"Oh, it's like Dave and Jim!"

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Friday March 16, 2012 · 1:54 PM PDT

2012/03/16 · 13:54

I had lunch with a new friend recently and we got to talking about, well, almost everything. We both have 8 year old kids, we're both professional women, raging liberals (she describes herself as a socialist actually), both Jewish married to Jewish men, both raising our kids to be open, inclusive and respectful.

We started talking about a mutual friend with kids the same age, also Jewish, but whose husband is not. Several years ago, back when I was close with this mutual friend, her son had asked why mine did not eat the bacon cheeseburger her son had ordered. Before I could reply explaining that we observed some religious dietary restrictions she chimed in with "well, he {my son} is only Jewish, but you're lucky, you're both Jewish AND Christian so you have lots more options and don't have to be restricted like he is."

ItsJessMe

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Sunday March 11, 2012 · 2:31 PM PDT

2012/03/11 · 14:31

I usually do a long swim on Sundays but lately I've had a bad reaction to chlorine, plus we had friends in from out of town who were taking us out for brunch, so it just all worked out to be better for me to go for a run early this morning instead. Since we "sprang forward" I had to wait until my boys woke up (they don't like to break with tradition and having Mom get them in the morning is, fortunately, still important to them at 8 and 5) but I was out the door by a blissfully quiet 8:30 a.m. on a clear cold and glorious day.

I was looking forward to running over The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, partially because once I'm on it there are no shortcuts so it keeps me going, and partially because I get a kick out of the idea of running across state lines (into New Jersey). It's 1.8 miles each way and about a mile to the entrance from my house so just about the right distance for me. Alas, I got to the entrance around 8:40 am only to see locked gates with an "Open 6 am - 8 pm" sign on them. Shunning the skanky-looking underground pedestrian tunnel I turned around and ran in a square around the city. Following the squiggle are some thoughts that bubbled up.

ItsJessMe

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Sunday June 05, 2011 · 9:18 PM PDT

2011/06/05 · 21:18

Late night musings.

I live a lucky life. There are big pieces of luck - I was born into a very close and loving family with enough money and education to set me on a relatively easy path with a wonderful support system that has sustained me through times of (relative) challenge. But what astonishes me even more, and often, is the small bits of luck that seem to pervade my life. I almost always find parking spaces when I need them. The couple of times my wallet has been stolen, the contents were recovered and returned within days. Once when I was about 14, I was playing with a favorite ring while leaning out the open third story window of my bedroom, and dropped the ring into the deep Boston snowdrifts below. Several months later when it melted, my family formed a line spanning the street, walked up and down, and within 10 minutes had found my ring.

And this weekend, that lucky star saved my and my kids' lives, or at least our health and future.

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday July 31, 2010 · 8:59 PM PDT

2010/07/31 · 20:59

Not for very long, but I figured it was my service to the community to report on the events {grin}.

ItsJessMe for Daily Kos

Community

Tuesday June 15, 2010 · 8:28 PM PDT

2010/06/15 · 20:28

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are dopper0189, HoosierDeb, ItsJessMe, Louisiana 1976, mem from somerville and sunspark says, with ybruti editing. Please let the diarists know their work was read by recommending, tipping or commenting.

Something the Dog Said brings us up to speed in No Accountability For Rendition In US, But Maybe In Canada on how our northern neighbor is approaching the lingering repercussions of our policies on torture. (HoosierDeb)

rb137 urges us in Daily Kos EcoJustice: Action -- Help create conflict-free green technology to keep up the pressure to preserve a provision in the Senate Financial Overhaul Bill requiring companies that use targeted metals to report annually where they buy them. (ItsJessMe)

RLMiller analyzes the Practical Energy and Climate Plan bill, S. 3464, recently proposed by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), in Of Pole Signs, Coal Plants, and Impractical Energy Plans. (ItsJessMe)

TimOBrien wants to put the blame where it really belongs and tells Why the Wall Street crowd wants to blame you for the recession. (mem from somerville)

With the release of Glenn "Look at me, I'm Important!" Beck's newest tome, CrazyHorse takes a moment to examine the link between The Overton Window and the New Right. (sunspark says)

angry marmot, feeling subdued by pundits and bloggers arguing over issues like Obama's presidency and the Israeli-Palestinian issue, wonders what keeps a nation united, in Musings on "One Nation". (dopper0189)

justdafacts has the latest on Maryland Governor Bob Erlich's questionable donations and whether or not he will return them in Md Dems tell Bob Ehrlich “Give Back Fabian’s Dirty Money”. (Purple Priestess, with HoosierDeb and Got A Grip riding shotgun)

Mike Stark discusses his own experience with politicians assaulting inquisitive members of the press in Etheridge, me and the Hill. (sunspark says)

ashowboat educates the community on Air Pollution 102 - All About Ozone. (ItsJessMe)

sardonyx has (NOT jotter's) High Impact Diaries: June 14, 2010.

brillig has Top Comments - Strawberry Edition.

Feel free to suggest your own favorite diaries of the day, and use this as an open thread.

Nidal Hasan: "A pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism."

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday November 19, 2009 · 7:30 AM PST

2009/11/19 · 07:30

That's a damning quote from an evalulation written two years ago about the Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. It was written by his supervisor at Walter Reed hospital and sent with his file when Hasan moved to Fort Hood.

Forgive the rambling nature of my thoughts in this diary; I'm just so angry about this I wanted to get it out.

Poll

38 votes Show Results

Which is the worst of Hasan's pre-Fort Hood transgressions?

38 votes Vote Now!

Which is the worst of Hasan's pre-Fort Hood transgressions?

Proselytizing to patients

9 votes

Not answering emergency calls

5 votes

Not seeing enough patients

0 votes

Mistreating a homicidal patient

3 votes

Letting that homicidal patient escape

2 votes

"Self-correcting" just enough to stay out of danger

4 votes

Overall reckless behavior

7 votes

Overall lack of professionalsim

8 votes

You Are Cordially Invited...

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 03, 2009 · 10:39 AM PDT

2009/07/03 · 10:39

(This is a repost of a diary from exactly one year ago. I wouldn't usually do this, but I started re-reading this diary today and was struck by just what a wonderful, quirky and unusual event it was last year and wanted to share it again. I also spent last night hosting a bbq at which two of my friends - massive Obama supporters who took leaves of absence from work last year to campaign for him - told me he was the biggest disappointment and the biggest mistake they'd ever made, because of his Cairo speech and positions on Israel. I pushed back but frankly, was hosting 50 people and didn't have the energy. But it made me sad this morning and I wanted to remember something happy and patriotic.)
-----

On the night of July 3, 2008 I attended a remarkable event. A once in a lifetime event.

I went to Benjamin Franklin's wedding to Betsy Ross.

What?

Poll

20 votes Show Results

My favorite deceased American historical figure is

20 votes Vote Now!

My favorite deceased American historical figure is

George Washington

1 vote

Benjamin Franklin

3 votes

Thomas Jefferson

7 votes

Betsy Ross

0 votes

Abraham Lincoln

2 votes

Alexander Hamilton

0 votes

Lady Bird Johnson

0 votes

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1 vote

James Madison

0 votes

Ronald Reagan

0 votes

Other

4 votes

Pie

2 votes

Another Republican Gaffe

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 19, 2009 · 11:30 AM PDT

2009/05/19 · 11:30

Seriously, this is hysterical. It's like everything they do, they screw up. Are they even trying? Do they even check? From "teabagging" to "2MFM" to Eric Cantor's "listening" tour...I've never seen so many buffoons make so many mistakes.

And the latest...

Poll

148 votes Show Results

The expiration of Obama's presidency is

148 votes Vote Now!

The expiration of Obama's presidency is

Jan 2012 - the Republicans are right

3 votes

Nov 2012 - he'll lose to Jindal

2 votes

Jan 2013 - we'll have a new president

5 votes

Jan 2017 - after 8 years of restoring justice and dignity

114 votes

Never - he'll pull a Bloomberg and run again

9 votes

Pie

15 votes

What Do Norm Coleman and Planned Parenthood Have in Common?

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 20, 2009 · 7:55 AM PDT

2009/04/20 · 07:55

Back in the early 1990s, I got a fundraising request from Planned Parenthood that I consider one of the most creative campaigns I'd seen.

Pledge a Picket asked donors to commit to donating a certain amount for ever picketer who showed up at a Planned Parenthood site in a given month. The more protestors, the more $ raised.

Simple, brilliant, diabolical. I loved it.

It seems the Democrats are jumping on board in their own way.

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 02, 2009 · 7:26 AM PST

2009/03/02 · 07:26

What a delicious article I came across on HuffPo, entitled Worst Week Ever: Republicans Unhinged. Written by Wharton graduate and former banker Paul Jenkins, it pulls no punches in naming - and blaming - all the key Republican players.

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 17, 2009 · 10:36 AM PST

2009/02/17 · 10:36

Did anyone see the amazing "portrait" of Obama and Lincoln done on Lincoln's birthday...made out of 5900 cupcakes?

Poll

89 votes Show Results

My favorite cupcakes are:

89 votes Vote Now!

My favorite cupcakes are:

Chocolate

3 votes

Chocolate OF COURSE

41 votes

The pink frosted ones with hearts available only on Valentine's Day

1 vote

Vanilla

7 votes

Homemade - any kind

19 votes

Anything with sprinkles

4 votes

Green ones for St. Patrick's Day

4 votes

Pie!

10 votes

You never know when you make a difference

ItsJessMe

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 06, 2009 · 10:05 AM PST

2009/01/06 · 10:05

This is a bit outdated and self-reflective, but indulge me.

As with many of you, the Obama campaign was the first one that I threw myself into. Sure I wore buttons and made donations before, and was glued to the TV on election night, but that was about the extent of it. This campaign was different and I was very invested and involved.

But, as we all know, it's easy to blog all day, make a few phone calls, and feel like you've done a lot. Although I know I did more than that, especially before the primary, I started to feel guilty at not doing more. And then when I did more, I didn't think it made much difference.

I just found out I was wrong.

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"Oh, it's like Dave and Jim!"

Musings on a run through Center City, Philadelphia

Just a couple of inches and my life would have changed

I went to the Uni-Tea party today

Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Nidal Hasan: "A pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism."

You Are Cordially Invited...

Another Republican Gaffe

What Do Norm Coleman and Planned Parenthood Have in Common?

Cheesy, off-putting, disastrous, untrustworthy, and inconsequential

5900 Cupcakes; "Obama's on the left. Appropriate."

You never know when you make a difference