Because we're not ready yet for the Cadillac

My pimped out ride
Originally uploaded by Pookah.

Today Anthony and I bought a Jeep.

Let me repeat that phrase: today Anthony and I bought a Jeep.

My dreams have come true and I can now die happy. Take that, sucka.

In light of the holiday, I'm wasting more time with one of Erin's surveys

About Me in Depth
Name::Ryan
Birthdate::11/19
Birthplace::Worcester Memorial Hospital, Worcester, MA
Current residence::Washington, D.C.
Height::5'9 ½”
Weight::approximately 130lbs.
Body type::1984 Ford Bronco
Hair color::Brown
Eye color::(so full of shit, my eyes are) Brown
Left or right handed::Right
Heritage::American (ancestry::Irish, Italian, German & French)
Relationship status::Tax status is single, but actually unavailable
Religion::I don’t need to be boxed in
Siblings::Dan, Preyasha and, if you listen to my mother’s ramblings, Chloe and Tessa

Favorites
Color::today it’s orange
Food::it’s a tie between potatoes and ice cream
Pizza Toppings::not the biggest fan of pizza, but I LOVE Mama Palma’s (2229 Spruce Street, Philadelphia) spinach and ricotta pies
Snack food::usually I snack on raisins, yogurt, and white cheddar Cheezits
Candy::Lindts milk chocolate truffles
Ice cream flavor::Ben & Jerry’s vanilla caramel fudge, or mint chocolate chip (when it’s not freezer burned)
Soft drink::I don’t drink soda
Movie/movie genre::romantic comedies (so what if it’s typical?), foreign films, festival/i.e. independent films, dramas
Show/network::Usually I’m watching the Food Network, the Travel Channel, TCM, AMC, the History Channel or Fox (Simpsons only)
Band/music genre::probably rock
Restaurant::The best places to eat are in Philly – just check out my sidebar
Store::So long as I have money, I love book stores, Eddie Bauer (basics that are all washable!), and Ann Taylor (good quality, affordable work clothes)
Vacation spot::Any place I haven’t been yet
Animal::My little girl, Grace (aka Pumpkin or Piglet)
Book/author::How could I choose?
Teacher::Hands down, Mrs. O’Connell, 3rd grade, Clinton Elementary School
Subject::Is this school, or life? Cuz if it’s school, that would so be English, real life it’s movies.
Past time::Scrapbooking.
Memory::Any time I’ve had with friends or family and we’re all smiling
Season::Autumn.
Day or Month::September through mid-October in New England.
Holiday::Thanksgiving, because who doesn’t love a holiday that has food as its central theme?

Questions
Do you smoke?:Absolutely not. Smoke doesn’t agree with me.
Drink?:Occassionally, but Anthony is disappointed with overwhelming sobriety, and Eric is always telling me I’m lame – so I guess it’s not enough to really qualify.
Like to sing?:Love it. I was in choir up through high school, but not so much of a performer so I didn’t try out in college.
Like to dance?:Not really.
Like to cook?:Mmmmm-hmmmmm…usually I like my own cooking better than what you get in a restaurant.
Are you likeable?:That’s what people tell me (although if your name is Anthony, please don’t tell…)
What's the worst thing about being stuck indoors?:Is this a prison question?
What's the worst thing about being stuck outdoors?:Cold rain/sleet and high winds.
What's a fear of yours?:I fear the capability of other people to do violence to one another.
A weakness?:Being so damn OCD/uptight.
A strength?:Empathy.
Do you have a talent?:Organization.
Can you play an instument?:I’ve trained on the clarinet, flute and piano.
What's your greatest achievement?:Making it thus far.
What's at least one thing you would like to do/be?:Travel and live extensively overseas.
What's your favorite thing about yourself?:My adaptibility in ew situtations.
Do you curse?:When your mother’s favorite word is four letters long and begins with an “f”, you would too.
Have you ever snuck out?:I was a goody two-shoes. That, and I was too busy reading the Grapes of Wrath at the age of ten. I think my mom would have been more pleased if I did try to have a life of some sort.
How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had?:4.
What's your sexual orientation?:Oriented toward one Mr. Anthony.
What sports do you play?:Does walking count?
Where's the furthest you've been from home?:It took me longest to get to Egypt, so that’s my best answer.
Do you like to travel?:Abso-friggin’-lutely.
Where's a place you'd like to visit?:Everywhere I’ve never been.
What do you want to be when you're an adult?:International aid worker.
Do you want to get married?:Yes.
Want children? How many?:NO.
Have you had sex?:Yes.
Have you been called a slut?:Not to my knowledge.
Have you been called a tease?:Yes, but in my defense, I thought I was just being nice.
Ever gone to the beach?:Are you kidding me with this question? My family had a summer house in York Beach, ME.
Ever been snow skiing/boarding?:In both the East and the West, no less.
Ever gone skinny-dipping?:More than once.
What gaming systems do you own?:I bought Anthony a Playstation…does that count?
What cell phone service do you use?:T-mobile
Do you like thunderstorms?:Yes, yes, yes.
Do you get sick easily?:My people are hardy people.
Have you ever commited a crime?:Define what you mean by “crime”…
Are you a health freak?:No.
Do you think you're attractive?:People say I’m reasonably adorable, but I think most of the attention I get is from frustrated, middle-aged men who are just beginning to realize that their wives aren’t 25 anymore. In the end, I would say I’m not fugly.
Are you confident in yourself?:It was bred into me.
Ever broken any bones?:No, but there was this one time my brother and the neighbor through a log on my head…
Cheated on a test?:Once. In fourth grade, on a test of the chronology of our presidents. I still don’t know the order.
What are your goals?:To live comfortably in a house I own, with the means to pay my bills and go on at least one overseas trip each year.
What is your passion?:Reading, movies, staring into the eyes of my baby girl, Anthony…
How do you want to die?:I concur with Erin, in my sleep, and preferably at a reasonably old age.
Ever been on an airplane?:Many, many, many times.
On the subway?:I’ve lived in one city or another for the last 9 years – I’m a HUGE proponent of public transportation.
Been electrocuted? Not that I remember.
How many friends do you have?:My sixth grade social studies teacher said once, “When you die, if you can count the number of true friends you have on the fingers of one hand, then you die a rich man.” In my case, I’m a pretty rich woman.
Have you ever been in love?:I am currently in love.
Do you get along with your parents/guardians?: ½ yes, ½ no. It’s sick how my mom and I get along, but my dad and I haven’t had a real conversation since 2001.
Do you wear either contacts or glasses?:I went to the optometrist this summer, and he says no.
Ever been jealous?:I’m not the type.
Do you dwell on the past?:Not really. I deal a lot with the past, between my history readings and my scrapbooking, but I wouldn’t use the word “dwell.”
Are you parents together or divorced?:Divorced and remarried.
Do you do well in school?:Usually. I’m a big nerd.
Are you messy or tidy?:Obscenely tidy.
What's your clothing style?:Casually elegant (or at least I hope so).
Are you shallow?:Sometimes, but I try not to be.

This or That
Pepsi or Coke?:Again, I don’t drink soda.
McDonalds or Burger King?:Yeah, and I don’t do fast food either.
Subway or Quiznos?:Subway – I don’t like melty, crusty sandwiches (unless it’s a grilled cheese).
Walmart or Target?:Tar-zhay.
City or country?:Country girl at heart, city girl so I stay employed.
Day or night?:Both, especially when the world is still.
Chocolate or vanilla?:Neither.
Beach or mountains?: Beach.
Hot or cold?:How about temperate?
Sunshine or rain?:Summer showers, anyone?
Cappuccino or Coffee?:Capuccino, with two raw sugars.
Liberal or conservative?:I lean more liberal than conservative.
Sweet or unsweetened tea?:I only drink hot tea. Iced tea is repulsive to my “delicate” sensibilities.
MTV or Vh1?:I prefer not to develop ADD through my television watching.
Fruit or vegetables?:Not a choice I’ll be making any time soon.
War or peace?:Unfortunately, war is necessary. I don’t think true peace actually exists.
Loud or quiet?:Quiet.
Inside or outside?:If it’s cold, windy, and wet, I’m inside. Otherwise, I prefer the outdoors.
Looks or personality?:Looks fade, but personality is forever.
Money or love?:Why not fiscally and romantically comfortable?
Single or group dates?:I’ve never really “dated” so I wouldn’t know.
Hanging with your best friends or bf/gf? (Bros or ho):I like my life to have balance, but my friends are obscenely busy people so more often than not, I’m with Anthony.
Pale or dark skin?:Are we talking about chicken, or sexual attraction, or self? In the case of the first two, I’d say both; in my case, pale.
Regular or diet?:Diet is just “die” with a “t.”
Dogs or cats?:I have one of each, and I love them both!
Rock or rap?:Rock. I still can’t get into the whole rap genre (with a few exceptions)
Party or stay home?:Stay home.
Pool or ocean?:No contest: ocean.
East coast or west coast?:The East coast has real trees, so I’m staying with the coast I live on.
E-mail or IM?:E-mail. IM is the hugest waste of my time.

Some more questions...
What’s your bedtime?:10PM, but that’s because I get up at 5:30AM and I don’t do so well on too little sleep.
First thought waking up?:People have thoughts when they wake up?!
Do you get homesick?:No, but after a period of time, I do feel the need to go and see some trees.
Would you ever live next to a cemetery?:I used to live pretty close to one, and I actually find them fascinating.
Are you superstitious?:No.
Do you have any piercings?:No, not even the ears.
Any tattoos?:0.
Wear makeup?:A little – I go for the natural, but not splotchy look.

Even this idiot knows right from wrong

Is anybody out there still following the big ports issue? You know, the one where our President tried to sneak a port deal by all his constituency, including the port operators? Yeah, the one that involved the company owned by the UAE.

Well, has anyone else seen the news that the company in question, DP World, is now planning to sell all its U.S. port operations within the next 6 months or so to an American buyer? The newspaper I'm reading says, "[DP World] agreed to the sale to quell a bipartisan furor in Congress." Is anyone else wondering why any private business would start selling pieces of its multimillion dollar industry just because our Congress has their panties in a wad? Why aren't the newspapers asking why?

I think the majority of the reason is because of the intimate relationship the current U.S. administration has with DP World (and it is also the same reason that the deal was so quickly passed through the review process in the first place). When you are that deeply involved in politics, then the impression you leave on Congress and the American public becomes important, doesn't it?

To save myself time, I've pulled up an article that illustrates the connection (although this writer strikes a tone that I find faulty in any scientific/historical review of the facts):

Was it because a GOP ex-presidential candidate was brokering the deal?
Ex-Senator Bob Dole's lobbying on behalf of Dubai Ports World "is creating a political problem for his wife," North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole." North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek yesterday "called on Sen. Dole to remove herself from 'any congressional oversight' of the Dubai port deal." A spokeswoman for Sen. Dole "rejected the criticism as 'a partisan attack' and defended the senator's role as a lawmaker and her husband's as a lobbyist."
Was it because DP World honors a Boycott of Israel, one of the United States closest allies?
Was it because the United Arab Emirates is a major stakeholder in the Carlyle Group -- the same private equity firm that has been dominated by such Republican emissaries as George H. W. Bush, former Secretary of State James A. Baker, and ex-secretary of defense Frank Carlucci -- AND that the UAE government-run firm, Dubai International Capital backs an $8 billion Carlyle fund?
Or was it simply because The UAE even gave more than a million dollars to the elder Bush's presidential library in Texas.
All very interesting questions, but not quite as interesting as the following:
Why did Treasury Secretary John Snow first approve the DPW deal and then deny that he did so?
I don't know, but I do know some things that you should know as well.
First, in 2002, while Treasury Secretary John Snow was still the CEO of CSX Corp., the Carlyle Group bought the company.
In 2003, Snow was appointed Treasury Secretary by George W. Bush
One year later, CSX sold its port operations to Dubai Ports for $1.15 billion.
Now, John Snow has approved the U.S. port takeover by U.A.E. state-owned Dubai Ports World.
So immersed in this is John Snow that Republican insiders (according to the subscription-only newsletter U.S. Bulletin News) are targeting him as the "Dubai fall guy":
Some Republican advisers to Hill leaders, angered with the poor handling of the plan to hand over operations at major U.S. ports to a Dubai company, are suggesting today that Treasury Secretary John Snow may take the fall for the White House, US News Bulletin has learned. Even as administration officials dismissed the suggestion outright, some lawmakers and their aides were looking to pin the blame on somebody other than the President and the White House, and are focused on Snow because he is the head of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which approves such deals.
Snow has said he didn't learn about the port deal until it was publicized last week. While he is still liked inside the White House, it has long been rumored that Snow would be resigning this year. And some conservative opponents of the deal are suggesting that he -- and whomever he designated as his representative during the review -- bow out soon to take the heat off the President.
Of course the buck -- particularly for issues of national security -- must stop with the president.
So again, why would the Bush Administration accept such political risk in the run-up to the 2006 election?
Follow the money...
The UAE invests heavily in George H. W. Bush's Carlyle Group >> George H. W. Bush's Carlyle Group buys John Snow's CSX >> George W. Bush Appoints John Snow to Treasury Secretary >> CSX Sells its port operations to Dubai Ports >> John Snow approves US Port Takeover by UAE state-owned DP World.
Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching!
Everybody's happy.