Fresh Boobies

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

As They Debate Porcine Cosmetology

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

Seven Years Later

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

Enough Palin, Let's Focus

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

Observing Obama's Speech

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

Bringing Back the Boobies

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

Olympic Doping

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

Where Was I?

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

Spin the Football

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

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

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

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

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

Odds, and a few Ends

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

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

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

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

Another Friday, Another Boobie

Welcome to the month of August.

Party for Shanker

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

I'm Jealous

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

The Boobie is Back

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

St. Sleazy vs. Capt. Corruption

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still, I would have paid to see that fight.

Worth A Try

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

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

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

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

Too bad it didn't work.

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

National Disconnect

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For Sweaterman

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



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

My Housing Crisis

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

And the Boobie

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