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615th Friday Blog Roundup

Back in high school, a teacher gave us this question:

It is time to elect a new world leader. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:

  • Candidate A: Associates with crooked politicians and makes decisions based on information from astrologers. He’s had two mistresses. He chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis each day.
  • Candidate B: He was kicked out of office (twice), sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whisky every evening.
  • Candidate C: He is a decorated war hero. He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn’t had any extramarital affairs.

Which of these candidates would get your vote?

The first candidate is Franklin D. Roosevelt, the second candidate is Winston Churchill, and the third is Adolph Hitler.

The point of the exercise is which facts a person chooses to highlight and which ones they sweep under the rug makes a difference.

In all of these cases, the criteria for choosing whether the person could lead a country is dubious at best.  Even as a non-smoking, non-drinking vegetarian, I can’t say that I give a crap about the dietary restrictions of my candidates.  But it’s a good reminder to look at the whole candidate.  To not just vote with your favoured party, but to look at the candidate as an individual and see where you align on major issues and whether there are any red flags.

I think you can guess which candidate I believe has major red flags.  He’s got a lot in common in Candidate C.

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For those who care about my challah situation, baking the challah early did not affect the quality of the bread.  I baked the challah, let it cool, and then wrapped it in plastic wrap and threw it in the freezer.  On Rosh HaShanah, I took it out in the morning and left it on my challah plate to thaw.  And then we ate as normal that night.  I couldn’t taste the difference.

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

Okay, now my choices this week.

Searching for Our Silver Lining has a sobering post about a life changed in an instant.  As she runs through her day, annoyed by traffic, she discovers the cause for her delay and it throws life into perspective.  She writes, “Just like that, getting into work didn’t matter … What mattered more was checking in with Grey and checking on the Beats. Because in a moment it can all be gone. Today, some family has to face that.”  A must-read and an important reminder.

Like many, I was agitated when Mike Pence brought together abortion and adoption during the debate, and I think The Stir has decent coverage of the moment.  She writes: “When Pence started to talk about the sad families who couldn’t have babies of their own, but desperately wanted them, he was talking about me. He wants to ‘make adoption easier,’ Pence said. He thinks that forcing women to have babies and then give them away is somehow a more moral way to honor ‘life’.”  Would I love to see adoption reform and more programs in place to help families remain intact?  Yes.  Do I want choices taken away and my condition used in order to justify dictating the situation of another human being?  Absolutely not.

Kmina’s Blog has a post on her blogoversary, reflecting upon changes in the blog and updating readers on life.  Maybe I liked this post because this is how I aspire to live: “The .5 is not a sore wound in my heart anymore, it is just a scar, always there, but not making my soul throb with longing and regret.”  It’s the sort of post that I need to read from time to time to remember that life moves on and it will not always feel as it does right now.

ANDmom has a moving post about her son’s size and trying to protect him from a world that will note his physical stature.  She explains: “My ‘small’ kid has a huge personality, an enormous sense of humor, and a gigantic imagination. I want him to live in a world where that matters so much more than the fact that he’s going to be wearing the same winter boots for the 3rd season in a row.  And I cry, because I can’t give him that world.”  It’s an emotional post about parenting.

Lastly, Lavender Luz has a post about the book You Don’t Look Adopted, and the passage she included about becoming a ghost is gorgeous.  Click over to read it if you haven’t read the book.

The roundup to the Roundup: Be careful how you vote.  I have a new challah option. Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between September 30th and October 7th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.

7 comments

1 Cristy { 10.07.16 at 8:42 am }

I remember doing this exercise when I was younger. And then learning more about these politicians. FDR really was crappy as a husband and in the way he treated loved ones (his mother had way too much influence over his decisions). And Churchill was a functioning alcoholic. But if you look at their social policies and how they treated those working with them towards political goals, it was an entirely different story. And Elenor Roosevelt gets far too little credit for all the work she did.

Someone once told me that the best leaders are the ones who don’t want the job. Which is entirely contradictory to elections as it’s all about promoting yourself. So there had to be an underlying level of crazy to open your life up to public opinion. The key is who the candidates surround themselves with.

2 Cristy { 10.07.16 at 8:47 am }

And thank you for the shout out.

Here are my second-helping recommendations.

Lori had a wonderful one written by her guest Linda about the happy/sad of adoption: http://lavenderluz.com/2016/09/happy-sad-adoption.html

Unpregnant Chicken has one from her Squawk box from a friend who is healing after losing her infant daughter: http://unpregnantchicken.com/2016/10/squawk-box-empowered-and-determined-through-grief/

And finally, this one from Loribeth left me wiping away tears (plus she looks amazing in her dress): http://theroadlesstravelledlb.blogspot.com/2016/10/wedding-wrapup.html?m=1

3 Lori Lavender Luz { 10.07.16 at 11:24 am }

My guess for (C) was going to be Jimmy Carter. It would be interesting to make an updated list for this. Very interesting about what is important and assumptions we make.

Thanks for the inclusion, Mel 🙂

4 torthuil { 10.08.16 at 9:56 am }

I see the point of the politicians exercise, but not sure I see the relevance to your election. Aren’t *all* the candidates being judged on their personal views and lives as well as policy and position? I don’t see anyone being let off easily. The point about personal qualities not being directly related to leadership qualities is relevant, but I think misses the bigger picture of what is going on in your election. Many if not a majority of people are questioning the political system and saying it is too corrupt to be fair and representational. So the character of each candidate is relevant to how they stand in relation to that system: are they perceived as as upholding the corruption, or opposing it? I believe that’s the key character question in your election. The rest is mainly trash talk and mud slinging: interesting diversion, but not the main act.

Blogs: all the ones of general interest: I would second Christy and Chicken’s blogs for their punch in the gut quality.

5 Jess { 10.08.16 at 3:53 pm }

Oh, I’m glad the challah worked out! I miss challah. I’m not sure it would be the same gluten free. That is such an interesting exercise. Everything about this week’s politics update has me fuming. I especially don’t understand why someone can “apologize” for comments that didn’t surprise me at all in the most insincere of ways, and then vow to “get at” Bill Clinton’s actions. Which are relevant how? Is he running for president again? Arggghhh. Great picks this week! I nominate The Unexpected Trip’s thoughts on multiple articles about regretting parenting. I feel like she did a great job with a controversial topic. https://theunexpectedtrip.wordpress.com/2016/10/03/my-response-to-women-who-wish-theyd-never-had-kids-and-why-parents-hate-parenting/

6 Jess { 10.08.16 at 4:12 pm }

I also want to add to the roundup your post about judging Hillary by Bill… I loved it so much. I feel everything political is so crazy right now and you are a voice of sanity. https://www.stirrup-queens.com/2016/10/judging-hillary-clinton-by-bill-clinton/

7 ANDMom { 10.08.16 at 7:05 pm }

Thanks for including me! It was nice to come home after a crazy bad day (emergency surgery on the dog – 3rd surgery in a month!) to new comments.

(c) 2006 Melissa S. Ford
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