Surprise in Brighton

A few weekends ago, there was horrendous traffic in Brighton Center. I mean horrendous. And it was a Sunday. I didn't understand. After dropping T off at the airport, I parked a mile from home to avoid the awful traffic.

Walking back, I saw this:

The street, Before.

No traffic.
No cars.
They were gone. Well, diverted anyway.
What was Brighton up to?

OBVIOUSLY - It was Sunday, what else could that mean but a parade?

The street, After.

First came the cops (upper left), then Mayor Menino and the BC marching band, then the other candidates and my favorite, the balloon cart people.

The entire point of spending money to shut down the streets and post cops everywhere and to wreak havoc on what is normally a very pleasant Sunday seems to be the parade. Why a parade? I'm not exactly sure... it was "for the people" but really I think it was "for the candidates", who marched down Cambridge/Washington street.

I don't know about you, but the way I decide who to vote for is by how they perform in a parade. Is their posture good? Are they handing out pens (Rep. Honan) or mints (Prime Realty Group)? Or shaking hands?

Ayanna Presley, running for Boston City Councilor, hands down had the best performance, shaking hands and warmly greeting everyone.

Based on that alone I should vote for her... right? After all, wasn't that the point of the parade - to help me decide how to vote?
.
ps. Watch out for a sneaky "before/after" post tomorrow!
.

Many Faith Groups Hate Love

Somehow a Casey Williams in Texas has accidentally submitted my email address as hers, and I keep getting these YSIF (Your Sister In Faith) emails... despite having emailed Pastor Tim (who tried to convert me) and another admin person.

I received this little gem this morning:
Hi Everyone
My niece Ann is living with a woman and has had two children by invitro. As I told some of you two weeks ago, Iowa made same sex marriage legal and I prayed that she would not succumb to this. Well apparently she has. The devil is at work in an evil way. This is my niece who confronted her mother, my sister, about abandoning the Holy Rosary before daily Mass to take up instead yoga and studying and sending money from teaching yoga to her guru in Arizona. I believe that the devil has a hold on this family and it hurts me greatly. Please I beg you for prayers for this family. I am truly blessed to have all of you and I know together we can battle the evil who is infiltrating.
Blessings and YSIC, Elizabeth
OH MY GOD. I cannot believe these people actually think this. And write these words. "Evil infiltrating?" What is this, a Harry Potter novel?

My response:

Please take me off your email list. I am not part of your faith group. In fact, I am Unitarian, living in Boston, and very happy about the legalization of gay marriage. I believe all people who love each other should be allowed to join together in marriage. It does not make my own marriage to my lovely husband any less holy or meaningful.

Good luck "battling the evil."

Sincerely

Casey Williams
Boston, MA

Yes, I pretended to be married just to get my point across. LOVE IS GOOD, HATE IS NOT. These "Christians" need to get over themselves. They're probably spending all their time praying for my soul's salvation since I have yet to receive a response.

New President

Obama's the man.

Images from Cajun Boy in the City.
.

One Vote changes it all!

Eric, my friend, vote!

Wasssssssuppppp! Why we need change

And take a look at this bi-partisan video.

Obama and McCain - Switched

From an email forward I received:

Something to think about...

What if things were turned around?

Think about it. Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit????

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, following the debate, including a three month-old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his college

graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to publicly display a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected a reality, if the tables were turned, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative characteristics in another when there is a color difference.

And consider the candidates' educational backgrounds:

Barack Obama:

Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in

International Relations.

Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:

University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.

Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

John McCain:

United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester

North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study

University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism

Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester

University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism (Sports Broadcasting)

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices

in the land as well as our standing throughout the world.

You make the call.

Sara Palin

If I were writing a letter to Sarah Palin it would be a lot of whys and hows. Who are you? Do you know? Why do you hate animals? Please point out Iraq on a map… This woman hates women. She is not a feminist. She is not the woman that's going to come behind Hillary Clinton and do anything that Hillary Clinton would've been capable of … I can't imagine overturning Roe vs. Wade. She's not of this time. The woman terrifies me." — Pink. [Perez Hilton]

 

 

McCain's "Family Recipes"

Unless Cindy McCain's family is a TV network, her "family recipes" were a load of bunk.

Whose family has a "traditional" recipe of Ahi Tuna with Asian Slaw, anyway? My family is fairly progressive in the kitchen, but our family recipes run more along the lines of "Sister's Ribs," Uncle Stephen's muffins, the Silver Palette's Chicken Marbella, Aunt Kathy's vegan chili, and Betty Crocker's gumbalaya.

If you want to stay on top of unauthorized use of your content across the web and are willing to pay, try Attributor's service. Or, you can do it the old fashioned way and just Google snippets of your content, again and again.