Sometimes the Old Ways are Better

The FDA is looking into the dangers of drinks that combine alcohol with caffeine:

Companies that have begun marketing drinks that combine alcohol with caffeine will have to
answer to the FDA, the agency announced.

Caffeine is not on the agency's list of ingredients that may be legally added to alcoholic beverages, Sharfstein said in a telephone press conference.

In addition, he said, several recent studies have indicated that combining caffeine with alcohol is very unsafe. (See APHA: Mixing Alcohol and Energy Drinks Heightens Injury Risk and Energy Drink Labels Don't Predict High Caffeine Jolt)

The agency decided to investigate after receiving a letter signed by 18 state attorneys general and one city attorney urging the FDA to take action against such beverages.

The letter cited research indicating that the combination drinks heightened the risk of motor vehicle accidents and sexual assaults, Sharfstein said.

Under pressure from state authorities, two big marketers of alcoholic beverages, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, had previously agreed to pull combination drinks named Bud Extra, Tilt, and Sparks off the market.

However, smaller companies are still selling drinks with as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and up to 9.9% alcohol under such names as LiquidCharge, Joose, and Four Loko.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/16996

I've never tried the beverages under scrutiny, and the few "energy" drinks I've tried taste like (what I imagine to be) weasel piss. But what about Kahlua? Or a shot of Bailey's (perfect on a snowy morning) in your coffee? Back when I was bar tending, I learned to mix a whole slew of coffee drinks. Will the FDA be coming after those?
Wish they'd focus there energy on e. coli and such, instead.

But Why?

Walking down San Francisco St. yesterday, a car caught my eye: a somewhat beat up mid-90's Toyota, nothing unusual except the license plate. Australian plate (larger than state plates). And I had to wonder why someone would bother to bring this car from Queensland to Flagstaff (I knew the person didn't drive it over), given that you could buy such a car here cheaper than the shipping cost from Australia. I could see shipping a Mercedes or such. But a beater Toyota?
Still scratching my head about it.

Moonwater

When NASA 'bombed' the moon last month, I was on the San Juan river. We made a bunch of sarcastic comments about the implications of the moon bombing, but it appears to have worked:

It turns out there's plenty of water on the moon - at least near the lunar south pole, scientist said Friday.

"Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit, we found a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, a principal project investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center.

The discovery came from an analysis of data from a spacecraft NASA intentionally crashed into the moon last month.

Colaprete estimated the impact kicked up at least 25 gallons of water.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120387476

Most interesting, with the possibilities for further lunar exploration.
Now, where should we bomb next?

A Victory for Due Process

Perhaps, just perhaps, America is returning a nation where the "rule of law" is again supreme:

— Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, the United States attorney general announced Friday.

The decision marks a milestone in the administration’s efforts to close the Guantánamo prison, something that President Obama announced shortly after taking office that he would do within a year, but that has proved difficult to achieve because of uncertainty about what to do with the detainees housed there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/us/14terror.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1258135247-CHsa2/DgCh9zUX3Zn9We7A

Shrub and his crew of criminals used 9/11 to embark on a program of lawlessness, torture, and war without end, but now that they're gone we can regain some of our credibility by returning to the rule of law. This trial will be tainted by the torture of KSM, but the preponderance of evidence should be enough to gain a conviction. Legally.
Politically, this decision is going to generate a lot of screaming from the usual (never) rightwing rabble, but the simple fact is: it's the right thing to do.

Friday the 13th Boobies

Ain't superstitious. It's bad luck to be superstitious.

An Afghanistan Plan

Four plans were proposed. All four were rejected. All four plans were "escalation" plans, calling for different levels of troop increases, without any "exit strategy"; sort of "surge 2.0" with permanent occupation of Afghanistan as a result. Not what president Obama was looking for.

President Obama is pushing his national security team for more detail about an exit strategy for U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan.

The president met with his advisers Wednesday to chart new strategy for the war. Obama went into this latest strategy session with what the White House had called four "final" options on the table.

Each involved sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, but would require different troop levels and would embrace different goals for the U.S. involvement there.

At the high end, there's the 40,000 or so troops that the top commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, says he needs to pull off a successful counter-insurgency. At the low end, an option of 10,000 extra troops, mostly working as trainers for the Afghan army and police force. One middle option would focus on a narrower, counter-terrorism mission, while another, said to be endorsed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, backs sending 34,000 or so extra U.S. troops while calling on NATO to contribute several thousand more.

After the 2 1/2 hour meeting Wednesday, two administration officials told NPR that the president does not plan to accept any of the options in their current form. The officials said the president pushed his team for more detail about an exit strategy for U.S. forces. They said he wants to make clear to the Afghan government that the U.S. commitment is not open-ended.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120336017

Here's the real question that needs to be answered: What the hell are we trying to achieve in Afghanistan? Are our goals realistic or attainable? Because just sending more troops in the name of "winning" is merely a repeat of the mistake of Vietnam. Professor Cole explains:

Obama is said to have rejected all the plans so far presented to him, insofar as none leads to a foreseeable end-game.

If AP is right, this development is encouraging. All along, the things missing from Washington's plans for Afghanistan have been a firm, specific set of goals, a detailed means of attaining them, and a way to know when they have been attained.

How unlikely the big counter-insurgency dreams of some military analysts are to result in success is apparent in this recent Frontline report, in which the US military outpost in a village in Helmand never succeeds in getting the locals to open a single shop in the bazaar under US protection, and never succeeds in stopping the constant sniping at them by Taliban forces.

http://www.juancole.com/

Cole: Let's back up and talk about what the goal is in Afghanistan. Your strategy and your tactics are going to come out of your goal. I'm a little bit afraid that, in regard to the goal, you see a lot of mission creep. The goal has become standing up an Afghan government and an Afghan military that's relatively stable and can control the country. There's a lot of state-building involved in that.

I am a severe skeptic on this score. I don't think that's a proper goal for the U.S. military. I think we are dealing with a tribal society of people who, as a matter of course, are organized by clan and have feuds with each other, and feuds with other tribes, and feuds with their cousins. I think that Washington misinterprets this feuding as Talibanism, and thinks that if you put a lot of troops in there, you can pacify the country and settle it down.

I just think it is a misreading of the character of the country. Afghanistan is a country where localism is important, where people don't like the central government coming in and bothering them. There's a sense in which the communist government of the 1980s, backed by the Soviet Union, wanted to drag Afghanistan kicking and screaming into the late 20th century, and to do that you had to impose central government policy on the countryside and on the villagers. And the villagers rose up and kicked the Soviets and the communists out. They were outraged, in part, against the centralizing tendency of Kabul.

So, I just think that Afghanistan is a country that needs a light touch. You just have to accept that there's going to be a certain amount of disorder in the countryside as long as people are organized tribally. And if you put 100,000 or 150,000 Western troops in there, that's just more people to feud with.

Finding an exit strategy for Afghanistan will be more challenging than it was for Iraq. At least Iraq had an infrastructure (albeit dysfunctional) prior to our invasion, so setting up a semblance of a government and leaving is actually attainable. No such infrastructure exists in Afghanistan, and it would be delusional to think we can build one. Again, Professor Cole:

Cole: If you are asking what I think is a plausible goal, I'd say it is training an Afghan army and police force as best you can. But you are just going to have to accept that it's going to be a weak government. You can shore it up to some extent, but you need to shore it up behind the scenes. It can't be seen to be a puppet government, because that will undermine its legitimacy.

A government that can provide more services to people is good. Road building is good. Encouraging the markets to open is good. But as far as fighting what the U.S. is calling Taliban, they are really just regional warlords. They might have a tactical alliance with the old Taliban of Mullah Omar, but it's a mistake to sweep them all up into a single category . . . '

As with Iraq, getting out will be much more difficult than getting in. Shrub, the idiot, was content to invade and then wage war without end, but now Obama is stuck with trying to clean up this mess. The reality is that there are no easy ways out of Afghanistan: simply pulling out would leave behind an 'opium and terrorist' incubator as well as a humanitarian hell, but blind escalation merely postpones the inevitable while further draining American lives and wealth. In the end, we will leave Afghanistan; the question is really what we leave behind and when we leave it. Not an easy choice.
So I support Obama's decision to reject the current proposals. I only hope he can come up with a workable plan that will actually work to get us out of Afghanistan.
(for the purposes of this post, I'm not addressing what a huge mistake it was to start these wars; the past cannot be changed: we're there. The question is what to do now.)

On Veteran's Day

Full honor and thanks to our veterans.
Now I dream of a day when we can stop generating so many new veterans, or damaging and disabling so many of those who are serving our nation.

Birds Don't Understand Physics

I assure you that my bird was not involved in this:

The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, just cannot catch a break. First, a coolant leak destroyed some of the magnets that guide the energy beam. Then LHC officials postponed the restart of the machine to add additional safety features. Now, a bird dropping a piece of bread on a section of the accelerator has, according to the Register, shut down the whole operation.

The bird dropped some bread on a section of outdoor machinery, eventually leading to significant over heating in parts of the accelerator. The LHC was not operational at the time of the incident, but the spike produced so much heat that had the beam been on, automatic failsafes would have shut down the machine.

This incident won't delay the reactivation of the facility later this month, but exposes yet another vulnerability of the what might be the most complex machine ever built. With freak accident after freak accident piling up over at CERN, the idea of time traveling particles returning from the future to prevent their own discovery is beginning to seem less and less far fetched.http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-11/bread-loving-bird-shuts-down-lhc

Maybe I'm wrong; maybe birds do understand physics, and were trying to prevent time traveling particles. Just a thought.

Understanding Priorities

Health care will be expensive. 78 billion, 80 billion, 91 billion per year are the numbers under debate. Perhaps 1 trillion over 10 years. Sounds like a hell of a lot of money.
The grand adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan have run between 108 and 140 billion per year over the past 8 years, with a total cost around 1.3 trillion so far (actual number is probably higher).
The annual defense appropriations bill passed a few weeks ago came in at 680 billion (they did have to work late on this, so it includes the cost for congressional pizza delivery), for 1 year.
Our priorities are clear. We'd rather spend our money on damaging bodies than on healing them. Bombs: they're more entertaining than colonoscopy's.

Video of an old Friend

Locals who were around the Flagstaff music scene a few years back will probably remember Dom Flemons, an extremely talented young man who's gone on to fame and fortune with the Carolina Chocolate Drops. He used to frequently play happy hour at the old Mogollon. I became friends with him, partly because I was amazed that this teenager knew all this old time folk-blues music that no one else his age would ever think of playing.
Here's a vid of him with Blind Boy Paxton and Frank Fairfield (Dom's the one singing, seated in the middle):

or go here for more:http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/06/nouveau-oldtime-jam.html
(yeah, I don't usually post videos...I'm making an exception)

Health Care Hash

The House passed the healthcare bill last night, 220 to 215. By the time all the amendments were done, it became a very mixed bag. The Stupak amendment restricting abortion funding is particularly odious; a real offense against poor women.
But there are some good points to the bill as well:
* coverage of as many as 36 million uninsured Americans
* ends subsidies of private insurers under medicare advantage
* closes the "donut hole" in medicare drug coverage
* allows medicare to negotiate drug prices
* prohibits denials based on prior conditions, and ends rescission's except in cases of fraud
* funds more education of doctors and nurses
* includes the seeds of a real public option
Do we deserve better? Yes. Is this as good as we can get at this time? Probably.
Speaker Pelosi said she had the votes, and in the end she did. My own congress waffle, Ann Kirkpatrick, ended up voting "yes" after much dithering, as I thought she would (and she actually had enough spine to vote against Stupak, which mildly surprised me).
With our current dysfunctional congressional system, this compromise is probably all we can get. But it really is a shame that women's rights were sacrificed to get it.
Now it's on to the Senate, where the circus will be even more ridiculous. Lord only knows what we'll be looking at by the end of that process.

Jasmine-Chocolate

Earlier today I dealt with laundry and lunch, so I walked downtown.
A distinguished, older gentleman says to me "Thank you for that Jasmine-Chocolate recipe. It was the greatest".
To which, I said "Huh?" as wisely as I could.
A case of mistaken identity, as you can tell.
But...
I wonder....
What the Turlock is...
"Jasmine-Chocolate"?

For Baseball Fans

The Yomiuri Giants defeated the Nippon Ham Fighters to win the series.
The GIANTS WIN!
(only certain readers will appreciate this)

For Bex

Happy (however young you are) Trip Around the Sun Day!

Time For A Boobie

Friday. Boobie. At least I'm consistent.

Maine

The voters in Maine rejected marriage equality, sadly. Someday, the public will grow up and realize that "equal rights" for all means just that, and that homosexuals are human, deserving the same rights as heterosexuals. It really should be that simple.
What I do find somewhat ironic is that this is Maine. The 'christian' opposition to homosexuality is based on Leviticus 20:13, which calls it an "abomination". Leviticus 11:9-12 calls shellfish an "abomination", but somehow I doubt that Maine voters would pass a law banning Lobster, would they?
What's that word? Um...'hypocrisy'?

Off Year Elections

There's been a shortage of political posts here lately. Sorry about that. I've had an enthusiasm deficit about the political circus: too many clowns, not enough trapeze artists in my humble opinion.
The pundits always say that off year elections are a referendum on the administration, and this year's will be no exception. Regardless of the results, the so-called "experts" will spend many hours discussing "what this means for Obama".
Allow me to disagree (not that my opinion counts for much). None of the three main elections today reflect on Obama very much. The candidates, issues, and agendas are quite different than those that decided 2008. It's a comparison of apples and coconuts.
The New Jersey governors race is a continuation of the unique political process that is "Jersey". John Corzine may be an incumbent Democrat, but he's hardly a liberal "poster boy" for Obama style politics. He's carrying all the baggage for a state government that is widely perceived as corrupt, and the only reason that this race is a toss up is that his opponent, Chris Christie, looks even more corrupt (shrubs AG scandal). Throw in a third party wacko, Chris Daggett, for laughs, and it's too close to call. But it's certainly not about Obama. Jersey's problems are bigger than which party is in power in DC.
Virginia's race for governor might look more like a referendum on the surface, but the results will more likely reflect the candidates than any agenda. The republican Bob McDonnell is already being touted as a rising star in the GOP, as he's (relatively) young, handsome, and glib. The democrat, Creigh Deeds, may be the most uninspiring, uncharismatic candidate in recent years. His speeches seem to have been written with the intent to hypnotize rocks, not to inspire voters. Given that Virginia is already a pretty conservative state, not even Obama has enough charm to make lemonade from this lemon.
Then we get the race that has has the most entertainment value: NY-23's congressional race. Not that any of the candidates really deserve a house seat, but it has been a truly bizarre race. The democrat, Bill Owens, is beyond "blue dog" conservative, but the republicans provided the real entertainment. The republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, was deemed 'too liberal' (or sane), and forced to drop out by the conservative party candidate, Doug Hoffman, an incredibly uninformed, disinterested, tea party hero who's equal parts arrogance and ignorance. The wingnuts love him for that. Regardless of who wins, neither Owens or Hoffman deserve a seat in congress. "None of the above" would be the best choice, and should win by a landslide.
So, despite all the pundit bloviating, none of these elections will have any real impact on the Obama administration. None reflect political "coat tails" or the administration's agenda.
In fact it's not all that entertaining, even for a political junkie like me. Too many clowns, not enough trapeze artists. Maybe 2010 will have a better circus.

Ultra Trivial Trivia

Watching the World Series, I've noticed that Fox Sports (the only good Fox) is using as 'bumper music' some very nice Widespread Panic (http://www.widespreadpanic.com/) clips. The two songs they've clipped are "Chainsaw City" and "Climb to Safety"...which leads to the trivia:
Both songs are originally by Jerry Joseph (http://www.jerryjoseph.com/main.aspx); Panic only covers them.

Thought for the day

Scary!

Think how much scarier Halloween would have been if he was in charge!

Clocks vs. Time Zones

Tonight most of you will change your clocks, but I wont. Instead, we'll change time zones. Which doesn't mean much, except that all the football games will be an hour later. No big deal.
What gets strange is when you go out onto the reservation: the Navajo do change their clocks, while the Hopi don't. If you have a cell phone on, it's fun to watch it try to cope with the changes in numbers (I've seen it, and the poor device goes wonko [actual coverage may vary]), by changing zones. What a strange concept.
An old Hopi* once told me "the white man cuts a foot off the bottom of his blanket, and sews it on to the top, and thinks he's got a longer blanket".

*I later learned that this was an old story that all the old Hopi tell.

Obligatory Halloween "BOO"

Happy Halloween, I guess. It's one of those holidays that has become less fun as I get older. Originally a Pagan fest of the harvest meant to ward off the darkness of winter, it's now a celebration of silliness. As a child, it was fun to dress up and eat copious amounts of candy. For the twenty-somethings (and, increasingly older), it's a reason to dress up and get drunk (as are Mardi Gras, St. Pat's, Cinco De Mayo, etc.). At my age, I'd rather skip the whole thing.

Luckily, I can. I don't have to worry about children coming to my door, because I live in the "bad" part of downtown (this being very relative; what they call "bad" here is nothing compared to places I've lived in real urban cities). And, because this is a college town, the local bars will be overwhelmed with drunken college students. I have no urge to participate in "amateur night", thank you.

The Rev. Pat Robertson and other christian wackos are issuing warnings against 'sex with demons', and while I'm inclined to laugh at them, I remember my younger days. One Halloween when I was in my twenties, I ended up spending the night sexually engaged with what I thought was an attractive young woman. In the morning, she certainly showed demonic tendencies, and an ability to wreck an entire apartment in whirlwind fashion. Or maybe she was just full blown batshit crazy. I didn't get into the religious side of the episode.

If I really wanted to wear a scary costume, I'd put on a Cheney mask and a red hunting jacket. That would be about as scary as anything I could imagine.

(cartoon from Kiko's House)

Instead, I plan to spend a quiet evening watching the World Series. The Yankees are all the horror I need.

Dr. Keim's New Flu Test

Little ol' Flagstaff is about to be a big player in flu testing. Dr. Paul Keim's lab has invented a new, fast test that determines the type of flu, and it's drug resistance:

Flagstaff researchers have developed a single test for all flus that could help health care workers diagnose patients faster and give them the most effective medicines.

This comes as state labs are overrun with requests for more complex swine flu tests, creating a significant lag time between patients with symptoms and confirmation of their illnesses. A half-dozen researchers with the Translational Genomics Research Institute office in Flagstaff headed by NAU biology professor Paul Keim have created a nasal-swab type of test that can tell whether a patient has swine flu (H1N1) or seasonal flu, and whether that flu is resistant to the main drug used to treat it, Tamiflu.

The swab still must be sent out to a lab for a reading, but the turnaround time is likely to be faster because the lab does not need specialized equipment.

...

"Because there's a big push on this now, to start doing rapid testing for swine flu ... we also want to get to that next step and give information to the clinician about whether or not there's resistance to the drugs they're giving those patients," said researcher David Engelthaler

http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/10/30/news/20091030_front_206547.txt

This could be a huge boon to health care providers and patients, allowing a quick diagnosis and treatment plan by taking some of the guesswork out of the flu.
When I worked for the University, I had many interactions with Dr. Keim (involving Anthrax, mostly) and I have the highest respect for him as a brilliant biologist. If he says the test works, I'm inclined to believe him.

Spooky Boobies

They have their Halloween masks on.

Whirlled Series

The Baseball World Series begins. I have always hated the Yankees, so you know who I'm rooting for. Heck, I'd root for a team of republican congressmen over the Yankees (although reluctantly). So, go Phillies!
(BTW: Interesting trivia test: The last time the Yankees played the Phillies in the World Series was in 1950. It was the last World Series where what occured? Answer will appear in the comments tomorrow)

Snowing Outside

Damn, but summer ended way too soon. We're only forecast to get around an inch of snow, so it's not a big deal. And this isn't the earliest snow I've seen here. But I'm not enthused about sweaters, heavy coats, or wool sox.
Pass the Brandy, will ya?

Criminal Advice

The rethuglican gang of criminals defined: if you've been convicted of lying to congress, our congress critters want your advice:

House Republicans have a new foreign policy adviser with a controversial pedigree: Oliver North.

North, an aide on Ronald Reagan's National Security Council who is best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scheme to sell arms to Iran and divert the funds to Nicaraguan revolutionaries in the 1980s, was the special guest at a House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday. North was convicted on three counts related to the Iran-Contra scandal and his efforts to cover it up, but the convictions were later overturned.

North’s mission: Relay his insights into the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, where he recently visited.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28808.html

So, for advice on Afghanistan, let's ask someone who illegally sold arms to Iran...

I'm speechless.

Football Bounces Strangely

(non-Football fans feel free to ignore this post)
Somewhere in the brain trust of rich white men (Roger Goodell) who run the NFL it was decided that it would be a good idea to play a game in London, England's Wembley Stadium. OK; that's not such a bad idea, in and of itself. But the game that was chosen to try to sell the Brit's on American Football? The New England Patriots versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; a truly awful matchup. Tampa Bay hasn't won a game yet this year, although in fairness they've actually looked worse than that. New England won their last game 59-0, but it wasn't really that close; the Pats took the second half off. So this game may be the most one sided battle since Godzilla vs. Bambi.
But my real question is which marketing genius consulted his history textbook and thought it would be a good sales pitch to send the "New England Patriots" to London? I know the British love satire, but I doubt this game will have the subtlety to qualify as "humor".
(and on that note, I'm off to my local pub to watch my beloved 'niners take on some texans. Kinda early for a beer, but I'll manage)

The Party of Fiscal Responsibility

The GOP has a website. And they got it for a bargain price:

The Republican National Committee shelled out $1.4 million dollars over the last six months for Web sites and services, much of which was spent on GOP.com, the party’s major Web presence that was unveiled this month, new Federal Election Commission expense reports show.

The figure is far higher than what experts estimate it should have cost, and five times the amount its Democratic counterpart spent to host and maintain Democrats.org.

The biggest disparity seems to be bandwidth costs–the RNC paid Smartech Corp., a Republican-focused hosting firm, more than a million dollars, plus $22,000 to Eloqua, compared to the DNC’s $203,000 to Sprint, Switch and Data and Servint Corp.–despite the fact that the two sites’ traffic, which determines bandwidth usage and, largely, hosting costs, was the same.

But the design of the site itself was costly, too. In the months prior to the October 13 launch of GOP.com, the committee paid $328,000 to 11 firms for Web development. (The Democrats, which did not completely overhaul their site during that time period, spent $45,000 on Web development.)

And when the GOP’s graphics-laden product was unveiled, many of the main sections appeared missing or broken, including one advertised as listing future party leaders, which showed up blank.

http://realtime.sunlightprojects.org/2009/10/23/entering-digital-age-an-expensive-proposition-for-gop/

And St. Sleazy McCain wants to regulate the internet? What a great plan!

Seriously, web pages designers are cheap these days. There are about 25 brazillion of them out there. But the GOP finds the most expensive incompetent on the market who fails to create a working page. Just think what would happen if they tried to run the country...oh, wait...we know what happened.

F-16's Overhead

Well, that was interesting. As part of the local universities homecoming celebration, a flight of F-16's did a flyover ahead of the football game.
Which seems rather strange, as the game is being played in a domed stadium.
(BTW: F-16's are really loud. The sound drowned out a train horn.)

Another Pair of Boobies

Friday already? This week slipped right by me.

Birds Don't Understand Baseball

Watching the Baseball playoffs with Griselda, I've come to the conclusion that she really doesn't understand the game. Every time the Yankees scored a run, I'd say "damn", and she would squawk loudly, but that's how she reacts to most things I say. She does watch the ball on the TV screen, but it's the same way she watches anything that moves on the screen. I doubt that she grasps how truly evil the Yankees are.

(dang, is this really the first thing I've posted since Monday? I'm slacking as a blogger.)

Another Step Toward Sanity

Sometimes small issues show clearly how much better Obama is for the country than shrub ever was. For example, law enforcement:

The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.

The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.

Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/10/19/2009-10-19_obama_administration_medical_marijuana_users_suppliers_wont_be_prosecuted_as_lon.html

Yeah, it's a very small step, but by accepting medical marijuana in states that have legalized it Obama has ended a hateful and inhumane position of the shrub administration, and a total waste of government resources. I'm one of those liberals who would like to see all marijuana legalized, as a matter of personal freedom, but medical marijuana shouldn't even be debatable for humanitarian reasons.

So, one good (albeit small) step.

The Owl I Saw

Appears to be a Saw-Whet Owl.
The story: Late on the second night of the trip, I awoke with a need to urinate (the predictable result of drinking beer by the campfire prior to crawling into my sleeping bag). I opened my tent flap, and this little guy was sitting on a branch about ten feet away (those are my river pants drying out in the branch to the left). Luckily, I was able to reach my camera and snap a couple of pics before he/she flew away, even though I was too 'pressured' to get a good focus. 'Twas a unique incident on the trip.


(click for larger view)

Back in Civilization

I'm back. Nine days away from civilization can be quite refreshing, but nine days on the river is even beyond that. I am rather tired, however. I'll try to post more pics and stories soon.
Damn, what are all those people doing out there?

Our Friday Boobie

is nowhere near as compelling as the 6-year-old-in-the-shiny-balloon story that so captivated our useless media, but it will have to do. But on the positive side, at least it's Friday!

Our Friday Boobie

This boobie is supposedly a fine looking brown-footed specimen, although to my eyes his feet are a strange pale lime-green color.

As Py is away on the river for awhile, I will try my damndest to bring some posts to the place, although it has been awhile since I've done so.

River Trip Time

Tomorrow morning, I depart on a nine day trip on the San Juan river. My first major river trip since breaking my humerus, and I'm really looking forward to it. Packing for the trip has been a challenge, as we're trying to travel light due to low water but also be prepared for all the various weather that October brings. Over the course of nine days, it's gonna get cold.

During my absence I hope that Sweaterman will throw up a few posts. He's been up to some interesting activities over the past month, and I hope he'll share them with you.

Whitewater is calling me, and I must be on the river.

Eight Years in Afghanistan

Eight years ago, we invaded Afghanistan to pursue Al Qaida after the 9/11 attacks (and by extension the Taliban that enabled them). It sounded rather straight forward at the time, but Afghanistan has never been a good place to invade. After eight years, it's unclear what we've accomplished, what we hope to accomplish, our how the hell we're going to finish whatever we're attempting to accomplish.
When we first invaded Afghanistan, I felt it was justified in order to go after Al Qaida. But I also feared the potential for disaster, based on history and the absolute incompetence of the shrub administration. At the time I stated "I fear that we've just stuck our foot in a very large bear trap." And, sadly, this has proven to be true.
The largest mistake, obviously, was the invasion of Iraq which was completely unjustified and also removed the resources needed to defeat Al Qaida. Afghanistan was left to muddle along as a forgotten war.
So what do we do now? There are no good options and the status quo isn't working. Obama's right to want a clear strategy, with clear goals, before allocating more resources. But those goals have to be realistic. And looking at the history of Afghanistan, "realistic" is somewhere between "really bad" and "absolutely horrible." Every option is going to be bloody and expensive.
Getting out of Afghanistan is a lot harder than getting in.

Renzi: Five More Charges

My corrupt former congress critter Rick Renzi has been doing everything he can to delay his trial on 36 charges of corruption and embezzlement. Now prosecutors are adding 5 more charges:

The Justice Department has expanded its case against former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), adding five new corruption charges. Prosecutors added insurance fraud and racketeering accusations in a second superseding indictment filed in late September. It is the second time the government has added charges to the original indictment, first filed in February 2008.

The government added a conspiracy to commit insurance fraud charge to the indictment. Explaining the charge, the government argued that Renzi, co-defendant Dwayne Lequire and others willfully embezzled funds and premiums from a risk retention company called Spirit Mountain to pay Renzi’s “substantial personal expenses.” Lequire helped conceal the embezzlement by transferring other funds into accounts of Renzi’s insurance company, Patriot Insurance, including proceeds from a line of credit and the real estate deal at the heart of the corruption case against him, the prosecutors allege.

Renzi is accused of telling executives for Resolution Copper Mining that he would not support a land swap bill unless they bought his former business partner’s property. Another company agreed to the deal, and Renzi pocketed more than $700,000 from it, according to the indictment.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/61723-feds-expand-case-against-renzi

So keep it up, Rick. The longer you stall, the more of your crimes will come to light. If you succeed in postponing your trial to January, you might be facing 50 charges or more.

(the tattoo'd pigs are a Pygalgia tradition for all things Renzi)

Twins! (or extra baseball)

Nothing like 'bonus' baseball, is there? The Tigers and Twins needed to play an extra game to decide their season. So it is only apropos that they would go into extra innings.
I was (mildly) rooting for the Twins, due to a very dear lady friend being a diehard Twins fan (and that my team is already out). And they won.
Now, if only they can beat the hated Yankers.

Rewrite

This is just too funny to ignore. Some whacked out conservatives have a problem with the bible, so they want to rewrite it and eliminate liberal "bias". Go read...it's as crazy as you think.
Not that this is a new idea. The bible has been rewritten many time, leading to the multiple versions seen today. But in all of them, Jesus is a pretty liberal fellow. That whole "love thy neighbor" thing will have to go.
But I wonder how this will be received by strict biblical literalists, who believe that every word was 'divinely inspired' by 'god'. Wouldn't a new version of the bible be seen as blasphemy?

Making a Simple Statement

From The Ostroy Report, this simple statement:

Republicans' 2010 Campaign Message: Vote For Us Because Obama Can't Magically Fix in a Year What it Took Us Eight Years to Destroy

Wish I said that.

Really Bad Technology

Voice activated telephone answering systems are the most annoying new technology I've yet to run across. Attempting to refill my prescriptions, I encountered the pharmacies answering system, and I'm ready to slowly torture the designer to death. The voice system seemed programmed to default to "I'm sorry; I didn't understand" to every thing I said, even "yes" or "no". Which is funny, because I have very good diction, thanks to years of theater. If it couldn't understand my voice, I can only imagine how a less clearly spoken person would fare. Of course, the last thing the system wants you to do is to speak to an actual human being, so it doesn't offer that as an option.

But I figured out a way to defeat the system, after multiple tries. If you repeat a ridiculous word enough times, it finally gives up and transfers you to a person. So I answered every question by saying "pomegranate" over and over again, and it gave up.

I'm convinced that these things were created by republicans. Or microsoft. They're the only ones with ideas that bad.

Helen's Still Swinging

Have I mentioned that I love Helen Thomas? She's been a thorn in the side of every president since Kennedy. The dictionary definition of "tenacious" should have her picture.

Helen Thomas is 89 years old and requires some assistance to get to and from the daily White House briefing. Yet her backbone has proved stronger than that of the president she covers.

On Thursday afternoon, Thomas gave a clinic in fortitude to President Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, during the briefing. "Has the president given up on the public option?" she inquired from her front-row-middle seat.

The press secretary laughed at this repetition of a common Thomas inquiry, but this questioner, who has covered every president since Kennedy, wasn't about to be silenced. "I ask it day after day because it has great meaning in this country, and you never answer it," she said.

"Well, I -- I -- I apparently don't answer it to your satisfaction," Gibbs stammered.

"That's right," Thomas snarled.

"I -- I'll -- I'll give you the same answer that I gave you unsatisfactorily for many of those other days," Gibbs offered. "It's what the president believes in --"

"Is he going to fight for it or not?" Thomas snapped.

"We're going to work to get choice and competition into health-care reform" was Gibbs's vague response.

Thomas took that as a no. "You're not going to get it," she advised.

"Then why do you keep asking me?" Gibbs inquired.

"Because I want your conscience to bother you," Thomas replied. The room erupted; Gibbs reddened.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/01/AR2009100104303_pf.html

89 years old, and still speaking truth to power. When Helen says "you're not going to get it" Mr. Gibbs (and by extension, Mr. Obama) would be wise to listen.

Another Rethug Idiot on Health Care

OK, it's not news, but Rep. Broun sinks to a new low:

One of the most radical opponents of health care reform is Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA). He has said that a public option would “kill people.” Last Tuesday, Broun was confronted by a constituent at a health care town hall who explained that he has has gone into debt because he can’t afford insurance for his major depressive disorder. In response to his constituent’s story, Broun said that “people who have depression, who have chronic diseases in this country…can always get care in this country by going to the emergency room.” That comment prompted boos from the crowd. Towards the end of Broun’s answer, a constituent yelled, “That’s why we need a public option!” which brought cheers from the audience. (video at link)

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/01/broun-emergency-room/

As a former mental health counselor who's suffered bouts of depression myself, I'm outraged at this. Chronic depression (like all chronic diseases) requires long term treatment. Ideally, a combination of counseling and medications are used, but currently it's mostly just medications. They're cheaper. Emergency treatment of depression usually comes as a result of a suicide attempt or serious suicidal ideation. So the congressman was basically saying "go attempt suicide, and you can get treatment". If you survive.
Perhaps the most stunning part of the whole health care debate is how blatant the rethugs have been about there lack of compassion for their fellow human beings. It's one thing to be a cold heartless bastard, another thing to proudly publicly proclaim it.

Party in Rio

Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Olympics. Sounds like a great choice, since the Olympics have never been in South America. Rio beat out Madrid, another really fun city. And, no offense Chicago, but Rio knows how to throw a party.
Of course, the right-wing will celebrate Barack's failure to secure Chicago's bid. It's what they do.

A Flying Boobie

Looking good!

Nose Blowing

So, I'm just sitting with the bird and I start having a minor case of rhinorhea. So I grab a tissue, and blow. Grizelda reacts like I've just fired off a shotgun. She's currently hiding in her (open) cage.
I didn't know that I blew my nose that hard.

Jimmy Carter turns 85

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter addresses the crowd during the museum's Oct. 1 grand reopening as Carter Library and Museum Director Jay Hakes looks on. Watch the ceremony >

Former President Jimmy Carter turned 85 today. Most analysts consider Carter's presidency a failure, as he only lasted one term and was unable to pass much of his agenda while in office, but his humanitarian work since leaving office has been magnificent.
I've always felt the Carter was the kindest and smartest president of my lifetime, but that he was a very ineffective politician. I wonder how history might have been different if Jimmy had gotten his alternative energy program passed.

The PRC Turns 60

China 'celebrates' 60 years of communist rule today:

President Hu Jintao inspected China's defense forces in Beijing on Thursday, as the country held celebrations to mark the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

About 200,000 soldiers and civilians -- from veterans and athletes to space heroes and young people -- gathered in Tiananmen Square for the National Day military and mass parade showcasing achievements of the last 60 years, Xinhua reported.

The packed square resembled a carnival as colorful crowds marched, cheered and waved. A 60-cannon salute rang out as the nation's flag swept over the square.

The army showed off its latest weapons, which officials touted as made in China. Weapons on display included China's new generation of tanks, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite communication devices, Xinhua said.

More than 150 fighter jets, bombers, helicopters and other aircraft were to fly over the square, including a fly-past by China's first batch of female fighter pilots, state-run media said.

A 1,300-member military band were also to make an appearance, according to Xinhua.

http://edition.cnn.hu/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/30/china.anniversary/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

China's history is rather unique in the world. Now a manufacturing and economic behemoth, China is a very different place from the one Mao declared 60 years ago. One could even question whether China today is truly "communist", given the amount of business enterprise going on. But the evolution over the past 60 years has been bloody and brutal, and the regime is still repressive.
History is prone to taking strange turns, and the history of relations between the PRC and the USA is a story with many twists. From the cold war and the Korean war, to Nixon's opening of relations (one of the few good things Nixon ever did), to Tiananmen Square, to their current status as America's underwriters.
Of course, from a historical perspective, 60 years is a very short time for the Chinese. Compared to some of the Dynasties, the Communist regime is just a pup.
additional story: China 60 years on: From Mao to today

Take Your Guns to the Bar Day

Starting today, you can take your guns into bars in my home state of Arizona, unless the bar has specific signs prohibiting firearms:

Starting Wednesday, those carrying concealed weapons are allowed to enter Arizona's roughly 5,300 establishments licensed to sell alcohol, as long as they don't drink. If those bar and restaurant owners don't want guns on the property, they must post a sign indicating that they are not allowed.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/2009/09/29/20090929gunlaw0929.html

My favorite watering hole put up the "no firearms" signs weeks ago. As the owner said "are they nucking futs?". In fairness, the law prohibits consuming alcohol while carrying a firearm. But the key word "concealed" makes that rather difficult to enforce. Knowing some of my fellow Arizonans attitude toward gun laws in general, I have a feeling that the "no alcohol" provision will frequently be ignored. As may be the "no firearms" signs.
Mind numbingly stupid, if you ask me (and I'm a gun owner). Guns and alcohol don't mix well (although I do have a great story of the time I got drunk and went target shooting with Doc Thompson) and I don't see this ending well. Strange the things we legalize, while marijuana is still illegal.

Electricity

Or rather, the lack thereof. Lost power to half of my little grotto on Sunday. Resetting the circuit breaker didn't work, nor did replacing it. So yesterday the landlord sent a real electrician (which I certainly am not). Four hours later, he identified that there's a short deep inside my walls. Since the wiring in my little dump is from the Ben Franklin era, he's coming back today to basically rewire the whole place (I'm running off a long extension cord right now), so my world is going to be disrupted today.
The joys of modern living.
(added: the electrician said he'd be here at 9:00 am, called to say he'd be here by 10:00, and it's now 12:30...and...no electrician. What is wrong with these people?)
Double added: it's all fixed now. Nice guys tore my place apart, but they did their best to put it back together. Bottom line: it works.

Yeah, But Can She Hit?

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will throw out the first pitch at today's Red Sox-Yankees game:

NEW YORK -- United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a lifelong Yankees fan who grew up not far from Yankee Stadium, is set to take the mound on Saturday afternoon for a ceremonial first pitch.

The Bronx native will take the mound on Saturday, prior to the Yankees' 4:10 p.m. ET game against the Red Sox on FOX.

Sotomayor, 55, has been dubbed as "the judge who saved baseball." In 1995, as a federal trial judge, Sotomayor issued a preliminary injunction that helped end the Major League Baseball strike of 1994-95.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090925&content_id=7148974&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Hit the strike zone, judge!

(photo added)

(I'm guessing she could over rule the umpires call anyway)

More on the Anglo-Saxon Treasure Find

I posted a couple of days ago on the man with a metal detector in the UK finding a huge cache of gold and silver artifacts, but the story is even cooler.

The "Staffordshire Hoard" is about 1,500 items, and is thought to be the largest archaeological find of Anglo-Saxon artifacts in history.

The items appear to date from around 700 AD, likely from the Kingdom of Mercia, but there's still some debate.

Of course, in keeping with human nature, there's already a dispute about ownership between the treasure hunter and the owner of the property where it was found.

Anyway, it's a really cool piece of Archeology. Those of us with Anglo-Saxon ancestors should enjoy the history.

A larger gallery is here: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/09/anglo-saxon-hoard.php?img=1&ref=fpb

Stopping Terrorists

What a difference a new administration makes. Compare how Obama's team handles the arrest of accused terrorists to how shrub and crew acted:
The FBI has apparently disrupted a terror plot centered on Najibullah Zazi of Colorado; it conducted a sting operation that led to the arrest yesterday of a man charged with attempting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper; and it conducted another sting that led to the arrest of a Muslim convert in Illinois who allegedly tried to detonate what he believed was a bomb outside a federal courthouse.
But where are the huge press conferences with the Attorney General calling the accused "enemy combatants"? Where's the color coded fear mongering? Where's the suspension of Habeaus Corpus?
Instead, we're seeing criminal charges in courtrooms as a result of solid FBI/Police work. And an administration quietly going about conducting their jobs.
The Cheney said Obama was making us 'less safe", but the facts prove otherwise. Which is just another reason that no one should ever listen to the Cheney.

Here Are Boobies

Looking up on Friday.
Go to Girls Are Pretty and you will be told what to do.

These Things Never Happen To Me

I've played around with a metal detector on some beaches, but this is cool:

A man using a metal detector in a rural English field has uncovered the largest Anglo-Saxon gold hoard ever found -- an "unprecedented" treasure that sheds new light on history, archaeologists said Thursday.

The hoard includes 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of gold and 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of silver. That is more than three times the amount of gold found at Sutton Hoo, one of Britain's most important Anglo-Saxon sites, said the local council in Staffordshire where the latest haul was found.

It's an "incredible collection of material -- absolutely unprecedented," said Kevin Leahy, an archaeologist with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a voluntary group that records finds made by members of the public. "We've moved into new ground with this material."

Because the find is so large and important, experts haven't been able to say yet how much it is worth. They hope to make a valuation within 13 months, Staffordshire Council

The hoard was discovered in July by Englishman Terry Herbert, who was using a metal detector he bought more than a decade ago in a jumble sale for only a few pounds (dollars). He belongs to a local metal detecting club in Staffordshire and was just out enjoying his hobby when he made the find.

There was so much gold at the site that Herbert said he was soon seeing it in his sleep.

"Imagine you're at home and somebody just keeps putting money through your letterbox. That's what it was like," Herbert told Britain's Press Association. "As soon as I closed my eyes I saw gold patterns. I didn't think it was ever going to end."

Herbert found 500 items before he called in experts, who then found a further 800 articles in the soil. Officials aren't saying exactly where the gold was found, other than to say it was in Staffordshire, in north-central England.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/24/staffordshire.uk.gold.hoard/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Just the history alone would make me happy.
But all that gold...would make a person...very rich.
(h/t to Zandar http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/, who's being added to the roll)

On the World Stage

Barack Obama presides over a UN security council meeting on nuclear weapons. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

Although I'm sometimes disappointed in President Obama, there are times that I'm quite glad that we have him. One area that I feel he's handling very well is international diplomacy. Today:

Barack Obama today hailed a UN security council resolution on disarmament and non-proliferation as a milestone along the way to "a world without nuclear weapons".

Obama, the first US president to preside over a security council session, said the next twelve months would be "absolutely critical" in ensuring whether the resolution would succeed in reversing the spread of nuclear weapons and setting the world along the path of multilateral disarmament.

He said he had no illusions about the difficulties ahead, but he added "there will also be days like today" when the world came together for the common goal of disarmament and countering proliferation.

Today's resolution calls for the nuclear weapons states to ratify a ban on nuclear testing - something the US senate has yet to do - and negotiate a new treaty to stop the production of fissile material. It also calls for on them to join the disarmament process being led by the US and Russia, who account for more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons between them.

The document also endorses a string of measures intended to strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ahead of a major review conference next May.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/24/nuclear-weapons-un-security-council

I can't imagine shrub engaging the nuclear proliferation issue, or getting any support if he had attempted to. It's nice to have an articulate President who other world leaders listen to with respect.
I know we're a long way from a nuke free world, but as a child of the cold war 'duck and cover' drills, it's nice to see the world getting a little safer.

California's Celebrity Politics

For political junkies (like me), no other state offers as much entertainment as California. Which celebrity will run for office this time? Having actors as governors and congress persons has become traditional for California.
But I'm seeing a new trend in celebrity candidates this time: the rethugs are turning to female former CEO's of high tech corporations. Meg Whitman of ebay fame is running for Governor, and Carly Fiorina from HP is running for the senate. Both are quite wealthy, so they should have no problem getting their message (government=bad; taxes=bad; wealth=good) out.
We'll see how they do with actual voters, but they certainly represent something new in celebrity politics.

Autumnal Equinox

Ah, the changing of the seasons. Summer ends, fall begins. And here locally, Ma nature is taking the change literally. Today is about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, and there's a freeze warning for tonight. Summer was much too short.

A New Rule

The Baucus bill now has 564 amendments proposed. I'll propose a new rule, where any bill that gets more than "X" number of proposed amendments must be rewritten. "X" could be 200 or 300 or whatever, but at some point we need a good bill without hundreds of changes.

Boris, That's Why We Have Delivery

This story made me chuckle:

In a new book recounting 79 taped interviews with President Clinton while he was in office, author Taylor Branch has bestowed us with some gems, such as this one about Boris Yeltsin's drinking:

Yeltsin was visiting Washington in 1995 when, late at night, Secret Service agents found the Russian president stripped to his underwear and trying to hail a cab on Pennsylvania Avenue. He wanted a pizza, he slurred.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/from-the-clinton-interviews-a-drunken-boris-yeltsin-on-pennsylvania-ave.php?ref=fpblg

I hope they explained to Mr. Yeltsin how to call for delivery. That's what Americans do when we're drunk, in our underwear, and want a pizza.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Shana Tovah to all my Jewish readers.
Growing up, the day meant getting the day off from school and going to my Jewish Grandmother's for apples dipped in honey. Fond memories.

A Pretty Pair of Boobies

Shall we dance?

A (Very) Brief Bit of History

A short history lesson for the right wing screamers: "Czars" were not communist. In fact, Czar Nicholas had a real problem with the communists.
These people have killed irony so many times.

Dropping Missile Defense

In a rare victory for common sense, President Obama has dropped the (shrub) planned missile defense system that was to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Shrub's missile defense plan was one of his greater boondoggles; spending billions on a system that didn't work to defend against a threat that didn't exist marketed by a dishonest rationale. Pure Shrub.
Originally, the system was purported to be a defense of Europe against the threat of Iran's nuclear 'threat'. Among the minor flaws with this idea are:
1) Iran doesn't have any nukes, nor do they look to have any in the near future.
2) Iran doesn't have long range missiles, nor do they appear to be getting any anytime soon.
3) Nobody sane could think of any reason why Iran would drop a nuke anywhere in Europe.
The standard neocon paranoia fantasy is that Iran would use a nuke on Israel is absolutely crazy, and won't happen, but simply looking at a globe shows that missile defense in Eastern Europe would do nothing to prevent such an attack.
The real, but unstated, reason for the missile defense system was to piss off the Russians. The old 'cold-warriors' in the shrub administration were still stuck on the old battle with the 'commies', and were more than happy to shovel billions to the defense industry for that reason alone. But we're in a very different world now. The cold war is over and Russia is a global trading partner. They're not going to be nuking Europe any time soon.
I'm sure that the (never) right-wing will attack Obama for "weakening America's defense" and "surrendering to the Russians" by killing the program, but here in reality all he's doing is ending the waste of billions on a really bad idea. An expensive defense system that doesn't work to defend against a threat that doesn't exist is a prime example of the shrub legacy. Killing the boondoggle is an act of common sense.

Dissecting the Baucus Bill

Feel free to dissect it all you like. Because it's dead. Carve it up into tiny pieces. It's going no where.
Six months trying to assemble a bipartisan zombie have only created a cadaver.
The rethugs won't support it. Progressive dems won't support it. The public won't support it.
I'm not sure what sort of reform will eventually come out of the congressional sausage making process, but I'm quite certain that this isn't it.

Decorum

The house will vote on a resolution of "disapproval" of Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson, Sr. for his shouting "you lie" during President Obama's address last week. In all the media debate of the politics behind the resolution, nobody seems to point out (as I did last week) the simple fact: Wilson's outburst was clearly in violation of the house rules of decorum. Rule #4:

"Refrain from speaking disrespectfully of the Speaker, other Members, the President or Vice President."

http://rules.house.gov/archives/house_decorum.htm
Maybe it's the old baseball umpire in me, but I do believe that "the rule IS the rule". It's right there, and every member signs an agreement to abide by the rules prior to being seated. There are four levels of penalties the house can impose: Expulsion; Censure; Reprimand; or Disapproval, with 'disapproval' being the mildest penalty. But, regardless of the politics, the rules need to be enforced, or there are no rules.
(when I umpired Little League Baseball, I acquired a reputation for having a very quick thumb; I tossed anyone who used any obscenity. You could argue with me as loud as you liked, but I refused to tolerate foul language. It's what the rule book said. I'm funny that way.)

added: the wrist has been duly slapped. text of the resolution

When the Shuttle Takes a Leak

http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=10&month=09&year=2009

What looks like a comet at first, is actually the space shuttle Discovery dropping "liquid waste" prior to last weeks landing. That's right; that beautiful image is the result of a "massive urine release."
A fine way to start the day.