Backyard Shed Talk

Appreciate all your emails and concern. Yes, the shed is coming along fine. Thanks for asking.
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I have the roof consisting of 3/4 plywood with a blue tarp stapled and trimmed complete now so that the shed is technically functional from a waterproof standpoint. I trimmed it with an Azek knockoff of 1x5 white artificial wood that I bought from Home Depot for $11 per 8' board.
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A square of cedar shingles went for $167 which seemed expensive to me. I think I'll need at least one more square, then I'll continue shingling under the deck.
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The doors are being fabricated from the old pine countertop that was in the basement. Kevin Rockett ripped it out when he did the basement tiling, and it's been under the deck in all 18' of linear glory ever since.
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I like to reuse things like the countertop when I do new projects.... Not because of any environmental reason, but because seeing the material in a new use reminds me of some of the stuff that happened around it while it was a countertop in it's older use. That's why I loved using the cedar from my mother's hope chest in my Grandson Will's toy box.
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I cut the countertop into 4' lengths with my vintage Milwaukee worm drive circular saw and will stack these panels with cleats to form two hinged doors tomorrow.
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Then I'll add some hardware so that the doors can be locked, and we will be good to go - loading the shed shelves with the tool crates, hanging the garden hand tools and storing the lawnmower and powerwasher.
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It's not happening a minute too soon either, because Joanne is continually asking about the corner HDTV cabinet that I have cut the stock for in the garage, and Mike is working me over about finishing the basement. He even offered to help. We'll see how that transpires.
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I'll show some pictures of the Shed when it's done, so please don't think you can feel free to just drop by and see it. That includes you McMahon.!

Hurricane McCain-Palin

I know that his Blog has moved a bit away from boatbuilding and more into witnessing how the media elite would like to manipulate the Presidential election. And I'll have to admit that if McCain chose someone like Mitt Romney for his running mate, I'd be far less inclined to follow his campaign.
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But McCain showed some real insight in his choice of Palin, and when he says that he wants to shake up the system, he now has total credibility. Isn't that freaking refreshing???
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I was impressed that Obama secured the nomination as a minority, but in the back of my mind, he was a slick talking, Chicago machine pol with nothing of a policy nature that is remarkable in his short public resume. We now know quite a bit of what McCain and Palin did in their public careers - McCain with campaign reform and rooting out pork - Palin with energy policy and bureaucratic reform.
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Tell me one thing that Obama did.... My point exactly.
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Barach looks like a go along guy. Go along with Daly Chicago politics, go along with racist remarks at his church, go along with fat cats who want to give him real estate deals to ingratiate him.
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I've known guys like Obama all of my life. They see public office as a personal career, not as a vehicle to serve. They are get along guys who say what needs to be said, and align themselves with people on the basis of personal enrichment. Hang out with a Weatherman Terrorist one day, deny him the next. It is the politics of enrichment and convenience.
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I think that the media frequently likes this type of politician, because he/she will do their biding, and will pander to their media careers first before attending to the public needs. When I was a public official in Lynn, the most corrupt backroom pols could get the Boston Globe to say anything that they wanted. As a young liberal, I was astounded - but now as a thinking conservative, it makes sense.
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There is a place for this type of politician, but not the White House.
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I know that this Blog is supposed to be about building the Marblehead Gunning Dory, but I am hopelessly sidetracked while this refreshing wind of political reform is blowing by Hurricane McCain-Palin into the faces of the media elite.
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So the Dory is delayed again... But I will get back to it. Definitely by November.

Hurricane Ike

News reporters getting blown around and soaked with a microphone in their hand, purporting to report on a hurricane are stupid.
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You can tell me about a storm without standing outside in it. Although, I wouldn't mind seeing Charlie Gibson out there.

Gotcha Journalism

Are they hard hitting questions or just ideological boobytraps that Charlie Gibson asks with his low toned, condescending manner? What do you think?
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I personally think that Palin came through as much more of a person that I would trust than Gibson, and Gibson never really bothered me before. Who seemed truthful and sincere to you?.... Sarah or Charlie???
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I care more about sincerity than whether someone can define the "Bush Doctrine". The Presidency is not a pop quiz. It's about leadership, competence, and judgment.
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Did you see Gibson's face when Sarah praised Hillary Clinton??? He didn't see that coming and looked like a fly had landed on his burger. By Palin praising the virtues of Clinton taking shots as a women, she tied directly into the bulk of female voters who supported Hillary because of her gender, and Mr. Smug knew it.
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Palin was good on her feet, struggled with some of the questions, and came through exactly as the person that we need for leadership - a free thinking, non-phoney.
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So Charlie, I think I'm going to vote for Palin, and avoid your biased journalism for the rest of your smug, condescending career. Nice interview.

Gibson Go Around

Getting ready to watch the next masterpiece of media journalism from Charlie Gibson.
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"Have you ever met a head of state?" he asked the Governor of Alaska last night. How many heads of state did Obama know before he ran for President? Let's have more great probing questions like that one tonight Charlie.
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I'll take Palin with her sense of judgement over all of those Georgetown dinner party politicians who could answer yes to that question.
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I never used to buy into this Democratic media bias that guys like Rush Limbaugh always rail about. But now the media seems to be showing their true colors... and are showing a need to manipulate public opinion away from John McCain's great choice.
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Seems to me like Gibson and the media are the real losers here. When this campaign is over, and the people speak in this great system that we have, I doubt that these media elitists will be so smug, after their concerted smear effort is defeated. Good luck Charlie.
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BTW - How's the prepping going for your next riveting interview with Joe Biden? Not one scheduled? No sound bites needed there??? Seems a little biased/sexist to me.
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Bumper Sticker

Thank you Charlie Gibson for your extensive interview of Sarah Palin. I'd like to see the same questions asked of Obama, but so far, it's only been the Palin extravaganza.
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Years ago, Mayor Antonio Marino of Lynn, MA, in response to a question that I asked him of a negative reference in the newspaper said,"It really doesn't matter what say about you in the newspaper, as long as they spell your name right."
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At the time, I disagreed with him, but, then again, he had the longest mayoral run in the City of Lynn until Chip Clancy came along. Marino's name was in the paper a lot.
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I think that the Gibson interview is one long bumper sticker for Palin. If the naysayers were mining for soundbites, they didn't strike a rich vein. People are already polarized around Palin, so the media exposes their own biases more than hers when they dig for the dirt.
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Course, I doubt if Tony Marino, a staunch Democrat, would be on the McCain bandwagon.

Week 37 -POTW

You have to admit, this is a great country.
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Where else do bitter national Presidential rivals call a truce to show respect at the site of a national tragedy? Our political system is actually pretty enlighted and civilized.... compared to what it could be, and despite the pettiness that the press likes to hone in on.
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I wonder if Sarah Palin knew what she was in for when she accepted this nomination. For that matter, consider the plight of her future son-in-law. Imagine that poor bastard waking up one morning and thinking, "Oh Shit! I knocked up my girlfriend! Man - Am I in Deep!" Buddy, you have no freaking idea.
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And that leads us to the all important weekly selections, that virtually the entire country is waiting for.....
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ANNOUNCING...
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for 37th week of 2008

Matt Damon
Emily Engardia
Vince Willfork
Sarah Crawford
Ben Orichi
Bill Hillegas

Can't wait to see what self righteous, all-full-of-themselves, celebrities that Sarah Palin pisses off next!!! This is getting to be fun.

Good Matt Hunting

Matt Damon was on the news this morning saying he doesn't want a Hockey Mom a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
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But apparently, Barach Obama, a community organizer who bought his house for $300,000 below price from a Felon is an OK choice. I personally would be leaning toward the Hockey Mom, aka the Governor of Alaska.
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Naturally, my statement is as outrageous as Damon's.
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Don't treat us like idiots Matt, as you preach from your celebrity bully pulpit. You're one of my favorite actors, but it is obvious that you are stuck in pretend world.
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Plus, you're losing the adoration of Hockey Mom's everywhere.

9/11

This is one of those days when you can recall exactly what you were doing when you heard the news.

Kennedy's Assassination - I was a sixth grade traffic boy performing street crossing services at the corner of Hollingsworth St. and Rockaway St. across from the Highland Elementary School in Lynn, MA.

Explosion of the Space Shuttle - I was watching TV in the basement of my house at Hawthorn Rd. in Marblehead, MA

OJ Verdict - I was in the office of my namesake lawyer, John N. Nestor of Lynn.

9/11 - I was commuting on Route 128 to the General Dynamics office in Needham, MA.

Those are the four events that freeze my surrounding environment in my mind. All really bad things.

Thank God, we haven't had one of those days since Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama Boo Boo

So I'm sure you're waiting for me to sound in on this "Lipstick on a Pig" controversy by our man Obama.
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If you think a comment like that wasn't directed at Sarah Palin, then let me know what the lunch menu is in La La Land, because I want what you're having.
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Now he's all in denial and blaming the Republicans and the press for creating a fire and fanning the flames.
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The fact is that he made a gutteral, back room remark and whether it was directed at Palin or not, he had to know that it would be interpreted that way after her famous "Hockey Mom with Lipstick" joke. If he didn't, he is a stupid politician and a stupid lawyer... and I doubt this hypothesis.
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One thing is crystal clear - He has shown really Bad Judgement... and he is getting his ass kicked by McCain and Palin

Displaced Priorities

It's a crystal clear September morning in New England.
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I feel like I'm irresponsible if I don't blow off work today and get out on Marblehead Sound in the WhaleEye.
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But the odds are that I'll keep banging at Nanepashemet Telecom. Something about "making hay while the sun shines".
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Call me irresponsible.

Need for Strong Leadership

I hate to get back on the Palin issue, but if I was from Alaska, I would be pretty pissed at the backhanded remarks that the duly elected Governor of Alaska has no qualifications. She's a FREAKING GOVERNOR!!!!
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She is the Governor of the largest state in the Union with huge energy and environmental issues.
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Obama is one of two Senators in the State of Illinois.
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Let's get off of the experience issue and actually listen to these people.
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I also get a big kick out of those who think they can put horns on the head of George Bush, and say that if you agree with the President of the United States, that you are somehow ominous.
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All I know is that after September 11, 2001, when we thought that we were under seige by fanatical, suicidal, murderous ideologues, George Bush pinned the assholes back into holes somewhere in Whatthefuckistan, and there have been no more attacks on American soil.
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Do you realize how easy it is for some suicidal sociopath to wreak havoc in our urban areas? I give Bush the credit for the safety we have enjoyed for the past eight years. Can you imagine if we had a weakling like Jimmy Carter in there with his hands at the wheel? People forget that Iran flipped us the bird for over a year while Carter was President, holding our diplomats hostage, and released them the day that a strong leader, Ronald Reagan, was elected.
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Like Harry Truman before him, history will be kind to the judgement and courage exhibited by President Bush, taking strong stands on controversial issues despite the rockthrowers and naysayers.
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"At one point in his second term, near the end of the Korean War, Truman's public opinion ratings reached the lowest point yet recorded for any United States president until George W. Bush. Despite negative public opinion during his term in office, popular and scholarly assessments of his presidency became more positive after his retirement from politics and the publication of his memoirs. U.S. scholars today rank him among the top ten best presidents." - Wikipedia

Getting Weird

Lately, quite a few people from the distant past have been contacting me over the WEB. I guess that when people browse the internet, they tend to explore their past. There are a lot of people that don't show up so easily though.
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I wonder if there will be a kind of electronic archeology in the future. Will all of these miserable blog entries be archived and saved, only to be dug up by some future anthropologist, wondering how the world was at the dawn of the electronic information age?
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People tend to think that there is a type of immortality on Earth, but we forget the past with frightful speed..... to the point where we don't even know the names of our Great Grandparents.
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I'll bet a bottle of Lagavulin that you don't know the name of your Father's Grandfather - a person critical to your being on Earth!!! I don't. And I can't Google him either. Did his existance have meaning if we can't even know that he lived?
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Sorry about the weirdness.

Shed

It was a hot weekend. Hurricane Hanna ended up to be a overnight rain shower so we were able to get stuff done. I used the bonus weather on Sat. and Sun. building the tool and lawnmower shed.
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It's fun to do rough framing. As a world renowned boatbuilder, I'm more attuned to exact tolerances and finished surfaces, but the shed was much more rugged and rustic.
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I made the mistake of showing it to Joanne before it was finished, which is always a a problem because people can't see your finished vision. She said that it looked good, but I could tell by her face that she was horrified.
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No matter. It will be fine when I'm done. The'll be pictures.

Tuna Lips said...

Nothing like the privacy of a shed fer boppin' yer baloney. Spent a lot of time in pappy's shed, "fixin' the lawnmower". To this very day, the smell of gasoline and mildew gets me misty, thinkin' on thems care free moments, northwest corner of the shed, by the broken window, eyein, Ms. McSorley hangin the launderin, sweat tricklin' off her brow, wind blowin' her hair and frock this away and a that, her massive udders quaking as she stretched to pin up her tent sized nickers, . . ooh, I must pardon myself. Carry on with yer shed constructification.

Hurricane Threat

We're watching Hurricane Hanna motor up the coast and threaten to end the fishing season early. I'm not pulling the WhaleEye out of Salem Harbor. I think we can ride this one out, because fish still have to die at my hands this month.

Peep of the Week - Week 36

I know that a lot of you will paint me with a Republican brush because of my fawning and swooning over Gov. Palin.... but I'm not going to fake my feelings will a sense of false objectivity.
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After hearing John McCain's acceptance speech, the McCain-Palin ticket overwhelms the Obama-Biden team. I was surprised at the depth of truth and sincerity that came through when I listened to Cindy McCain who backs up her sense of compassion by adopting refugee children from Bangladesh, and who has seen her son go to Iraq.
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And the story of John McCain is inspiring in the service of he and his family to this country and his independent and maverick approach to politics and policy.
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Sorry, but I just didn't get the same emotional movement from the Obama's, Kennedy's and the Clinton's that I took from the McCain's, the Guiliani's and the Palin's.
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I still view myself as an Independent.... as someone who seeks the truth, no matter who utters it. And that would find me as an ardent supporter of McCain and Palin, not necessarily a Republican. It is annoying to be labeled... which segways nicely to the truly important task at hand.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 36th week of 2008

Jim Nestor
Sarah Palin
Lance Armstrong
Geoghan Coogan
Sammy Khairi
Kenny Daye

Enough of politics. Now I have to concentrate on something truly significant - building the tool shed under my deck so that I can clear the way for a run at the Marblehead Gunning Dory construction.

BahBah WaWa and Perky

Barbara Walters and Katie Couric are so devastated. A female leader has emerged and she can't be manipulated and won't pay homage to the superiority of the Liberal Media.
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The largest criticism is Palin's characterization of community activists, as being less responsible than a small town mayor. Palin is right, and the topic wouldn't have come up if Obama hadn't taken the first swing.
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You can really see the wind come out of the sails of these self-righteous. elitist bitches.
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Right on Sarah!! You Go Girl.

A Star is Born

Sarah Palin has just finished her speech at the Republican National Convention, and blasted one out of the Ballpark. What a brilliant, charismatic, poised leader! What a huge job by John McCain choosing such a talented running mate!
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Hillary must have messed her pantsuit.
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So tough, so erudite, so centered and down to earth, a great sense of humor. American has witnesssed the birth of a great leader.
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The Democrats and Liberals will throw the kitchen sink at her, but they had better take cover because she has the ability to hurl it right back.
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She's forthright, honest, balanced and confident. What a surprise! I like her a lot.

"What is the difference between a Pit Bull and a Hockey Mom?
Lipstick. " - Gov. Sarah Palin

Tuna Lips said...

Hills waren't the only one with a mess in her shorts - I started humpin' the throw pillow when sweet Sarah Pecan Pie (thats my pet name fer her) went on about wearing lipstick and laying pipelines. Ooohey. I feel like Bugs Bunny when he kissed that robot Rabbit with the nice taters and got hisself a shock. No need for the $3.49 I drop every month on "NaughtyLibrarian.com"! The economics just got trended up!

Fair Game

The Democrats are freaking out over Sarah Palin. Republican's aren't supposed to be the one's who break the glass ceiling. President Bush has never gotten credit for the important role that he created for Condoleeza Rice in his administration. That just gets overlooked.
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One female pundit on CNN disgustingly called Palin a gimmick. The duly elected Governor of Alaska is a gimmick???? I didn't catch the pundit's name, but she is a bona fide moron who is lucky enough to live in the land of the free.
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I was startled today to hear Obama saying that his campaign budget was so much higher than the muncipal budget that Palin managed in East Bumf_ck, Alaska. So What!!!! She was also elected Governor of the largest State in the Union. Seems like the Dems are pretty cool to Alaska. If you come from Alaska, you're not qualified to be a VP????? Stupid argument.
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Obama is basically saying that he is qualified to be President because he is running for President. An interesting proposition. Obama is starting to look small to me by stooping to this type of pandering. And now he has Barney Frank rushing to his aid, saying that the attacks on Sarah Palin's private life is fair game. Oh Brother!!!
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Tell us what you stand for Barach??? Who cares about the budget of Podunk, Alaska??? Just as I didn't buy into the attacks on you through your racist Pastor, don't insult us by coming up with ways to demean Sarah Palin.
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BTW, I was one of those who was concerned about McCain's age of 72. But then I saw his 96 year old Mom standing erect and vibrant. That makes me feel better.
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So enough talk about politics.... let's discuss something less controversial like religion or something.

Hurricane Anxiety

Gustave was a bust. I was expecting to be horrified and mesmerized by devastation and destruction. Instead, I'll have to settle for the Republican National Convention for my fix of angst and anxiety.
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Speaking of politricks, the pregnancy of Gov. Sarah Palin's 17 yr. old daughter is something that the Democrats will stear way clear of.... since Barach Obama's Mom was 18 when he was born... which most likely put her around the same age at conception.
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In so many ways, McCain has pinned back the Dems by the VP nomination of Palin.... Hillary and her glass ceiling, Obama and his experience.... and this personal instance is another one.

Tuna Lips said...

I bet them eskimos is thinkin' on some hot "mommy and daughter" action likes thems offers up on the information superhighway dirty pages. Naughty redskins.