A Local Tragedy

OK, it's not really a tragedy, but it feels like one. My favorite local microbrewery is no more. Mogollon has been sold, and will be turning into a typical bar. It's a minor event compared to all the real problems in the world, but it's a real loss in my personal world.






For over ten years, Mogollon has been a fixture in my life. A friendly place where local folk debate politics over beer, and tourists from all over the world are welcome. All the co-bloggers here at Pygalgia are regular patrons. Mogollon always felt more like a community than a bar, having that "Cheers" sense of "everybody knows your name." The funky, rustic decor was a fitting home for a mixed clientele of river runners, laborers, aging hippies, professionals, veterans, artists, and musicians. And Mogollon had another special attraction:




The beer. Put simply, the guys at Mogollon make the finest of hand crafted ales. These are full-bodied brews that are meant to be appreciated. My personal favorite (and official beer of this blog), the "Horny Toad IPA", is about as good an India Pale Ale as you'll ever find. The aggressive hoppiness isn't for the faint of heart, but Zymurgian, Sweaterman, Gandhisxmas, and I are all fans of sophisticated brew. I'm still coming to grips with the very real possibility that this may be the very last batch, as between the changes and the world wide hop shortage, there are currently no plans to brew any more.
Changes happen in our lives. The bar has been sold to new owners who hope to attract a younger, more upscale clientele. The brewing operation is moving and becoming a subsidiary of a major distributor, and will be focusing on larger scale production of fewer styles.
There are other bars and other microbreweries in the neighborhood, and life will go on. But none will be a real substitute. Mogollon has been a special place for more than ten years; a haven of sanity in a time of madness. When the sign comes down at the end of this month it will be the end of a local fixture. I wont be alone in my grief.

A Pair of Boobies

At least I posted the Friday boobies.

Five Years

Next week we'll mark five years of fun and adventure in Iraq. Half a decade wasted on a really bad idea, with no signs of improvement. Real soldiers are still dying:

Guerrillas fired rockets at a US base south of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 3 US soldiers and wounding 2. An Iraqi civilian was also wounded.

A US soldier was killed and another wounded at Diwaniya on Tuesday by a roadside bomb (that is Shiite territory). So the death toll for Monday through Wednesday was fifteen US troops killed.

If you’re reading these words, you are better informed about US casualties in Iraq than most Americans, for whom it has become a forgotten war. If it is not on television, it does not exist.

http://www.juancole.com/

And here's a brief reminder that this war was started based on lies:

ABC News has requested and obtained a copy of the Pentagon study which shows Saddam Hussein had no links to Al Qaeda.

(READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.)

It's government report the White House didn't want you to read: yesterday the Pentagon canceled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's availability and didn't make the report available via email or online.

Based on the analysis of some 600,000 official Iraqi documents seized by US forces after the invasion and thousands of hours of interrogations of former officials in Saddam's government now in US custody, the government report is the first official acknowledgment from the US military that there is no evidence Saddam had ties to al Qaeda.

The Bush administration apparently didn't want the study to get any attention. The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website yesterday, followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more. The report was made available to those who asked for it, and was sent via overnight mail from Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.

Asked yesterday why the report would not be posted online and could not be emailed, the spokesman for Joint Forces Command said: "We're making the report available to anyone who wishes to have it, and we'll send it out via CD in the mail."

Another Pentagon official said initial press reports on the study made it "too politically sensitive."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/rapidreport/2008/03/report-shows-no.html

It's easy to understand why the administration wouldn't want the public to be reminded that Saddam had no ties to al Qaeda. What's harder for me to understand is how they keep getting away with it.

I haven't posted much lately in part due to my frustration. I wish I could be "live blogging" impeachment hearings.

Family Values

The story of my corrupt congress crtitter Rick Renzi just keeps getting better:

Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., allegedly defrauded dozens of pro-life organizations for hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund his first congressional bid, according to an analysis of the recent indictment against him, a state insurance claim and an interview with an insurance lawyer involved in the case.

When federal prosecutors indicted Renzi, 49, on 35 felony counts two weeks ago, many reports focused on alleged crimes stemming from a complicated series of land swaps the congressman facilitated.

But the indictment also accuses Renzi, who ran an insurance firm before coming to Capitol Hill, of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums and using the money to fund his congressional campaign.

Organizations such as Arizona Right-to-Life, the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center and the Wickenburg Pregnancy Resource Center paid insurance premiums to Renzi's insurance firm, Renzi & Company, but received notices their insurance coverage was going to be cancelled for nonpayment, according to a 2003 complaint filed with the State of Arizona. The complaint was first reported by the Phoenix New Times.

According to the indictment, Renzi funneled those payments -- totaling more than $400,000 -- through various accounts and finally to his campaign.

Nothing says "family values" quite like stealing from your "pro-life" supporters. This should enhance his role in the campaign of "straight shooter" McCain:

For Clinton detractors, Norman Hsu is a huge deal. For Obama detractors, Tony Rezko is incredibly important. But where does Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), a member of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) National Leadership Team and a co-chair of his Arizona Leadership Team, fit into the mix?

Renzi was, of course, recently indicted on felony counts of extortion, wire fraud, and money laundering, among other transgressions. Despite the charges, McCain hasn’t distanced himself from Renzi at all, saying he doesn’t know the “details” of the indictment, so he won’t criticize his political ally. McCain wouldn’t even comment on whether Renzi would remain a part of his campaign leadership, saying the issue “doesn’t matter.”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14824.html#more-14824

Rick, your ongoing crimes have earned you another pig:

National Shame

What country did I wake up in today? Shrub is telling the world "yeah, we engage in torture. And we're gonna torture more people." OK, he didn't say it that clearly. Here's what he said:

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday he vetoed legislation that would ban the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods such as waterboarding to break suspected terrorists because it would end practices that have prevented attacks.

"The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror," Bush said in his weekly radio address taped for broadcast Saturday. "So today I vetoed it," Bush said. The bill provides guidelines for intelligence activities for the year and includes the interrogation requirement. It passed the House in December and the Senate last month.

"This is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven track record of keeping America safe," the president said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_torture

This is an outrage beyond measure. Waterboarding is a violation of international law, and basic human decency. For an American president to embrace and advocate brutality is unthinkable. Yet here we are. Shrub has taken a stand against basic human rights, and it looks like no one is going to stop him. In a just and decent America he would be impeached, arrested, and jailed for crimes such as torture. But he's getting away with it.

Today America is a nation shamed.

Must Be Friday

The Friday boobie.

It's McCain

The 'thugs have their candidate in John McCain, and he's going to have another hug with shrub today. McCain has already picked up the media endorsement, being characterized as the "maverick straight shooter" despite his pandering, corruption, and war mongering. What is really scary is that he stands a very good chance of winning, giving us four years of shrub on steroids.

I admit that I have really strong anti-McCain feelings. He's from my state, so I see a lot of him. I think he's going senile, and the droop of the right side of his face looks like a symptom of a stroke or other brain injury. Given that he's already promised America "more wars", and his commitment to staying in Iraq, he strikes me as the worst possible choice.

And he might win.

(BTW, sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've had a lack of anything original to say or energy to say it. Maybe McCain can motivate me into a state of blogger outrage.)

Brilliantly Wrong

I meant to put out a comment on the passing of William F. Buckley, the "father" of "modern conservatism", earlier. I'm just now getting to it.
Buckley was a major part of all that is wrong with conservative philosophy. Born to a life of wealth and privilege, he saw no need for government services or a social safety net. In Buckley's world, people who were poor deserved their lot. The free market could operate better without government regulation. Wars of ideas (against "ism's") should be fought frequently, using real soldiers. He saw "elitism" as a virtue rather than a vice.
His eloquent words influenced and inspired Goldwater, Reagan, and the current mob of anti-government conservatives that are ruining this country. He may have been brilliant, but he was wrong. Brilliantly wrong. We've been paying for his wrongness for decades, with no end in sight.

Leap Day Boobie

Happy "Leap Day." Every four years, we add one day to the calendar and the use that extra day to hold the Olympics and a presidential election. Imagine what we could cram into an extra week.

You Tell 'Em, Shrub

Our glorious shrub, always immune to irony, tells Turkey how to handle Iraq:

On another issue, Bush said that Turkey's offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq should be limited — and should end as soon as possible. The ongoing fighting has put the United States in a touchy position, as it is close allies with both Iraq and Turkey. A long offensive along their border could jeopardize security in Iraq just as the U.S. is trying to stabilize the war-wracked country.

"The Turks need to move, move quickly, achieve their objective and get out," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

I guess there isn't room for two long term occupations in Iraq. If only some one could tell shrub to "get out."

To Add More Sobering News...

...to an already sober nation, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the FDIC is bracing for bank failures.

"Regulators are bracing for well over 100 bank failures in the next 12 to 24 months, with concentrations in Rust Belt states like Michigan and Ohio, and the states that are suffering severe housing-market problems like California, Florida, and Georgia," said Jaret Seiberg, Washington policy analyst for financial-services firm Stanford Group.

(h/t to Bonddad and Calculated Risk)

Now, bank failures currently are at historically stable levels and the FDIC is currently able to handle the few (it's about 5 or so) failures a year.

However, it's very ominous when they're trying to hire back retired employees who specialize in banking failures, as well as new employees to take care of this.

Additionally, the article states that the FDIC has approximately $52 billion dollars set aside for bank failure coverage; that sounds like a lot, but if a big bank like Citi has to get a total bailout from the FDIC, that $52 billion would be gone, just like that (some scuttlebutt is that Citi is in trouble, and if things get worse, could need all that cash just for itself). And, if a big bank like Citi lets go, other large banking institutions might follow, only the FDIC wouldn't have any cash on hand to safeguard depositors funds at those institutions.

So, what to do?

First, don't panic. I'm sure that the banking institutions are doing enough of that themselves; your panic isn't going to help when it is added to theirs.

Second, check on the health of your bank. If it is FDIC insured, you can pull a CALL report on it, but be aware, you really need to be a finance type to make heads or tails of the verbiage.

Or, you can try bankrate.com, which gives a 1 - 5 rating system (5 is best, 1 is worst), which shows my bank, the lovely B of A, sitting right in the middle at 3. Bankrate.com also ranks Credit Unions too, as does ncua.gov (look in the Credit Union data area).

And, as many folks are finding out, mutual funds can be risky too. You can do some data analysis here: http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/SEC/SEC_Survey.asp?x=NQ

Think seriously about your current and near-future spending (say, through 2008). Now might not be the time to plunk down a big chunk of cash on a non-necessity item, especially with inflation soaring. Instead, you might want to think about taking some of the cash out for liquidity's sake and either bury it in your backyard, stuff it under the mattress, or put it in a safe. If it makes you feel better, gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals usually hold value better than greenbacks do, and will probably continue to do so, especially if oil keeps rising (it will) and the dollar keeps sliding down in value (it will, even if we have a "strong dollar" policy). And, obviously, if you go this route, don't forget where you hid the stuff and make sure you can keep & defend it.

Remember, the article says that the FDIC expects "well over 100 bank failures in the next 12 to 24 months." Usually these are smaller, regional banks, but there is no reason it can't be one of the majors. Given the further collapse of the housing market (from today's news) and the fact that it will continue falling for the next 24 months or so, it's possible that one of the majors may take a hit, although Helicopter Ben will be doing his best to prevent that from happening to the big institutions.

And finally, think seriously about growing some of your own food. Not only is it an interesting and fun project, but you may appreciate it later in the year if prices go higher.

Happy Birthday, Big Ditch

On this day in 1919, the Grand Canyon became Grand Canyon National Park. There's a joke line that we boatmen use; "once you've seen one Grand Canyon, you've seen them all." I became enthralled with the Canyon years ago, and rafting the Colorado River through it is one of my greatest loves, so I'm one of the folks fighting against renewed uranium mining in the area. The Canyon is scheduled for flooding March 4th-6th, which helps restore river banks and benefits native species, so this should be a good year for rafting.

Grand Canyon National Park is truly a national treasure, well worth preserving. If you haven't visited it, I would urge you to.

Renzi Wont Go

Oh joy, our corrupt congress critter, Rick Renzi, says he wont resign in the face of his corruption indictments:

Representative Rick Renzi, the Arizona Republican who was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on 35 corruption charges, issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not resign despite signals from Republican leaders in Congress that they would welcome his swift departure.

“I will not resign and take on the cloak of guilt because I am innocent,” Mr. Renzi declared in the statement. “My legal team of Reid Weingarten and Kelly Kramer will handle these legal issues whileI continue to serve my constituents.”

A grand jury last week indicted Mr. Renzi on a raft of corruption charges, including fraud, money laundering and extortion. Prosecutors charged that Mr. Renzi pressured constituents to purchase land from his business partner in exchange for his support for legislation that the constituents needed. At least $733,000 in proceeds from the land sale were funneled back to Mr. Renzi, according to the indictment.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/renzi-says-he-wont-resign/

Actually, I'm kind of glad he's not resigning. If he resigns prior to May 4th, there will be a special election to fill the remainder of his term, which could help a Republican candidate gain recognition. By staying, he remains a great symbol of the Republican "culture of corruption" which should help Democrats.

The next question should be about Renzi's role as co-chairmen of John McCain's Arizona campaign. It sounds like he'll be quietly leaving:

Mr. Renzi had been serving as a Arizona state co-chairman of Senator John McCain’s campaign for president. But Mr. McCain has indicated that Mr. Renzi would be resigning that post.

Tying McCain's questionable ethics to Renzi's criminal indictment seems to be a good strategy going forward.

Slacker Boobie

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. I've been slacking and distracted. But here's the Friday boobie for you.

Renzi Indicted

As Sweaterman noted, our dear corrupt congress critter, Rick Renzi, has finally been indicted. Time for a tattoo'd pig:

PHOENIX -- Northern Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi was indicted today on charges of extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other matters in a scam involving an Arizona land swap.

The 26-page indictment says the scam allegedly helped Renzi collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs.

The indictment accuses Renzi and a former business partner of extortion and conspiring to promote the sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal government.

The indictment says that as part of the alleged scam, Renzi and James Sandlin concealed at least $733,000 that the congressman took for helping seal the land deals.

Renzi and another business partner, Andrew Beardall, are accused of embezzling more than $400,000 in insurance premiums to fund Renz's first congressional campaign.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/phoenix_local_news_022208_rick-renzi-indicted.19657e99.html

Long overdue, probably obstructed by the Gonzalez justice department, Renzi's going to face charges. He's been a "congressman for sale" from the beginning, and we'll be glad to be rid of him. In a way it bothers me that it's taken so long to charge him, as his crimes were obvious and well known. Renzi is a classic example of Republican values, soliciting bribes to support his 12 children. I really hope he ends up doing time.

Breaking from CNN...

....and more to come, I'm sure:

Rick Renzi (R-AZ) indicted.

"Conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, insurance fraud, criminal forfeiture." (from CNN TV)

Py, it looks like you're going to have to go with a picture of the swine today instead of the boobies.

Morning Surprise

I hadn't expected to wake up to this:

MEXICO CITY — Fidel Castro stepped down Tuesday morning as the president of Cuba after a long illness, ending one of the longest tenures as an all-powerful,
communist head of state in the world, according to Granma, the official publication of the Cuban Communist Party.

Now, just days before the national assembly is to meet to select a new head of state, Mr. Castro resigned permanently in a letter to the nation and signaled his willingness to let a younger generation assume power. He said his failing health made it impossible to return as president.

“I will not aspire to neither will I accept — I repeat I will not aspire to neither will I accept — the position of President of the Council of State and Commander in chief,” he wrote.

He added: “It would betray my conscience to occupy a responsibility that requires mobility and the total commitment that I am not in the physical condition to offer."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world/americas/19castro.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Fidel Castro has been in power almost as long as I've been alive, the symbolic demon of the "evil communist empire" only 90 miles away. Almost 50 years of confrontation and sanctions did little to change Castro, and instead only hurt the Cuban people. He did supply the right wing with a reliable "whipping boy"; the "bad guy" that inspired a lot of tough talk. While Castro certainly bears his share of responsibility, America's Cuba policy has been stubbornly wrongheaded for years.

With his brother taking power, don't expect any major change in relations soon. But there is hope for a normal relationship in the future. My main hope is that America doesn't try to to meddle or maniputlate Cuba. We've tried that in Haiti.

(p.s. Watch shrub try to take credit for this "foreign policy success" in a coming speech.)

The Rules of the Game

Just to insure a good controversy, the Democratic nomination will come down to "super-delegates", regardless of the remaining primaries. Even if one of candidates had a clean sweep (which wont happen), they wouldn't have enough delegates for a first ballot nomination.
Judging by my email, neither side is happy about this. "Let the voters decide" is the mantra.
Except that this is the direct result of the Democratic party primary rules. Rules so convoluted that even the experts disagree on what the current score is (each of the major networks show a different total delegate count).
The Republicans have a nice, simple scoring system: "winner take all." That's it. Like Baseball, the score is settled and the game is either a win or a loss.
The Democratic scoring system is more like Olympic gymnastics (or figure skating). Rules vary by state, and points (delegates) are awarded on a variety of criteria. So candidate "A" scores points for nailing certain moves (say, districts), while candidate "B" ends with a higher score for the round. Nevada is a classic example of the Democratic muddle, where Clinton won the state overall, but Obama won more delegates.
So the Democratic party, in their infinate wisdom, created "super" delegates to make sure that the final score was "fair." But the super delegates are like the "Austrian" judge in gymnastics: they're suspected of being biased. Their motivation and integrity are in question.
Whoever ends up as the Democraric nominee will be seen as tainted by the opposition, because the final score will be questionable. Because the scoring system is subjective, the results are open to debate.
But those are the rules of the game.

(Graphic added)

Posting the Friday Boobie

Hope to post more later, but here's a pair of Boobies for Friday.

Obstructionism in Action

The Republicans are having a bit of drama today:

Unable to come to agreement on the issue, the House decided to move onto other issues today, including a memorial service for Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who died earlier this week, and long-pending contempt citations for White House aides who refuse to honor congressional subpoenas.

That’s when everything got ugly.

Moments after President Bush threatened to delay his weekend trip to Africa and force Congress to act before key intelligence programs expire, House Republicans staged a walkout to protest Democratic inaction on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill. Frustrated Republicans streamed out of the Capitol and onto the east steps of the Capitol, a powerful act aimed at stopping House floor proceedings and forcing a vote on the FISA bill.

The Republican walkout came after an angry morning in which both sides accused each other of improperly using House floor procedures during the memorial service of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) who died Monday. Republicans were also angry that Democrats are taking up contempt resolutions against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers.

Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), led his colleagues out of the chamber in a dramatic gesture, saying “let’s just get up and leave.” But it’s not clear if anything will come of the theatrics, as Democrats have refused to take up a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill. Democrats do not want to pass a bill with lawsuit immunity for telecom firms as the White House has demanded.

“Failure to act would harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities, and could reopen dangerous gaps in our intelligence,” President Bush said in an afternoon press conference.

Republicans took quite a few firm stands this morning, all of which were wrong.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/

Now that's shameful. Disrupt a memorial for a long term fellow member. Then obstruct procedure for purely partisan reasons.

Whenever congress gets called "do-nothing", remember that it is the Republicans who are the obstructionists.

Current Events

I haven't done much current events blogging lately for a variety of reasons. Head cold (it's better), lack of enthusiasm, and a general anger and disgust.
America has now openly embraced torture. There's a lot of weasel words being used, but the rest of the world sees what we're doing.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush plans to veto legislation passed by the Senate to bar the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods including waterboarding, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

"The president will veto that bill," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

"The United States needs the ability to interrogate effectively, within the law, captured Al-Qaeda terrorists."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080214/pl_afp/usbushcongressintelligenceveto

And it has the support of at least one Supreme Court Justice:

Today in an interview with BBC Radio’s Law in Action, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia defended torture, claiming that it is not necessarily barred by the Constitution:

Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to find out where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles is prohibited under the Constitution? Because smacking someone in the face would violate the 8th amendment in a prison context. You can’t go around smacking people about.

Is it obvious that what can’t be done for punishment can’t be done to exact information that is crucial to this society? It’s not at all an easy question, to tell you the truth.

The BBC interviewer, however, objected to Scalia’s use of the so-called “ticking time bomb” scenario to justify government torture. “It’s a bizarre scenario,” he said. “Because the fact is, it’s very unlikely you’re going to have the one person who can give you that information. So if you use that as an excuse to commit torture, perhaps that’s a dangerous thing.” Scalia responded:

Seems to me you have to say, as unlikely as that is, it would be absurd to say that you can’t stick something under the fingernails, smack them in the face. It would be absurd to say that.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/12/scalia-torture/

And the leading Republican presidential candidate:

The likely Republican nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, voted against the bill. The former prisoner of war however said that his vote was consistent with his anti-torture stance.

"We always supported allowing the CIA to use extra measures," he said. "I believe waterboarding is illegal and should be banned," McCain said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080214/pl_afp/usbushcongressintelligenceveto

Yup, that's some "straight talk"; "I'm against waterboarding, so I'm voting for it."

My outrage echoes Blue Girl of Blue Girl, Red State:

I gotta get something off my chest. I am disgusted by the fact that we have come to the point as a society where we are even having this debate. It is abhorrent; it's sickening and disgusting. It's fucking insane that we have slid this far since we won the Cold War - less than twenty years ago! - by holding forth that we were Americans, and by virtue of that fact alone, we were simply above certain things. Gulags and torture among them. Now, we are infamous for them.

I am appalled that there are Americans among us who openly advocate for and debate the relative merits of the basic tenets of fascism. I remember a time when anyone advocating for the employment of torture (or domestic spying) would be ridiculed and driven from public life. The thought of a Supreme Court Justice absolving the practice was unthinkable.

What the fuck?

And don't get me started on FISA.

A Valentine for Texas

This Valentine's day could be a little more fun for Texans:

Thursday, February 14, 2008 A federal appeals court has struck down a Texas law that makes it a crime to promote or sell sex toys.

"Whatever one might think or believe about the use of these devices," said an opinion written by Justice Thomas M. Reavley of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, "government interference with their personal and private use violates the Constitution."

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/14/0214sextoys.html

It's always good to see one of those stupid, silly, sexually repressive laws go away. Go crazy, Texans.

Voter Turnout

One major thing stood out to me on yesterday's Virginia primary: the turnout numbers.

If you need more evidence of which side is fired up, look at the results from Virginia. 972,633 Democrats voted in Virginia. Compare that to 473,500 Republicans. More than twice as many Democrats went to the polls in a state that is turning bluer by the day. And, Obama received almost 620,000 votes -- almost 150,000 more than all the Republicans combined.

In every primary and caucus, Democrats are showing record numbers. There are several reasons for this; hatred for shrub and enthusiasm for Obama are the top two. If this continues into November, I may even become optomistic. I also hope that this enthusiasm carries over to the "down ballot" races, like Donna Edwards win in Maryland, which could lead to a congress that might be worth having. OK, that's probably too much to ask for.

Head Cold

Woke up with one of those head colds where I feel like 5 lbs. of cottage cheese is sitting in my sinuses. Even thinking is painful, so I doubt I'll do any.

Phrases

I've decided that I want Barack Obama to choose my Governor, Janet Napolitano, for VP. Then I can use the short phrase "Obamapalitano" in political commentary. Let me know if you have any phrases you would prefer.

Say "Bye-Bye"

Looks like my state will lose another corrupt Republican congress critter. John Shadegg is going to "retire":

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) will announce this evening that he will retire from the House upon the conclusion of his current term, according to a well-placed Republican source.

http://rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/22046-1.html

And his "retirement" has nothing to do with this:

The Arizona Democratic Party is accusing Republican U.S. Rep. John Shadegg of using his political-action committee to skirt laws that limit the amount of money donors can give a candidate.

Democrats say they have drafted a complaint to the Federal Election Commission, but Shadegg maintains nothing was done improperly and doubts whether the FEC will take action.

At issue is money that elections records show was transferred from Shadegg's
political-action committee into his election campaign.

Two Valley businessmen who made the maximum allowable individual donations to Shadegg's campaign in 2007 also wrote additional $5,000 checks to Shadegg's PAC, Leadership for America's Future. Eleven days later, on June 26, the PAC wrote two identical $5,000 checks to Shadegg.

Normally, such a transfer would not be noticed among thousands of dollars in contributions. But in the same reporting period, Shadegg's PAC received no other contributions and paid out only the $10,000.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0121shadegg0121.html

At this rate, my state may even get a few honest congress critters. But we're still stuck with McCain and Kyl in the senate. Stupid state.

Two Years Ago Today

The vice shot somebody:

On February 11, 2006, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally
shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, while participating in a quail hunt on a ranch in Kenedy County, Texas. Whittington was shot in the face, neck, and upper torso with birdshot pellets from a 28-gauge Perazzi shotgun.

First public news of the incident was called in to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times on February 12, 2006, by ranch owner Katharine Armstrong. ^[1]
The Bush administration disclosed the shooting incident to the public the afternoon
of February 12. Local authorities released a report on the shooting on February 16, 2006 and witness statements on February 22. All of the witness statements conflict with the Sheriff’s reports over the time of the shooting.

The one nice thing I'll say is that the Cheney is now two years of "shooting friends" free.

Politics and Blogs

I read this blog post at Hoffmania , and I want to echo the sentiment. I wish I had written my views as clearly:

I need to stress to those young voters, and to ALL of us, the importance of being part of the system. It's something the right has done so brilliantly in the last fourteen years, and until we learn from that, we're going to once again end up the chumps.

As much as we scorn the Freepers, the Neocons and the Religious Right, we need to see what they've done. They've been insanely successful at promoting and sealing their agenda.

It comes down to this: Holding up our end of the bargain in this democracy by being engaged, active and roundly participating is a responsibility we need to adopt. NOW.

I can give you a glaring example which we're living through at this moment: The
Democratic Congress. You hear it all the time. We certainly hear it all the time.

"We voted for them to end the war!" "They're not doing their jobs!" "They're just as bad as Bush!"

Waaah waaah waaah.

Let me ask you a question. Have you actually written a letter or an email, or have you actually picked up a phone and let them know what you want?

If you have, you probably didn't hem and haw in your mind to answer that one. You're active. You're engaged. You're a participant.

You know what this government is: Of the people. By the people. For the people.

Chances are, however, that you haven't done any of that. And that's what you need to realize - what the "wingnuts" have realized for a long, long time. You need to beat your reps and leaders over the head with what they need to know and do. Relentlessly. Repeatedly. And with civility.

They work for us. We hired them. We're the bosses. If they screw up, we need to dispatch a memo immediately and put them on notice. If they fail to follow our assignments to them, they'll be looking for other work.

I'm about to open Pandora's Box here, so strap yourself in.

Blogs are a great political community. Just as my posting my diatribes here, your posting your comments on this or any political blog is a great way of letting off steam. It gets your opinion out there. It's a wonderful way to sharpen your argumentative skills. But here's the awful truth:

It doesn't mean a goddamn thing to Nancy Pelosi.

It doesn't mean a goddamn thing to Harry Reid.

It doesn't mean a goddamn thing to whoever your reps are.

THEY. DON'T. READ. BLOGS.

Not Atrios. Not Kos. Not Crooks and Liars, Buzzflash or Firedoglake. Not Digby, AmericaBlog or Bartcop.

(Not even this one. And they should. But I'm off-topic.)

Even if they do stumble upon them, do you think in your wildest dreams that they're going to sludge through the swamp known as the "comments"? Atrios throws up a post titled "?" which is composed of the word "Oy" and a link, and that garners 755 comments. Christ, I have time on my hands and I don't have the patience to wade into that.

Imagine, however, if the energy, the words and the passion that went into writing those comments were directed directly toward Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the writers' respective representatives.

Yeah. Pretty damned awesome. Head-spinning. And believe me, you'll have their attention.

Give me a moment here to say that blogs are quite possibly the best way to rally our troops and give you perspective and talking points for the real world. I know I get that from everyone in the blogosphere. If any of you get that from here, well, we're proud to be a handful of fertilizer in your vast field of knowledge.

The word I'm trying to get out here is to vote on November 4th. The presidency isn't the only thing up for grabs. Every seat in the House of Representatives and 33 senate seats will be in play. We need to fill those seats with the best we can muster. We must fight for each and every one of those posts.

Furthermore, your responsibility does NOT begin and end in the voting booth. No matter who we elect for president - and it WILL be either Clinton or Obama - our responsibility goes beyond November 4th. We will need to kick down the barriers between here and the Beltway. We need to lean on these people and make sure they do the job we hired them for. They need to hear from us every day on every major AND minor issue. We need to fight hard for every battle.

We need to let them know there's a real world out here, and we need to keep that awareness front-of-mind. Their attention spans, common sense and concentration become severely handicapped once they're in Washington. It's up to us to maintain their reality check.

That's the lesson we need to learn from the people who have dominated the conversation since 1994.

It's our turn now. We've done it before. We just need to relearn it again.

Get active. Be a participant. Speak up and speak freely. Because. You. CAN.

Permission granted.

As Thom Hartmann says, "Democracy begins with you. Tag. You're it."

My blog is only a tiny piece of my political activity. I consider this a place where I can vent more than a way to effect change. Most of the commenters are already sharing many of my views. As Hoffmania clearly says, we need action, not just posts. I volunteer for campaigns, my representatives all hear from me on a regular basis (even though they are Republicans), I work every election, and attend as many protests as I can. Now I'm asking you, my readers, to do whatever you can to help bring back a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" (I still think that is the most beautiful phrase ever written). I hope I'm adding a little fertilizer to your vast field of knowledge.

Primary Media Narrative

I hate the concept of "identity politics", but the media seems determined to focus on it. This morning NPR is spending a lot of time talking about how Barack Obama is winning as a result of the "black" vote. I'm seeing something different:

DEM (99% reporting)

Clinton	32%
Obama	68%

Last time I passed through Nebraska it wasn't a majority african-american state. In fact, it was pretty white. The 68-32 result also refutes the identity politics of the "womens" vote. In short, the pundits narrative does not reflect reality, but rather their preconcieved notions.

Fundraising

Browsing around the web this morning, it looks like almost all the major blogs are holding fundraisers, and I wish them luck. But I'll take this opportunity to post an update on my own situation: I'm broke. I'm working, doing an accomadation remodeling for a disabled friend who's about to have another surgery which will further limit her mobility, and I will be getting paid for it. But because it's the state Disability Support Service paying, I won't be seeing a check for several weeks, and by then it will again time to pay rent. I also have a job interview with the County on Thursday, but again that isn't immediate help. So I'm going to "bleg" a little here.
Most everyone I know falls into one of three catagories: Getting by, barely getting by, or struggling to get by, so I understand that there's nothing left to spare for most folks.
Certainly, monkeyfister's tornado relief project is more important and urgent than my personal difficulties, but if you find that you can spare a small amount after that please consider using the "donate" button on the sidebar. Thanks.

Ritter on Iraq

I haven't written much on Iraq lately, as it's repetative and depressing. But former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter has written a very thourough essay that sums up the current mess:

Any analysis of the current state of the ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq that relied solely on the U.S. government, the major candidates for president or the major media outlets in the United States for information would be hard pressed to find any bad news. In a State of the Union address which had everything except a "Mission Accomplished" banner flying in the background, President Bush all but declared victory over the insurgency in Iraq. His recertification of the success of the so-called surge has prompted the Republican candidates to assume a cocky swagger when discussing Iraq. They embrace the occupation and speak, without shame or apparent fear of retribution, of an ongoing presence in that war-torn nation. Their Democratic counterparts have been less than enthusiastic in their criticism of the escalation. And the media, for the most part, continue their macabre role as cheerleaders of death, hiding the reality of Iraq deep inside stories that build upon approving headlines derived from nothing more than political rhetoric. The war in Iraq, we're told, is virtually over. We only need "stay the course" for 10 more years.

This situation is troublesome in the extreme. The collective refusal of any constituent in this complicated mix of political players to confront Bush on Iraq virtually guarantees that it will be the Bush administration, and not its successor, that will dictate the first year (or more) of policy in Iraq for the next president. It also ensures that the debacle that is the Bush administration's overarching Middle East policy of regional transformation and regime change in not only Iraq but Iran and Syria will continue to go unchallenged. If the president is free to pursue his policies, it could lead to direct military intervention in Iran by the United States prior to President Bush's departure from office or, failing that, place his successor on the path toward military confrontation. At a time when every data point available certifies (and recertifies) the administration's actions in Iraq, Iran and elsewhere (including Afghanistan) as an abject failure, America collectively has fallen into a hypnotic trance, distracted by domestic economic problems and incapable, due to our collective ignorance of the world we live in, of deciphering the reality on the ground in the Middle East.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/76318

For those who may not remember, Mr. Ritter was one of the strongest and best informed voices against the invasion of Iraq, and his assessment deserves attention:

Iraq is dying; soon Iraq will be dead. True, there will be a plot of land in the Middle East which people will refer to as Iraq. But any hope of a resurrected homogeneous Iraqi nation populated by a diverse people capable of coexisting in peace and harmony is soon to be swept away forever. Any hope of a way out for the people of Iraq and their neighbors is about to become a victim of the "successes" of the "surge" and the denial of reality. The destruction of Iraq has already begun. The myth of Kurdish stability-born artificially out of the U.S.-enforced "no-fly zones" of the 1990s, sustained through the largess of the Oil-for-Food program (and U.S.-approved sanctions sidestepped by the various Kurdish groups in Iraq) and given a Frankenstein-like lease on life in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion and occupation-is rapidly unraveling. Like Dr. Frankenstein's monster, present-day Iraqi Kurdistan has been exposed as an amalgam of parts incompatible not only with each other but the region as a whole.

...

One of the spinoffs of the continued success of the Sunni resistance is the focus it places on the inability of the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad to actually govern. The U.S. decision to arm, train and facilitate the various Sunni militias in Iraq is a de facto acknowledgement that the American occupiers have lost confidence in the high-profile byproduct of the "purple finger revolution" of January 2005. The sham that was that election has produced a government trusted by no one, even the Shiites. The ongoing unilateral cease-fire imposed by the Muqtada al-Sadr on his Mahdi Army prevented the outbreak of civil war between his movement and that of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and its militia, the Badr Brigade.

The entire essay is well worth reading, albeit depressing. Iraq is one hell of a mess, and there is no easy clean up. The next administration is going to face a lose/lose situation. Thanks, shrub.

McCain on FOX

I never watch FUX, but I saw this on the net. Uh, guys, I already have to accept that he's one of my states senators. Don't try to stick my party with him. We've suffered enough.

Here's the Friday Boobie

Another Friday, another boobie.

America in Shame

Some days, I can't believe what I read. Not the lies; I'm used to those. It's the truths that send me realing. Latest example: The Attorney General admits to "a little torture", but then explains that it's not illegal:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey is back on the Hill today, testifying to the House Judiciary Committee. Paul Kiel is covering it at TPMmuckraker. So far, he's dropped two big bombshells. DOJ will not be investigating:

(1) whether the waterboarding, now admitted to by the White House, was a crime; or

(2) whether the Administration's warrantless wiretapping was illegal.

His rationale? Both programs had been signed off on in advance as legal by the Justice Department.

Cynics may argue that those aren't bombshells at all, that the Bush Administration would never investigate itself in these matters. Perhaps so. But this is a case where cynicism is itself dangerous.

We have now the Attorney General of the United States telling Congress that it's not against the law for the President to violate the law if his own Department of Justice says it's not.

It is as brazen a defense of the unitary executive as anything put forward by the Administration in the last seven years, and it comes from an attorney general who was supposed to be not just a more professional, but a more moderate, version of Alberto Gonzales (Thanks to Democrats like Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer for caving on the Mukasey nomination.).

President Bush has now laid down his most aggressive challenge to the very constitutional authority of Congress. It is a naked assertion of executive power. The founders would have called it tyrannical. His cards are now all on the table. This is no bluff.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/177496.php

This is what scares me about the "bush legacy". The administration has declared that they are above the constitution without challange or consequence. Future administrations can point to these acts as precedant for failing to obey the law.

Or maybe they'll just lie:

The procedures of the CIA program are designed to be safe, and they are in full compliance with the nation’s laws and treaty obligations. They’ve been carefully reviewed by the Department of Justice and very carefully monitored. The program is run by highly-trained professionals who understand their obligations under the law. And the program has uncovered a wealth of information and has foiled attacks against the United States and other nations and has saved thousands of lives.



The United States is a country that takes human rights seriously. We do not torture. It’s against our laws and against our values. And we expect all those who serve America to conduct themselves accordingly, and we enforce those rules. Some years ago, when abuses were conducted at Abu Ghraib prison, abuses that had nothing to do with the CIA program, abuses that came to light were investigated and those responsible were busted. America is a fair and a decent country. [applause] President Bush has made it clear, both publicly and privately, that our duty to uphold the laws and standards of this nation make no exceptions for wartime. As he put it, we are in a fight for our principles and our first responsibility is to live by them. The war on terror, after all, is more than a contest of arms and more than a test of will. It’s also a war of ideas. - Dick Cheney, 2/07/08

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/cheney-whats-so

Don't you feel reassured now?

Grand Canyon Uranium? No!

I just found out about this latest outrage from the shrub administration:

With minimal public notice and no formal environmental review, the Forest Service has approved a permit allowing a British mining company to explore for uranium just outside Grand Canyon National Park, less than three miles from a popular lookout over the canyon’s southern rim.

If the exploration finds rich uranium deposits, it could lead to the first mines near the canyon since the price of uranium ore plummeted nearly two decades ago. A sharp increase in uranium prices over the past three years has led individuals to stake thousands of mining claims in the Southwest, including more than 1,000 in the Kaibab National Forest, near the Grand Canyon.

To drill exploratory wells on the claims in the Kaibab forest requires Forest Service approval. Vane Minerals, the British company, received such approval for seven sites in December.

The Forest Service granted the approvals without a full-dress environmental assessment, ruling that the canyon could be “categorically excluded” from such a review because exploration would last less than a year and might not lead to mining activity.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors in Coconino County, Ariz., voted unanimously to try to block any potential uranium mines. It asked that the federal government withdraw large sections of land immediately north and south of the national park from mineral leasing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/washington/07canyon.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

If this moves forward, I'll be protesting full time. There are only a few places that I consider sacred, and the Grand Canyon is one of them. Uranium mining is a messy, deadly business. People are still dying from contamination left over from cold war era mining:

An L.A. Times article from November 2006 first alerted Chairman Waxman to the plight of the Navajo - not the fact that the federal government had utterly failed to address this mess for decades. As outlined in the L.A. Times article, "from 1944 to 1986, 3.9 million tons of uranium ore were chiseled and blasted from the mountains and plains. The mines provided uranium for the Manhattan project, the top-secret effort to develop an atomic bomb . . . private companies operated the mines, but the U.S. government was the sole customer. . . . As the Cold War threat gradually diminished over the next two decades, more than 1,000 mines and four processing mills on tribal land shut down." The radioactive waste and debris from these operations, however, largely remains. People live in and around uranium-contaminated areas. Livestock grazes and children play amongst radioactive waste and debris. There is a palpable threat of radioactive contamination to the ground water in many areas.

At the hearing, Edith Hood, while choking back tears, talked about the mining waste near her home in the Church Rock area, and the sickness and illnesses that plagued her and her family. These sentiments were echoed by Larry King and Ray Manygoats. Phil Harrison, although a Navajo Nation Council Delegate, testified as to his personal experience with uranium contamination. George Arthur, also a Council
Delegate, testified in his capacity as the Chairman of the Navajo Natural Resources Committee. Mr. Arthur made it clear to the Committee that enough study has been done. It was now time for the federal government to take action to address this ongoing human tragedy. Stephen Etsity, the head of the Navajo EPA, managed to bring Navajo soil (from the Tuba City area) into the hearing chambers, where he used a device to demonstrate the existence of gamma radiation.

http://www.howardshankerforcongress.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=51

The very thought of uranium mining at the canyon has me ready for a fight. Edward Abbey may be gone, but there are still a lot of us in Arizona who love our rugged terrain. And our Senator, John McCain, should be ashamed of himself for not fighting this.

Now It's McCain

I'd pretty much assumed that McCain would be the Rethuglican nominee, despite his apparent senility. Today, with Romney dropping out, that looks inevitable. I don't see Huckabee picking up enough support to beat McCain in the remaining contests (but I could be wrong). The media loves John McCain, so we'll be hearing "maverick" and "straight shooter" from now until November. I might as well start tearing my hair out now. John McCain has been pandering (albeit more subtly) as much and as long as Romney. The only things that McCain has been consistant on is his desire for more wars (and his ego). The man is dangerous. Regardless of who you prefer between Clinton and Obama, McCain must be defeated.

Can We Fire the Senate?

I wish we could fire them all. After the 2006 election, I had some modest optomism that the congressional democrats might show a little bit of a spine. That has not happened. In the latest move, Senate Republicans blocked an economic stimulus package. While the stimulus package was mostly smoke and mirrors, it would be nice to see something get done by the democrats. Watching Harry Reid cave on FISA, subpeonas, and children's health care gets really frustrating, but as Digby says Senate Republicans are Obstructionists of the highest order. We need to elect tougher Senators if we're ever going to see any real change.

Tornado Help

While I've been playing politics, real lives in the south have been hit by devestating tornadoes. Our good pal monkeyfister is in the heart of it in Tennesse, but Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Kentucky have also been hit. Here's monkeyfisters comment:

Py--

May I ask you for ONE more bit of Civic Help before you rest?

Whilst we're waiting forGeorge's Promised Prayers to roll in, down here in the Tornado-Stricken Mid-South, I might recommend some DIRECT HUMAN INTERACTION.

This Is My Best First Start To Help My Region.

As Scout Prime is to NOLA, I am to the Mid-South area (I LIVE here, and was Live-Blogging these horrible storms all night), and have started to get the help-ball rolling down here. Some of you know where I work. I started a Food Drive there today for the Mid-South United Way Food Bank.

As the area affected is so broad and detached, and everyone in the Country was distracted by politics last night, as yet, there is no central assistance hub set-up. So, at the link, above, you'll find the two agencies with the broadest radius to help the area right now. Both take DIRECT donations.

A small-blog swarm on that (or this) post would be greatly appreciated by more people than just me. I can't describe how wide-spread the damage is down here. It's enormous. The Media, per usual, is only just now waking up to the situation, after their Super-Duper-Let's-All-Wet-Our-Pants-Together- Tuesday Political Hangover. Like NOLA, these are REALLY poor folks down here, and have nothing, and nowhere to go.

A short post about this at YOUR Blog, linking either to my post, above, or directly to the two Orgs mentioned in the post above, would sure be a big help, and would be greatly appreciated by many people who are relying on help. They are all that we have right now.

I just donated a deer's worth of ground venison, along with the 100 pounds of rice and quart-sized ziplock bags that they said that they needed at the United Way Mid-South Food Bank, when I phoned them this morning. Their pantry is BARE, and I'll be loading them up with all the potatoes, rice, veggies, bags, and other staples that I can fit in my truck tomorrow.

This is serious Red State country, and a flood of help from the DFH Left would REALLY make a big difference in a number of good ways.

I thank you all in advance.

Anybody who was thinking about sending help can go here:

Right now, I recommend the:

American Red Cross
Mid-South Chapter
1400 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN
38104
901-726-1690

And:
United Way of the Mid-South phone in a donation at (901) 433-4300.

They take DIRECT donations, so you can skip all the National-level waste and delay, AND they serve nearly every community in the effected radius.

I don't ask for much from my readers, but I sure would appreciate some link love on this post-- or better yet-- if you'd work-up something of your own linking to the Mid-South Red Cross Chapter to help this area get back on it's feet, re-building, and healing. It'd mean an awful lot to many. A bit of a small-blog swarm would be a mighty thing.

http://www.monkeyfister.blogspot.com/

Many of you know that I'm pretty broke right now, but I still have a house and food. A lot of folks need help now. Monkeyfister, a hearty "Thank You" for what you're doing to help those around you.

My District Primary

Man, I'm tired. Yesterday was a long and busy day (16 hours of non-stop action), and I achieved my primary (pun intended) goal: a clean and legal election with an accurate count of votes. Not that it was trouble free, but I managed to keep things running reasonably smoothly throughout the day. Turnout was very high, as was enthusiasm, but the final results were mixed. Like the rest of the nation, I guess.
A few observations:
There are a lot of poorly informed people out there. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, yes, you must be registered to vote. That is the law. And you are only allowed to vote in the district where you are registered to vote. One of my rolls as an election inspector (the highest authority at the polling place) is explaining to people why they can't vote if they aren't registered. I was even called a "nazi" one time yesterday, but, like it or not, these are the laws in place. My role in the election requires that I comply with, and enforce the laws, regardless of how I feel about them. One simple example is that Arizona has what are called "closed" primaries, where only Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary and only Republicans in the Republican primary. "Independants" are screwed (and there are a lot of independants in Arizona). I'm not a fan of that rule, but on election day I have to enforce it. To all you independants that I had to turn away yesterday, I'm sorry, but the rule has been repeated in all the news media over the past few weeks. Talk to your legislators if you want to change the system.
My district includes the university, and the youth turnout was impressive. Compared to 2004 (I ran the same polling place in 2004), I'd estimate a third more college students voted. Democratic turnout was way up, while Republican turnout was pretty consistent with the 2004 numbers. While he didn't win the state, Barack Obama won big in my district, probably because of the college student vote. On the Republican side, McCain dominated.
I do have to briefly have to rant at Ron Paul supporters: I respect your enthusiasm, but you cannot campaign inside the polling place. It's a simple rule. The polling place is nuetral territory. The 75' limit signs are posted around the polling place. Rally all you want outside the 75' perimiter. All the other campaign followed the rules, but I had to deal with the "Paul people" multiple times (and why didn't your mothers teach you some basic manners?).
A basic partisan difference: Republicans come more prepared than Democrats. Arizona does have an ID requirement. It's fairly liberal as to what qualifies as ID (such as 2 pieces of mail from utilities, banks, or government agencies), but you have to have something. Republicans step up to the check in table with ID in hand, whereas Democrats are likely to require prompting. I'm not sure what it means, but I do think it reflects part of our current political climate.
Paper ballots are a must. Our county uses an optical scan system with paper ballots, and while I've read about problems with optical scan systems, ours worked fine. The final physical count matched the scanner count exactly (our county hand counts 10% of districts, and mine was one of the ones chosen at random for recount). I feel good about that. Regular readers know that I have strong political opinions, but on election day I only care about fairness and accuracy. To all those folks worried about election cheating, I say "get involved" to make sure that all votes are counted. It's easy to become an election worker (call your local elections department to volunteer) and become a part of the process. We can prevent cheating by being present to witness the process in action.

a sea otter

20008

For to keep my way around this house, I recently stuffed my rent money in an envelope and taped it to a door. And not too late, which is nice, well, a commonplace occurrence, of course, excepting what I wrote upon the envelope- "Zymurgian"s (or whomevers) rent 2/20008."
Didn't realize the flawed year till after the envelope of cash had been taped to the door, at a last glance at my taping skills and my hard-earned frogskin.(again into the coffers of an incompetent landlord)
20008. Ha!

I wonder if folks will still be paying rent in Twenty-Thousand-Eight A.D. Ifn the Earth can still support life as we thunk it, I wonder what the brewers will be up to. That is, if by 20008 A.D., all the yeast on this planet, and all the mushrooms haven't evolved into a superior intelligence and formed an alliance to stay stoned on the human race. Oh yeah- maybe they're already doing that... Hey welcome to my world folks! More on this later
This evening, as I type, I am sampling my first homebrew of Two-Thousand -Eight. Been about 34 days since the mash tun. That's sufficient for a tapping. Can I talk your head off about how proud I am of my latest batch of (all-grain, that is) ale? Well, You, as a 21st century reader, are perhaps flummoxed by long diatribes with too many big words? Mayhap. But if you have gotten this far with this post without scrolling than you probably are not a dumbass.

The color is a very deep amber. Carbonation is perfect- i.e- understated,cyclical;expressive, gallantine and somehow promethean. unforced. I yielded 5.25 gallons of ale, through two glass carboys and many swing-top 16oz bottles. Too bombers.
This from 15 lbs of malted barley, half of it from across the pond, where i hear some are an autonomous collective oppressed by the system
SHUT UP!
By the year 20008, eggplants will have interbred with lobsters. They are called "eggsters" or "lobplants", depending upon where you are from. Concurrently, kangaroos either grow thumbs or learn how to use them, and almost overnite develop neural rivers in the hippowhatever part of their brains- far exceeding ours. Kangaroos retake Australia. And their brilliant hopping infantry is buttressed by the stalwart lobplant(or eggster) armada. Humans didn't stand a chance.
The last human public official was sentenced to death by Kangaroo Parliament. Drawn and quartered. The ghastly execution personally attended by the "Roopope" or "mullahkanga" depending upon where you are from.
Chinook hops in this batch, and I was glad to find them. Dank. Fragrant. Potent. Not only a great bittering and flavoring hop, but a cool Athabascan tribe to be named after. Chinook indians carved totem poles in their spare time, back in the day. They considered ravens, bears, wolves and killer whales especially holy. And now a great hop was named after them. Another Limey component is the yeast- first suckled on Thames tricklings, hedgehog breath, and the laughter of auburn tressed lassies with parasols and obnoxiously witty dogs.
Of course not!- if you are about to ask me if, as we have already established that saccaramyces cervisae and mycelium basidiomytes , along with kangaroos, will have conquered what we now know as Earth-if humulus lupus- hops, might also develop intelligence far exceeding the capacity of homo dumbass, and form a triumvirate of absolute reign with the yeasties and the boomers. They do not do this. Because not only do we have our pals the kangaroos as a dominant species, but sea otters have developed thumbs and neurotic anachronisms as well. Hop vines have taken over all of what we now know as Norte Amerika. They have formed an alliance with the sea otters. Unfortunately, ravens are siding with the 'roos, as are the hedgehogs and those stalwart comebacks- sabre-tooth tigers. But Mastadons(another dashing comeback) and Killer Whales, all the cetaceans, actually, are on the opposing side.
In the election year of 20008, so i gather (from, perhaps, this my very quaffable and assertive batch of homebrewed ale) the kangaroos have plenty of experience but a less than laudable economic policy. Also, they are not as personable as the sea otter contingent, whom in the last couple of debates have proven themselves superior orators.
Personally, I'm (well i would be) a dyed-in-the-wool Eggster fan.(or Lobplant) But some of the Roo policies are disconcerting to me. Hmmmm... Who should rule the world in 20008? Marsupials or damn near marsupial aquatic mammals that are really fuckin cute- like when they float about on their backs and stuff...
ahhhhh. This here's a fair to middling batch. H'cup.

Tomorrow

Well, I'll be "blog free" tomorrow. I'm running a polling place, so "super-duper" tuesday results will be in before I get to play. As, I start at 5:00am and finish around 9:00pm. If you're a partisan with a primary, I hope you vote. I know I have.
Best (and most revealing) line from election setup, from the "Republican" judge:
"Who do I have to vote for? Mutt Romney? Juan McCain? Jesus the Huck? I'm glad I'm playing referee, because I don't like any of them. I hope they all lose."
Note: I'm the "Official" "Democrat", so there must be an "Official" "Republican" on the electoral board.
I just try to make sure that every vote counts.
But I will be watching the turnout, as my polling place includes the university.

Adding to the Blogroll

Thanks to "Blogroll Amnesty Day", I've made additions to the blogroll. And fine and worthy blogs they are! Check out:
Jon Swift
Buck Naked Politics
The Impolitic
Ornery Bastard
PhysioProf
Moue Magazine
Watergate Summer
Outta the cornfield
Man Eegee
Just for starters. This amnesty thing has given me a whole new list of blogs to read. Now I just need a few more hours added to the day.

Out Most of the Day

Ah, more snow. That is a picture of my front yard today. Almost a foot of fresh snow, and it's still coming down. So, of course, I'm off to help a friend with a project, then a super bowl party. But looking out the door, I'd rather hibernate.

Blogroll Amnesty Day

Back when this blog was started, there was a purge of the small blogs off the blogrolls of the big blogs. The reaction was led by skippy the bush kangaroo and Jon Swift, who opened their blogrolls to all. Skippy and monkeyfister were amongst the first to welcome Pygalgia onto their rolls, and have continued to be very supportive of our humble efforts.
In "Blogtopia" (y!sctp), there is a wide gulf between the largest and smallest, with many thousand good blogs flying under the radar. I think there is a good analogy in the world of music: everybody knows who The Rolling Stones and Led Zepplin are (i.e. orange and blue), while thousands of great bands are known only to a small audience. The smaller blogs are like the local and niche bands that entertain there audience for little more reward than the joy of "the doing of the thing" (river runner phrase). We're one of those blogs that will never fill a stadium, but hopes to entertain our audience, like the local band. Blogroll Amnesty Day is a chance to recognize and share the contributions of the unique voices of smaller blogs.
When I was building my own blogroll, I chose to include blogs that I enjoy reading. I left the big names off, because I assumed that anyone who cared already knew them. So my initial blogroll included blogs such as Bark Bark Woof Woof, blue meme, hairy fish nuts, If I Ran the Zoo, monkeyfister, swerve left, and the peoples republic of seabrook among others. And I've been expanding it ever since.
While we're supposed to use this day to recognize "smaller" blogs, Pygalgia is pretty small itself. So I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize some of the wonderful blogs that have welcomed us into an ever expanding community.
DCup at PoliTits, Ellroon at Rants From The Rookery, Fixer and Gordon at the alternate brain, Suzy at Luminiferous Ether, Fran at FranIAm, Michael (Whig) at cannablog, and demeur and distributorcap are just some of the fine folks that I consider friends and neighbors. They send me love, and I try to send it back. Check 'em out, along with all the other fine folks on the blogroll.
I'm constantly finding new blogs, and they me. Just in yesterday's comments, I've met the ornery bastard and enigma4ever, both of whom I'll be adding to the blogroll.
So here's an open invitation: My blogroll welcomes small, new, or just interesting blogs. Let me know who you are in the comments or by email, and I'll add you to the 'roll (unless I find you offensive, which rarely happens).