipe. Are you a sweet fan?

Jamie,

I haven't heard anything endearing out of Giuliani's mouth this past year, including that inappropiate laugh.

Jamie,
"In all fairness shall we dub this the Giuliani Guffaw to go with the Hillary cackle?"

Sounds about right to me.

Sorry for your loss , Anon. You have my sympathy.
Get well , Craig.
Welcome back , Sheila.

Zoey,
Shelia has the best tamale recipe ever.

And her politics are even better than her cooking..

AP my deepest condolences. It won't be the same, but you have years and years of joyful memories once the grief and loss are more muted. You were fortunate to have a sister you loved so well.

Dnd! I resemble that remark!

Shelia,
"I was thinking of you when i found the most delightful carrot cake recipe. Are you a sweet fan?"

Actually I'm more of a savory fan. In particular, I crave starchy carbs over sweets. But, that said, I'm on the see-food diet. if I see it, I eat it!

Mom loves carrot cake, so please post the recipe.

Sheila,

Welcome back. The one thing I can say in all honesty about Giuliani is that he is almost as creepy in person as he appears to be in interviews.

Craig,

Just caught the end of Hardball. You did wince when the painkiller died. You were able to come back and smile for the camera, but it was obvious you were not having fun.

Enjoy the percocet and I hope you feel a great deal better tomorrow.

Classic Movie Time - In The Heat of the Night

Sweet dreams everyone.

Ok Here Goes;

Grand Marnier Spiked Carrot Cake with Ginger Orange Frosting.

5 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
1 teas Salt
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teas Cinnamon
2 teas allspice
1 teas Nutmeg
1 1/2 teas baking Powder
1 1/2 teas Baking Soda
3 cups Shredded Carrots (1 pound)
4 ounces Grand marnier

375 2 10inch cake pans

Beat Eggs on high until they are light and frothy. Reduce speed and add oil. Reduce speed to low and add sugar and salt.

Sift all dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix. Fold in the carrots.

Divide the batter between two pans. Bake 35 - 40 minutes. Cool Completely.

Ginger Orange Frosting.

2 sticks softened butter
1 lb cream cheese room temp
1/2 powdered suger sifted
1 tablespoon ginger
1/2 freshly squeezed orange juice.

Blend all ingredients together until smooth

To back up Craig's claim that Mitt will win Iowa and the nomination...he has one of the best Republican organizers in the state in his corner, Doug Gross. I don't know if Huckster's local guy is as good at organizing. Doug and the other guy ran for Gov and Lt. Gov against Culver/Judge in the last election. They should certainly know how to organize the Repubs.

Jaime,

So good to see you!

I almost forgot to tell you that there was some good news. Ginger had her yearly shots and exam Wednesday. I had to do the full exam since she was poisoned by her contaminated food.

Her urine and bowl sample test came back good. The only bad thing was she gained weight. She is no longer a 22lb. 5oz cat.

She is a full Quarter Pounder. That's right, she's 25Lbs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

corey...
Thank you.

zoey...
I told you she would post a good recipe.

jamie...
The only thing I regret most is that she didn't get to spend Christmas with her family. I would rather have seen her go after the first of the year, but we have no control when were called before the Lord.

God Bless.

Yum, the frosting sounds wonderful.

WOW.....I forgot to poke holes in the cake and pour the Grand Marnier over it.....well, its time for bed. Palm Beach From Hell is not over yet.

Talk soon.

Zoey, i will be most interested in your commentary.

"forgot to poke holes in the cake and pour the Grand Marnier over it"

Huh. I figured the Grand Marnier was for the cook, not the cake...

anon-p my condolences for the loss of your sister. Be tough.

welcome back Sheila good to hear your voice again.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Dexter, I make pork chops with peaches, brown sugar, and ginger. Your recipe sounds great but too cold to grill here. Shoot it is hard to even find the grill under all the snow. I had roast pork stuffed with raisins and apples tonight. Pork, the other white meat. I love ginger too.

zoey...I used "grill" as a moniker for general cooking ; my chops were pan-fried, 7 minutes per side, spiced a bit and dotted with candied , strong ginger. I simmered them a few minutes longer to let the candied ginger melt...wow, they were great!
Way too cold to grill outside...today at noon it snowed a good three inches FAST...maybe in just a few minutes, then it turned to "raining ice", then it just plain rained all afternoon. (NW Ohio)
We have mush-slush here now. I spent a half hour shoveling heavy snow and then the rain melted everyone else's sidewalks before they even had to shovel! Foiled again! Rats!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least my mechanic did not charge me for scanning my car to see what may have been the reason for 4 loud bangs from my car on the way to Columbus and back...best guess now is "bad gasoline". I B Dam !

My timing on this blog is bass-ackwards! It's always REAL slow when I log in!

Dex, Wow that's what I call bad gas!!! I thought maybe you were one of those hard core grillers like we have around here. You shouldn't have burst my bubble. We got more snow today, maybe 2.5 inches or so. We have several inches on the ground but I have lost track and I am too lazy to look at the snow guage in the back yard. I just want it to all go away. I am not enjoying this winter since I can't go out and play with the other kids.

I was even looking at job postings in Kentucky and Tennessee one day when I was being a shut in. I might have to get serious about looking before next winter.

My timing's bad, too, dex. I see I missed some excellent conversations today...so I'll have a bit to catch up on.

Zoey...I'm thoroughly enjoying your perspective on the Iowa caucuses!Thanks for providing it. And how I'd love to be at your caucus next week to peer at all those Republicans through the glass doors...LOL! "I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin' back to see if I was lookin' back..."

Anon...

Read your post about your little sister with tears in my eyes. You are both lucky to have loved each other so well, and to have found such a good friend in life. Jamie's right...it'll take awhile, but your memories will be so important, and will always keep her alive for you.

God bless. You're in my thoughts....

SHEILA!!!

Sheila! Sheila! Sheila!

It is so wonderful to hear from you again! You've been missed...can you tell!?! Please don't let a man come between you and this blog again!!! Or work either, for that matter!!!

Welcome back! Hope you're here to stay!

Harborwoman, I should be able to see if they are looking at us since I will be in front of our group. I will be watching to see if any of them try to escape their confines and slip into any of our groups. I am making everyone eligible to caucus wear bright dots so I can make sure nothing funky goes on. I will have a different color for the observers to wear.

I wish you could be there as well. It is hard to describe unless you have been through it and you know, we get to do it all over again at the county and district conventions. We are automated at the State convention so don't physically get into groups...we go to computer terminals to change our preferences.

In an interesting turn of events the Ottumwa Courier has endorsed Obama and Thompson. Ottumwa , pop. 25,000 is a meat packing town with a growing hispanic population. I would have thought the Courier would have given the nod to Edwards or Richardson, maybe even Dodd or Biden. That area was solidly Edwards country in 2004.

I believe the town has the largest percentage of Democrats in the state so all the Dem candidates have been working it on a regular basis. I don't know much about the Republicans there but for any of the Iowa papers to endorse Thompson, well, it is hard to believe anyone would buy his line of crap.

horsedooty...

Thank you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

dexter...

As a parent you never expect to bury your children. As a sibling you never expect to bury the baby, or should I say your younger sibling.

Thanks for the kind words.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

harborwoman...

I still wasn't as prepared for this day as I thought I would be.
And yes I will always have my memories.

God Bless all.

Good night all, need to hit the sack plumb worn out after today.

God Bless all.

It's hard for me to believe anyone would buy the crap coming from most of the Republican candidates this time around, Zoey. But I know for sure that some people buy it...hook, line, and sinker...my ex, for one, though I suspect his 'buying it' has more to do with listening to his evangelical son than with his own thought processes. For a bright man (the ex), he certainly is behaving stupidly when it comes to politics...and voting against the best interests of himself and our son....

And speaking of buying it, Craig...Perhaps it's my own disdain for Romney, but I find it hard to believe he'll walk away with the nomination. Geez...he can hardly take the same position twice. I hope McCain will take their nomination, but that's because I believe him to be an honorable man...a belief with which I know several on this list disagree (disclaimer before you pounce...and you know who you are!!!).

Craig...one other thing...You were your usual excellent self on Hardball today, but I found myself watching closely, thinking that you'd been in surgery less than 24 hours earlier, and looking for signs of 'weakness' in your commentary. Maybe that Romney prediction was "your brain on drugs"...I can only hope....

Dex,

My brother in law owns a auto repair shop here and the other week I was having them put new rear shocks on my truck when a woman came in complaining about loud engine knocks. My brother in law said there was a lot of bad gas lately out in that part of the city. He said grocery stores and the like that sell gas don't maintain their tanks because it costs money and the profit margin is to slim to really spend the money. So they don't.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Ping, Pogo, EdVB and RebRenee...

You had a spirited and interesting conversation today about healthcare in the US. Sorry I missed it, but what I'd like to add to it is that Reagan's policies gave rise to the Big Pharma element of today's healthcare system. Under his pro-business administration, we saw the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 (which enabled universities and small businesses to patent discoveries that arose from research sponsored by the NIH - major distributor of tax $ for med. research - and then to grant exclusive licenses for those discoveries to drug companies). Before Bayh-Dole, those discoveries were in the public domain. The worst things to come out of that legislation, IMHO, are that universities and the NIH became able to enter into deals with drug companies, which has enabled Big Pharma to become an even more entrenched part of all medical educations, all NIH decisions, and a major part of the funding of all of our medical schools. Just think about the implications....

Another bad piece of legislation under Reagan's watch was the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984...extended monopoly rights for brand-name drugs.

Not sure what book you're reading, RebRenee, but I highly recommend The Truth About the Drug Companies by Marcia Angell. Dr. Angell is currently a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and wrote the above-mentioned book following her tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. All the information I talked about above is covered in her book.

Am listening to Greta Van Susteren...tv on in the other room...and am relieved to hear that someone other than me is questioning the insanity of the claim that Bhutto was killed by a fractured skull caused when she hit her head on the sunroof of her car. That's NUTS!!! Perhaps it's been questioned elsewhere and I missed it...it's been a busy day...but I'm glad to hear this! The commentator says they've gone from gunshots to shrapnel to fractured skull as her cause of death. Dr. Baden says NO, and that it's wrong and regrettable that there's no official autopsy.

Craig, very funny post. And you seemed so normal tonight. ;-)

Condolences, anon.

Sheila, I know where you're coming from. Lent is a good time span.

tt

Just had a call from the Republican National Committee. Why? I don't know...but they wanted to know how important it was to me - on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being 'not important at all' - to elect a Republican and keep the Liberals out of the WH. I probably should have said 0, but I was kind...I said 1. The caller chortled, said 'Thank you very much', and hung up....

Anon -- really sorry about your loss. She sounds like a brave woman.

zoey...my cousin was a secretary at the plant I hired into , many years ago. She rose to HR Director and was sometimes sent to other plants to iron out contractual disagreements. She just retired and moved to Tennessee, near Nashville, to escape the bad weather here.
Her hubby loves it cuz they live adjacent to a golf course. Since my aunt, her mom, died two months ago, they rarely come back in the winter at all.
I always loved my winter get-aways to Florida, but my fave US clime has to be the Bay Area of Cal...except the bloody-hellish hot Octobers.
We are getting my Las Vegas grandkids tomorrow for a couple days. It will be so good to see them...they lived with us three different times , once for two years, so we are a very close family. They flew back to see their dad and us.

It's odd you mentioned that, Senor Dooty, about the gas...right down the street from me, just last Monday they ripped all the pumps and tanks outta the Sunoco cuz of leaking, old tanks.
The gas station I filled up at, 120 miles before my car started banging away, was an old, old, crummy station .
It's been almost five days now and since I topped the tank off with different gas, no problems at all.
Gas went up 17 cents, to $3.09, Dec. 26.
Why is diesel fuel so much more expensive?
I want a Tesla electric car!

Now THIS is COOL!!

Who Is Ron Paul?

http://www.slatev.com/player.html?id=1357341099

I can't make videos play, Dex....what is this about?

Patsi, it's Who is Ron Paul? blimp. Flew up the east coast.

tt

Thanks tiptoe....suddenly I'm too pissed to even think about Ron Paul....I just saw a repeat of Barak's referring to Hillary Clinton's experience as "having tea parties" --- and then, in flipping through channels, I see Fox New picking up the "tea party" theme....now, any of you gentlemen who asked me about language and perception need only look at this one....who the hell is advising Obama to slip into codeword mode? When Bill Clinton first ran for national office, Hillary was crucified for not being feminine enough....I criticized her for caving to the pressure -- changing her name and hairstyle....now, she's accused of having "tea parties" -- Can we get any more sexist????? And can we see just how fast bullshit gets into the discourse....

For those of you who love data, I've been tracking the Intrade.com Presidential Futures market for the Iowa caucuses. For further information on this market, please see:

http://tinyurl.com/2g7var

Here's the data through 10 p.m. CST tonight:

http://tinyurl.com/24ayeu

Some quick thoughts (I'll let Zoey cover the "boots on the ground" aspect of the caucuses)...

On the Democratic side...

1) Despite Clinton's apparent recent weakness, hers is the only one on the Dem. side where traders are increasingly buying contracts. Technical indicators also suggest her future numbers should be on the upswing.

2) Obama's position appears weak in the short term. Unless there is something that will bolster confidence with traders, the data does not suggest an increase in his position in at least the next 2-3 days.

3) Edward's numbers should continue moving upward. Technical indicators suggest his numbers are consolidating, which means his numbers should continue moving upward for the foreseeable future.

On the Republican side...

1) As the Magic Eightball would say, the future for Huckabee is mixed. Technical indicators suggest his numbers should continue to fall, but money is flowing rapidly into buy contracts. This could suggest his numbers may begin to turn around in the next couple days.

2) The data for Romney is also mixed. Many of the indicators suggest his numbers should be increasing. However, there are more sell contracts than buy contracts, which suggests support for Romney might fall off rapidly in the future.

3) After some initial strength, Thompson's numbers have started down, and there is nothing to indicate that trend will be reversed.

4) Like Thompson, who saw an increase in strength around the 20th, McCain's position is flattening, and sell contracts have outpaced buy contracts by a large margin.

Overall on the Democratic side, as reflected in recent polls, the race is rapidly tightening. I don't expect the data to resolve itself until the last day or so.

On the Republican side, the question will be whether Huckabee can maintain his lead, or if Romney can consolidate his position enough to make a run at the end. It will also be interesting to see if Ron Paul (who is captured in the "Field" category), might actually come in third....

From the NY Dailey News

Barack Obama told Iowa voters Friday that if he doesn't get elected President this time, he might not try again.

It seems like it is an insult that Obama has to run in primaries. Can't Oprah just appoint & annoint him president and save us alot of time?

He reminds me of what Devall Patrick sounded like when he was running to governer of Mass. Sounded good, but he happens to be a terrible governer. Too many missteps and politically stupid maneuvers after being elected.

Obama isn't ready.

Good morning all,

Well, I'm the guppy in the ocean. I voted for Obama Absentee.

But I haven't swallowed so much koolaid that I am going to be the type of Democrat that doesn't vote for a Dem in the general election. I good things in all of them.

Talk about partizenship. I have read soooo many sensitive Clintonites. I have read sooo many sensitive Edwardites.

Are we a party of exclusion? Trash our own candidates and give the opposition fuel for the general?

I'm blown away by all the crazy meaness on the internet by our own people.

Hey, have a great day. The build up for New years is starting for me today, so I will be here in spurts.

Time for work,

But before I go, of all people, I am definately not anti-female.

After much thought and soul searching I came to the conclusion that I didn't want Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton....give it a rest for a few.

I didn't want old party notions. AKA Edwards.

I just plain want fresh, fresh, change. I wan't knew and I want reasoned, reasoned, reasoned, all inclusive work for the United States and the world to get us out of this mess.

Obama is the only one I believe....

Have a great day!

accidence: n. 1. the rudiments or essentials of a subject. 2. Gram. the study of inflection and word order as grammatical devices. [L. accidentia neut. pl. of accidens...(prp of accidere, to fall, befall). see accident]

The Death and Life of Ice Cream:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTxsIJBVCD0

Wow! Lots of low flying newbies dropping from the clouds. It is so neat to have an increase in new voices.

Patsi, Maybe Madam Bhutto and Mrs. Clinton should have invited the boys to tea and insisted on company manners, clean faces and no sniffling on their sleeves while the ladies discussed human rights, medical relief for children, and womens' participation in the political life of Muslim countries.

Hello friends!

anon, sooo very sorry. wish we could all hug you.

as the canadian-in-residence here, let me tell you, and you may hear whining from those in our country who like holding Dubya's coat (they're called the Conservative Party of Canada), but generally, our healthcare is amazingly good. You don't need a wad of cash to go to a doctor or hospital, my dad (90 years young) cracked a couple of ribs in a rush to the bathroom and they (yer not gonna believe this but it's true!) ADMITTED him, are treating him, have been doing a complete geriatric assessment, and have been in touch with me every day.

If I had a vote, I think I'd go with Obama...not everyone is a political junkie... remember, those conventions in 2004 were the lowest-watched in history, which means many many Americans didnt hear Obama's keynote speech (the best in history IMHO) and as the race heats up (if indeed there hasnt been a coronation) I think Obama's going to set fire to everyone. That being said, I'd walk thousands of miles to vote for any dem...

May I ask a question? You are all so much more learned about these things than I am... how are convention dates set? I ask because it would be a good idea if the Dem convention were held AFTER the Reps... The Reps are even MORE the party of old, white, grey men... the contrast, especially if the Dems hold theirs after, would be startling!

I miss all the banter here. Craig, get well soon.

tylenol -- good to "see" you here again! And I agree about Obama's speech in 2004 -- stunning.

Sheila -- I think if you read through all the threads you'd see that the majority of the arrows were aimed at Hillary Clinton in the first place, therefore the defense.

I'll also be voting happily for the Democratic candidate....whoever it is.

Patsi,
Yeah, the Obama campaign really screwed up with the "tea party" comment. Stupid, stupid, stupid. If they try to extricate themselves by saying that's what they drink in Pakistan, they'll only make it worse.

Jamie,
Perhaps Madam Bhutto and Mrs. Clinton were discussing political corruption ;-)

fixed your typo dnd

Jamie,
Perhaps Madam Bhutto and Mrs. Clinton were discussing what it is like to face false charges of political corruption

Perhaps Prime Minister Bhutto and Senator Clinton were talking about what jerks most men are.

John Edwards: Obama 'Living in Never-Never Land'?
Edwards Criticizes Rival as the Campaign in Iowa Enters the Home Stretch

oops no more Mr. Nice Guy

this is a cool site
how much some families spend on groceries from different countries

http://www.edu-core.org/byow/folders/missv/subpages.asp?id=75&parent_id=75

..... sorry..one more thing.. about Bhutto and Pakistan... Oh this was the work of terrorists alright..but whose terrorists? ... a lot of people don't understand that Pakistan's military also controls the economy..they control the banks, the corporations, the finance, the taxes, the parliament, the list goes on and on... when Mrs. Bhutto started talking about 'putting the military back where they belong..'.. i thought.. utoh... that's going to be trouble..

Loved the interior minister's theory..reminded me of that old line.." I didnt stab him.. I was just standing here peeling my apple, and he came running out of there.. and bumped into my knife.. 6 times.. backwards!"

kgc,

Interesting photos in that groceries comparison. I want to say that the picture of the US family supports my statement yesterday about life styles, but more importantly what struck me most were the smiles. Sure, they were posed pictures, but with the exception of Chad, those who subsist on little, seemed happy with what they have.

I'm kind of a hit-and-miss poster myself, but I wanted to say that it's great to see Sheila and Tylenol here, and to express my sincere condolences to Anon.

EdVB

great observation...I missed that completely cause I was looking at the food and trying to figure out what stuff was.

The grocery site reminds me of something that was kind of a shocker to me years ago. When we lived in Germany in '69 & '70, I realized that I carried trash out every day, while my German friends seemed to only fill up their cans about twice a week and maybe less than that. I realized that it was because we shopped quite a bit out at the military base....and our packaging was overwhelming. Just one of those times you realize the size of your footprint on the planet.

Up until recently, I used $50.00 per week per person as a guideline. With the higher oil prices, grocery costs (particularly fresh produce) have gone through the roof. This time around I'll use a $75.00 guideline and hope it is enough.

Way to go mom.
What some parents teach their children as acceptable behavior.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-12-29-fake-essay_N.htm

Patsi,

Where were you in Germany? I was stationed near Stuttgart in '68-'69.

Fry,

I realize your point about that USA Today story, but I was excited to think that anyone thought tickets to Albany, NY would be part of a prize.

Lord, what a story. This woman should get about 500 hours of community service at a VA hospital.

I'm off...off to Providence soon. Never been there. Should be interesting. Will check back in later today.

tt

A gallon of milk now costs more than a gallon of gas here.

tt

I was at Rhein Main AFB from Jan of 67-Jan of 70

dollar was worth 4 D Marks to a Dollar. Good times.

yo soy Horsedooty!

While one must respect Craig Crawford's own rules in terms of how this outstanding blog is to be used, I wish to make a plea. It is increasingly getting bit tiring to work through a long list of monotonous and sophomoric prattle by a few ill-mannered people who apparently feel their imagined wit gives them title to use the site for personal text messaging, boring the hell out of everyone else.
Please...why not go off line as old fashioned pen pals and save us from these banalities.
Matt Thomas

Matt,

This blog has always been a genuine conversation and a mix of personal and politics. Sometimes the chat gets a little out of hand or a little silly, but usually comes back to that basic mix. We post music for each other, comment on families, and takes sides on issues and candidates.

You are more than welcome to join the conversation.

Matt,

Thanks for weighing in. I'll confess to sophomoric, but I hope never ill-mannered. I view crawfordslist as a neighborhood, and confess to often trying to be funny in my posts. Not to over-state it, but I live for the occasional LOL response.

If everything posted here was serious news and commentary, I probably wouldn't have made it back for a second or third visit. That's just my taste and my take on life at C-List.

You're not forced to read it, Matt.

Matt....
what you are witnessing is the 4th or 5th incarnation of a blog that's been going on for 21/2 yrs....

yes, we do a lot of personal talk..... myself included..... although there are times I wish this blog didn't descend into the infantilism that it can..... I do understand what you're saying.....

what you will notice is that we try to stick to Craig's topic for our first posts..... after something's been up for many hours such as this one..... we usually descend into personal stuff....

I'm glad that lots of newbies are showing up and I hope you will continue to post.....

At the risk of being sophomoric, my husband was stationed with the Army Security Agency at Rothwesten. We lived in the city of Kassel.

Matt,

You can always scroll past the chattstuff. It doesn't take long. I like the fact that this is a conversational blog, not just a place for posting political screeds. Being familiar with the personalities on this blog is a good thing, it helps understand how people came to their point of view. Especially when we get worked up.

RebRenee,

How was your husband & father in law's ski outing? Yesterday was a good day for it. Where do they ski?

edvb

don't worry this isn't Matt Thomas' first post
he'll be back

Matt...Unless you just can't stand getting to know any of us, come on back! I've read several of your posts...so I know your plea wasn't your first...and I hope you'll reconsider..... If you do, you'll find this is a rare blog - one where the host has also developed a relationship with us, and sometimes joins in the discussion.

Here is a little nugget I just found out about Dodd on the God-O-Meter site:

Dodd views himself as a serious and committed Roman Catholic. He calls the church his "spiritual home." But in his 30-plus years in public service, he has never "worn his faith on his sleeve," according to Howard Reiter, a political scientist at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Dodd is comfortable with the fact that his wife, Ms. Clegg, is a Mormon.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godometer/index.html

Dodd is a divorced Roman Catholic as is Mary Matalin

HW,

Thanks for adding that. Craig's occasional interaction with us lowly C-Listers is an important plus.

I just wish Heather Locklear would do the same.

Patsi...
tylenol...
EdVB...

Thank you all for your thoughts. My sister was a very brave woman and I will miss her dearly.

Don't have any news as to what arrangements are being made as I just got home from the auto repair shop I use. I had either steam or smoke come out the front grill this morning so took it in to have it checked out. Turns out it was a loose clamp on a hose. Had them also replace the radiator cap so wasn't home if my neice called with the latest news on what's been planned.

Will let you know when I hear anything.

Take care and...

God Bless

EdVB...If Heather Locklear won't 'chat' with you, try Rosie O'Donnell. She occasionally acknowledges her bloggers....
:-)

HW,

Somehow, there seems to be more satisfaction in being ignored by Heather, than in being acknowledged by Rosie. Besides that, my sister's name is Rosemary. She's not as rich as Ms. O'Donnell, but she's just as loud.

If you guys will indulge me, I came across the following letter when I was cleaning out my email. I don't generally write to TV stations or other big businesses, but in reviewing it, I still take some satisfaction in having sent it.

It'll become obvious if you read the whole post, but I sent it to the Dan Abrams Show, when they were advertising that they were going to broadcast Pat Tillman's memorial service. What strikes me now, is how many deaths have occurred since then.

"What is wrong with you guys? I'm sure it's not just MSNBC that will be carrying Mr. Tillman's service,but do any of you give the least bit of thought to the things you decide tocover? Perhaps his family invited your cameras out of love for their son.You could have respectfully declined.Perhaps the Defense Department encouraged the cable networks to coverthis event. You should have declined.Perhaps this was the one service President Bush decided to attend. As newsworthy as that might be, I'd still encourage you to decline the invitation to accompany him. By all accounts, Mr. Tillman was a wonderful young man, who loved his country, and felt it his duty to serve in the Armed Forces. He has our respect and prayers, as do his family and the families of the other 700+ service men and women who have died in our current conflicts and the war on terror. Unfortunately, there is no way to focus on Mr. Tillman without denigrating the other fallen men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm sure you don't mean to do that, but that's the way it is. Mayor Giuliani didn't decide to go to the funerals of policemen and firemen that enrolled Republican, or were Sergeants and above. He knew from the start that he would have to go to every funeral he could, or don't go to any of them. With 24/7 availability, the networks could have covered EVERY funeral or memorial service for EVERY fallen soldier. You chose long ago NOT to do that, and that was probably the correct decision. Mr. Tillman and his family deserve our profound respect and admiration, and singling him out this late in the war disrespects both him and his fallen comrades. It's disrespectful to Mr. Tillman because you are using his name to help your ratings, and it's disrespectful to the other soldiers because their names weren't considered important enough to deserve your attention. My TV will be off tonight between 6 and 7, but I promise to find a respectful way to honor all our fallen soldiers during that hour, and beyond.

Sincerely,"

Just trying to be helpful, Ed.... :-))

And...nice letter, BTW.

Thanks, HW, looks like it's just you and me hanging around this afternoon, and I'm heading out soon.

My NH mail delivery report: Here is what came this afternoon.

1) Obama - Change you can believe in flyer. Paid for by Obama for America
2) Hillary - A tested , experienced leader to change America Paid for by Emilys List
3) Richardson - All our troops out of Iraq Paid for by Richardson for president
4) Anti Obama - health care proposal is not up to the job - Paid for by the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees PEOPLE Committee

All four flyers have the union bug on them.

John Deady, Rudy's NH Veteran's Coordinator, Resigns from Campaign
by: Mike Caulfield
Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 13:21:41 PM EST
It's all Rudymania, all the time here today. What can we say -- he's the gift that keeps on giving.

The latest: John Deady, the head of Rudy's NH Veterans for Rudy group, the man who said that all Muslims need to be chased "back to their caves.", has resigned.

Bowmanc, I always check for the union bug, too. My mail for today included:
1. 2 seperate flyers from Alliance for a New America (A.K.A. John Edwards), one wanting me to ask the candidates about their plan to help family farmers and another one wanting me to ask all the candidates about plans to stop special interests that control Washington
2. Obama flyer that I have already received several times already
3. www.one.org
4. A flyer from former Gov. Vilsack asking me to support the chronic disease legislation resolution at the caucus

Pretty typical amount, no Hillary today but will probably get more from her on Monday, Wednesday, and maybe Thursday. I got a Bill Richardson flyer yesterday but that is the first one I had gotten in about a week...he's tapering down I think. I haven't received a Biden or Dodd for probably at least two weeks but I do receive 1 or 2 emails from Biden everyday. I haven't gotten any phone calls for a couple of days.

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