Geography Quiz 2

OK, next test for you smartypants people. Where am I?

New Blog Recommendation

Came across this blog today and thought you all might be interested. Turns out this guy also has had a recet bout with poison ivy, too. Amazingly coincidental, no?

Axis of Evil

I've had it with the Muthaf...ing Wankees in the muthaf'ing baseball diamond!

I still love my boys, but they are on my last nerve.

Go Sox!

Happy Birthday, Bill

Remember when we had a real president? Well, he's turning 60 today. I wish him well--still miss the dude.

Let's Have a Smackdown!

Memories…Light the corners of my mind

What in God’s name did we ever do without search engines?

It feels like nearly every day, I scan my middle-aged brain for a random word or half-thought that doesn’t quickly rise to the surface. Although part of the normal aging process, it’s increasingly frustrating since I have always had a decent memory. In fact, I’ve never been a list-maker. I find that on those rare occasions when I do make a list, I end up leaving it at home (when I’m at the grocery) or at work on my desk (when I’m trying to pack for a vacation). So I find them to be fairly useless. (Hey, maybe I need a list to remind me where I left my list? This is a breakthrough!)

Nowadays, however, there is an alternative for our poor age-addled memories: the search engine. Yesterday, for example, I was commuting to work, blasting my satellite radio as is my typical start to every morning. (As many of you know, we’re addicted to XM Satellite radio and have receivers in both cars and the house – more on that in other posts). Since the Red Sox lost the evening before, I was avoiding sports, and decided instead to channel surf the radio’s 150+ stations to try something new. Ended up on “Beyond Jazz,” a progressive version of the station I usually listen to, “Real Jazz.” In these days of the “long tail” marketing solution, it won’t surprise you to learn there’s actually a difference between the two. “Real Jazz” is more traditional jazz, lots of Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, etc. Since I only recently began my jazz education, this is typically where I stop and learn.

Anyway…I moved to ”Beyond Jazz,” where they were playing a great song by someone or something called “Buckshot LeFonque” that I really loved. Instantly I made a mental note to remember the name so I could ask my musical guru (Bobbers) about it when I got home. This unique name had to be easy to remember, right? Well, the day wore on and by noontime, I could only remember half the name – and I wasn’t sure totally if I had it right. Certainly I couldn’t remember how to spell “LeFonque”. So, what did I do? Promptly launched Google and did a search and quickly found what I was looking for and sent an email to Bobbers to let him know I found some new music.

The point of this story? So long as we can recall the vague outlines of what we think about early in the day, we can Google it later for instant recall. For Baby Boomers and those young’uns behind us, this is a very good thing.

Cheney Hires Impeachment Lawyer

How's this for irony? Today we find that Cheney has hired the lawyer who handled Clinton's impeachment case to protect him from sweet little ole Valerie Plame.

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

Beckperson's Recipe Box

Looking for a light, healthy and easy-to-fix summer dinner? Try this sandwich.


Here's the ingredients:

Whole Wheat Toast
A dash of light mayo
Sliced avocado
Slice of red onion
Slice of sharp cheddar cheese
Lettuce
Snippets of thyme (from the garden)
Slice of fresh tomato

Serve with salt-free sweet potato chips.

Yummmmmy!

Guess Where This Is

It's time to play a game, here in Bloggerland. Do you know where this picture was taken? Give us your best guess below!

Suspicious Timing

Well, well, well...it appears that the US and British disagreed on when to close the dragnet on the Shampoo Bombers. Apparently, the British wanted to let it go a little longer and the US pressured them into breaking up the alleged plot quickly. So do you think they might have wanted to distract us here in the US from the low approval ratings, Joe Lieberman's loss in the recent primary, and all the other problems they are causing?

Be ready, everyone, because the Republicans are literally trying to scare us into re-electing them. Remember when we had "nothing to fear, but fear itself?" Now all we have to fear are people who are willing to exploit our emotions for political gain. This cannot stand. Don't let it.

Duct Tape, Part 2

Remember when we were all told by Homeland Security to have mass quantities of duct tape on hand for the next big terrorist attack? Well, I do believe they are at it again.

You've all by now heard about the foiled terrorist plot in England that is causing havoc at American airports, right? Apparently, due to some of the plot points including liquid explosives, we now can no longer take anything liquid onto any plane - whether it's a bottle of water, liquid makeup, shaving cream, you get the picture. Although I did hear we could bring baby formula or liquid medicine. So I have a question. Don't you think terrorists could figure out how to put liquid explosives into these two items? Hellooooo?

::rolling eyeballs::

Now I read this morning that TSA is dumping all the liquids they've collected. Or, in the case of Phoenix, they're giving the unopened bottles of shampoo to charity.

"Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport planned to give 11 boxes of surrendered items to the city's human services department, which will give the unopened bottles of shampoo, toothpaste and other items to homeless shelters, airport spokeswoman Lexie Van Haren said."

So my question is...if it's safe enough to give to homeless people, why isn't it safe enough to take on a plane?

Could we get any more STUPID? That's why Homeland Security is "On Notice." See below post.

This is our government, folks.

One Last Thing for Today

The following people are "On Notice" by me, Beckperson:

A Question for You

Are you better off now than you were 6 years ago?

Here's a Happy Headline

Poll: Bush May Be Hurting Republicans

By DONNA CASSATA
Associated Press Writer

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans determined to win in November are up against a troublesome trend - growing opposition to President Bush. (BWA HA HAHAHAHAHAH!)

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted this week found the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May. His handling of nearly every issue, from the Iraq war to foreign policy, contributed to the president's decline around the nation, even in the Republican-friendly South.

More sobering for the GOP are the number of voters who backed Bush in 2004 who are ready to vote Democratic in the fall's congressional elections - 19 percent. These one-time Bush voters are more likely to be female, self-described moderates, low- to middle-income and from the Northeast and Midwest."

Some of the women in the Midwest who are thinking of changing their votes could be reading this blog. Welcome to the reality based community! We missed you.

Come Again, Congressman McGovern!

Last night I was delayed coming home from work and, believe it or not, missed a visit to our house by our Congressman. He was making the rounds of registered Democrats in the area on behalf of Deval Patrick, who's running for Governor of our fair state.

The Democratic primary election is in September, and I hadn't made a decision on who I was going to vote for...it was going to be Patrick or Chris Gabrielli. But I think I'll most definitely take a good, long look at Deval Patrick based on our Congressman's endorsement. I just wish the hell I'd been home to shake this man's hand. I'm very impressed with our Congressman - most especially when he took on Mean Jean Schmidt when she called Murtha a chicken during her infamous first speech in the House of Representatives.

Come back, Congressman. We can sit on the porch, have a beer, and talk about how life is going to improve when the Dems take the majority back in the House and Senate this fall. And you can convince me to vote for Deval.

Clueless Joe Lieberman

Well, Clueless Joe strikes again:

"I'm worried that too many people, both in politics and out, don't appreciate the seriousness of the threat to American security and the evil of the enemy that faces us -- more evil, or as evil, as Nazism and probably more dangerous than the Soviet Communists we fought during the long Cold War," Mr. Lieberman said.

This is another indication of the utter cluelessness of what I'm starting to call the "stuck on 9/11" mindset of the Administration and its hangers-on. The sooner they figure out that our security is NOT a military problem, but rather a political and/or law enforcement issue, the better off, and more secure, we'll all be.

The continual politicization of terrorism is on my last nerve. We need to move beyond treating it in the "old" way and figure out a smarter, more original and creative way to solve this. I don't have the answers, but I suggest we start electing people who are willing to work for change, not just continually run "campaign" slogans at us.

Questioning 9/11?

A friend sent me this link earlier today, and I thought I'd share it with you. If you are the least bit concerned that we don't know everything there is to know about the US government's handling of the attack, this may suit you. I'm always suspicious of these things and haven't downloaded anything as yet, but I wanted to share it with you.

There's been a lot more of this sort of questioning, and it's probably a good thing, for all of us.

I've Got the Poison, Who's Got the Cure?

'Tis the further adventures of Beckperson's battle with the poison ivy, in which the ivy takes the lead.

Last night I mentioned my trip to the doctor for my annual dose of steroids to relieve me of the heebiejeebies. This rash I have is so ridiculous that perhaps the Chimp could introduce poison ivy as a newfangled torture format at Guantanamo. I don't know about you all, but I would admit to just about anything in order to score some steroids (see previous post).

Right now, the rash is mostly on my forearms - there are large deep red, angry splotches. I also have smaller patches on my ankles, across my chest and even a dot or two on my left cheek (my face, people, my face) and neck.

But the most intriguing one of all is a large blister on the top of my right forearm. It's the size of a marble, and has the texture of a rubber balloon. I imagine it's going to blow at some point soon, but I'm kind of enjoying it...any guesses on when it will go? My best bet is that it will be a couple of days, but it could surprise me sometime, right when I don't expect it or when I don't have a roll of paper towels to soak up the run-off.

The good news is for the most part I'm not suffering, and if you see me in person, don't worry. I'll be wearing long sleeves so you won't have to witness this atrocity. There's no need to be a'feared - just stand back and out of shooting range.

*click*

Many thousands of years ago, when Ms. Magazine was first launched, I was an avid subscriber. They had a column on the very last page called *click* in which women told stories about those small, everyday occurances that vividly demonstrated that they were being treated differently than men, on the job or in the home. Some *click* examples were when they realized the man next to them doing the same job was paid more, or when they were denied credit unless they had the signature of their husbands.

These life-changing moments, known as *clicks* in the magazine. I experienced a *click* of a kind yesterday. It wasn't about gender inequality, it was about age inequality - and seemingly, I was on the power end of it.

Yesterday, for probably the fourth summer in a row, I had to go to the doctor for treatment for poison ivy (yes, my hedge-trimming finally got me). My regular doctor (a woman) was not available, so my appointment was with a... VERY.... YOUNG.... MALE.... DOCTOR. (I'm not sure the ink on his diploma was still dry.) The *click* moment came when he suggested I should use a cortisteroid cream to spread on the rash. In my vast experiences with poison ivy, I have been treated very successfully by steroid pills and had no intention of leaving the office without a prescription. When I mentioned my preference, Dr. McYoungy mumbled a few things like "I always advises patients to use the cream." But, there was something in his body language that told me he was intimidated! He backed up a step, tried again to justify the cream remedy, but eventually turned tail and skeeedadled out of the 2x2 exam room to fetch his prescription pad (which, of course, he had forgotten to bring in). I swear to God, I wasn't rude or mean, I merely suggested that I had good luck with the steroid pills. But Doogie just crumpled. It was an odd moment to find out I am a middle aged woman with such POWAH! *Click!*

This experience was a reverse *click,* I guess, but it makes me think that I just might be Wonder Woman after all.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Joe Trippi wrote a book about it. And if you have any interest at all in undersanding how the internet affects our democracy, you should read it.

Today, another article surfaced on Truthout.com, with a slightly different name: The Revolution Is Not Being Televised. The article is mostly based on the Lamont campaign for Senate in Connecticut, but it has bigger, more exciting implications:

"If Lexington-Concord was "the shot heard round the world" - the moment where a festering series of local rebellions became a Rebellion - then the Lamont campaigners on the ground and on the Internet are among the minutemen and Committees of Correspondence of this next American Revolution. But a message needs a messenger, and in the vast number of words written on the subject of Internet politics, this fundamental point is neglected. Partly it is because large traditional media outlets, protecting their economic interests, and right-wing-backed media outlets, pursuing their partisan advantage with typical disregard of the truth, have a desire to paint the entire enterprise as "far left protest politics." They want everyone to see hippies burning college offices and papier mâché puppets.

The reality is rather much the reverse: the people who have made best use of the Internet as a tool for political change are not exclusively on the left. In fact, the right wing has its Internet arm, which is tightly vertically integrated - anonymous right-wing operatives create fake news, such as the recent selectively edited clip that tried to imply that Congressman Dingell supported Hezbollah, then low level right-wing bloggers scream about it, then the well financed Michelle Malkins of this world pick it up, and finally it is funneled into the flagship of right-wing media, the Washington Times. If it is a pro-war stink, the Washington Post can be relied to take it up as well.

This, however, merely integrates the Internet into the old media stream, and the old tightly controlled message politics of broadcast. A campaign is a few people in a room coming up with slogans, and a large number of shills repeating them, hoping they will catch fire. The Lamont campaign is not driven by this same dynamic. It is tightly controlled within itself, but it does not tightly control the messages that surround the candidate. A fact which the flailing Lieberman campaign attempted to use to create a fake controversy.

In short, too few people have understood that the reason the message of a different kind of citizenship that creates a new politics has awaited messengers is because there are too many entrenched interests busy smearing any messenger who manages to rise to the forefront. This does not change the basic reality - the new politics has consistently selected politicians of a particular type, with a particular personality. The type is not the true outsider who comes in with completely radical notions about the system but, instead, the intellectual maverick who has risen within the system and who has succeeded by "thinking outside the box."

The article ends with this kicker:

"While there have been occasional articles about this new class of political player, as with the nature of the new kind of candidate, there has been a vast void of understanding as to what makes them successful in this new political environment. As with the candidates they support, the crucial quality is the ability to understand where the present political environment has reached a point of gridlock, and then the ability to leverage the very pressure that has brought about stalemate to burst out in a lateral direction with great, and unexpected, force. It is a pressure that journalists like Christopher Lydon, with decades in and covering politics, could feel and smell, but which the major outlets at first denied, and now decry, being dragged kicking and screaming into a world where politics is a conversation, and not an ad campaign.

That, then, is the real lesson of the Revolution of '06: namely, that it was there all along, and it is merely being unleashed this year to create its first wave of victories in electoral politics in the US. It has awaited messengers to carry its message, and with each passing battle, it grows more immune to the deceptive smear-driven attacks from the mass media world. These messengers are not starry-eyed dreamers, but instead people who began in the system as it is, and have crossed the aisle based on an intimate understanding of the failures of the old system. They have gathered around them a new breed of political operative on the Internet, and have made more effective an old breed that had been pushed aside by the old politics of the airwaves. This politics has faith in a different world, it values different kinds of politicians, and it is developing an increasingly cohesive political philosophy,

And while in 2004 this politics merely made a splash, in 2006, it has already won elections. But don't tell anyone, because the old politics still believes that if it isn't on television, it doesn't exist."

Do I get an AMEN on this?

9/11 Commission Fails Its Job

Remember when the country actually had government officials who actually stopped at nothing to get the truth. Nowadays, to quote "A Few Good Men" we can't seem to handle the truth.

Specifically, the 9/11 Commission Co-chairs say they got the runaround from the Pentagon, the FAA and most especially, were not hard enough on Rudy Giuliani. They feared that they would be perceived as too hard on the already suffering fire and police officers. Here's the post from Americablog:

We now learn that the 9/11 Commission couldn't get the information it needed from Rudy Giuliani because newspaper editorials criticized the commission for asking tough questions of NYC's firefighters and police. You see, the firemen and the police were heroes, so we don't get to ask them tough questions that might help us avoid a future terrorist attack, or at least respond to it better - you see, that just wouldn't be "nice." Oh no. In Soviet America, we just tell the cops and firemen how great they are, rather than get the information we need to save another, oh, 3,000 lives.

Amen.

The Gathering Storm

Came across this link from The Political Wire:

From Charlie Cook's forthcoming National Journal column:

"Time is running out for Republicans. Unless something dramatic happens before Election Day, Democrats will take control of the House. And the chances that they’ll seize the Senate are rising toward 50-50.

"The electoral hurricane bearing down on the GOP looks likely to be a Category 4 or 5, strong enough to destroy at least one of the party’s majorities. The political climate feels much as it did before previous elections that produced sizable upheavals, such as in 1994, when Democrats lost 52 House seats, eight Senate seats, and control of both chambers."

I suppose the hurricane imagery is not intended to be ironic.
So, let's have the first woman to be Speaker of the House, shall we? Hmmmm....Speaker Pelosi. I like the sound of that.

Tagged and Bagged

Well, here's a first. I've been tagged to write a blogpost with the following rules:

The player of this game starts with "5 weird things/habits about yourself".
In the end you need to choose 5 people to be tagged and list their names. The people who get tagged need to write a blog about their 5 weird things/habits, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. Don't forget to leave your victim a comment that says "you're tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

My cousin Susan did this dirty trick. Gee,thanks. :-)

1. I am out of the house every workday in a half hour or less from the time my feet hit the floor. This includes a shower, washed hair and dressing myself (and no, I don't plan the wardrobe in advance). My mother used to tell me I should have been a fireman.

2. This one goes along with the first one. I am chronically early for everything. There's nothing I hate worse than thinking anyone is waiting for me - drives me insane.

3. I am addicted to presidential elections and election coverage. Gee, now there's a surprise. There's nothing I like better than watching convention coverage (I was orgasmic when the Democrats held their convention in Boston in 2004 - I was able to attend an event that featured the women senators: Clinton, Mikulski, Murray, Boxer, Stabenow, Lincoln. Totally fun.) I particularly enjoyed the 1992 and 1996 outcomes, when I printed out a copy of the US map and colored in the states as they were won by Clinton/Bush and Clinton/Dole. Hey, maybe I need to revisit this in 2008 - it worked then, didn't it?

4. Not a particularly weird habit, but I bite my finger cuticles too much. I'd give anything to have my sister Nancy's nice nails.

5. I like doing things in season. For instance, I can't do Christmas shopping until at least Thanksgiving. And, I like to buy clothes when I can actually wear them. Yesterday, I went shopping for summer clothes. During a week when the temperature rose to 102 degrees (in New England for God's sake!) I had the audacity to walk into a store looking for shorts. At Coldwater Creek a nice saleswoman asked if she could help me find anything. I said, "Where are your summer clothes?" (this after I had only taken about 5 steps into the store). She says, "They're all gone." I said, "So am I," and walked out the door. I guess I should have shopped for shorts in May when it was 40 degrees and raining all the time, eh? I'm convinced that one of these days the stores will "lap" themselves and be putting out seasonal clothes right when we need to have them.

OK, who can I tag? I don't know 5 people with blogs. So, the following people (who are my total readership, I think) will have to add their 5 strange habits as comments I guess: Rita M., Dianna H., Beth P., Mary Lou and Nanner. (I was going to add my great-niece Melanie because she actually does have a blog, but at around 3 months old, she doesn't have too many strange habits yet.) Have fun, ladies!

Happy Thoughts

With all the misery I've been recording lately, I thought it might be good to share something (anything!) that has nothing to do with death and destruction.

Let me think:

• I made a deeeeelicious dinner tonight. It was a salmon salad recipe that I found online by googling "salmon" and "asparagus". I didn't put the eggs in, but added some great tomatoes fresh from the farmstand and some leftover croutons (from our trip to a favorite restaurant yesterday). And, we topped the salad off from corn on the cob from the same farmstand. Yum-o!
  
• When we joined the local Y back in April, I rediscovered my love of swimming. This morning, I did 45 minutes of laps before 9 AM. I try to swim at least 3 times a week and I can definitely tell that I'm getting better all the time. It's really amazing what a little invention called 'swimming goggles' does for a person. Can't say I'm a beauty queen in the water, but I guess that's not really the point, now is it?
  
• If you're looking for happy news, go here. It's amazingly boring and bland, but if sure beats the current news, now doesn't it?
  
• The Red Sox are still in first place by a game over the MFYs. That, in itself, is worth a little happy dance all on its own. ;-) Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there are no big trades coming down before the deadline tomorrow. (OOPS, sorry, that was a lapse into potential negativity, wasn't it?)

Well, on to the work week and other happy things, eh?

Dear Israel,

Please stop the bombing now. You've made your freakin' point. How many more innocent children will you kill?

Talk about encouraging terrorism...all Arabs will now be joining forces against the Israel and and the USA. It's hard to believe that anyone could feel sympathetic to Hezbollah, but I have a feeling that moderate Arabs are going to be joining them now.

Israel is being deliberately provocative and it's not helping anybody - especially themselves. And the US diplomacy would be a joke if it weren't so incompetent.

More Carnage

Did you know that 100 people are killed EVERY DAY in Iraq?

WTF?

The world is a bizarre place, isn't it?

On the TV, we see that the US has sold bombs to Israel. They are using them to bomb Lebanon Then, we send humanitarian relief for the victims.

*Insert rolling eyeballs here*

The US is supposed to be the "honest broker" in the Middle East negotiations. Yet, we refuse to ask Israel for an immediate ceasefire, but rather an urgent ceasefire. WTF? How the hell do we get anywhere in this world when people use war to solve disagreements? I know I'm naive, but hasn't civilization evolved any further than this?

Condi (aka "The Wicked Witch of the West") goes to Rome to participate in a supposed diplomatic mission. Nothing, of course, was accomplished. Yet, here's the headline on MSNBC: "Rice plans serious piano recital at summit." Kinda strikes a person as a bit too Nero-like, eh? Just insert a fiddle and some fire and you'd be all set. God, I hate that woman.

This is one fucked-up world.

Lieberman's Problem

There's a tight Democratic primary race going on in Connecticut this year. Bush's "favorite Democrat" Joe Lieberman is getting his ass kicked by a political newcomer, Ned Lamont. A lot of blogs are commenting on it - and I finally feel provoked to quote an article in the Hartford Courant because it says specifically why I agree that Lieberman should not be re-elected:

"...on the two biggest issues of our times, he [Lieberman] is dead wrong.

His blind support of the Iraq war, begun illegally and a continuing catastrophe, is monstrous.

And his defense of an incompetent president, a vice president who fits the dictionary definition of fascism and an extremist administration that has perpetrated torture, illegal eavesdropping and a general shredding of the Constitution is insulting to the people who elected him in the first place.

Joe's constituency is not Bush and Cheney; it is the progressives and moderates, the blacks and Hispanics who gave him his start in politics. We feel he has betrayed us by becoming "Bush's favorite Democrat."

His announcement that he will not support the winner of the Democratic primary but will seek election as an independent if he loses the primary seems to put self above principle. I thank Ned Lamont, a good and decent man, for giving the people of Connecticut a real choice. We need someone who will confront the Bush-Cheney evils of lies, manipulation and incompetence, which have done us so much harm at home and abroad."

And this specific op-ed piece was from a longtime friend of Joe's.

Ohio Update

In my small attempt to talk sense to my fellow Buckeyes, here's the latest on the Governor's race and the attempt to dethrone Mike Dewine - the nitwit senator, from the Columbus Dispatch:

"Democrat Ted Strickland has surged to a surprising lead of 20 percentage points in the first Dispatch Poll on Ohio’s Nov. 7 race for governor.

Meanwhile, Democrat Sherrod Brown holds an 8-point edge in his bid to unseat two-term Republican Sen. Mike DeWine.

Strickland’s 47-to-27 advantage over GOP rival J. Kenneth Blackwell is fueled by a more than 3-to-1 lead among independent voters, combined with Blackwell’s inability to sell himself to Ohio Republicans.

"I kind of feel like the Republican Party has run the state government like an old boys club for a long time" and it is time for a change, said poll participant Stuart Hinnefeld, 53, a federal worker from the Cincinnati area who backs De-Wine but not Blackwell."

There's hope for my home state, my friends!

Gentlemen: Start Your Engines

Well, the peace and quiet of a Saturday morning has just been broken with the sounds of the first lawn mower. Not bad....it's 10:19 a.m.

Valerie the Virginal

Here's an important, earth-shattering post:

I've noticed that every time I see a photograph of Valerie Plame Wilson, she's wearing white. Coincidence? PR plan? Who knows? Just seems odd that so blonde a woman would be that consistent. Unless, of course, she's not really blonde.

Oooops, did I say that?

Just one woman's snark. Anybody else wearing weird clothing choices?

The Anti-Fox Fox?

Well, calling him a fox may be overstating it a tad, but Keith Olbermann is the best thing to happen to cable news in a long, loooooooooooooooong time. This article in New York Times covers Keith's background, his time at ESPN, and, yes, his time at Fox.

Have You Heard the One About the Pig?

God, the president is stupid.

Check out how he represents us overseas.

Time for the Round-Up

Before the evening gets away from me, I wanted to post some links and thoughts about recent events. Here we go:

• Valerie and Joe Wilson are suing Rove, Libby and the wack-o Vice President for invasion of privacy and depriving her of her career at the CIA. I say good for them! I think history will prove the Wilson's are the wronged parties here and the evilness that is this Administration will be proved. Go here if you want to contribute to the Wilson's Legal Support fund (yeah, right).
  
  
• I know I’m a bit late on this one, but I wanted to weigh in on the changes the Chimp’s administration has been forced to make regarding executive power in wartime. It’s hard to believe that the leaders of the United States actually had to be forced into adhering to the Geneva Conventions. Americans are ingrained with this notion that we are fair and the country that holds the rest of the world to a higher standard when it comes to human rights. But clearly that has changed, since we have been reduced to being happy when courts force our leaders to do so. Amazin’, ain't it?
  
  Here’s the Washington Post:
  
  

  "Accustomed to having its way on matters related to the nation's security, the administration is being forced to respond to criticism that it once brushed aside. The high court ruling rejected the White House's assertion that the president has nearly unlimited executive powers during a time of war, and now executive branch lawyers are reviewing whether other rules adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will have to be revised, especially those concerning the Geneva Conventions."

  
  
• So, like me, do you find it interesting that the terror alerts rise and fall with the election cycles? The Chimp wouldn't be trying to scare us all into voting Republican, now would he? Here's a nice roundup of these alerts and how they are used to manipulate us.
  
  
• For my Ohio readers (like there are so many other readers!), I'm happy to report that "Mean Jean" is not doing well in the polls. Many will recall that Jean Schmidt was the Congresswoman who called Jack Murtha a coward in her first speech in the US House of Representatives earlier this year. She won the special election in Ohio's 2nd District - my HOME district - and doesn't look great for re-election. This is an extremely conservative district, so keep your fingers crossed. And for you HAMILTON COUNTY readers - do your part and REGISTER AND VOTE IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION! Don't complain about the state of things if you don't vote.
  

  SCHMIDT IN FREE-FALL; WULSIN EVEN WITH SCHMIDT IN OHIO 2nd
  New Poll Shows Ohio 2nd Congressional Race Tied
  Dr. Victoria Wulsin Poised for Major Upset of Unpopular Jean Schmidt
  Cincinnati, Ohio - A poll released today shows Rep. Jean Schmidt tied with Dr. Victoria Wulsin, her Democratic challenger, in their race for Congress. A mere 33% of likely voters in Ohio's 2nd District approve of Schmidt's job performance and 53% disapprove. Wulsin is tied with Schmidt in their head-to-head match up and poised for a major victory on November 7.
  
  The poll, conducted this past weekend by the Washington, D.C. firm Momentum Analysis, dispels any doubt about the competitiveness of the race. When asked whom they would vote for if the November 2006 elections were held today, 44% of respondents said they would vote for Wulsin, 44% would vote for Schmidt, and 11% were undecided. Despite the Republican voter registration advantage in the district, Schmidt's extremely low job approval ratings and personal approval ratings severely decrease her chances at re-election.

  
  
• If you have a chance to catch the PBS Frontline show called "The Dark Side" about the wars within the Administration over managing intelligence, you owe it to yourself. It's downright scary to see the documented evidence of the Cheney/Rumsfeld alliance that predates the Chimp. And, worst of all, you'll see the way they have planted their allies throughout the administration. Be afraid. Be very afraid. (But watch the show anyway, because it's worth it.)
  
  

Too Damn Tired

I have lots of posting material, but I'm too tired to put any coherent sentences together...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Stay tuned.

Later.

Report Card Time

Well, a few bumps in the road along the way, but the Sox end the first half of the baseball season in first place by three games over the MFY's. Cheers to one and all, particularly the Pap twins. Go Sox!

Accomplishments?

As we watch the USA continuue to go to hell in the proverbial handbasket, we ponder this question: Given that the Chimp has had the majority in both houses of Congress for his entire term-and-a-half, what has he actually accomplished?

I would appreciate an answer to this question. However, since it's my blog, I have one stipulation, you cannot mention tax breaks. They don't count because they have been directed overwhelmingly at the super-rich and may actually have done lasting damage to our economy by adding to the deficit.

On the other hand, the list of things that have truly gone wrong is quite long and astonishing. I won't recount all of them here - you can read them in past posts.

OK, so if anyone can give me an answer, I'm waiting.

Anyone?

For Animal Lovers

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. Go here and do your bit.

Getting Ready for Mid-Term Elections

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Desperate Housewife?

When you live in any neighborhood for long enough you get to know its rhythms. You know when the folks next door get a new car. You watch the latest renovations as they change the look of the house down the street. Over the years, you see the kids grow up and leave home. In New England, most of these neighborhood changes are noticed in the springtime, when we emerge from our long winter indoors. This year, there was a significant change next door, although it took several weeks to actually dawn on us.

These particular neighbors have a built-in swimming pool that requires regular maintenance once the cover comes off early in the swimming season. For the last several years, these duties were handled by a sandy-haired man, who would pace the sides of the pool with his long handled net, skimming the surface to lift out the occasional insect and leaf. At the same time, he would seemingly keep an eye on the two young kids and the pretty red-haired wife, who were often nearby.

This spring, several weeks of pool maintenance had passed when I began to notice a different guy performing these duties. He is dark haired and slender, and most definitely not the same person we've seen in the past. For a while I figured he was a house guest, but then I noticed the sandy-haired man was never there.

Wisteria Lane has had nothing on us over the past few weeks as we speculated on the missing man and the continuing presence of the mysterious new one. Where did he come from? What was his relationship to the family? Part of the mystery was solved about a week or so ago when I saw the dark haired man lean over to kiss the woman of the house as they did yardwork together - it wasn't a deep, soulful kiss, but rather the sweet peck of two people who are in a relationship.

So what happened to the first guy? Was he indeed the loving husband and father, as he appeared? Was she the wronged woman, or is she actually a floozie who takes up with a different man every few years? Whose fault is it that the first relationship fizzled? Did it actually fizzle? The various alternatives will keep us speculating for the rest of the summer. And, come the winter, I'll have to see who does the snow-blowing.

Now that is love.

Hot Time, Summer in the City?

We're enjoying a quiet long 4th of July weekend here in suburbia. It's nice to have a few days off to just hang out, especially since it took so long for real summer weather to arrive. I've been cooking some nice meals, doing a bit of yard work (featuring my yearly battle with the front hedge...not sure who's winning at this point), catching up on some DVDs and baseball games (Let's go Red Sox, clap, clap, CLAP, clap, clap!), etc. Best purchase of the weekend was a homemade blueberry pie from the local farm stand. Yummy!

Tomorrow, of course, we celebrate the 230th birthday of the good ole USofA. Along with Independence Day, we commemorate the 180th anniversary of the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams - two American presidents who actually understood words like patriotism, freedom and the rule of law. Here's hoping the Constitution survives the current administration so that we can mark many, many more Independence Days.

Happy Birthday, America!

Supreme Court Wakes Up

Can the Congress be far behind? Well, that might be a little too much to ask, I suppose, but perhaps they have just been given the wiggle room to do their jobs...in other words, actually figuring out just how fucked up the Chimp's legal team really is. Who sez we don't have to follow the Geneva Conventions, eh?

Here's the report from Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post today:

"Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, definitively curbing the Bush White House's assertion of nearly unlimited executive power in a time of war, puts the other two branches of government back in business.

The Republican-controlled Congress, which has remained resolutely blind, deaf and dumb as President Bush took national security matters entirely into his own hands, now has little choice but to rouse itself to some sort of action.

And in reasserting the rule of law, the high court has opened the way to what could be major legal action over other executive branch violations of established statutes -- about domestic spying, for instance. The ruling even raises the possibility that U.S. forces and Bush administration officials could be tried for war crimes."

War crimes are probably too much to ask...I'll settle for Americans simply waking up and realizing that it's important to vote to ensure we keep some semblance of reality in the Courts. Today we had a modium of success. We'll keep our fingers crossed for more.

In My America...

This is what a president says:

"How we work to improve our country and lift people up is also critical to restoring American leadership in the world. For decades, many drew inspiration from us, admiring how we worked everyday to make our country a better place. And the whole world is watching. Just as we fight poverty here at home, we must show more leadership in ending extreme poverty around the globe. It is wrong that close to half the world’s population – more than 3 billion people – live on less than 2 dollars a day. And it is a disgrace that millions of people suffer and die from diseases that are preventable – for example, a $5 dollar mosquito net could save a family from malaria; a few cents could vaccinate a child; and a $4 dose of medicine can help prevent a mother from transmitting AIDS to her newborn at childbirth. If we are to rebuild America’s moral leadership, we must do better at home – and abroad.

On the America we want to achieve in the next twenty years, I don’t think the picture is hard to draw. It is an America where we are well on our way to ending poverty. It is an America where every American has health care coverage – not access to health insurance or other wiggle-word ways we try to describe something less than health coverage for every American. It is time. It is an America where businesses and working people thrive in a competitive and fair international marketplace. It is an America where everyone can join the middle class and everyone can build a better future than their parents had."

Go here and learn more.

Boondocks Deserves a Pulitzer

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Reason Number 2,500+ for Blogging

Came across this story in the New York Times today. It's called "Iraq War Ends Silently for One American Soldier" about the death of just one young man, and it is sad -- and maddening -- beyond belief. Here's the ending:

"The six soldiers walked out to the chopper and lifted Sergeant Lisk's body into it. The door went back up. The helicopter flew away.

The soldiers saluted a final time.

In the darkness, as the sound of the helicopter faded, Colonel MacFarland addressed his soldiers.

"I don't know if this war is worth the life of Terry Lisk, or 10 soldiers, or 2,500 soldiers like him," Colonel MacFarland told his forces. "What I do know is that he did not die alone. He was surrounded by friends.

"A Greek philosopher said that only the dead have seen the end of war," the colonel said. "Only Terry Lisk has seen the end of this war."

The soldiers turned and walked back to their barracks in the darkness. No one said a word."

It's Been Awhile, I Know

Where have I been? Why no posting? Well, I needed to take a break from this because I feared this little place o'mine was becoming a bit redundant. What did I really have to say, what was my point of view, what did I really want the blog to be? All of these questions have been rolling around my head...in that tiny voice that weal have that says, who the hell cares what you write, anyway? So I thought I'd let that inner conversation go on a while to see whether I really felt like starting up again.

Well, turns out I do want to continue. (And, oddly, it's been exactly one month since the last post.)

And who the hell cares?

I do.

We're Back

A trip to the West Coast is always interesting...I find it always fun to be in a different time zone, yet I spend half the time trying to figure out what time it is back home. As my family will attest, I've always have had difficulties telling time, so I guess this just complicates matters for me!

So, having never been to Oregon, I must say I was impressed. Portland is a really fun city - full of great restaurants, interesting views, some eccentric people and of course, the home of my brother. We had a nice opportunity to celebrate his birthday and get to see his new abode. He was a great host...driving us all over the place, all with good humor, especially considering he probably has seen these sights a million times.

The coastline was gorgeous and the weather cooperated just enough to give us some great views. We also drove through the Columbia River Gorge and took some backroads to see the Evergreen Aviation Museum...home of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose airplane. (If you saw the movie "Aviator" it was the plane he flew at the end of the movie.)

Here's a sampling of some of the zillion+ pictures we took. Enjoy!




My brother and sister on the bridge!

Portland Bound

Go west, young woman (and man)!

Packed up and ready to go to the airport for our week in Oregon. Looking forward to a fun, relaxing trip. Especially looking forward to becoming reacquainted with some siblings who I don't see enough of. Nice to leave the bonds of the working world too for much needed R&R.

We believe the hotel has internet access, so presumably we can blog the trip, but we'll see!

Sayonara.

Has Rove Been Indicted?

What if it was Fitzmas and we didn't even know it? Check out this story from TruthOut.com, which says that Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury indicted Mr. Rove on Friday.

Here's the substance of the story:

"During the course of that meeting, Fitzgerald served attorneys for former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove with an indictment charging the embattled White House official with perjury and lying to investigators related to his role in the CIA leak case, and instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 business hours to get his affairs in order, high level sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said Saturday morning.

Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, did not return a call for comment. Sources said Fitzgerald was in Washington, DC, Friday and met with Luskin for about 15 hours to go over the charges against Rove, which include perjury and lying to investigators about how and when Rove discovered that Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert CIA operative and whether he shared that information with reporters, sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said.

It was still unknown Saturday whether Fitzgerald charged Rove with a more serious obstruction of justice charge. Sources close to the case said Friday that it appeared very likely that an obstruction charge against Rove would be included with charges of perjury and lying to investigators.

An announcement by Fitzgerald is expected to come this week, sources close to the case said. However, the day and time is unknown. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the special prosecutor was unavailable for comment. In the past, Samborn said he could not comment on the case."

Could it be true?

President Gore

Last night, Al Gore opened Saturday Night Live with a speech to the nation talking about his Administration's many accomplishments. It's funny, of course, but it's a little sad at the same time. Check it out from Crooks and Liars.

Let's hope this is a premonition of things to come, eh? Right now, I think he's the candidate to beat for the nomination in '08. Personally, I can't wait to see his new movie: "An Inconvenient Truth," which has gotten rave reviews.

Welcome Aboard, Melanie Rose!

Welcome to our crazy family, Miss Melanie! May the road ahead be nothing but sunshine and flowers for you.

Congratulations, B & S, and I hope you are caught up on your sleep!

Two More Weeks Till Fitzmas?

Here's the latest reporting from David Shuster of MSNBC.

Agreeing with the Chimp

The high point of his presidency, according to the Chimp himself, is catching a 7+ pound fish on his "ranch" in Texas. At first I was appalled at him saying something so ridiculous, but when I actually started to think about it, I couldn't come up with anything better myself. Hmm, who'da thunk I'd agree with him?

Favorite Picture II

In happy anticipation of our upcoming trip to Oregon, here's another favorite picture from a previous vacation. This one is from Key West, back in November 2003.

Calling Bullshit

There's been a raging debate in the blogosphere this week over Stephen Colbert's appearance at the White House Correspondent's dinner last weekend. This story from today's Washington Post summarizes the whys and wherefores of the controversy. As always, I am here to give you the significant quote, but you really should read the whole story:

"The way I see it, the Washington press corps is still appropriately embarrassed that they screwed up in the run-up to war. Now, as Bush's approval ratings fester, they are getting bolder in challenging the official White House line on any number of issues. They're justifiably proud of a handful of great investigative pieces.

But they still haven't addressed the central issue Colbert was raising: Bush's credibility. As it happens, the public is way ahead of them on this one: For more than a year, the polls have consistently been showing that a majority of Americans don't find Bush honest and trustworthy."

Gonzo?

Well, I recently discovered I'm "Gonzo." (Although people have probably thought so for a long time.) What about you?

Belated Blogging: Mr. Colbert Goes to Washington

From what everyone's saying, the White House was not thrilled by Steven Colbert's performance the other night at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in DC. However, as the Mr. says, "They should give him a fuckin' medal!" for this performance. Here's a transcript for your reading pleasure.

And, if you're interested in reading about the Chimp's administration reaction to it (as if you couldn't figure out what these no-talent, humorless people would act like), visit US News. On the other hand, find out how Jon Stewart reacted here.

The Church of Bruce Springsteen

Imagine driving to work, sitting in traffic on a highway, and not wanting the ride to end. That happened to me one morning last week when I first listened, all the way through, to Bruce Springsteen's newest CD "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions." This CD is a religious experience, a New Orleans dance party, a revival, a history lesson, a hoedown...and it is thrilling. I understand he and the 18-person Seeger Sessions Band are planning to play at next week's New Orleans Jazz Fest, and I am jealous beyond belief that I won't be able to see this band in person.

Folk music? It's more than that, you can almost literally feel this music passing down through the generations of Americans...from colonial seafaring days to the Civil War, to the Dust Bowl, New Orleans gospel and spirituals. It has echoes of Walt Whitman, and of course Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck and Bob Dylan...and if you're looking for the most uplifting hour possible, check it out.

You won't regret it.

War. What Is It Good For?

Big protest march in NYC today. Word has it that around 300,000 people showed up. Would like to have gone...here's a picture that gives you an idea of what went on.

Gassing Up

I paid $2.91 today, how 'bout you?

Lower than Ever

Just for the record, the Chimp's approval has now dropped to a new low: 32%.

He really does suck.

Ambivalence, John Kerry and Me

Ambivalence is a good word. I looked it up and the definition is: "The coexistence of contradictory emotions, attitudes, ideas, or desires with respect to a particular person, object, or situation." This perfectly describes my feeling for the junior senator from Massachusetts, our own John Kerry.

On Saturday, two friends and I took him up on a recent invitation to hear him speak about dissent at Boston's Faneuil Hall. It was an interesting and invigorating speech - my hands hurt afterwards from all the applause.

So, where does the ambivalence come from? On one hand, I backed him enough to become a volunteer for one of his senatorial reelection campaigns back in the 1990s. Yet I couldn't bring myself to support him in the Democratic primary in 2004 when he ran against others in his party.

On the other hand, during the 2004 campaign I thought he did a hell of a job during the debates...make the Chimp look as small-minded and ignorant as any incumbent president could possibly look. Yet his overall campaign was rather lackluster. Do I want him to run again for President? Nah, probably not, but I'll be very happy to continue voting for him as Massachusetts' senator.

So while his speech yesterday was quite good...it came on the 35th anniversary of his Senate testimony as a young Navy veteran ("How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"), it was also a bit of too little, too late.

My friend Julie thinks that the speech "won't change a thing." In reality, it probably won't. If nothing else, it reminds everyone about the hubris of administrations that continue to send young people to die in a war that is clearly a mistake. Do I wish Kerry had made this speech 4 years ago? Undoubtedly. Will I take it now? By all means.

So will it change anything? As Julie says, probably not.

I'm the Decider

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This is not a very original post, but if you haven't heard this song based on the Chimp's most recent rumblings about Rumsfeld, you should check it out. It WILL make you laugh!

Raging Against the Lying of the Right

Reading blogs is a fascination of mine...particularly those that stem from the famous Dailykos.com, probably the most visited left-leaning blog of all. Nowadays, the mainstream media is taking to profiling the writers behind the posts, and this particular story I found fascinating from the Washington Post:

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. -- In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O'Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer.

Out there, awaiting her building fury: the Angry Left, where O'Connor's reputation is as one of the angriest of all. "One long, sustained scream" is how she describes the writing she does for various Web logs, as she wonders what she should scream about this day."

I've read some of Maryscott's rants and indeed they are among the harshest, but after reading her full profile, I have a better sense of why she is so angry and I hope her psyche can last the next few years while the Chimp is in office (so to speak). Hopefully, the latest polls will give Maryscott some comfort that the rest of the country is starting to agree with her. From today's Washington Post:

"According to the latest Post-ABC News poll, Bush's overall job approval rating now averages 43 percent in the states where he beat Democratic nominee John Kerry two years ago, while 57 percent disapprove of his performance.

Bush is even marginally unpopular, at least on average, in states where he beat Kerry with relative ease. The poll data suggest that in states where the president's victory margin was greater than five percentage points, his average job approval currently stands at 47 percent. Red? Hardly. A watery pink at best.

And in states where the president's victory margin was five percentage points or less, a clear majority of residents now disapprove of his performance. Color them light blue."

New Rules: Patriot's Day Edition

It's Patriot's Day here in Massachusetts. Although we're supposed to be honoring the "shot heard round the world" at Lexington Green, and the march of British troops from there to Concord in 1775, this important historic moment has become overshadowed by sporting events.

One paricular sporting event actually has the world's focus, and that is the Boston Marathon - and the starting line is about 5 miles from our house. Tens of thousands of runners take off for their 26+ mile-run to downtown at noon, with the first runner crossing the finish line in just a bit over 2 hours. This year, as has been the case for the past decade, two Kenyans won the race.

Simultaneous to the marathon, the Sox play a home game at Fenway, starting at the ungodly hour of 11 a.m. (Yes, the boys won today in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off home run by our new hero, Mark Loretta...aka "Mahk Loretter" in local accent) The game usually takes three hours, making it also end at roughly the exact time as the winners cross the finish line in the Marathon, and only blocks away from each other.

Here's where the new rule comes in. Next year, how 'bout moving the finish line to home plate? The runners could come in through the Green Monster (left field wall) and run down the third base line. The winner would be required to slide into home (headfirst, feetfirst...up to the runner).

Sounds good to me, but how to explain this to some really healthy Kenyans?

Libby, Libby, Libby...Leaky, Leaky, Leaky

As certain as rats deserting a sinking ship, Scooter is now protecting himself by "fingering" others in the Plamegate investigation. This story from the Boston Globe resulted from documents filed in Fitzmas-land:

"Libby's request could lead to greater attention on the administration's handling of Iraqi intelligence, and is being made at a time when Bush's past statements about Iraq's weapons have come under renewed scrutiny.

On Sunday the Washington Post reported that when Bush proclaimed, ''We have found the weapons of mass destruction" in May 2003 following the seizure of two trailers he described as mobile bioweapons labs, a team of specialists had already told the White House that the trailers had nothing to do with making weapons."

Atten-HUT!

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Well, you know you've gone over the edge when the military starts turning against you. First, it's the generals, now it's West Point graduates.

From the military academy graduates...this will just give you chills:

"Instilled by the Cadet Honor System with a fundamental, longstanding respect for truth, we graduates of the United States Military Academy believe that honor is a basic attribute of character. That we are no longer cadets is irrelevant. We stand appalled by the deceitful behavior of the government of the United States and, in particular, its widely known malefactors. Lying, cheating, stealing, delivering evasive statements and quibbling not only has demeaned these deceivers and the United States of America, but has placed vast numbers of innocent people in deadly peril. We will not serve the lies.

The war in Iraq was launched illegally. It has since killed tens of thousands of innocents, causing incalculable damage to Iraq and the Iraqi people, as well as the reputation of the United States of America. We will not serve the lies.

When we West Point graduates took our commissioning oath of office one past June morning, we swore to protect our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The deceitful connivances of the current administration have resulted in a war catastrophic to our nation’s interests: politically, economically, militarily, and morally. We now stand to protect our nation from these deceivers. We will not serve their lies.

We seek justice for all victims of this illegal war, both servicemen and servicewomen, and the citizens of Iraq.

To our purpose we invoke the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence whereby we too “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, & our sacred Honor.”

Favorite Picture, Part Uno

Since it's actually getting a bit boring to continually list the many problems in Washington these days, I thought I'd take a different tack. Today we begin a new feature: Beckperson's Favorite Photographs.

Here's the first one, taken at a restaurant called "Greens" in San Francisco where we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last year:

Vacation Days Ahead

Well, it's still over a month away, but there's nothing like a plan for a trip to get the juices flowing. This year, we're heading west again, but to an entirely new place: Portland, Oregon. My brother has lived there for several years and this is our first opportunity to go...so in addition to exploring a new location, we'll have some quality time with my sister and him. Looking forward to it! We leave May 20!

Department of Repeated Redundancy Again

Well, this is interesting. The Chimp is the Leaker-in-Chief. Imagine.

Once again, a new revelation shows that national security is continuing to be threatened by the very people whose job it is to protect us all. Today's New York Times:

"The [White House] spokesman, Scott McClellan, said a decision was made to declassify and release some information to rebut "irresponsible and unfounded accusations" that the administration had manipulated or misused prewar intelligence to buttress its case for war."

WTF? Now it appears that they can use the power of the national government to justify anything they damn well please.

Worst.Administration.Ever.

Scapegoat Wanted

Did you hear that the government is having trouble finding someone to accept the job of FEMA Director? Hard to believe that someone wouldn't want that fun job.

"WASHINGTON, April 1 — The calls went out across the nation, as Bush administration officials asked the country's most seasoned disaster response experts to consider the job of a lifetime: FEMA director. But again and again, the response over the past several months was the same: "No thanks."

Unconvinced that the administration is serious about fixing the Federal Emergency Management Agency or that there is enough time actually to get it done before President Bush's second term ends, seven of these candidates for director or another top FEMA job said in interviews that they had pulled themselves out of the running.

"You don't take the fire chief job after someone has burned down the city unless you are going to be able to do it in the right fashion," said Ellis M. Stanley, general manager of emergency planning in Los Angeles, who said he was one of those called.

Now, with the next hurricane season only two months away, the Bush administration has finally come up with a convenient but somewhat embarrassing solution. Mr. Bush, several former and current FEMA officials said, intends to nominate R. David Paulison, a former fire official who has been filling in for the past seven months, to take on the job permanently."

From yesterday's New York Times.

Opening Day 2006

Well, it's finally here. Baseball season. This year's off-season seemed to take forever. And we're in first place! The Sox and everyone else who won their first game today.

New favorite playah? Coco - without a doubt. Man never stops smiling. That can be contagious. They may be idiots no longer, but they're going to be great fun to watch.

Johnny who?

Scandal-du-jour: Washington DC

*Yawn*

Another story about the evil-doers in DC:

"Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale for going to war had been challenged within the administration. Rove expressed his concerns shortly after an informal review of classified government records by then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley determined that Bush had been specifically advised that claims he later made in his 2003 State of the Union address -- that Iraq was procuring high-strength aluminum tubes to build a nuclear weapon -- might not be true, according to government records and interviews."

Not even the least bit shocking, is it? They'll do anything.