The throwing of the shoes

Hopefully I won't be jailed for saying this, but I have been laughing hysterically over President Bush having shoes thrown at him in Iraq. I suppose it's funny to me because I think he exudes absolute arrogance by going over there one more time before leaving office and acting as if everything is okay when in reality he has created a total mess for Iraqis, for American troups and their families, and many other people living in the middle east. The person who threw those shoes threw them for me, for you, for anyone who can't believe we ever started this war in the first place. He threw those shoes in frustration at the mess that Bush has created abroad and I laugh because I would have liked to throw those shoes too because of my frustrations over the mess Bush has helped create here in America and abroad.
What really bothers me now is that while I can play games on the internet that allow me to throw shoes at the face of president Bush, Muntazer al-Zaidi is in jail for doing throwing them--for actually calling Bush out about his bold arrogance.
How can we get this man out of jail? I wish that I knew. If rudeness were something you should be jailed for, then shouldn't President Bush be locked up too?

Stop the Economic Meltdown! with positive thinking and funny phone stalker stories

Hasn't anyone in the media ever heard that thinking positive thoughts brings positive energy and continuing to focus on the negative brings about more of the negative? I guess not, since they keep reporting how thousands of employers are shedding jobs and giving pinkslips right before the holidays. Maybe if they focused on how the new president's policies will pull us out of the slump and bring new freedom to America, things would start to get rosier. But really what do I expect since if you turn on the 10 o'clock news all you see are the murders, muggings, and molestations that have happened in the course of a day. No merry, mutinous, molasses for them.

So how about if I tell a funny story to liven things up and keep focused on the positive...

Last night, we didn't answer the phone so someone called several times and hung up without leaving a message. (Yes, I know, I'm probably the only person in the nation without caller id.) My husband says, "it's probably the bank calling to sell us something again."
So this morning, the kids and I are eating breakfast before running out the door to school. The phone rings, I jump up to get it - it only rings once and hangs up. Then it happens again--same thing. Then one more time. After breakfast, I'm in the kitchen and it rings again and a second time, exasperated, I grab it and say "hello".
It's my grandmother (who's known for not leaving messages) and she wants to know whether movies she's getting the kids for Christmas should be VHS or DVD. I say DVD but not that Blue-ray because we don't have that (of course we don't since we don't have caller id). I don't have the heart to tell her that they stopped making VHS several years ago. And I certainly don't have the guts to call her a phone stalker! Instead, I email my sister the story and she laughs because she's been stalked by her too.