Saturday, March 27, 2010

Bubble Bath Wrestling for Women's Rugby

Among the many things that I'm not creative enough to make up: Tonight, my favorite local pub is hosting a bubble bath wrestling competition to benefit the local women's rugby team, the "Timber Doodles". Really.

A Beautiful Day For Baseball


Yesterday, Sweaterman, myself, and Maverick (our favorite surly bartender) made our way down to Scottsdale for a spring training game. Given that it was snowing in the morning here, we were ready just to bask in the sunshine. And what a nice day for baseball: mid-70's, light breeze, abundant sunshine, and beer.
And my beloved Giants won, just to make the day even better.
Fun side story: the Giants have a player, Eugenio Velez, who is, in my...ahem...opinion, lousy. OK, he's terrible. His swing is so bad that I'm not even sure how best to mock it. So, as soon as I say how bad he is...he gets a hit. My companions laugh at me. A few innings later, he's back at bat. "OK, he got lucky. He's still terrible" I say. And he gets another hit. Further ribbing follows.
This is why no one pays me for my opinions about baseball.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Boobie Talk



This Friday's Boobies are debating the...um..."issues" of the day.

And on that note, I'm heading south for another Spring Training game. Going to Scottsdale to see my beloved Giants take on the "Angels", who can't decide what city they're from.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Constitution

(pic for no other reason than that I like it.)
Just a quick note for the right wing: The constitution says absolutely nothing about "air traffic control", either. So, should we repeal it?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Lithuanian Perspective

Ethnic jokes are usually a bad idea, but my Lithuanian friend passed on this one to me in his attempt to explain the 'Tea Party':
"If you get three Lithuanians in a room, you have four political parties".

When You Target One of Mine





I get pissed.


Normally, I try to ignore Sarah Palin (except for occasional comedy purposes). But when she puts a 'target' on my local congresswoman, I respond. From her Facebook page:


We’re paying particular attention to those House members who voted in favor of Obamacare and represent districts that Senator John McCain and I carried during the 2008 election. Three of these House members are retiring – from Arkansas’s 2nd district, Indiana’s 8th district, and Tennessee’s 6th district – but we’ll be working to make sure that those who replace them are Commonsense Conservatives. The others are running for re-election, and we’re going to hold them accountable for this disastrous Obamacare vote. They are: Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1), Harry E. Mitchell (AZ-5), Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), John Salazar (CO-3), Betsy Markey (CO-4). Allen Boyd (FL-2), Suzanne M. Kosmas (FL-24), Baron P. Hill (IN-9), Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), Charlie Wilson (OH-6), John Boccieri (OH-16), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), Christopher Carney (PA-10), John M. Spratt, Jr. (SC-5), Tom Perriello (VA-5), Alan B. Mollohan (WV-1), and Nick J. Rahall II (WV-3).

I've gotten to know Ann Kirkpatrick starting with her 2008 campaign, and frequent readers know that I'm not exactly enthusiastic about her as a legislator. I've characterized her as a "soggy waffle" more than a few times. She's closer to a 'blue dog' than a progressive.


But she's also a good, decent, intelligent woman who's done a decent job of representing her constituents. I trust her integrity completely. While I'd rather have a dynamic progressive representative, I don't see how one could be elected in this district.

And she's certainly a hell of a lot better than any of the "Palin people" ever could be. So I'm much more motivated to help Ann's campaign than I might otherwise have been. Go here http://www.kirkpatrickforarizona.com/ if you'd like to help.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Passed


As a sometimes political blogger, I guess I'm contractually obligated to post about the passage of health care reform. It passed 219-212 last night.
First, there's a sense of relief at finally passing something. HCR has been up and down like a kangaroo in the mating season over the past year, and the machinations in the process have been amazingly frustrating. The disingenuous and dishonest advertising against the bill was truly appalling. Or maybe it really does mandate gay abortions of Grandma.
The bill itself is a piece of astounding mediocrity. It barely meets any definition of "reform", and is far too weak to actually meet the needs of the American people. But (in my opinion) it's is on balance better than doing nothing. I do have a personal bias here; as a walking, talking, living, breathing 'pre-existing condition', the provisions will help me in the future. Not a great amount of help, but at least it's something.
Sure, I'd prefer "single payer", or at least the "public option", but the reality of our current political climate made that impossible. There just aren't enough progressive votes to overcome republican obstructionism.
In a way, the simple fact that the bill was passed is an important success. The GOP threw everything they had at defeating it, and they lost. Moving forward on financial reform, jobs, energy, etc. will now be possible as a result of winning this battle.
On a side note, I don't think I'd want to get into a poker match with Nancy Pelosi. I might quibble with her style, but when it came time to whip the votes she played her hand quite deftly.

Sunday, March 21, 2010