Brilliant re-cap of 2008 (click the link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiXy55OHyY

Hope Won!

I was a cynic. I didn't think Barack could win. He's half black, yes, but that wasn't my main concern. I was so disillusioned after the Democratic defeat in 2004 that I wasn't convinced the American people could ever get it right.

My faith has been restored in the American voting public.

I am looking forward to the end of the politics of fear and the beginning of the politics of hope.

To my husband

When I look back on my marriage, here is what I plan to be able to say:

I loved my husband with a full and open heart. I laughed with him in life’s silly moments and laughed at myself when I went a little crazy. I expressed my love and gratitude for his presence in my life. I was there for him when he needed me. We were a team. I made myself vulnerable and it paid off. I let him comfort me. We had fun together.

Even when it's hard, I will make the choice to wake up every day and make my marriage a priority. You have my word.

Jane

P.S. If the rest of our marriage is as easy as the first then we've got a great life ahead.

Ode to a cat

Silky, fat, black
Cantankerous
Demanding
Expecting

Yellow cat eyes
Napping, stretching
Soft black paws
Cute kitty

Pro Military

Modern day Democrats are pro military. It is Democrats who are fighting to repeal "Don't ask, Don't Tell" so that all honorable men and women can serve our country. Democrats do not subscribe to the neo-con philosophy that more war is always better. The young men and women serving in the military do not have to fear entering an ill-advised, pre-emptive war under Democratic leadership. It is Democrats who believe in veteran funding; for all his rhetoric, John McCain has consistently voted against funding for our veterans. I think its high time we gave Democrats the title long held by Republicans: Pro-Military.

The Republican Party 101

Paraphrased and quoted from syndicated columnist Garrison Keillor. He really hits the nail on the head. I added a few thoughts of my own outside the quotation marks.
"Republicans are pranksters at heart...They promote the ne'er-do-well son of the old Republican family as president, the idea that you increase government revenue by cutting taxes, the idea that you cut social services and thereby drive the needy into the middle class, the idea that you overthrow a dictator with a show of force and achieve democracy at no cost to yourself" and the idea that a for profit health care system will take care of sick people instead of its shareholders. Why elect a governing party that doesn't believe government works? Republicans say they fight for personal freedom and state rights but if a state allows medical marijuana they'll raid the businesses who sell it. They vehemently defend our failed war on drugs, perhaps forgetting that it's not freedom to criminalize a bad personal habit. They would like to overturn Roe Vs. Wade because they want to control our moral decisions. They stand in the way of marital rights for gay couples, even threatening that allowing homosexual couples to marry will hurt marriage between men and women. Isn't that the argument they used to stop inter-racial marriage for so long? Now to be fair, there are democrats that hold these views and republicans who don't but the overall argument is true. Let's define the Republican version of individual liberty for what it really means: low taxes for the wealthiest Americans because the poor are just lazy anyway.

Republicans have seized on the notion that if you keep people afraid and ill-informed, the perpetrators of the fear will keep getting elected. Isn't there something disturbing about this picture? I hope the next century emboldens the American people to choose being the greatest nation on earth by voting with their hearts and minds instead of their fears. This is within our grasp and electing Barack Obama was the first step.

What is socialism anyway?

It is the public school system, it is a fireman coming to put out a fire in your home, it is knowing that when you're sick you can go see a doctor without a bill, it is government funded maternity leave, it is medicare and social security and more affordable post-secondary education. A moderate socialist society provides a healthy balance between the free market and government regulation to protect the people. If you work hard you can become wealthy as a business owner but not by earning 500 times the salary of the average worker as a CEO. In all other industrialized nations, CEO's earn about 20 times the salary of the average worker. Un-checked capitalism has given us the biggest re-distribution of wealth to the top 5% since 1929 (right before the stock market crashed and launched us into the great depression). I challenge those of you who believe that moderate socialism is evil to travel throughout Western Europe and Canada and talk to the citizens about their lives. Be careful, though, because people who have it easy often don't realize how good they have it.

P.S. I'm sure the government would be happy for you to re-pay them for the public schooling you or your kids received. Just a thought.

RISK

Author unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out to others is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken,
because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.
The person who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,
they forfeited their freedom.
Only the person who risks can be free

The Canadian Marriage Rate

Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Or do they? The popular perception is that one out of every two marriages fails, and worse, we are constantly being bombarded with the divorce rate. I decided it was high time that someone took a look at the glass half full and boy was I surprised by what I found.

The marriage rate refers to the number of people getting married but why not extend the meaning to the number of marriages that live to tell the tale? I wanted to know about couples that made it last over the years and are still smiling at each other. Isn’t that a more compelling story?

Although the number of new marriages in Canada has been declining steadily over the years, two out of three Canadian marriages make it for a lifetime. That's 67%! How differently would we perceive marriage if everyone walked around saying that 67% of marriages survive? I’m starting to like my odds.

Generations X and Y have a whole new opportunity to put our stamp on marriage. We are getting married later, 28 for women and 30 for Men, and I hope that means we’re choosing more wisely and waiting until we’re really ready to make the commitment. What will marriage look like in 30 years from now? It’s up to us.