McCain’s Age Is No Joke...
Current mood: insubordinate
Category: News and Politics
While Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama were rocking the Democratic convention in Denver, John McCain made his 13th appearance with Jay Leno to joke about his age.
But McCain's age is no joke. He will turn 72 on Friday and would be halfway to 73 if elected and sworn in on January 20. That would make him the oldest first-term President ever, two years older than Ronald Reagan. He has survived four skin cancers (melanomas), including one in 2000 that was classified as Stage IIa.
McCain is two years older than his father was when he died suddenly of a heart attack at 70. He is 11 years older than his grandfather was when he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 61.
The United States cannot afford the risk that McCain would die suddenly in the middle of an international crisis.
Nor can we afford the risk of dementia. 22% of Americans over 70 are affected by mild cognitive impairment, while 13% of Americans over 65 have Alzheimer's. Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 83, but early signs were evident during his first term. Britain's "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher developed dementia at age 75.
McCain has never had an Alzheimer's test, even though he has 6 of the 10 warning signs , including his inability to remember recent facts like the number of homes he owns, the $1M lawsuit he filed in 1990, or the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
John McCain owes America a thorough neurological examination for cognitive impairment and possible Alzheimer's long before Election Day.
Currently
listening
:
Come What(ever) May
By
Stone Sour
Release date: 2006-08-01
Rage Against The DNC
Current mood: recumbent
Category: News and Politics
The Democratic National Convention hits Denver's INVESCO Field at the end of August. But it's going to need earplugs to drown out the sounds of metal and hip-hop coming from nearby Denver Coliseum where Rage Against the Machine, The Coup, MC5 frontman Wayne Kramer and more will be protesting the continuing war in Iraq. My guess is that Joe Lieberman will not be attending.
The Tent State Music Festival to End the War, as it is called, is an all-day affair. Doors open at 9:30AM, and the shows run from 11AM until the troops come home. (Just kidding.) Best part of all? Tickets are free. Interested concertgoers should show up with a photo ID at Cuernavaca Park from 11AM-6:30PM on Aug. 24-26 during the convention; the lucky ones will get an email telling them the where and when. And lest you think this is a liberals-only affair, load this into your magazine: The bands will be joined by Iraq Veterans Against the War. It takes a village, people. To screw everything up, and to save us all.
Currently
listening
:
Worlds Collide
By
Apocalyptica
Release date: 2007-10-01
Some people are born with a veil, caul, or hood, over their face. Perhaps you are one of these people, or know someone who was born this way.
Many belief systems hold that being born with a veil is a sign of special destiny and psychic abilities, or good luck. Through the years I have read people born with a veil. Most are female and believe themselves to be psychically gifted, while others show no advanced abilities nor interest.
To be born with a caul, may go more to being Born with a Calling and where that takes a soul.
A caul or veil (Latin: Caput galeatum) is a thin, filmy membrane, the remnants of the amniotic sac, that covers or partly covers the newborn mammal immediately after birth. It is also the membrane enclosing the paunch of mammals, particularly as in pork and mutton butchery. In childbirth it is seen as a shimmery coating of the head and face. The caul is harmless and it is easily removed by the doctor, midwife, or person(s) performing the childbirth. The appearance of a caul over a newborn baby's head is occasional; not all children have one, though they are not especially rare. A child born in this way is known as a caulbearer.
In medieval times the appearance of a caul on a newborn baby was seen as a sign of good luck. It was considered an omen that the child was destined for greatness. Gathering the caul onto paper was considered an important tradition of childbirth: the midwife would rub a sheet of paper across the baby's head and face, pressing the material of the caul onto the paper. The caul would then be presented to the mother, to be kept as an heirloom.
Over the course of European history, a popular legend developed suggesting that possession of a baby's caul would give its bearer good luck and protect that person from death by drowning. Cauls were therefore highly prized by sailors. Medieval women often sold their cauls to sailors for large sums of money; a caul was regarded as a valuable talisman. In butchery the caul is used as 'offal.'
Alexander the Great was allegedly born with a caul and he certainly had an interesting and powerful life, though short lived.
Amniomancy - from the Latin 'amnion' (meaning membrane), it is a method of divination by means of the membrane which sometimes envelopes the head of a baby at birth. From the inspection of it, the diviner predicts what sort of future the newborn will have.This membrane, called caul, if red-colored signifies that the child in question will have a happy life. But if the membrane's lead-colored, the infant will have misfortunes.
A Word or Two Regarding Joe Biden:
Current mood: relieved
A Word or Two Regarding Joe Biden: *REPOST FROM RUDEPUNDIT*
1. Biden's son is heading to Iraq. That's the kind of political street cred it takes something like five and a half years in a prison camp to earn.
2. Biden is a tough motherfucker. God tried to take him out with brain cancer, and Biden kicked God in the nuts. Don't you want a Vice President who can kick God in the nuts and not be allied with Satan?
3. Ron Fournier of the AP is a little bitch. Biden must have pissed him off somewhere down the road.
4. Yeah, he ain't perfect (see the Clarence Thomas hearings and his anti-Obama comments that are already being used against him). But if you're complaining, would you seriously have wanted the media talking about the tension between Obama and Clinton(s) for the next four to eight years? And would you have wanted to explain to every non-Virginian just who the fuck Tim Kaine is?
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