Economics

Watching the Wall Street meltdown, I'm seeing the huge disconnect between classes. Being amongst the poor, I don't have to worry about my stock portfolio falling. Most of the folks I know live paycheck to paycheck, and invest in a night out when they can. We balance our books by paying our bills and spending what's left.
But the major investment banks don't have to follow such simple rules. They can simply inflate the value of their assets to create a false 'bottom line' and if reality intrudes they get a government bailout. At least, that's the way it usually works. After all, the government always has a few extra billion for the rich. Okay, it comes from the taxpayers (us) or an increase in the deficit (us), but it's not like it's real money. The country isn't bankrupt as long as it can borrow more (unlike regular people), and the first rule of Wall Street is "there are no rules." In the circles of high finance greed is good, lying is rewarded, and oversight (regulations) are removed by buying up a few congressmen (St. Sleazy McCain and crew).
Which is why they really wanted to privatize Social Security. All that money going to regular people when it could so easily be stolen for the much more deserving rich. Face it, Grandma won't spend her Social Security check on a congressman or deregulating Ponzi schemes.
It was all a fine system (for the rich) until someone started to notice that all those pieces of paper weren't worth what they claimed. In fact, most of them were beyond worthless. The 'assets' added up to nothing but a very large debt.
Now they're busy trying to figure out how to foist this debt off onto the regular people; the homeowners, the taxpayers, anybody who hasn't bought a congressman. And it's going to hurt a lot of us.
I'm fairly safe, being among the poorest of the poor. They can't get much from me because I haven't got it. I'm only semi-employed (or semi-unemployed), semi-homeless, and completely broke. If my bank failed, the FDIC would laugh at my account. I'm not going to get billions in a federal bailout. Hell, a thousand dollars looks huge to me (please feel free to use the "donate" button on the right if you can spare it, or any other amount) and my economy has been tanking for a long time.
The republican greedheads have had their way for a long time, but reality is starting to piss on their "trickle-down" theory of economics. We can't afford another four years of criminal insanity guiding our economic policy. The question becomes "how badly will people have to be hurt before they realize this?"

Fresh Boobies

OK, Boobie fans, I got these up on Friday. This punctuality may not happen in the future, but we're all good for this week.

As They Debate Porcine Cosmetology

Modern American politics has degenerated into something below reality television in intellectual content. Major financial institutions are failing. Health care has become a luxury. The energy companies are (literally) in bed with the government. Two wars are going badly, and the lead terrorists are still free. Unemployment and homelessness are up, along with the cost of food. And another hurricane is about to hit (but climate change isn't a real problem). Along with a few dozen other major issues.
The latest republican TV star, Sarah the moosehunter, is ready to go to war with Russia (even if her reason is purely hypothetical) and anybody else she doesn't like. The actual republican candidate, St. Sleazy McCain (remember him?), is sounding more and more senile between rounds of lying.
But this election race is still close, thanks to the media. Because it's really important to debate the meaning of "lipstick on a pig."
Maybe America deserves four more years of republican rule.

Seven Years Later

Another anniversary with Bin Laden still on the loose, and what have we learned? One lesson should be extremely clear: shrub and the republicans are completely incompetent. Afghanistan continues to be a haven for the Taliban and drug lords. Pakistan is an unstable ally at best, albeit better armed thanks to shrub. In the course of the past seven years, shrub and co. have utterly failed to bring the perpetrators of 9/11 any closer to justice or elimination. We've caught a few (including a dangerous driver), but Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are still out there making videos. In short, the "war on terror" (what a stupid phrase) is a complete failure with regards to al-Qaeda.
Instead, in perhaps the worst blunder in modern military history, shrub chose to invade Iraq. Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 or al-Qaeda, but he looked like an invitingly bad guy (with oil) for shrub to target. In the post-9/11 hysteria it was easy to generate enough propaganda to sell the war to the American people, so off we went. Now, after more than five years of occupation, Iraq is a $10 billion a month quagmire with no possible positive ending in sight. The republicans keep trying to tell us "we're winning", but the question remains "winning what?"
9/11 was a tragedy for America, but shrub and the republicans made it into a disaster for the rest of the world, especially the Iraqi's. Think about this as they campaign to remain in power another four years.

Enough Palin, Let's Focus

The media and the political blogs seem to be "all Palin, all the time" lately. Enough already. She's a lying corrupt corporate shill? Of course she is. She's a republican.
Let us get back to what matters: we need to defeat St. Sleazy McCain and the rest of the republican greedheads if we are to have any hope of saving America's (and the rest of the world's) future. It really is that simple. Nearly eight years of shrub have shown the damage republicans can do to peoples lives. We can't afford four more.
Obama isn't the messiah or the savior, but he has common sense and common decency. That's a big improvement on what we're getting now. I wasn't a big fan of Bill Clinton either, but at least he wasn't ruining the country, the planet, or peoples lives for the profit of a few corporations. When the choice is between 'mediocre' and 'absolute evil', 'mediocre' starts looking pretty good.
The Palin trivia may be fun, but it's distracting from the real fight. She is only a symptom of the disease that is the current republican party. We need to restore the health of America.

Observing Obama's Speech

Last night I watched Obama's speech while in a bar. There were four of us, all political junkies, watching a corner TV while most of the crowd watched College Football.
I'm pretty cynical about political speeches. Rhetoric is what I expect to hear, and Obama has proven a master at it.
But something happened as the speech progressed. More and more people began joining us to watch, leaving behind the football game. By the halfway point, there were about 25 people in the corner of the bar watching and listening. Not the political junkie people, but the average folk. And then, they began applauding. By the end, they were cheering.
I've stated before that I don't hold great expectations of an Obama presidency, only that it would be much less bad than a McCain presidency. But maybe, just maybe, Obama's ability to inspire people could lead to something greater. Maybe the rhetoric can change the reality.

Bringing Back the Boobies

Sorry that the Boobies didn't make it for a few weeks. I'm a bad blogger.

Olympic Doping

While the current Olympics have had relatively few doping scandals, I found at least two to be of interest. It's amazing what lengths people will go to, to win a competition.
The latest was in equestrian team jumping. Apparently, one of the horses on the Norwegian bronze medal team was caught using an illegal substance. Certainly, the minute I heared the phrase "Norwegian jumping horse", I thought of drugs.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article2608143.ece
The earlier doping incident was in pistol shooting, a sport that I thought only my old buddy Doc Thompson associated with drugs. The winner of the 10 meter air pistol bronze medal, a Korean, tested positive.
http://www.radio86.co.uk/beijing-2008/olympic-news/7629/two-more-olympic-athletes-test-positive-for-doping
I've shot a lot of pistols in my life, and air pistols at 10 meters seems like an awfully wimpy mix to use drugs with. 44mags at 50 yards, sure. But air pistols at 10 meters?
Admitted, I have a different view of "performance enhancing drugs". Certain drugs were great for enhancing the performance of certain bands.
And sex.

Where Was I?

Sorry that I've been away from the blog for a couple of weeks. The first stretch was due to working a lot (a good thing), and the latter was due to a nasty illness (a bad thing). Anyway, despite how I felt a few day ago, I'm still alive.
Thanks to Gandhisxmas for putting up a few posts in his usual calm, reasonable, non-alarmist, not at all ranting style while I was away. Take a deep breath, dude. We haven't blown ourselves up yet (I'm older than he is, and remember all those times over the decades that the end was near.)

Spin the Football

The media love to hype things which are really unimportant, and Football is probably the most over-reported unimportant thing in the world, so in it's own way this makes sense:

The Green Bay Packers have apparently decided they need a little help on the public relations front when it comes to handling the ongoing Brett Favre saga.

FOXSports.com has learned that the Packers will employ former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer for one month as a consultant.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8409998/Packers-hire-Fleischer-to-consult-on-Favre-saga

Of course this means that we'll never know anything that's true about Favre, but I expect that we'll be hearing about WMD's in Chicago and Minnesota.

Odds, and a few Ends

* Well, my housing situation is stabilized (thanks to some help from an unexpected source. Thank you!) and I'll be in the same cave for another month. Not comfortable, but secure, which is better than being homeless. I'm desperately seeking a stable job and a stable new cave. Ah, the American dream.

* Now the media is finally acknowledging that the 2001 anthrax was from Fort Detrick. Due to my being involved in a peripheral part of the investigation (explained in the comments), I've known this all along. But it's awfully convenient that the prime suspect committed suicide before the story went to press. It's a sad side commentary that when I read the news, I assume that the government is lying.

* Can we simplify the 'Obama-McCain' debate? St. Sleazy McCain is REALLY, REALLY BAD! All of the worst of shrub, but with more temper. Obama is not the messiah, just another politician. But he seems to be intelligent and relatively decent. I'm not expecting miracles, just a functioning government. That would be a major step forward from what we have now.

* The indictment of Ted Stevens seems to be clogging up the intertubes. Since it was announced, all my connections have slowed down. Coincidence? I don't think so. At least I haven't been declared a "spam blog" like some have.

Another Friday, Another Boobie

Welcome to the month of August.

Party for Shanker

For all my local readers (both of you), there's going to be a party for AZ-01 congressional candidate Howard Shanker (http://www.howardshankerforcongress.com/) on Saturday at 5:00pm at The Green Room (formerly Mogollon), and you're all invited. Free buffet, live music, and a chance to talk with a real, live candidate.
This is my favorite type of political forum, as people get into real conversations about the issues that matter to them. I've gotten to know Howard well, and I'm happy to be a volunteer on his campaign, but a lot of folks haven't had the chance to find out about him. This kind of informal "meet and greet" is their opportunity. So if you're in the neighborhood, please stop by the Green Room, 15 N. Agassiz, Flagstaff, AZ. Should be a real good time.

I'm Jealous

I'm jealous...a whole bunch of my river gear is off running the Grand Canyon with a friend of mine, but I can't go with it due to extreme poverty. I hope my gear (and my friend) have a great time.

The Boobie is Back

For reasons that are entirely unclear to me (and I'm the blogger), the Boobie went AWOL last week. I do know that the Boobie wasn't making me any money while away.Anyway, to make up for it, here's an extra pair of Boobies:

St. Sleazy vs. Capt. Corruption

There's been a lot of talk about St. Sleazy McCain's temper, but when I read this one I had to laugh (and wish that it had been caught on video):

But how much of McCain's legendary anger streak does the public actually know? Judging from snippets of Cliff Schecter's new book "The Real McCain" - an advanced copy of which was obtained by the Huffington Post - the answer may be surprisingly little.

Take for instance the verbal-turned-physical attack McCain put on his fellow Arizona Republican, Rick Renzi, which Schecter uncovered through his research:

Perhaps the most remarkable story of McCain's temper involved Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi. Two former reporters covering McCain, one who witnessed the following events and one who confirmed the facts provided by the first, relayed it to me as follows: In 2006, the Arizona Republican congressional delegation had a strategy meeting. McCain repeatedly addressed two new members, congressmen Trent Franks and Rick Renzi, as 'boy.' Finally, Renzi, a former college linebacker, rose from his chair and said to McCain, "You call me that one more time and I'll kick your old ass." McCain lunged at Renzi, punches were thrown, and the two had to be physically separated. After they went to their separate offices, McCain called Renzi and demanded an apology. Renzi refused. Apparently this posture made McCain admire him, as they became fast friends.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/08/new-book-mccain-once-phys_n_95595.html

Capt. Corruption Renzi is a large man, and much younger, so St. Sleazy's judgement is certainly questionable. But due to a shared love of bribes they were able to bond and form a close friendship. Renzi wont go to trial until March, so he's staying until the end of his term, and McCain wont be called to the witness stand prior to the election. But they truly are 'birds of a feather' who deserve each other.

Still, I would have paid to see that fight.

Worth A Try

I've always had a certain fondness for inane types of protest and civil disobedience, so this caught my eye:

LONDON (AFP) - A climate change protester unsuccessfully tried to superglue himself to Prime Minister Gordon Brown at an event in the leader's residence, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

Dan Glass, a 24-year-old member of Plane Stupid, which campaigns against airport expansion, tried to attach himself to Brown's suit as he was about to shake hands with the premier at his Downing Street residence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080722/wl_uk_afp/britainpoliticsprotestoffbeat

Too bad it didn't work.

Sorry I haven't been posting more. Real life keeps kicking me, even though I'm already down.

National Disconnect

A few thoughts that came to me as a result of listening to Al Gore and reading this depressing piece by Badtux:

Once upon a time, there was a can-do nation that could do, like, anything. Its President said that a country which had never flown a man in space, which had no idea what it would take to send a man into space, would send a man to the moon within nine years... and made it happen.

It has been thirty-nine years since Apollo 11 lifted off for the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Neal Armstrong set foot on the moon and made the famous statement, "one small step for man, one giant leap for Mankind".

Thirty-nine years later, the United States no longer has the capability to send a man to the moon. It is not just a lack of desire. The sad thing is that we could not return to the moon today if we wanted to. We no longer have the expertise, the technology, or the industrial base to pull off something that big. Twenty years from now, we’re going to look up at the moon, and watch it twinkle as the first Moon city shines in the dark. And erected over that city will be a red flag with a large gold star and four smaller gold stars.

Sadly, can-do America is can’t-do America nowdays. Can’t provide health care for all its people. Can’t solve the problem of homeless junkies shooting up in public restrooms. Can’t built a replacement for the Space Shuttle before the last Shuttle is junked. Can’t find Osama bin Laden. Can’t solve the problem of people’s jobs getting exported overseas. Can’t. Can’t. Can’t. It’s damned depressing, to tell you the truth, to live in a country that’s so obviously over the hill. About the only thing the United States can do nowdays is build military hardware, but even that capability is decaying… the United States, for example, could not build a new M1A2 tank today even if it wanted to. The industrial capacity isn’t there anymore. The gas turbine engine used in the M1 isn’t made anymore. The tooling for the rest of the tank was sold to Egypt. Etc. We’re living on stored Cold War gear, and that gear is going to run out sooner or later, and then what?

http://blog.badtux.net/2008/07/ode-to-nation-that-is-gone.html#links

I found myself (again) wondering what is wrong with America, and what will it take to fix it? As Gore called for an Apollo sized program to end our dependency on fossil fuels, I wondered if we still have the national strength and will to actually do any such thing.

The knowledge and technology already exist in alternative energy. We know how to make solar, wind, tidal, and biomass power. The challenges of making it more efficient are really rather minor if we make it our national priority.

But America seems to be set in continuing our old ways. We have a sort of national necrophilia, where we're sure that we can get one more ride out of the old corpse. Deficit? Borrow more. Oil prices? Drill more. Our once dominant industries have been sold off piece by piece in the name of shareholder dividends, rather than investing in a new infrastructure.

The mortgage crisis came as a result of people believing that more money could come without any real change in value. Credit became a ready substitute for a balanced budget. And this philosophy has extended throughout our national planning. Use up that last bit of offshore oil, regardless of future consequences, rather than change behavior. We know how to build a more efficient car (the Japanese have shown us that it can be done), but we'd rather shut down the assembly line and lay off the workers. It's more immediately profitable.

I fear that it will take a huge national crisis before we begin to build again.

For Sweaterman

Was talking to Sweaterman (post something, dammit) about the New Yorker cover cartoon, and he described his idea for a counter-cartoon satire of McCain. Damn if David Horsey didn't publish his idea today:



Sweaterman, I swear I didn't tell him about your idea...maybe you can ask for royalties.

My Housing Crisis

With all the problems in the world of mortgages, my problems as a single renter are rather minor. Except to me. I'm starting to take it personally.
I should preface this with a small history, that of the "Blue Palace" where I lived comfortably for almost six years. I didn't blog about the "Palace" while I lived there out of respect for one of the housemates who worried about his privacy (this town is small enough that the house was easily identified). The "Palace" was a five bedroom old dump of a house, but it was cheap. The five of us who lived there are all older bachelors of the quietly stable type. It was comfortable, in a leaky sort of way. But it finally came to an end when the landlord realized he could make a lot more money in the long run if he invested in upgrading the old house. Real estate has gotten a lot more expensive around here over the years.
So back at the first of June, I moved. It was a real challenge as my income has been unstable and rents around here are high. I scored what I thought was a good deal, renting a room from an older woman in an old house in the old part of town that I almost could afford.
If only it had been that simple...
I quickly learned that the old lady had "psychiatric issues", but given my background in mental health I was okay with that. What I hadn't counted on was her family. They are a real piece of work, and they're now using my presence as a tenant to try to get the old lady declared "incompetent". It's a thinly veiled effort to take the house away from her, and I'm doing my best to help her fight it (she's very much competent, by all legal definitions).
But the level of stress she's suffering has made it clear that I must move out for her sake. So now it's my stress level that is through the roof.
I'm trying to find a new cave that I can afford in a market that I can't.
God, I miss the "Blue Palace".

And the Boobie

Got so busy that I almost forgot the Boobie. Posting from the library with its time limits, so I had to work quickly.

Our Shrub, Ever the Diplomat

Most likely you've already read this, but I haven't seen it on CNN:

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world's richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2277298/President-George-Bush-%27Goodbye-from-the-world%27s-biggest-polluter%27.html

Our Shrub, ever the petulant little twit, has again given the rest of the world the finger. It's a national shame that he hasn't been impeached.

Priorities

All you need to know about St. Sleazy McCain's priorities:

Only one Senator missed the vote today -- presidential candidate John McCain, who is busy on the campaign trail. McCain also missed votes earlier today on terrorism surveillance legislation. The Arizonan Republican's campaign did take the time this morning to lambaste Sen. Barack Obama for his alleged flip-flopping on
the surveillance issue, though at least Obama showed up for the vote today.

Yesterday marked the two- three-month anniversary of the last time McCain cast a Senate vote, on April 8. The Medicare vote marked the 76th consecutive tallyMcCain has missed.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2008/07/kennedy_returns_for_medicare_v.html

This man wants to be promoted to president, but has no interest in his current job of serving the American people. I may not be a huge fan of Obama, but at least I have reason to believe he'll show up for work most of the time.

Belated Boobie

Well, the Friday Boobie got delayed as the library was closed for some kind of holiday. Actually, I spent the holiday being politically active, walking in our local parade for Howard Shanker for Congress. Normally, I avoid Fourth of July parades as they tend to involve large numbers of children. But for a good political campaign they are pretty much required. We ended up being in a good position for the campaign, right behind the Obama campaign, and it all went smoothly (much to my surprise). I've come to expect Democrats to be disorganized, and the party parade folk didn't disappoint. Right up to the last five minutes before the parade began, the 'cat herding' party operatives were racing in every direction with no apparent plan. Over my many years of political involvement, I've grown used to this. But I wonder: Is there some rule somewhere that Democrats must be disorganized?

Local Tragedy, National News

Yesterday afternoon, I happened to be looking up at Mt. Eldon, when a puff of smoke turned into a billowing cloud. Talking with friends, we joked that another friend who's the fire lookout on the mountain finally had something to do. Then word came out that it was a helicopter crash.

Death rained from the sky over Flagstaff Sunday afternoon as a midair collision of two medical helicopters killed six and critically injured a seventh.

The aircraft were each carrying patients to Flagstaff Medical Center and went down at 3:49 p.m. on McMillan Mesa about a half-mile east of the hospital. An exploding fuel tank in one of the aircraft slightly injured two ground ambulance workers and touched off a 10-acre wildfire that was extinguished by local firefighters.

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2008/06/30/news/20080630_front_176633.txt

First, I was worried about several people I know who work for one of the companies. Today the names of the victims were released, and I had a brief panic as one of the names was the same as that of a good friend. A river running buddy. But also a fairly common name. Luckily for me, it wasn't the same person. Not so lucky for the victim.
Living in Northern Arizona where 100's of miles separate people from hospitals, medical helicopters are our lifeline in an emergency. NTSB is investigating, and I hope they find out what went wrong quickly and take measures to prevent future accidents. A lot of people's lives depend on this service.

Sorry that it's only Boobies these days

Sorry about the lack of posts - still lack internet in the home cave. I'm going to again ask for donations (thanks, Megan), as the one that I recieved isn't enough by itself. With luck, Pygalgia will be back on politics soon.

Carlin and Baseball

In memory of George Carlin, because I'm a huge baseball fan, here's the all-time classic:

"Baseball & football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about ourselves and our values.

I enjoy comparing baseball and football:

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game. Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park.The baseball park! Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life. Football begins in
the fall, when everything's dying.

In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs - what down is it? Baseball is concerned
with ups - who's up?

In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute warning.

Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.

And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!"

Shit, Piss, Fuck, and other words...

My heroes are dropping like flies, these days. Doc Hunter a coupla' years ago, and now this morning, I hear that George Carlin has died. Not expired, not "passed on", not anti-livable, but died. Stone cold. Dead as a doorknocker. Motherfucking tits up, to use two of his words in a sentence.

The world is now a much less happier place.

For those who never heard George Carlin you missed an incredible comedy act. His ability to pull humor out of the most mundane, everyday observations influenced a huge sector of comedy stars from Steven Wright to Ben Stiller.

He will be best known as a legal footnote for his 7 words you cannot say on teevee or radio (wiki entry here), but I much prefer his observations and put-downs of religion, which, in my opinion, equal those of Mark Twain, another great satirist of religion.

What a way start a Monday morning. Fuck.

Another Friday (Still No Internet)

Still haven't been able to get internet (please consider a donation), but I'm getting busier on the political front. Tomorrow is the block party for my congressional candidate, Howard Shanker, and I hope to post something from it soon. Keep checking back, as Pygalgia isn't dead but merely dormant.

A Quick Boobie

Happy Friday. I'm still working on getting my own internet connection, but the money is still lacking. Keep checking for posts from my co-bloggers, though.

I'm Here to Say I'm Not Here (yet)

Still haven't gotten internet at the new cave, but I'm trying. Sorry about the lack of posts, but I will be back as soon as I can. Thanks.

Boobie Fundraiser

Well, the Pygalgia cave has moved. The downside is that the new cave lacks internet. I hope to fix this within the next few weeks, but moving costs have wiped out the bank account for the near future. If any of you Boobie fans would like to help there is a "donate" button on the right, and all funds will go to the "pygalgia internet bring back the boobies" fund, and hasten my return to blogging in general. Thanks for even considering this "worthy" (albeit frivolous) cause.

Local Politics and National Influence

It's going to be an interesting summer here in Arizona's 1st congressional district as the race to replace Mr. corruption Renzi heats up. First, I'm really frustrated with the Democratic party (America's second worst party) who seem determined to pick our candidate for us, rather than let the voters make the choice in our primary. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has decided to back Ann Kirkpatrick in the race, a poor choice in my opinion. I'm a strong supporter and volunteer for Howard Shanker (http://www.howardshankerforcongress.com/), so my opinion is somewhat biased, but my goal is to elect the best possible congressperson in the general election. The DCCC's anointed candidates lost to Renzi three times in a row in races that should have been won, so their endorsement is not a harbinger of success. Kirkpatrick seems to fit their profile of bland safe candidates, moderately conservative "blue dogs" who won't rock the boat. Shanker, on the other hand, is a real progressive with a strong agenda for change in Washington. He's taken strong stands on energy, the environment, and against the war in Iraq while Kirkpatrick's positions have been safely vague. And that's what really bothers me about the DCCC. They seem determined to select "safe" candidates who then lose in the general election, rather than candidates who offer a real potential for change. Given the mess that shrub and the republicans have created, we need more real change agents in congress. Howard Shanker should be one of those change agents.

For all of you here in Flagstaff, I'd like to invite you to a party with Howard on Saturday, June 21st:

FREE GRANDVIEW BLOCK PARTY!

Celebrate Democracy in Action

Come for the food and
music,Stay to meet and ask your questions To our next
Congressman,

Howard Shanker

Candidate in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District

Come enjoy a Saturday afternoon BBQ and Block Party and find
out why we should elect Howard Shanker for Congress.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Noon-3pm

Hosted byYour Neighbor, Andy Bessler

3405 North Grandview Drive

Flagstaff, AZ

This should be fun, and we have a very real opportunity to win this one. Making it more of a challenge, however, is the schedule. The primary is on Sept. 2nd, which doesn't leave a lot of time to gear up for November.

A Nice Pair of Boobies

Must be Friday.

State of Corruption

Arizona's congressional delegation has piled up a catalogue of corruption that few states can rival. My representative, and Republican corruption poster boy, Rick Renzi (who should be in jail) is sharing some of the investigation with our Senators St. Sleazy McCain and bloody stupid Jon Kyl:

Federal agents interviewed staffers for likely Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) as part of their corruption case against Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.).

U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Diane J. Humetewa and fellow prosecutors disclosed the interviews with aides for McCain and fellow Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl in a written response to Renzi’s attorneys, who asked for the contents of the interview to help prepare for Renzi’s upcoming trial, which is scheduled for October.

The aides were interviewed about land exchanges, according to an April letter from Humetewa filed with the U.S. District Court of Arizona late last week. The letter did not indicate when the interviews occurred.

A federal land swap critical to developing a $3 billion copper mine southeast of Phoenix is at the heart of the case against Renzi, who is facing 35 public corruption charges, including conspiracy, money-laundering, extortion and insurance fraud. Renzi is retiring at the end of this session.

Prosecutors said they would provide Renzi’s legal team with reports and transcripts of the staffer interviews. They also mentioned that they have requested documents from both Arizona senators’ offices.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/fbi-interviews-arizona-staffers-2008-05-27.html

While there is no evidence (yet) that St. Sleazy was involved in Renzi's solicitation of bribes, it does tie in with his current lobbyist problems. St. Sleazy likes to choose foxes to advise him on henhouse security:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy, federal records show.

“Countdown with Keith Olbermann” reported Tuesday night that lobbying disclosure forms, filed by the giant Swiss bank UBS, list McCain’s campaign co-chair, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, as a lobbyist dealing specifically with legislation regarding the mortgage crisis as recently as Dec. 31, 2007.

Gramm joined the bank in 2002 and had registered as a lobbyist by 2004. UBS filed paperwork deregistering Gramm on April 18 of this year. Gramm continues to serve as a UBS vice chairman.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24844889

St. Sleazy will try to distance himself from shrub and his low poll numbers, but he's still surrounded by the culture of corruption. He was closely tied to Renzi until Rick got caught. The Arizona Republican congressional delegation have a long history of sharing the spoils from their dirty deals, so I wouldn't be surprised if St. Sleazy found a way to profit from Renzi's corruption.

Now They'll Tell Us

For those of us who've been paying attention this is no surprise, but another one of shrub's pet sycophants has decided to tell the truth about the lies. Scott McClellan:

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan writes in a surprisingly scathing memoir to be published next week that President Bush “veered terribly off course,” was not “open and forthright on Iraq,” and took a “permanent campaign approach” to governing at the expense of candor and competence.

Among the most explosive revelations in the 341-page book, titled “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception” (Public Affairs, price deleted):

• McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.

• He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.

• He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.”

• The longtime Bush loyalist also suggests that two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to get their story straight about the CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them — and McClellan was continuing to defend them despite mounting evidence they had not given him all the facts.

• McClellan asserts that the aides — Karl Rove, the president’s senior adviser, and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff — “had at best misled” him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2C2AD8E6-3048-5C12-00DD5B339097C9F9

I have no respect for people like this. He knew he was lying to us. Quite a few of shrub's liars have written their "apologia" after leaving the maladministration. If they had of possessed any honor they would have told the truth at the time, or at least refused to lie. Historians may enjoy uncovering all the deceptions as they perform the political autopsy of shrub. But we're living with it.
We deserve better.

Added: John Aravosis seems to agree with me: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/former-bush-spokesmans-book-criticizes.html

And more:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21903753/

The Military and College

Dare I say this? St. Sleazy McCain's thinking on veteran's benefits actually has a certain logic to it. He points out that young people might prefer college to the military:

Republican Presidential candidate John McCain has made an astute point in regards to modernizing the current GI Bill - If the U.S. starts offering too much education to veterans, no one will want to be a soldier anymore. McCain envisions a new GI Bill where troops will be forced to "earn" their education dollars by serving longer and longer stints in the military.

"It is important to do that because, otherwise, we will encourage more people to leave the military after they have completed one enlistment," McCain said.

There is a certain amount of insight here. Despite the slick TV marketing, the military tends to be less fun than college. College offers a wider variety of scheduling choices, better parties, and better fashion. Also, it is generally a safer place to be.
I can only speak from my own experience on this. I was never in the military. I reached military age in the post-Vietnam era, so there wasn't any real need for me to serve. But I did go to college. I can honestly say that my time in college was the best eleven years of my life. While some professor's lectures were painful to endure, I am sure that a drill sergeant would be worse. The military (I'm told) builds "character" and "discipline", but college allows the intellectual opportunity to debate the meaning of Nietzsche and Descartes while stoned at 3:00 am.
In short, St. Sleazy is probably right that many young people would choose the option of bettering their lives over spending more time risking their lives in a pointless war. I can see why he wouldn't want them to have that option.
Added: The vets deserve the greater education benefits. That's why the rethugs are against them.

Happy Towel Day

Happy Towel Day. This universe is tough, and you've really got to know where your towel is.

Frantic Friday Boobie

Another busy Friday, another Boobie.

The Next Step

Now that St. Sleazy has "repudiated" Pastor Hagee and returned his endorsement on the heels of Obama's Rev. Wright rejection, can we please reach a logical conclusion? Can we just get religion out of politics? Please?

A Short Century

The "Project for the New American Century", or "PNAC" appears to have come to an end:

Apparently for financial reasons, the new American century has prematurely ended.

In a symbolic act, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), run by Bill Kristol and other neocons, has lost its internet presence.

When accessing www.newamericancentury.org one now gets redirected to the webhosters 'account suspended' page.

It says:

Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.

The website was hosted by btnaccess.com which is a subsidary of Hong Kong based PCCW Global.

PNAC is unable to pay for the new American century and the Chinese, after checking America's sinking FICO scores, are obviously not willing to finance it with further credit lines.

Signs of the times ...

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2008/05/the-new-america.html

A lot of us were called "conspiracy theorists" for citing PNAC as being behind shrub's debacle in Iraq, but it can hardly be called a "conspiracy" when the neo-cons published their plans to invade Iraq. That paper may have been among the most destructive delusions in human history, the idea that a militarily invasion would spread democracy and be greeted with "sweets and flowers." Unfortunately, these idiots were able to get into power and put their plans into action, and we'll be paying for their folly for a major chunk of the century.

PNAC owes the world a hell of a lot more than just their hosting costs.

Local Election Day

It's election day here in Flagstaff, with Mayor and 3 city council seats up for grabs. The election is held by mail, which is no where near as much fun. I really enjoyed working a polling place on local election days in the past. It was kinda fun to see who came out to vote as a way to take the community pulse. But vote by mail is cheaper and gets a higher turnout, even if it does take away an entertainment opportunity for me.

Most of the attention has gone to the Mayoral race, where a two term incumbent is facing an energetic newcomer. The incumbent, Joe Donaldson, has been exceedingly mediocre in his two terms. He hasn't really screwed anything up (which is an improvement on some previous Mayors), but he hasn't really accomplished much of anything either. A nice enough guy, but I'll be glad to see him replaced. His challenger, Sara Pressler-Hoefle (http://www.saraformayor.com/welcome), is a candidate that I've supported enthusiastically. She's a dynamic progressive who offers a strong mix of energy and ideas. I've volunteered a fair chunk of time on her campaign, and I hope that it's a "victory" party tonight. The last local poll was too close to call, but I'm optimistic.

Our city council has been split for years between the "business/growth" faction and the "environment/quality of life" faction, and this election is unlikely to change that dynamic. Three seats are up for election. There are two really good progressive candidates, one really bad business candidate, one long time "rabble-rouser", and two "who?" candidates. Al White, a really good incumbent, looks like a shoe-in, so it's really a race for two seats. Very hard to predict between Karla Brewster (really good progressive), John McCulloch (rabble-rousing former council member with a high entertainment value), and Morgan Hagaman (law and order, more cops and more business conservative), as each has a strong local core constituency but low name recognition amongst the broader general public. As with most local elections, turnout will be the deciding factor.

My ballot went in weeks ago, as did Sweaterman's, and Zymurgian turned his in yesterday. I'm sure Gandhisxmas has voted, but I'm not sure when or for whom. Tonight I'll be watching the results from Sara's (hopefully) victory party with my usual mix of optimism and cynicism. If all politics is local, then this should be entertaining.

Added: We have a new Mayor. Sara won big.

Another Casualty, Another Senseless Tragedy

It started out a fairly typical local crime story. There was a car-jacking at the Grand Canyon. Later it was learned that this was on the heels of an apparent failed suicide attempt by driving into the Canyon. Two days and a cross state police chase later two men were dead.
Then the human side of the tragedy came out. It was collateral damage from the war in Iraq. Former Marine Staff Sergeant Travis N. "T-Bo" Twiggs was one of the dead. Shaun Mullen at Kiko's House has the details:

Twiggs went AWOL from his job at a Marine Corps laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
He and his beloved brother, Willard, 38, drove to the Grand Canyon, where their car was found hung up in a tree in what appeared to be a failed attempt to drive into the chasm.

The brothers then carjacked a vehicle. They ended up several hundred miles away at a southwestern Arizona border checkpoint on May 14 and took off when they were asked to pull into an inspection area. Eighty miles later, the car was sighted on the Tohono O'odham Native American reservation, its tires wrecked by spike strips.

As tribal police and Border Patrol agents closed in, Twiggs apparently fatally shot his brother and then killed himself.

His PTSD was diagnosed, but not effectively treated. He had even met with shrub on behalf of veterans:

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Last month, Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. "T-Bo" Twiggs went to the White House with a group of Iraq war veterans called the Wounded Warriors Regiment and met the president.

Twiggs had been through four tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and months of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in which he said he was on up to 12 different medications.

"He said, `Sir, I've served over there many times, and I would serve for you any time,' and he grabbed the president and gave him a big hug," said Kellee Twiggs, his widow.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hD0tzsn2RZuCtbFu5SdtwUgYZevgD90NGBP81

Making the case even more tragic is that Sgt. Twiggs was trying to get treatment, but the system is inadequate.

"All this violent behavior, him killing his brother, that was not my husband. If the PTSD would have been handled in a correct manner, none of this would have happened," she said in a telephone interview from Stafford, Va.

Travis Twiggs, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1993 and held the combat action ribbon, wrote about his efforts to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder in the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette.

The symptoms would disappear when he began each tour, he said, but came back stronger than ever when he came home.

He wrote that his life began to "spiral downward" after the tour in which two Marines from his platoon died.

"I cannot describe what a leader feels when he does not bring everyone home," he wrote. "To make matters even worse, I arrived at the welcome home site only to find that those two Marines' families were waiting to greet me as well. I remember thinking, 'Why are they here?'"

Weeks later, Twiggs "saw a physician's assistant who said that was the severest case of PTSD she'd seen in her life," his widow said.

He began receiving treatment, but the Marine wrote that he mixed his medications with alcohol and that his symptoms didn't go away until he started his final tour in Iraq.

When he came home, "All of my symptoms were back, and now I was in the process of destroying my family," he wrote. "My only regrets are how I let my command down after they had put so much trust in me and how I let my family down by pushing them away."

Kellee Twiggs said her husband was "very, very different, angry, agitated, isolated and so forth," upon his return. "He was just doing crazy things."

She said her husband was treated in the psychiatric ward of Bethesda Naval Medical Center and then sent to a Veterans Administration facility for four months.

Most recently, Travis Twiggs was assigned to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory at Quantico, a job he said helped him "get my life back on track."

"Every day is a better day now," he wrote in the Marine Corps Gazette. "...Looking back, I don't believe anyone is to blame for my craziness, but I do think we can do better."

Twiggs urged others suffering from similar problems to seek help. "PTSD is not a weakness. It is a normal reaction to a very violent situation," he wrote.

Kellee Twiggs said she can't understand why her husband was not sent to a specialized PTSD clinic in New Jersey.

"They let him out. He was OK for a while and then it all started over again," she said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hD0tzsn2RZuCtbFu5SdtwUgYZevgD90NGBP81

This is only one of many tragedies resulting from shrub's Iraq disaster, but one that is growing rapidly. We have more soldiers coming home in need of treatment, but the system is woefully unprepared to meet their needs. Shaun ends his post with a call for volunteers:

If you are not in denial and have some time to spare, there are opportunities to help
returning and troubled veterans at your local VA hospital or military base, or through church and community organizations.

These opportunities include helping fill out paperwork, finding lost forms, acting as a driver for doctors' appointments, and just visiting and listening. Connecting with the right people can be a multi-layered process, so be patient. A good start is to ask for Volunteer Services.

While I support Shaun's call for public help, I strongly believe that it is the Federal Governments responsibility to provide proper treatment to those who've served. It's going to be expensive, but Congress needs to fund PTSD treatment at an unprecedented level. Shrub's misguided war is creating new victims every day. We, as a civilized society, need to help these people in order to prevent future tragedies.

Boobie Time

Happy Friday.

Good Job, California

The California Supreme Court steps up for equal rights. Good for them:

California Supreme Court overturns ban on gay marriage

The California Supreme Court has overturned a gay marriage ban in a ruling that would make the nation’s largest state the second one to allow gay and lesbian weddings.

The justices’ 4-3 decision Thursday says domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage. Chief Justice Ron George wrote the opinion.

The city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco’s month long same-sex wedding march.

The case before the court involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Maybe I'm just an old liberal, but I've always seen the gay marriage issue in very simple terms: equal rights. Discrimination is wrong. How consenting adults define their relationships should not be restricted by laws. As with inter-racial marriage decades ago, it's good to see a win for freedom over institutional discrimination.

Do Aliens Believe in Catholics?

I sometimes find "religion", and the whole concept of "believing" perplexing. So the idea of Catholics believing in aliens is confusing me.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VATICAN_ALIENS?SITE=FLSTU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

So, do aliens believe in Catholics?

Mountain Weather

Ah, the joys of mountain living. It's the middle of May, and it's snowing. After a string of sunny, breezy spring days, we're back in winter. That sound you're hearing is the wailing of all the local gardeners who spent last weekend planting.

Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all (I'm not a rethug, so I support MD). I talked with my sainted mother this morning (not that that's unusual; we talk most every Sunday), and she's doing well enough. Mom's had some minor health problems lately (nothing serious), and she's none too happy about it. Her main frustration stems from a surgery to remove rectal polyps, which has precluded her from riding her Harley this spring. At 74 years old, Mom is used to doing what she wants when she wants and physical limitations are not a part of her agenda. Her doc told her she'd have to wait another 4-6 weeks before jumping on the bike, to which she said "that's not acceptable", which is a good general reflection of my mother's attitude toward aging. She intends to behave as if she were still 21, and she expects her body to cooperate. Have I mentioned how much I love my mom? From the Dead shows when I was 9 years old to the Harley today, mom has always rocked. Happy Mother's Day!

(and mom, if you happen to read this, go easy on your poor doctor. He's doing the best he can.)

Even Better Than the Boobie

The title of the article is worth the click:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7390109.stm

Getting Out the Boobie

I know that I haven't posted much lately, but I do get the Friday Boobie out.

Emotional Politics

I haven't been posting much lately, and part of the reason is my level of frustration with the current political discourse. I know that a lot of political success is based on emotion, and passion can be a good thing, but lately it's been getting vicious. The divide amongst liberal political blogs between Obama and Clinton is striking, and to my mind petty. I can say this objectively, as I'll support either one but am enthusiastic about neither. Both are too conservative for my taste, but either would be better than any republican. For the record, I voted for Obama in the primary because my preferred candidates had already dropped out.

The media love emotional divides. They draw eyeballs, so any "gotcha" issues become a media obsession. In depth policy discussions don't sell advertising. With a close race, the media looks for the soap opera emotional drama. It sells.

Amongst the most divisive emotional appeals in the current race is the "identity" politics. We get to see the breakdown by "black", "female", "white", "college educated", and "working class" voters analyzed and parsed, as if each demographic group is a monolithic block without any other identity (I'm not sure that I really fit the "middle-aged white guy" profile) and will vote a certain way based on that identity. The republicans love to encourage these divisions, and I fear that in some cases it may be working. I've been told by an avid Clinton supporter that I'm a chauvinist, and by an equally avid Obama supporter that I'm a racist, because I'm not enthusiastically for either.

Sadly, this is the state of politics in America today. Appeal to the emotion at the expense of the intellect. But derision and division are a poor substitute for substantive policy.

A Nation Shamed

Here's the latest evidence of the moral degradation brought about by shrub's embrace of torture. I suppose that the fact that Sami al-Hajj has been freed is a positive. But the condition of the al-Jazeera photographer upon his return to Sudan speaks volumes about the cruel inhumanity of Guantanamo:

Sami al-Hajj had been in US custody for more than six years. He was detained in Afghanistan in 2001. He arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on a US military plane in the early hours of Friday morning.

After a 16-month hunger strike, Mr Hajj grimaced as he was carried off the plane by US military personnel.

"I have been so overwhelmed with happiness that I've been in tears," he said shortly after his arrival.

"I have every right to cry after I've survived these seven horrid years of humiliation, repression and injustice for no fault on my part apart from being a Muslim."

Al-Jazeera showed footage of Mr Hajj being carried into the hospital on a stretcher, looking frail but smiling and surrounded by well-wishers.

"We are concerned about the way the Americans dealt with Sami, and we are concerned about the way they could deal with others as well," said Wadah Khanfar, managing director of al-Jazeera's Arabic service.

"His detention for six years, without the most basic due process, is a grave injustice and represents a threat to all journalists working in conflict areas," said Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Mr Hajj was working as a cameraman for al-Jazeera when he was arrested by Pakistani troops near the Afghan border in December 2001 and later handed over to the US military.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7378828.stm

I'm outraged. I'm outraged that my country would treat someone this way in violation of international law. I'm outraged that America would hold a journalist for more than six years without evidence. I'm outraged that an innocent man was tortured and abused.

But as much as all of these, I'm outraged that this story will only be noticed by the rest of the world. The American media will ignore the story of a fellow journalist unjustly incarcerated in favor of the latest celebrity scandal or political horse race sound byte. And they wonder why we're losing respect internationally.

Our current president has brought shame and disgrace upon our nation. For this crime, and countless others, he should stand before an international tribunal and face the consequences determined. I know that will only happen after Satan takes up driving a Zamboni, but it would be the only way to restore America's honor.

May's First Boobie

A nice Red Footed Boobie for Friday.

For the Records

Made me laugh.

What a Long Strange Trip its Been

It's a sad day for all of us aging hippies. Dr. Hofmann has left this plane of existence:

Albert Hofmann, 102, a Swiss chemist and accidental father of LSD who came to view the much-vilified and abused hallucinogen he discovered in 1938 as his "problem child," died April 29 at his home in Burg, a village near Basel, Switzerland, after a heart attack.

...

Lysergic acid diethylamide, thousands of times stronger than mescaline, can give its user an experience often described as psychedelic -- a kaleidoscopic twirling of the mind pulsating with color and movement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/29/AR2008042902738.html

My own experience with LSD may be beyond explanation (but I'll try anyway). I grew up in San Francisco, and first dosed at an age too young to admit. I learned early on that psychedelics were more than a simple "high" to be taken for fun, but rather an opening into areas of the mind that are usually filtered out. Aldous Huxley wrote the best description that I've read in "The Doors of Perception." During my High School and College (and Deadhead) years, I considered "tripping" every so often as necessary for my mental health. It helped that I knew a certain Berkeley chemist and could trust the purity, as there was a lot of questionable chemical compounds that were labeled LSD back in the day. One should always be careful what you put into your brain.
Back in the day there were many scare stories about the dangers of LSD, and I've encountered a number of people who had negative results. But I doubt that I'd be the person I am without psychedelics, and in the right time and place I'll still trip. And I'm still waiting for those "flashbacks" that I was promised.
Dr. Hofmann's impact on history and the world would be hard to quantify, but it was significant. He called LSD his "problem child", and was uncomfortable with it's widespread use:

Dr. Hofmann remained wary of LSD's recreational uses as well as its portrayal in the media.

"I was not surprised that it became a ritual drug in the youth anti-establishment movement, but I was shocked by irresponsible use that resulted in mental catastrophes," he told Playboy magazine in 2006. "That's what gave the health authorities a pretext for totally prohibiting its production, possession and use."

The genie can never be put back into the bottle, and the world was forever changed by his chemical discovery.

Endorsements

St. Sleazy picks up the coveted Marxist Polygamist Terrorists, Inc. endorsement:

While some small-minded sorts might claim that it’s wrong to try to hold a candidate responsible for the statements of an organization he’s specifically condemned, John McCain knows better. He realizes that candidates are 100% responsible for everyone who purports to support them, no ifs, ands or buts (Rev. John Hagee, anyone?).

That is, after all, the straight-talking way.

And we here at Marxist Polygamist Terrorists, Inc. couldn’t agree more! And it is in that very spirit that we hereby proudly announce our enthusiastic and unconditional endorsement of John McCain for President of the United States!

We want to make it very clear where Marxist polygamist terrorists stand in this election! And where we stand is squarely behind John McCain!

So, as Big John McCain would put it himself . . . If Senator McCain is favored by Marxist polygamist terrorists I think people can make judgments accordingly.

http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=1350

Spead the word!
(h/t Gordon for the link)

It Figures

Life is full of minor aggravations and frustrations. By a certain age, we learn to cope with this.

This time it's shrub's tax rebates.

While I think that the rebate plan is really bad fiscal policy, my personal finances can use the help. I've been scraping by over the past few months, but barely, so the extra cash would be welcome. And while I had some guilty feelings about it when shrub announced that the money would be going out early, I was looking forward to the cash.

There's only one minor catch. The rebates are being processed and distributed in the order of the last two digits of your social security number. The last two digits of mine are in the high 90's, so I'm at the end of the list. If the distribution were in alphabetical order, I'd be at the front. It's not a huge deal, as I'm sure that I'll need the money later as much as I do now, but it's an aggravation when you get your hopes up only to have them frustrated.

Not that it's the worst aggravation that I've suffered at the hands of shrub.