WE ARE THE CHANGE YOU MAKE

My father-in-law wrote another killer post, this time about how getting Barack Obama elected president would be great, but it would mean nothing if what is expected to be a Democratically dominated Congress treats the occasion as payback time instead of an opportunity to really attack the deep crises facing this country. You should read it at buffdaddy3.blogspot.com.

Me, I'm going to take a little break from my pleading, begging and imploring to get people to vote for Obama (or just to vote in general) to bring back one of my favorite posts, the List of Random Things I'm Thinking About Column, also known as The I'm Feeling Lazy Tonight Post or It's Hard Out There for a Pimp:

Random Quote of the Week #1
"Being an immigrant is all in your mind." --one of the models on America's Next Top Model

**I picked the Broncos to go 9-7 on this blog if I'm not mistaken. That's starting to look about four wins too high. Ugh!

**America's Next Top Model might be the most unintentionally funny show on television. Did you see tonight (Wednesday) when Tyra and the producers came up with the brilliant idea of putting the clueless models in tight, green bodysuits and then chromakeying (is that what they still call it?) their bodies and faces out of the fashion show? Imagine that...invisible models!

Random Quote of the Week #2
"The job of the vice president is to run the Senate..." -- vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in talking to a third grader in Pueblo, CO. In actuality, the job of the vice president is to back up the president, serving as his or her replacement if they are unable to complete their term while presiding over the Senate on special occasions and casting the (rare) tiebreaking vote.
It's called fourth grade civics and Palin appears to need a refresher course.

**If you haven't checked out TV on the Radio's "Dear Science," album, you have been missing out on one of the best albums of the year.

**Philadelphia in seven to win the World Series.

**Would you be willing to take 5% of your salary off the top if it would go to a National Health Care fund in return for having an automatic deduction of $1000 or more in your annual income tax? I sure would.

**There are a lot of good teachers out there and some really great ones. There has even been a lot of creative thinking in recent years about how to re-imagine what is taught in classrooms and how to create new incentives to get kids to go to class and do their homework. But, as much as it pains me to say it, putting more money into the schools is not going to turn around the performance of our nation's education system The values have to come from home and from parents--that's what worked for me and for most of the people I know. It's the only way to make a difference. Otherwise, we're just asking our nation's educators to make the proverbial silk out of a sow's ear.

**It's dinnertime. My wife loves me so much! Until later,

Peace!