Kyl Has Priorities

My dumber senator (truly) has his priorities. For instance, along with every other thing on the internet, he doesn’t like online gambling very much. Which is OK; I like online gambling, but I don't have a bunch of casinos lobbying me; simple corruption I can understand. But Jon "I Hate Government" Kyl is using this as an excuse to put a "hold" on a bunch of Treasury nominees. Per Matt Yglesias:

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) evidently doesn’t like online gambling very much, and in 2006, he helped craft a law banning the processing of online wagers. The law and its corresponding regulations were supposed to go into effect last month, but the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve pushed back the start-date until June.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is your modern United States Senate. If there’s some random crap that nobody cares about, it just takes one Senator with a bee in his bonnet to ruin everything for everyone who would like to live in a country with
a properly administered government. There are six Treasury nominees still awaiting action being held up by Kyl.

You might think it would be a good idea to have an Under Secretary for International Affairs. Kyl disagrees. You might think it would be a good idea to have an Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. Kyl disagrees. You might think it would be a good idea to have an Assistant Secretary for International Markets and Development. Kyl disagrees. You might think it would be a good idea to have an Assistant Secretary for International Economics and Development. Kyl disagrees. You might think it would be a good idea to have an Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets. Kyl disagrees. You might think it would be a good idea to have an Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. Kyl disagrees.

This kind of thing really has to stop, it’s a ludicrous way to run a country. Amidst a global economic meltdown, we can’t get confirmation for the international economics officials. Not because the senate has a problem with them, but because one guy isn’t happy with the delay of some internet gambling regulations.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/01/while-economy-burns-jon-kyl-blocking-treasury-nominees-over-petty-bs.php

I'm of a simple mind: we're in an economic crises, I have no idea how to fix it, but I want more people working to solve the problem. Not saying Treasury should be trusted too far, but they should be allowed to have a full toolbox for the attempt.
And that is the crux of the debate: the dems govern poorly, while the rethugs are against governing at all. It's a lousy choice, but those are the only options at this time.
I don't particularly like Timmy G., but I'd rather he had a full team while tackling our current mess. I'd even give up my online football bets (which have done me well) to have a barely functional government.

Why Is The Bird Grumpy?

For reasons that are entirely unclear to me, Grizelda (my bird) woke up in a bad mood today. Most days, when I let her out of her cage in the morning she perches by the heater and chatters at the sunrise. Not today. Today she started by attacking the computer mouse (a behavior I thought I had broken her of) and then attempting to shred and toss a pile of paperwork that I should be working on. Then it was the speaker wires that became her target. She's been loudly complaining about my putting a stop to her path of destruction, like a small child throwing a tantrum. I finally had to put her back into her cage for a "time out".

She's normally a very sweet, well behaved bird. I have no idea why she's in such a bad mood today, as everything in her world (food, water, treats) is the same as every other day. No signs of anything wrong with her health; I checked her out to see if there was anything physically wrong and found her to be extremely healthy. So why is she so grumpy today?

Added: Let back out about an hour later, she's her normal sweet self.

The Absurdity of St. Sleazy

Clearly St. Sleazy McCain is feeling threatened by the potential primary from J.D. "the eggplant" Hayworth (yes, that's my new pet nickname for him). St. Sleazy has decided to channel his 'inner warrior' in two new radio ads:

"President Obama is leading an extreme, left wing crusade to bankrupt America. I stand in his way every day. If I get a bruise or two knocking some sense into heads in Washington, so be it. I'll keep fighting for jobs and economic growth for Arizona as long as I'm in the Senate," McCain says in one of them.

"My lot in life has been to wage war against wrong, like today's massive spending at the worst possible time," he says in the other. A narrator calls McCain "Arizona's last line of defense" against Obama's agenda and says McCain leads the charge against "ridiculously unaffordable ideas like government-run health care." Conveniently for the McCain campaign, it appears that the only place to listen to the ads, other than Arizona radio stations, is here, on the campaign's contribution-form web page.

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2010/01/mccain_i_stand_in_obamas_way.php

Damn, but that's some absurdest theater! Somehow, Obama is an extremist liberal (which is news to most of us on the left) who can only be stopped by the bruised tough-guy geriatric hero, St. Sleazy himself. While I'm sure these ads will appeal to the base, to me sounds even more delusional and senile than he did during his presidential run, and that's saying something. Watch for J.D. "the eggplant" to put out even more extreme 'tough-guy' ads in response, which could be entertaining if it weren't for the sad absurdity that one of these wackos will probably end up being senator.

Boobies I Should Have Noticed

Don't know why it took me so long to find and post this one, but it's here now. Enjoy.

The Retirement

(Baseball post; non-fans can skip)

Randy Johnson has announced his retirement, ending a career of the pitcher who, in my opinion, was the most entertaining to watch over the past 22 years. I lived up in Washington state when the Mariners first acquired the young Johnson (from the Expos), and the first time I saw him pitch, my reaction was "Oh, my...if this guy learns to throw strikes, he'll be one of the greatest. If he doesn't, he's gonna kill somebody." He learned (although he did kill a bird with a pitch).
For those unfamiliar with "RJ" or "the big unit" as he was nicknamed, he was simply intimidating as a pitcher. A 6'11" lefthander with a 100mph fastball and a menacing stare, he overpowered batters. Baseball statistics are a matter of near religious reverence amongst fans, and Johnson's numbers put him in the all-time greats: 303 wins (24th), 4,875 strikeouts (2nd all-time, 1,700 ahead of #3), 5 Cy Young awards, 10 all-star appearances, 2 no-hitters (1 a perfect game) and a world series co-MVP. Automatic 'Hall-of-Fame" in 5 years.
In 2001, Johnson lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a World Series championship, blowing away the hated Yankees. He ended his career by pitching last season for my beloved San Francisco Giants.
I've been a Baseball fan my whole life, and I've seen some of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. Johnson was among them, and the game will miss him.

Oh, yeah...a couple of Senators are also retiring. But neither Dodd nor Dorgan ever won a Cy Young or a World Series. I suppose they both threw a few curve balls in their careers, though.

Like A Steele Trap

Republican party chairman Michael Steele follows up on his success with African-Americans and Hispanics by reaching out to Native Americans:

Our platform is one of the best political documents that’s been written in the last 25 years. Honest Injun on that.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/05/steele-injun/

One of the Democrats best assets is having Steele speaking for republicans.

TSA Almost Succeeds

in protecting America from Joan Rivers:

The New York Daily News reports that comedian Joan Rivers was among the many travelers to get snared in the heightened-security frenzy that overtook airports after the December 25th failed terrorist attack. Rivers wasn’t allowed on her Newark-bound flight in Costa Rica this past weekend by a “jittery Continental Airlines gate agent” who thought the two names on her passport, which reads “Joan Rosenberg AKA Joan Rivers,” seemed “fishy.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/05/joan-rivers-airport/

Now, I don't think Ms. Rivers is a terrorist. But she's not funny, and she's the kind of celebrity that we have way too many of. As a country, we really don't need Joan Rivers back. I can only assume that the powerful cosmetic surgery industry successfully lobbied for her return.

The Entertainment Value of a Train Wreck

I've been in the 'political doldrums' lately, watching with intense disinterest as the dysfunctional process loudly fails to serve the public. I frequently find myself wondering how much worse it will get.
Here in Arizona, we get the honor of being represented by two of the worst examples of rethuglican obstructionism in the senate, Jon "I hate government" Kyl and St. Sleazy "Keating Five who?" McCain, which is bad enough. But the 'even further right' rethugs are serious about electing an even worse senator:

Fourteen months ago, John McCain was his party's nominee for president. But, now, as the 2010 midterms loom, the senior Senator from Arizona may find himself locked in a primary battle to hold on to his seat -- and he could be vulnerable.

Last week, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) signaled on his radio show that he's getting closer and closer to a run at McCain's seat. "We may have moved past due diligence into something that is more than a legal term of art ... something called 'testing the waters.' So stay tuned on that," Hayworth said.

Hayworth is popular with the conservative base because he was a leading right-wing voice in Congress on immigration, until he lost his seat in 2006. (Since then, Hayworth has hosted a talk radio show in Arizona.) McCain has traditionally struggled with this voting bloc, largely because of his past moderate positions on illegal immigration.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/why-the-political-deck-in-arizona-might-be-stacked-against-john-mccain.php?ref=fpa

As much as I dislike St. Sleazy, I cannot imagine a worse senator than J.D. Hayworth. J.D. is a blow-dried sportscaster with the intellectual capacity of an eggplant. He'll spout the right talking points on "god, guns, and gays", but his pet issue is 'immigration'; he really hates brown people. He's upset that there are "mexicans" in Arizona (J.D. don't know much history).
And he could win:

If McCain faces a primary challenge from Hayworth, McCain could be at a distinct disadvantage because of his state's election laws -- namely the closed primary, which allows only registered Republicans to choose the GOP's nominee.

Voting registration figures in Arizona through last spring show that Republicans, Democrats, and independents and minor parties all take about a third of registered voters. McCain has traditionally had a strong appeal with the state's independents -- but they can't vote in the GOP primary, leaving a heavily conservative, anti-illegal immigration base to choose the nominee.

So far, there is no credible democrat running. So if J.D. wins the primary, he could win in the general.

01022010

Happy "numerical palindrome day."

New Year's Boobie

Flying into 2010.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year to you!

And Happy Birthday to me. 51. Funny, I don't feel older.

Goodbye, 2009...and Good Riddance

Note: this post contains an excess of personal whining. Please feel free to skip reading it.
2009 was, for me, a year of pain. In fact, by far the most painful year of my life. On the first day of the year, my 50th birthday, I slipped on an icy hill and suffered a double compound fracture of my right humerus. Surgery, a metal plate, and eight days in the hospital are a lousy way to start a year, trust me.
On January 23rd, my Mother passed away. For those who never new my Mom, she was a character of almost mythological proportions. She called herself a "faded flower-child" but she was tougher than the average nail. Although she battled cancer for 16 years, she was still riding her Harley a few weeks before she died. The last thing she said to me was "I'm not old enough to have a child your age." Spending the last days by her bedside, I went through more emotional pain than I could have imagined.
And the plate in my shoulder/arm worked loose. So I got to have a second surgery, and gained a second plate. Also, a lump was discovered in my right lung. It was non-cancerous, but having it removed was another surgery, and caused another painful process.
Are you sensing a theme here? I spent my spring in extensive physical therapy, which is supposed to be good for you but feels like a violation of the Geneva Conventions, three times a week.
By June, I thought my shoulder had recovered enough to attempt a small river trip. It hadn't. I ended up with an inflamed labrum in my rotator cuff. Six more weeks of serious pain.
Just to insure that the year finished in pain, I developed an Inguinal Hernia (actually, two. But only one hurt prior to surgery). So earlier this month, I had Bi-Lateral Inguinal Hernia repair surgery. I'm rehabbing steadily, but it still hurts to move.
And I still need surgery on my right knee sometime in the future. I think I'll hold off as long as possible.
Throughout all of this I've had prescription pain medications available, but I don't like taking pain pills because I like pain medications way too much for my own good. I've gone through addiction in my past, and I refuse to go back. So I'm willing to live with a certain level of pain. It's the better alternative, even though the plates in my arm are an effective barometer.
I did have some good times in 2009. River trips in June, July, and October; multiple concerts by Widespread Panic, Stockholm Syndrome, Jerry Joseph and more; good friends (and I do have some of the greatest friends imaginable) and gaining a silly little bird (she thinks she's important). I shouldn't whine; my life is full, and mostly happy.
So I'm happy to say 'goodbye' to 2009, a year that had way too much pain.

5,000 Years in 90 Seconds

Via Ellroon at Rants From The Rookery, here's a very Cool map of the rise and fall of empires across the Middle East over the past 5,000 years. History is not kind.

The Frightened Senator

Aw, my worst senator (yes, I think he's even worse than St. Sleazy McCain) Jon Kyl is scared:

Sen. Jon Kyl said he doesn't "feel totally safe" with Janet Napolitano at the helm of the Department of Homeland Security, given that agency's handling of the attempt to blow up a Detroit bound airliner.

"I don't feel totally safe" Kyl said.

http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/state-and-regional/article_4ba5a284-e5a8-5a14-aca8-2106b6952207.html

Poor senator Kyl doesn't feel safe in the world because terrorists still exist. In short, the terrorists have achieved their goal with him: he's terrorized.
Jon, I want to let you in on a little secret: life isn't safe, and it always ends up with dying. Man up, grow some stones, and realize that, as a senator, you're supposed to show a little courage. OK, I know you're a rethug and fear is your marketing strategy, but you're acting like a whiny child faced with a bully instead of some sort of leader. You don't feel safe? Maybe you should stay home with your mommy.
(added slogan: "you're 99% safe everywhere, you're not 100% safe anywhere")

Adjusting the Attitude

Sweaterman and I were discussing the issues I focused on in my last post, and he made some very salient points:
That the issue may be less one of "competence" than one of "attitude"; that the American mind set used to be one of "can do", but the current attitude is "no can do". That is that we used to believe in our abilities to change the world, but at some point the problems became accepted and insolvable. FUBAR became the accepted status quo.
And then Sweaterman asked the gazillion dollar question: "how do we change that attitude?".
I certainly don't have an answer. I know that I don't expect Obama (or any other 'leader') to make the changes we need. It has to come from within; we need to believe we can change and improve our society if we're going to fix anything.
So I'm passing Sweaterman's question on to you: "how do we change that attitude, from 'can't do' to 'can do'?"

The Tragic Death of American Competence

The following may just be the grouchy ranting of an old curmudgeon, but I'm angry about the loss of "American Competence" that seems to be more pervasive in recent years. As I read the media's "end of decade" stories (they can't even get that right; the decade ends at the end of next year. Count it off with me: 1 to 10, not 0 to 9. Thank you.) there is a repeating theme of failure; of all the things we "cannot" do.
The most glaring example is our dysfunctional government. Regular readers know that I tend to blame the conservatives for this, but there's plenty of blame to be shared. In principle, government is the means of maintaining a functional society. Maintaining the rules (laws) and ensuring the basic services (roads, etc.) while providing security (military) for the populace as a whole. But politics is sometimes the enemy of good government, and the struggle to hold power has reduced the focus from substance to image. The goal has become re-election rather than achieving solutions to problems.
The most recent example, the health care reform debacle: the problem is rather simple; over 3 million Americans lack access to health care, and roughly 45,000 per year die as a result. So a simple solution would be to create a program to provide health care to those people (yeah, that's the public option) efficiently. But that's not the way our government works. Instead, corporate lobbyists spread millions, and partisan hacks spread misleading talking points in order to enrich themselves. We're told that real reform is "impossible"; we lack the competence to provide working health care for all (despite the fact that the rest of the modern world seems capable of doing it.)
This country needs a modern energy infrastructure, not the fifty year old system we currently have. Even if you want to deny climate change, what's so bad about reducing pollution, energy costs, and dependence on foreign oil? And the technology to address the problem is readily available. Here's one simple example: look at all those long distance overhead power lines, and realize that they lose 8% to 25% (depending on distance and age) of the electricity passing along them. Simply replacing them with modern insulated lines would bring the loss down below 2% (and create a lot of jobs; replacing that much wire is rather labor intensive), saving the country billions annually. While the project wouldn't be cheap, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than invading Iraq. But we're too incompetent and complacent to take up such grand projects. It's the same in alternative energy: we're falling behind Europe and Asia in wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal energy generation. A wind farm being built in this state will use windmill generators built in China. Why? Because we "can't" manufacture them here.
America has the largest, most powerful (and most expensive) military in the history of the planet, but after eight years we are still stuck in wars with no "victory" in sight. I admit that because our war is with a verb, "terror", it's hard to know what "victory" would be, but one would think that after 8 years and roughly 1.5 trillion dollars, a competent military would be able to defeat a small group of fanatics. America isn't even competent at war anymore.
I grew up with a certain ideal of American greatness; "exceptionalism" if you wish. Forty years ago, we put a man on the moon. We can't do that now. We built the greatest cars, the finest machines, and the most innovative technologies then. Now we build celebrities, although most of them do nothing worth celebrating.

There was a recent report that 12% of American drinking water is contaminated, and almost every month brings news of a food contamination. Modern, competent civilizations should be able to ensure safe food and water, but America can't anymore. Why?
As American industry is dying, we're spreading billions of bytes of information across the internet every hour. But it seems that most of it is spent spreading "LOL cats" and such, rather than building anything. I suppose that's something; we're still competent at entertainment. America may be dying, but at least we'll be amused.
This probably sounds like the grumblings of a grouchy old man about the "good old days", but it's not meant to be. The "old days" had plenty of problems; the difference is that we had a belief that we were competent enough to solve those problems. That belief seems to be gone now. Now we believe in all the reasons that we can't solve problems.

Playing the Blame Game

(graphic from What Would Jack Do)

In the case of the "underwear bomber", the time for action has passed, and now is the time to find someone to blame. So the most obvious person to blame would be the TSA director, right?
Except for one minor detail...there is no head of the TSA. South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint has a hold on the appointment of a TSA chief.
Just another example of the rethugs decision that the best way to oppose Obama is to prevent the government from functioning any way that they can. They're perfectly happy to sacrifice the safety of air travelers if it will score them a few political points. Hell, they don't care how many Americans die in their quest to make Obama look like a failure. Refusing to confirm his appointments is one of their favorite tactics. While I'm not sold on the effectiveness of the TSA, the lack of a director certainly doesn't help.
It's one thing to have a difference of opinion, and oppose policies with which you disagree. But it's quite another thing to try to destroy the government in a fit of pique. The current rethuglican party are terrorist enablers, if not actually terrorists.

Glad I'm Not Flying Anytime Soon

After the "shoe bomber" made his attempt, we're all required to remove our shoes for inspection prior to boarding a plane...
Now we have the "underwear bomber"...

A Low-Key Christmas

Compared with Christmas memories, this year's will be rather quiet for me. No family gathering, no fancy gifts (although I did buy myself a refrigerator to replace the tiny dying one), no festive decorations. I'll be getting together with a few friends later today to hoist a few mugs of cheer, but we frequently do that regardless of holidays. I am enjoying Egg Nog (with a little brandy), which is one of my favorite holiday treats. But that's about it for Christmas 2009.

Christmas traditions haven't been the same since my Father passed away. While my Mom tried to carry on the traditions, she never had the enthusiasm for Christmas that Dad had. Perhaps it was because he grew up in poverty, but Dad embraced Christmas as a spectacle and embraced every extravagance that he possibly could indulge. The grandest decorations, the most indulgent cuisine, and (as much as possible) the most heartfelt gifts were Dad's delight. He also, despite being a lifelong republican, loved making charitable contributions. The salvation army, food banks, and homeless shelters all received the benefits of Dad's seasonal largess. Dad was never wealthy, but his heart was rich.

My Mom was also a very generous soul, but she never quite had the enthusiasm for Christmas that Dad had. The family gatherings after Dad's passing were still warm and loving, but not the "celebration" of years prior. Now that Mom has passed (first Christmas without her; don't mean to be maudlin) the remaining family didn't even have the urge to gather. While both of my sisters invited me to join them for the holidays, it was more an act of formality than a heartfelt "we want to be together". Because I'm still recovering from surgery, I was able to politely decline and save us all the awkward moments.

I'm grateful that this year I'm in a position to make some charitable gifts, and I'm happy to have done so. Having spent so many years in poverty myself, it feels really good to be able to share. So that's been my gift giving this year. What otherwise might be a melancholy Christmas feels a little warmer in knowing that I've tried to give to folks what and where I can, and I may not be done yet. I think I'll spend part of my afternoon looking for homeless folk in need of a little cheer. It's the least I can do.

(and then I'll watch some football; yeah, I'm that shallow)

Here's wishing you and yours a warm happy holiday!

Boobies for Christmas

Because there's no better way to celebrate than with a pair of bouncing Boobies. May I be the first to wish you a Merry "Boobie-mas"?