Maybe Caribou Barbie got fed up

There has been a lot of talk in the past few days about Sarah Palin going "off message" and having the audacity to speak what is on her mind, rather than the scripted remarks that the RNC has fed to her. Good for her. I wouldn't vote for her in any case, but I'm rather pleased that she's starting to stand up for herself a bit.

What bothered me most about the whole $150,000 wardrobe thing and the makeup person thing was that it really does seem like the RNC is happy playing with their Caribou Barbie -- dressing her up and making her say what they want her to say. I don't think she's the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but no woman should be treated by men as just something to manipulate for their own agendas.

The whole thing just is another example of how little regard the RNC has for women in general.

Oct 22

Even though I'm on the fifth day of a migraine, I thought I'd post this:

Some birthdays

• 1811 Franz Liszt, romantic composer/virtuoso pianist


• 1845 Sarah Bernhardt, actress


• 1887 John Reed, journalist who reported on Mexican, Russian revolutions (his story is the subject of the movie Reds)


• 1917 Joan Fontaine, actress (Ivanhoe; Rebecca)


• 1920 Timothy Leary, Harvard prof, LSD taker


• 1929 Dory Previn, pop singer (Love Be My Cover)


• 1936 Bobby Seale, black activist


• 1938 Christopher Lloyd, actor (Taxi; Back to the Future)


• 1938 Derek Jacobi, actor (I, Claudius; Cadfael)


• 1939 Tony Roberts, actor (Annie Hall; Edge of Night; Lucie Arnaz Show)


• 1942 Annette Funicello, actress (Mickey Mouse Club)


• 1943 Catherine Deneuve, actress (Repulsion; Hunger)


• 1951 me


• 1952 Jeff Goldblum, actor (The Fly; The Big Chill)


• 1952 Patti Davis, aka Patricia Ann Reagan, 1st daughter (House of Secrets)


• 1996 Sofia Vassilieva, actress (Ariel on Medium)

Some other events on this day

• 4004 B.C. Universe created at 8:00 PM, according to the 1650 pronouncement of Anglican archbishop James Ussher (presumably, that was GMT)


• 2136 B.C. Chinese make 1st record of a solar eclipse


• 1692 Last hanging for witchcraft in the United States.


• 1844 The Great Anticipation: Millerites, followers of William Miller, anticipated the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day became known as the Great Disappointment.


• 1934 Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd shot dead by FBI in Ohio


• 1936 1st commercial flight from mainland to Hawaii


• 1938 1st Xerox copy made


• 1957 First United States casualties in Vietnam.


• 1962 JFK imposes naval blockade on Cuba, beginning missile crisis (I thought my dad came home from work early because it was my birthday.)


• 1962 Pacific Science Center opens at Seattle Center


• 1964 Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but turns down the honour.


• 1966 USSR launches Luna 12 for orbit around Moon


• 1968 Apollo 7 returns to Earth


• 1975 Soviet spacecraft Venera 9 soft-lands on Venus

Truly beyond the pale

Newsletter by Republican women's group depicts Obama with watermelon, fried chicken, ribs

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A San Bernardino County Republican group has distributed a newsletter picturing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on a $10 bill adorned with a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken.

Linking Obama to demeaning racist stereotypes drew denunciations from various GOP officials after the illustration appeared in the October newsletter of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.

Diane Fedele, president of the group, said she had no racist intent.

"I never connected," she told the newspaper. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

The Obama campaign declined to comment, saying it does not address such attacks.

The newsletter was sent to about 200 club members and associates last week by mail and e-mail. The club is a volunteer group that is not directly responsible to the state party, said California Republican Party press secretary Hector Barajas, who denounced the newsletter.

Fedele said she had received the illustration in e-mails and decided to reprint it to poke fun at a remark by Obama that he doesn't look like other presidents.

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele told the newspaper. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

Sheila Raines of San Bernardino, a black member of the club, complained about the image to Fedele.

"This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," she said. "I'm really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes."

Source

Right. She didn't connect those foods with racism. If you believe that, I've got this really nifty bridge you might be interested in.

Finished something!!

I finished the baby afghan I was working on. It's so satisfying to see something grow under my hands.

I'm not sure how well the color will come out in the pictures. The yarn is a combination of an off-white strand and a thin strand of baby colors. It looks to me like the colors in an opal.