Thanksgiving...

I am off to spend a few days at my mother's house in a house that will be filled with people and even fuller of drama. Yeah, I know, more full.
Before I go I would like to mention a few things that I am thankful for..
I am thankful for my family. My husband is amazingly patient and helpful, my girls are my best friends and I love them so much. I am thankful for all of my friends and especially the one who gives free massages!!!! I am thankful that we live in a country that has finally starting to walk the walk. I am OBVIOUSLY thankful for Barack Obama and that I was able to work on his campaign. I had to call some seriously freaky people, but I would do it all over again. I am thankful for Sarah Palin. She finally gave me that last good reason to get rid of the pink shirt with the moose on it, she's is freaking hilarious, and I am pretty sure she's making sure she'll never hold a serious place in politics as long as there are turkeys to slaughter and a photo op to be had. (I don't consider anything in Alaska to be serious since Sarah hit the national scene and they almost re-elected a 7x convicted felon to senate. Plus I've seen her supporters in Wasilla... Ummm interbreeding? Mandatory brain damage? The highest rate of alcoholism of any other state? Too much time watching Russia from the porch?)

I almost forgot BOB! I am SOOOOOOO Thankful for Bob. He reminds me everyday why I am a liberal, pinko, blah blah blah. In otherwards he reminds me that politically I am superior. But he can dance and surf. THANKS BOB!!! ;)
Anywho, I am very blessed. I hope you all are too.

Ummm...WHY did I vote for Barack Obama???

"Part of the charge [of the budget team] is to make sure that we are proceeding on projects and investments based on national priorities and not based on politics. Now you mentioned, sort of, my friends. I want to be clear friendship doesn't come into this. That's part of the old way of doing business.
"The new way of doing business is, let's figure out what projects, what investments are going to give the American economy the most bang for the buck. How can we protect taxpayer dollars so this money is not wasted; restore a sense of confidence among taxpayers that when we spend their money, it's on things that are actually gonna improve their quality of life; create the jobs that are so desperately needed; help to spur on economic growth and business creation in the private sector? That's all part of the new way of doing business."
~Barack Obama.

OH SNAP! That's why. I LOVE outspoken and honest.

You might be a candidate for a Deliverance remake if...

You STILL believe all the Obama anti pledge, anti American flag, National Anthem, radical muslim, sworn in on the Koran propaganda. In otherwards... The majority of Utah. Again, if it sounds insane look it up. Oh wait that would require a degree of intelligence. Nevermind.

A whole new level of shady..

The whole Prop 8, hate the Mormons, blame a group that has been hated on just like if not MORE than gay people, has been astounding to me. As I believe is abundently clear I am Mormon and I am liberal. The Prop 8 thing has been a hard thing to work out in my heart and mind because I have troubles condemning or judging anything. Especially love. I do, however, choose to follow my faith when I am torn on a choice and in this case, as cowardly as this is, I am relieved to not have to had to make the vote. One thing I have kept silent on is Perez Hilton and his histrionics in calling out the gay community to be as stupid and hate filled as he is accusing the all powerful Mormon church to be. He even encouraged his readers to boycott Sundance....

Okay, Utahns for the most part hate Sundance. Park City hates Utah. The state is a majority of conservative people. Many Utahns hate the fact that Californians tired of the big city and unruly teens think they can move in and we will magically rehabilitate these kids who have been indulged and allowed to disrespect everyone but themselves. Gang related crime is growing like crazy and we simple haven't had to deal with at all in the past. They soon learn that they hate the grandfather law, the smell of a cattle ranch, and being woken at sunrise by their neighbor's rooster. So they go about trying to change the laws to make us more like..... California. They have succeeded in Park City and with the Sundance Film Festival. They've wondered if the can annex this little beautiful area in Utah and make it as twisted as Hollywood with all the drugs and dysfunction. The pilgramage of Hollywood's depraved is something we endure yearly. Breaking news: we dislike you (for the most part) and realize that all people from California are not in this catagory and amazing people (how lame would you be to judge an entire group of people, by some total losers??), but there are a lot of them. We call you Prune Pickers. Don't hurt your heads, we know prunes are dried plums, it's just that you are so annoying. King of the Prunies is Robert Redford. He has taken one of the most beautiful areas in Utah and turned it into his little evironmental experiment, but the above mentioned pilgramage, is anything BUT green. Like most people who profess to be environmentalist prefer to pay lipservice but don't really practice what they preach. Like the car makers and their separate private jets. Ummm ... DUH!
Mr. Redford HAS impressed and frightened me. I hope in this case he has some serious sway because this is frightening. Utah is beautiful and exists on our National Parks. Utah is breathtaking and diverse. It's like Bush realizes that he has the keys to the car for a short time so he's going to trash it before handing it over. So for once I pray Robert Redford can help us out. Here is his article from Huffington Post:
Robert Redford
Posted November 17, 2008 09:20 PM (EST)

Part of the change Americans just voted for in overwhelming numbers was to move away from the failed energy philosophy of "drill, baby, drill" to a more farsighted strategy, emphasized by Barack Obama, based on clean, renewable energy and efficiency. Yet on the very day that we raised our voices for change, the Bush administration dragged us in the opposite direction.
The Bureau of Land Management cynically chose November 4 to announce a last-minute plan to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in eastern Utah for oil and gas extraction one month before President-elect Obama takes office.
As its clock runs out, the Bush administration also is trying to open-up drilling all over the Rockies and Alaska, to green-light oil shale leasing, and to weaken the Endangered Species Act. Though sad, it's no surprise, coming as it does from the same crowd that designed a misguided national energy policy in secret meetings with the oil, gas and coal industries.
The BLM didn't just try to slip the audacious Utah lease maneuver past the American people on an historic election day, it actually hid the ball from its sister agency, the National Park Service, and then rejected the Service's request for more time to review the scheme.
Among the 360,000 acres to be auctioned for industrial development is pristine land near Canyonlands National Park, adjacent to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. This Christmas gift to the dirty fuel industry includes parts of Desolation Canyon, named in 1869 by the explorer John Wesley Powell, which has been proposed for national park status. In fact, the BLM itself described Desolation Canyon nine years ago as "a place where a visitor can experience true solitude -- where the forces of nature continue to shape the colorful, rugged landscape."
Words alone cannot do justice to the beauty of these places, but they do capture the absurdity of the Bush plan. Oil and gas drilling in Desolation Canyon? Industrial development along the meandering Green River? The thought makes one wince.
The Obama transition team already has signaled its opposition to the leases, and said that once in office the Obama administration will try to reverse them. Let's hope that's possible. Utah's eastern expanse is one of America's few remaining wilderness treasures. It's our land, it's our legacy, but will it still be here for our children and grandchildren? We made our wishes about that known loudly and clearly on election day.
We voted to take control of our own destiny by breaking our addiction to dirty fuels. We voted to re-power America with clean energy from wind, solar and geothermal power. We voted to use of our greatest resource, American ingenuity, to build economic, energy and climate security, and to preserve our natural heritage. Yes we did. And yes we can.
Robert Redford, an actor, director and environmental activist, is a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and is the founder of Sundance, in Utah.

Link to the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-redford/americans-rejected-drill_b_144499.html
Link to the breathtaking beauty that will be raped:
Arches- http://www.utahoutventures.com/pictures/arches-national-park.htm
Canyonlands- http://www.utahoutventures.com/pictures/canyonlands-national-park.htm
Green River-http://www.go-utah.com/activityLink.cfm?activity_id=453063988

Also there is coal under Bryce Canyon that would have to be strip mined. We've fought this one for years.
Bryce Canyon- http://www.go-utah.com/Bryce-Canyon-National-Park/

It's that time...

That wonderful time that the President has to quickly get all the last minute business done that will go down in history as a part of his legacy. It would cool if President Bush could walk on water or feed a multitude with one fish and a loaf of bread. In lieu of miracles the President realizes that his record of commuting sentences or pardoning prisoners is, in comparison to previous Presidents, is pretty scant. President Clinton was a bit of a pioneer in the area of pardoning people guilty of white collar crime that benefits him somehow. Maybe Bush will go on a pardoning spree in the last couple of months or maybe the really groovy plan of being able to pardon himself before he's ever actually charged with anything will make up for the lack of numbers. I'm not exactly sure how many the conjoined twins, Bush and Cheney are actually guilty of, but there has to be a LOT of them. I do believe this is the week that he pardons a turkey which is nice for that particular turkey, but sucks for a bunch of other turkeys that have lived a life of cime and there is no hope of rehabilitation.
I was also unaware that Governers also pardon turkeys, but maybe they all don't participate in this. I'll bet Texas turkey's never stand a chance. Alaska DOES pardon a turkey, but wolves, moose, and caribou are not so lucky. Neither are the turkeys in the background of Sarah Palin's latest news interview. I am not certain I actually saw the turkey that was pardoned, but we DO get to see the fate of a couple of turkeys that didn't fit the bill. You may need to watch this twice because the absolute insanity in the background makes you automatically tune Governor Palin's interview. The second time if you focus you can here what she's talking about, but as usual it makes little sense. I do smell another awesome SNL skit coming from this one:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/20/sarah-palin-holds-news-co_n_145375.html

Also if you are interest in the list of felonious friends of Bush that may or may not stand a chance of pardon is here:

http://www.propublica.org/article/i-beg-your-pardon-1120/

Talk radio..

I have never enjoyed talk radio. I'll admit I haven't really given it much of a chance. It always seems like angry Republicans bitching about the world in general, or some whack-job predicting Armaggedon, death, and destruction of the entire earth.
Rush Limbaugh and his followers is a whole different brand of lunacy. I think if he told them to pour gasoline over their heads and light themselves on fire, they would. They seem a bit mindless to me. But everytime I see or hear him I feel brain cells actually die, so calling his followers SHEEP isn't too out of the realm of reality. I've obviously got issues with Glenn Beck, but that's already been covered. However, when I wish on a star now days, I kind of finding myself hoping he wanders into a gay bar or something. I think his introduction to reality is funny. They should pitch him a reality show.
So in my new car I have Sirius radio and I looked until I found a leftist radio station. I am not in the car long so I haven't heard a lot yet and sometimes I'd rather be transported to the 80's, but I HAVE heard enough to learn that Republicans haven't cornered the market on idiots. The last two days I have caught this woman who sounds like George Costanza's mother from Seinfeld. She is a complete freak and apparently not ALL dems are as intelligent as I am, and you can say that's elitist, but it's frighteningly true. I suppose this blog is my equivalant to Rush Limbaugh's radio show but I don't think anyone even reads it. I am like the dictator of the Paradox Patch but I have no golden microphone or laptop, whatever. I have no following... YET. Heaven help you all if I ever do! LOL!
I guess the moral to today's story is that some self important loon with their own radio show is not always healthy listening. They seem to portend doom around every corner. Our new President Elect ran on a ticket promising hope and change. I even find myself feeling a bit skeptical and lacking faith, but it is a refreshing change. Maybe he will let America down, but maybe he won't. I'm going to HOPE.

I have some good news and some bad news...

Okay remember when then Senator Obama was trying to explain people (who happened to be PA residents) to people in the more liberal and urban state of California? He had to do a lot of pacifying and explaining why he would suggest that these people from small towns lack faith in their Government and that they cling to their guns and their religion. His mistake there, in MY opinion was nothing he said, but that he made it sound like it was just rural areas in Pennsylvania. I live in a state of people running out to buy every gun in sight. You know what would be cheaper?? Read his mission statement. His position on all things including the sacredness of the constitutional right to bear arms. That's just the tip of the iceberg. It's easy to understand the mistrust of the Government because the Bush administration has been less than forthcoming with their political agenda. All this time we thought we were avenging the audacity of the Al Qaeda.. Yeah, no. We've been fighting a pretty pointless war as our REAL enemies regroup in Afganistan. Have you noticed that this war doesn't have the flashy name of the last one?? Operation Desert Storm, that is something you can really get behind. But this has been confusing with the Sunni and Shiites and who is threatening us and whose side we are on. Even McCain is constantly confused and honestly it IS confusing. THEN we discover that it has nothing to do with the Al Quida at all. So where do you come up with a cool and appropriate name?? Sometimes if you take the first letter from each word you come up with something flashy that distracts.... hmm The War Against Terror? Yeah that sounds like something else, ok, nevermind, maybe I shouldn't be the namer of faux wars.
So back to my point. Not only has this war turned out to be not at all what we were told it was, neither has our Presidency. I mentioned yesterday to a friend that they need their own 'ism' name (socialism, fascism, that kind of thing). I think it should be called OZism. Where we have travelled for 8 years with flying monkeys and scary green women only to find that at the end is the most powerful man in the world deciding the fates of millions, George W Bush. Then someone pulled the curtain aside to find Dick Cheney behind the wheel. Weird how that happened huh???
So we have a new President Elect. Barack Obama and he is confusing the country. He is not filling the cabinet with yes-men and croneys. He is actually pulling in people who don't always agree with him. People that are smart. Smarter than us which is often referred to as elitists, but isn't it time for intelligent people?? People who said some pretty nasty stuff about him. That is really weird don't you think??
Meanwhile the Republican party is falling apart. It's like a catfight. Everyone scratching, pulling hair, and blaming each other. What IS a Republican anyway?? Is there a definition of Republican anymore? Well, they have 4 years to pull it together, hopefully 8.
There is another option though. I think it's really a good one. I have noticed that most rural states are a majority of Republicans (MINE is). The bitter clinging to their guns and their twisted view of religion. I have also found someone who could lead them. His name is Ayman al-Zawahiri. He's the #2 man in the Al Qaeda. He has spoken out to insult PE Obama. Calling him the "house negro" in the White House. A racial reminder of the follies of our early years of slavery. A house slave was more servile than the slaves that worked the fields. To me them is fightin' words. To most people around me it's the punchline to a joke. At the risk of pigeonholing, or stereotyping, which I so abhorr, many of these gun-loving, religion-twisting, people around me (and obviously in many other states judging by the record gun sales) I have a really good idea. So this leader of your new party, is NOT the #1 Al qaeda, that would be Osama bin Laden, but hunters can track really well, right?? So why settle for #2 when you could have the top man?? Take the family, I hear Afghanistan is lovely this time of year.

Awww, my heart bleeds...

So the Mormon church is being targeted with a vengance because people believe that our church passed Prop 8 singlehandedly. Yet again, bigotry astounds me. Hate to protest hate, and lies to beef up the tale. I have argued this issue all day. God loves everyone. It is in keeping with our beliefs that marriage is something that is sacred between a man and a woman. We were among a coalition of other faiths (who are now defending us) including Jews, Catholics, and others. We didn't do this on our own AND actually we make our own choices so it's not even true that all the Mormons in CA did this. The money and time was NOT donated by the Mormon church but by members and again, we did this in concert with other faiths. Hatred has swept the country with protests in every state whether we voted the issue or not. To me this is just stupid.
Then I see this at the Huffington Post:

Glenn Beck Accosted At Wendy's: "You Racist Bigot!".
Conservative personality Glenn Beck was accosted at his local Wendy's Saturday night. Beck's full Wendy's rant below: (I chose to not edit his grammatical mistakes, because he is stupid and this is futher proof.)
It happened to me at Wendy's Saturday night. We are on the bus and we stop to get fuel and I said, I'm going to go in, I'm treating. Everybody wants a Frosty. I'm going to go get Frosties. And one of the security guys, said, No, you're not. I said, Yeah, I am. I mean, it's a truck stop. How much trouble am I going to get in in a truck stop? Everybody here you can trust. You're not going in. I went in, but I had to bring the swat team with me and so I'm just, I just want to Frosty, please, the guy standing next to me, who, by the way, I may point out. Had food in his hair, is a truck driver and he turned around. He looked at me and the recognition was immediate and he said, You racist bigot! And I just said -- I wanted to say, I think you have me mistaken for someone else, but I knew he knew who I was and he just hated me for who I was. You conservatives that have destroyed this country! And the hatred was so deep, it was breath taking. Luckily the swat team was there and I just separated myself from him and he just shouted through other people and there were children in the restaurant and he blamed me for everything, I believe including the Holocaust, and the hatred was palpable. The guy screamed at the restaurant, you better not let me see you in the parking lot because I've got a truck and I'll run your ass over! Wow. Is this who we've become? Is this who we've become?

Who WE'VE become Mr. Beck? No. Who you have become. You do not build up your party, you tear down mine. Even worse you keep telling people that you are Mormon. Stop doing that. It's embarrassing. Although maybe CNN could send you to cover one of the Gay protests. You think Dems hate you??? You ain't seen nothing yet.
I also came across this in reading of the hostilities towards my faith. It is an excerpt I snipped for length from the L.A. Times:

First there was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's unsuccessful run for the Republican presidential nomination. Many in the church were shocked that Romney's Mormon faith was a source of discomfort for some voters."Latter-day Saints were just amazed to think there was such bigotry in the country," church spokesman Michael Otterson said.

Really? Latter-day Saints were amazed by bigotry?? No one was amazed when one of my daughters primary classmates said she'd like to assassinate Obama. (Another said Obama sucks). No one was amazed when my daughter was told that Obama was a communist, marxist, socialist, nazi, muslim or whatever the lie of the day is. I have never seen such bigotry in my life. I have listened to the "n-word" comes out of church members who assume that I am as backward as they are. Racist jokes, terroristic remarks, hate. All in MY LDS neighborhood. Guess what my friends that encouraged this?? YOU ARE BIGOTS TOO

Hi, my name is Briar

No, really! I have had the screenname Briar for so long now I actually answer to it in the real world. I am very opinionated and I find myself ranting on MySpace. Unfortunately, my friends and family know better that to wander into my blog because it's a verbal landmine. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (Mormon) and I am a very liberal (with a few strange conservative moments) Democrat. Hence the word paradox in my blog name. I find that if I am frustrated at the stupidity in the world (and that is A LOT of stupidity) I feel better if I blog.
Okay so this is the basic stuff: I've been married for 16 years, I'm an at home mom with two girls who have inherited various parts of my personality which provides fireworks on a regular basis. They are gorgeous and brilliant, despite having me for a mother. I love them more than life.
I am host to an incurable headache (or resistant to any ACCEPTABLE cure). It's been with me for about ten years and I haven't found a name heinous enough to name it yet, but someday I will. I name everything.
I moderate a board called bethshort.com about the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia) and try to keep the peace. The MOM job is easier, but I love my Dahlia family very much. I was fortunate enough to get to meet them 2 summers ago in LA and hope to return soon.
My more recent endeavors have included being quite possibly the most determined person in Utah to have Barack Obama as our 44th President. I volunteered for the Utah branch of the Obama campaign. I am proud of my work on this because he inspires me. Few people inspire me.

I will likely be bringing some previously written blogs from my MySpace account in the coming days.