the birthing process

For a parturient giving birth, the most intense pushing happens during the second stage of labor, between the time the cervix is fully dilated to the time the baby comes out. It can be a bruising time for both mother and baby; tiresome, painful and as the name implies, laborious. The perfect coming together of all birthing factors: adequacy of pelvic anatomy, strength of uterine muscular contraction, bearing down abilities of the mother, and physiologic integrity of the neonate, is essential for a successful delivery.

With barely three days to go before Election Day, the pushing has been vigorous as Team Obama and Team McCain scramble across the country leaving no stone unturned, no hand unshaken, even no distant relative or dubious relations unlinked. Sometimes I love their rhetoric and sometimes I hate their politicking.

For sure it took nine months for the baby to be ready for birth and for sure the 44th president of America took a much longer time to be ready for November 4. And though the birth of a baby and the declaration of a winner are mere beginnings of difficult days ahead, both are sacred moments worthy of much pause.

Perhaps, for me, what I found most fascinating, even more than the compelling personas of the candidates themselves and their incredible workforces, is the American media itself. An avowed TV non-watcher, I have found myself glued to the box of late, feeling like a promdi-girl who goes to the big city for the first time. I am both awed and appalled by the things that I see and hear.

Awesome # 1

Super cool touch screens or whatever they're called. Something that I first saw in the movie Minority Report. I didn't know 'those things' really work. I didn't pay much attention to what the anchor was saying. I was so fascinated by how he could make the images on the electoral map appear or disappear or move over here and over there, enlarge, diminish, so on and so forth, by using his two-hand movements.

Awful:

Sometimes the super cool touch screens would not follow the man's commands. Hmm.

Awesome #2

They are all over the place. They're in one state this minute, in the next five minutes they're in another state, then in another couple of minutes, they're in the Dems camp and in the next segment they're at the Republican rally.

Awful:

It must be awfully tiresome and expensive to do that.

Awesome # 3

They are very knowledgeable about many things. They have very thorough researchers. They have a lot of resources and determination to get the information that they want. They seem relentless and indefatigable.

Awful:

They don't let up. They will nit-pick one phrase and dissect it to smithereens and discuss it to death.

Awesome # 4

They are strongly opinionated and they are not afraid to declare boldly where they stand.

Awful:

They're not shy about shouting to each other in front of the camera, or talking over one another.

Awesome # 5

They think/write/talk/argue so well. It’s takes a while to tell which is a spin and which should be taken with a grain of salt.

Awful:

I didn’t know they use a lot of metaphor and idiomatic expressions in these political talks.

Awesome # 6:

The polls!

Awful:

The polls!

Confused? Check this out.


Offbeat election polls @ Yahoo! Video


Awesome # 7

They are soooo creative. I've been captivated.

Awful:

I have not yet prepared for my lecture for the first day of school for the second semester and that would be for tomorrow. That's actually four fors in one sentence. Hmm.