Unashamed
(my brother, Scott)
Crazy Aunt Purl
(my friend Laurie)
There's Pie In the Lunchroom
(my friend Chuck)
Too Fat For Ponies
(my friend Sam)
Post Secret
(a place to share secrets)
Recent posts:
2006
July 13-31, 2006
June 26-July 5, 2006
June 13-20, 2006
May 30-June 8, 2006
May 22-26, 2006
May 9-16, 2006
May 2-5, 2006
April 17-28, 2006
April 10-14, 2006
March 27-April 7, 2006
March 6-10, 2006
Feb. 27 - March 3, 2006
Feb. 20-24, 2006
Feb. 13-17, 2006
Feb. 6-9, 2006
Jan 30-Feb 2, 2006
Jan 23-27, 2006
Jan 16-20, 2006
Jan 3-11, 2006
2005
Dec 27-30, 2005
Dec 19-22, 2005
Dec 8-16, 2005
Dec 1-7, 2005
Aug 10, 2006
You know how I can tell that the defeat of Lieberman was a good thing? GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman said it was "a shame." John Gibson of Fox "News" compared Lamont voters to the Khmer Rouge. Vice President Dick Cheney said the loss was "disturbing." According to ABC, Karl Rove contacted the Lieberman camp with an offer of help that came from Bush himself. That's got to toast the waffles of the Republican candidate for Joe's seat. Last night on "Hardball" Mehlman refused to endorse the Republican candidate in Connecticut:
MATTHEWS: Do you want Republicans in Connecticut to vote for the Republican candidate or do you want them to vote for Joe Lieberman, which one?
MEHLMAN: I'm letting Republicans in Connecticut make that decision.
It's amazing how much the Republicans love Joe Lieberman. You'd think they'd never called him "Loserman" after the 2000 elections. Here's the thing: Lieberman is a hypocrite.
During the aftermath of the 2000 elections, he called on Gore to concede. During the 2004 elections, he called on Kerry to forget the problems in Ohio and move on. Now that he's been defeated in a legitimate primary by members of his own party, he's finally decided to take a stand.
Too late, Joe. Move on.
A new CNN poll shows 60 percent of Americans now oppose the war in Iraq.
These are the wackos the Republicans are all talking about -- the fringe, the out-of-the-mainstream. Nothing motivates voters like anger. The GOP is in trouble.
British officials stopped a plot to blow up some planes headed to the U.S. Any guesses which Republican will be the first to try and connect this to the Lieberman loss and claim the Dems are soft on terrorism?
Here we go. After getting slapped by the Supreme Court over treatment of detainees, the Bush administration is a bit frightened that some of their number may have to answer for their crimes. What other purpose would there be to drafting an ammendment to the War Crimes Act?
The Bush administration has drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal.
The White House, without elaboration, said in a statement that the bill "will apply to any conduct by any U.S. personnel, whether committed before or after the law is enacted."
Someone getting nervous?
One more thing and I'll leave Lieberman alone for a while.
Minnessotta Republican Congressman Mark Kennedy (who is down 13 points in senate race his race against Democrat Amy Klobuchar) has endorsed Lieberman, rather than the GOP candidate from Connecticut (uh . . . Schlessinger, I think).
Mike McGavock, a Republican running for senate in Washington, has also endorsed Lieberman, rather than the GOP candidate from Connecticut (seriously, I think his name is Al or Sal . . . ).
One wonders if they'd being doing that had Lieberman won his primary yesterday. If not, then what does that say about them?
Aug. 8, 2006
All eyes are on Connecticut today as Sen. Joe Lieberman is in for the fight of his political career. Now, I have no dog in this fight. I don't vote in Connecticut. I've never been to Connecticut. The outcome of today's primary will have little effect on me personally.
All that being said, I'm pulling for Lamont. The reason is twofold: 1) Joe Lieberman is wrong on Iraq and has provided the Bush administration with too much bipartisan cover. I'm certain he is serious and forthright with his support of this war, but he's still wrong. 2) Lieberman is acting like a spoiled little kid, getting all huffy because he's having to face a challenger in his primary. Senate seats are not yours for life, Joe. Every six years, you've got to stand up and face the voters. The idea that, having lost the primary, you would consider running as an independent is repulsive. It proves your not a party man and reinforces the idea that you don't deserve the party's nomination.
But what's most telling about the race is the sheer amount of advice the Dems are getting from the Republicans. Lieberman is by far the Republicans' favorite Democrat. Newt Gingrich said the Lamont campaign was an "insurgency." Glenn Beck said if Lamont wins it will be the "death of the Democratic party." Sean Hannity said if Lieberman loses the Dems will "lose their soul." Uh, thanks for the advice, but we'll run our own primaries, thank you very much.
Hee hee hee. Justice Scalia got one right. He has refused the Texas GOP's hail mary pass, leaving them with only three options: 1) running Tom Delay, knowing he has a lot of legal problems and doesn't want to serve; 2) letting the Dems have the seat; or 3) supporting a write-in candidate.
Hee hee hee
Aaaaaaand another one falls to the Abramoff juggernaught. Rep. Bob Ney, arguably one of the three most corrupt members of the House of Representatives (along with Cunningham and Delay) has announced that he will not seek reelection.
According to the Washington Post, Ney's choice was helped along when House GOP leader John Boehner reminded him that he's going to be needing money to pay for college for his kids and those lucrative lobbying gigs on K Street don't just appear out of thin air.
Any guesses on who will be next? My money is on Doolittle.
Bush just doesn't get it. He really doesn't. At a press conference yesterday, when asked about the possibility of a civil war in Iraq (you know like the generals were warning Congress about last week). Bush said:
“You know, I hear people say, Well, civil war this, civil war that. The Iraqi people decided against civil war when they went to the ballot box.”
Oy. What a dumb thing to say -- a complete non sequitor. Any student of history care to comment on the U.S. election that happened right before our civil war broke out? The emperor has no brains.
Over the last two days I've been cut off by about half a dozen SUVs driven by people with a cell phone held to the sides of their heads. I don't dislike cell phones. I've even been known to drive and talk at the same time. In these instances, it's been someone trying to merge into traffic or not watching while I merged. It seems to me that if a call is that important, you can make it before you get into your car.
Barring that, get a speaker phone or a head set -- anything to get you to pay less attention to whomever you're yakking at and more to the road.
I didn't buy a PowerBall ticket for Saturday's drawing and now a bunch of cheeseheads who work for Sargentos in Wisconsin got my $209 million. Dollie always says that you can't win unless you go in with a bunch of people. In this case, 100 coworkers chipped in a buck each and will walk away with $650,000 each after taxes. How would you like to be the guy on the cheese line who didn't chip in?
It looks like the folks in Colorado are going to get to vote on whether to make the possession of marijuanna legal for those over 21. The effort is being run by the same group that got a Denver resolution passed last year. If passed, there are still federal laws to contend with, so I wouldn't expect to see commercial production or anything.
One of the effects of smoking pot is the loss of short-term memory (or is it?). Heh. The Germans, however, have got you covered. They've had some success with a new "anti-stupid" pill.
So British Petroleum (BP) which has seen the second largest profit in the history of the world hasn't bothered to maintain the pipelines along the north slope of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. It has been more than 25 years since they ran a pig -- a capsule (seen in the James Bond film "The Living Daylights") that runs along the interior of the oil pipeline to clean up residue -- through the lines. Why? Because they didn't think it was necessary and there was no government regulation in place requiring it. That's their excuse, not mine.
Now domestic oil production will be cut by 8 percent during the months the pipeline is down. The news raised the price of crude oil by $2 a barrel and the price of gas by .10 a gallon.
So here's the thing: what incentive does BP have to fix the pipeline quickly? It seems to me that they stand to make more money by cutting the supply. There is no move to punish them for their negligence. And if history is any indication, once the price of gas goes up by another 50 cents, it won't come back down again when the pipes are open.
Oil companies decry government regulations, saying the invisible hand of the free market should guide us all. They have a sympathic ear in Bush and Cheney. But the fact is that the only reason we know about the corroded pipelines now is because the federal government ordered an inspection following a spill of 270,000 gallons last March.
Aug. 7, 2006
"Lookin' good, ladies!"
Rozzy kept saying that over and over again. I don't know where she got it, but it cracked me up and the act of making me laugh, made her say it even more. Soon, adding "ladies" to the end of sentences became a catch phrase.
"Let's go, ladies!"
"I've got to go the potty, ladies!"
"I'm hungry, ladies!"
"Where are my shoes, ladies?"
On Friday night, we went to the Gann-Smith's for a get-together. Rozzy was in her element, evidently, because she became the life of the party. She told stories to everyone, rooms full of people, grownups and kids alike, hung on her every word. Unfortunately, the stories weren't what one might call, polite.
As I was talking to Henry about his new obsession with World of Warcraft (more on that later), Rozzy came to me.
"Papa! I want to tell you a silly story."
"Okay."
"Once upon a time, I pulled off my panties and I pooted."
Great. I learned later that all of her stories were along that vein. She told me later they were her privates stories.
So Henry is getting into World of Warcraft. It seems his buddy Ferrell loves the game. Ferrell's schedule works like this: Play WoW until about 5 or 6 a.m., go to bed. Get up and go to work about 1 p.m. and play WoW all day. Go home and repeat.
Henry tells me he's been lying in bed until his wife goes to sleep, then getting up and playing until 1 or 2 a.m.
For those who do not know, World of Warcraft is an online game which is similar to Dungeons & Dragons, but you play it over the internet in a massive online world in which hundreds of others are playing as well. You pay about $15/month for access.
"It's like being able to play D&D whenever I want, without having to organize a bunch of people to come over."
I've never played WoW, but I've read a lot about it and I've played other massive multiplayers out there. So I'm certain I would enjoy it, which is why I've avoided it. Some people really get into it.
There is a phenomenon called "gold farming" where people attain gold and treasure online and sell it on eBay for real world dollars. This is a practice that Blizzard Software detests and "true" gamers shun.
Ferrell, when he was new to the game, bought a bunch of gold, armor and magic items from eBay for his character and quickly attained the highest level (60). Then he noticed something odd going on. Whenever he asked to join a party going on a quest, they turned him down. No one wanted to play with him, no one wanted to talk with him. He was shunned.
Word had gotten around that he bought everything he had and didn't "earn" it, so no one wanted to have anything to do with him. That's a sweet bit of online gamer policing. Ferrell, had to write several letters of apology and explain that he really wanted to play and would do whatever it took to make things right.
That's hillarious. Like I said, I've read about WoW and I've played more hours of D&D with Henry than I care to admit so I asked him some questions:
"Are you Alliance or Horde?"
"Alliance."
"Human or Elf?"
"Elf"
"Let me guess, female elf druid"
"I can turn into a bear!" Heh.
This morning marked the official end of summer break. Dollie started back, Rozzy's back in daycare full time, Max has been in school two weeks already. The only person who's routine hasn't changed? Me. Well, that's not entirely true. I have to get up earlier these days.
I have zero interest in the affairs of Paris Hilton. I never watched her dumb TV show, I've never Googled her bootleg sex tape. I don't think she's interesting, pretty or has anything relevant to say on any subject.
But it doesn't seem right that, in spite of the fact that she's worth millions and can expect to inherit billions, people will pay her to show up at parties. In a recent interview in British GQ, she proved she wasn't very smart, but in this day and age, that doesn't matter much, I guess:
During the interview, Hilton also displayed some political illiteracy.
When asked about British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, her response was: "Who? ... Oh, yeah, he's like your president. I don't know what he looks like."
Hilton also told the magazine she collects $500,000 in fees just to show up at parties and other events from Las Vegas to Tokyo. Her best-paying gig, she said, was a recent Austrian appearance.
"I had to say `hi' and tell them why I loved Austria so much," she is quoted as saying.
And why does she like Austria? "Because they pay me $1 million to wave at crowds!"
They're certainly not paying her for opinion on world events.
It was a sales tax-free weekend in Tennessee for back-to-school stuff, like clothes. So the malls were packed. The Apple Store at Green Hills had people lined up out the door. At Old Navy, the sale racks were picked over. It was a glorious tribute to economic recovery.
We took part. Dollie and I dragged the kids through T.J. Maxx. I was looking at the racks of neckties and not liking much of what was there. Why are designers like Hilfiger and Cardan convinced that men want pink ties with tiny fishes on them? It was rack after rack of tiny butterflies, sailboats, sea horses. dragonflys. Ugh.
Then I see a tie I like and check the price tage. It seemed reasonable enough. I pulled it from the rack and saw it: Donald Trump Signature Series. In my head, I picture the Donald, that short-fingered vulgarian, telling some hapless designer "And none of that butterfly crap. I want classy ties! Black on black, wide stripes and find some gold thread. You writing this down?"
Nope. I can't bring myself to do it. I put it back.
Frankly, I don't know what ties are in style and what are last year's models. I don't buy them that often and the ones I do own, I tend to wear for years. Granted, I no longer wear knit sock ties, skinny leather ties with piano keys or novelty ties that play music or look like a mackeral hanging from my neck.
I just wish I had a better grasp on what's fashionable.
At my grandmother's funeral, my brothers poked some good natured fun at the fact that my tie didn't reach to my belt. But the length of your tie rises and falls on the whims of fashion as well. I countered that the reason my tie was shorter was because I tied it with a double windsor -- which is a knot preferred by men -- and not that single windsor they wear. Even so, the knot used on one's tie is more a reflection of the type of colar on your shirt and your ability to tie a tie than anything else.
Ties are the closest we men have to the fashion nightmare that women must go through each year. I don't see how they do it.
No politics today. Enjoy.
Aug. 4, 2006
On "The Colbert Report" recently, Stephen Colbert opened the show by saying how hot it was, saying that the ushers had to use potholders to put the audience in their seats. He quickly added "But it's not global warming, liberals, it's called summer."
That made me laugh because it's true in a way. When researchers talk about global warming, they're talking about a rise in temperatures on a planetary scale. Individual weather patterns are a very small part of a much bigger phenomenon.
That's why Pat Robertson's recent conversion to the global warming bandwagon is so funny. He says this summer heat is "the most convincing evidence I've seen on global warming in a long time." While I'm glad he's ready to take this problem seriously, I find it hillarious that he still doesn't "get it."
As I've written many times, I don't know much about sports. But I do have a good handle on marketing and publicity. So I understand the motives behind such things as "Faith Night" which is very popular at our local minor league baseball park and was recently adopted by the Atlanta Braves.
But in some markets, you have to be a bit more creative to get some attention for your minor league team. The New York Bears recently announced a "Britney Baby Safety Night" in which fans get free information about baby safety, a chance to win a baby car seat from AAA and those who dress like a baby, bring a baby toy or are accompanied by a child 4 and under get in free.
Sound's goofy, right? Well, it got them mentioned in Sports Illustrated. The wires picked it up. I never heard of the New York Bears, but I'm writing about them on my blog. In marketing terms, that's a home run.
Sen. Clinton tore into Rummy over Iraq:
"Under your leadership, there have been numerous errors in judgment that have led us to where we are in Iraq and Afghanistan," she said. She stated that he presides over a "failed policy." Ouch. Later, she told the AP it was time for him to resign.
Rummy's response was more of his inane sing-song Q and A style of deflecting criticism:
"Are there setbacks? Yes. Are there things that people can't anticipate? Yes. Does the enemy have a brain and continue to make adjustments on the ground requiring our forces to make adjustments? You bet. Is that going to continue to be the case? I think so. Is this problem going to get solved in the near term about this long struggle against violent extremism? No, I don't believe it is."
He defended against Clinton's attacks by saying:
"I have never painted a rosy picture," he said. "I've been very measured in my words, and you'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic."
Rozzy has entered the "lets-experiment-with-putting-things-in-the-toilet phase" of her development. She's been doing some odd things lately. She's tried on several occasions to pee in one of the Dixie cups we have sitting on the sink. When the toilet stopped flushing properly, we questioned her about what she'd been doing.
"I don't know," she said.
I plunged it and snaked it and came up with a ball bearing and a paint brush. There was probably more, but the toilet seems to be draining fine now.
We were lucky this time as it only required a trip to Lowes to buy a $10 toilet auger.
An interesting aside: the drain auger section of the plumbing aisle at Lowes is fascinating. We bought the small household version that cost $10, but they have giant motor-powered models that were $400.
It reminded me of a trip to my buddy Sammy's house in which I wasn't listening to his story about his kid putting stuff down the toilet. The story ended with him saying the bathroom toilet was out of order, but like I said, I wasn't listening, so I went in anyway and causes a major overflow. I was relieved it wasn't a . . . uh . . . major transaction. I don't remember what his son put in the potty that stopped it up, but I do recall as a kid living in Shelbyville that my little brother stuffed some tighty whiteys down the potty and we ended up replacing the whole toilet. So, like I said, I feel fortunate to get off for $10.
In college, I took a course called "Effective Living." This was essentially a health course that, when combined with my ROTC training, substituted for the credit hours of PE required for undergrads. One day, Dr. Ellis was discussing the subject of sexual assault and rape. She layed out the psychological research that showed that rape isn't so much about sex as it is about power.
She reviewed the whole "No means no" concept, quoted statistics about date rape and explained to us that there is no instance in which the victim should be blamed for the rape. One neanderthal in the class couldn't keep his yap shut.
"What about those girls who are asking for it?" referring to women who dress in skimpy outfits, who bare their middrifts or wear short skirts. The rest of the class looked at this moron in horror. Dr. Ellis calmly explained that it doesn't matter how short a woman's skirt is, it doesn't give any man the right to touch her, much less force her to have sex against her will.
I bring this up because, and I haven't said this in a while, Bill O'Reilly is an idiot. On his radio show two days ago, he proved it once again:
O'REILLY: So anyway, these two girls come in from the suburbs and they get bombed, and their car is towed because they're moronic girls and, you know, they don't have a car. So they're standing there in the middle of the night with no car. And then they separate because they're drunk. They separate, which you never do. All right.
Now Moore, Jennifer Moore, 18, on her way to college. She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at two in the morning. She's walking by herself on the West Side Highway, and she gets picked up by a thug. All right. Now she's out of her mind, drunk.
And the thug takes her over to New Jersey in the cab and kills her and rapes her and does all these terrible things to her.
Now to be fair, O'Reilly wasn't defending the thug who raped and killed Jennifer Moore. But he was blaming her for getting raped and killed and he implied that part of the reason was because her skirt was too short. I guess I question whether it made a difference to the thug what she was wearing when he decided to rape and murder her.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-gets it) has called on the U.S. to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within six months.
Hagel said, the Bush administration’s decision to transfer nearly 5,000 additional U.S. troops into Baghdad is “only going to make it worse for us.”
In the end, he said, “feed(ing) more American troop fodder into the fight” could result in “even a worse defeat.”
This is significant because Hagel is a senior Republican senator and member of the Senate Foreign Services Committee.
If Iraqis themselves do not assume control of their country’s fate, he said, the nation may dissolve into a civil war that splits it into three countries.
It’s also possible Iraq may evolve into some kind of Islamic republic, he said.
Asked what the United States could do, Hagel said: “Ask the president. Ask Secretary (of Defense Donald) Rumsfeld. They’re the ones who got us into this.”
Iraq has three ethnic groups vying for power: Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. According to Peter Galbraith, former U.S. ambassador to Croatia, President Bush didn't know that just two months prior to invading Iraq. Call me a reactionary liberal if you like, but it seems to me if you're going to invade and occupy a country, you might want to learn a little something about the people you're going to try and force a democracy on. Unbelievable. Just freaking unbelievable.
Okay, lets be clear on something. The Republicans do not care about the poor people of this country. That's why they have blocked an increase in the minimum wage for nearly a decade. Now, heading into a mid-term election in which they may lose their majority, they attempt a stunt to gain some political points. They introduce a bill to raise the minimum wage to $7.25, but tie to it an ammendment that will all but eliminate the estate tax for the wealthiest Americans. The measure passed in the House.
The Democrats in the Senate blocked it and rightfully so. It is a bad bargain to add yet another costly tax cut in exchange for a $2.10 increase in the minimum wage. Not only that, but the bill would actually decrease the wages in six states which require employers in the service industry to pay the state's minimum wage on top of any tips given to employees.
For example, in Califorina, if you're a restaurant server, you get about $6 per hour plus tips. If that bill had passed, federal law would have overridden state law and reduced your wages to $2.10 per hour.
My two favorite quotes on the issue come from Republicans. Sen. Kay Baily Hutcheson (R-Texas) attacked Dems for not backing the bill:
“It is an excuse to make it a do-nothing Congress,” she said. “And we are turning our back on the middle-class and poor people in this country who depend on the minimum wage and death-tax relief.”
She didn't bother to explain who amongst the poor and middle class are looking for "death-tax" relief.
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tennessee) said "I know why you're mad. You've seen us really outfox you."
He really thought that the House bill was a cunning plan that would fool the average American into thinking the Republicans care about the working poor in this country. He's wrong.
In the end, the Senate bill had a majority to vote it through, but not the 60 votes necessary to call for cloture, so the bill died. Good. Frist said this was an all-or-nothing bill and he would not consider the minimum wage hike without the tax cut package. Harry Reid said he would hold the Senate in session in the fall if he doesn't get a clean bill to vote on.
Rush Limbaugh's ex-girlfriend and CNN anchor Daryn Kagan is leaving CNN to start a web site devoted to good news.
"I think there is a void in the straight news business now, (which is) lacking a certain spirituality," Kagan told The Associated Press on Thursday. "I think most people live in a space where they are looking for meaning in life and good in the world and that is not necessarily reflected in straight news coverage right now."
She's been an anchor at CNN for 12 years. Evidently, she never bothered to study media history while she was there. There has never been a time in our nation's history when the purpose of the media has been to look for meaning in life and good in the world. That's not to say that she doesn't have the right to go out and start her web site and focus on whatever she wants to. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that back in the good old days the newspapers were filled with uplifting stories about the meaning of life and spirituality.
The Abramhoff scandal may get yet another Republican Congressman. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif) did a lot of favors for Abramhoff's client, the Mariana Islands and the sweatshops located there.
One more thing. Rep. John Dingell was asked about Hezbollah in a recent interview. The right-wing blogs, Rush Limbaugh and the Washington Times all jumped on him for refusing to condemn Hezbollah. Here is the quote they use:
DINGELL: First of all, I don't -- I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel.
SCILLIAN: You're not against Hezbollah?
DINGELL: I happen to be -- no --
That's pretty damning, actually. But it's also an incomplete quote:
DINGELL: I happen to be -- no, I happen to be -- I happen to be against violence. I think the United States has to bring a resolution to this matter. Now, I condemn Hezbollah, as does everybody else, for the violence. But I think that we've got to talk to them, and if we don't -- if we don't get ourselves in a position where we can talk to both sides and bring both sides together, the killing and the blood let [sic] is going to continue.
So there you go. The right wing continue to post and replay the clipped quote and bash Dingell for "refusing to condemn Hezbollah." The Washington Times ran a clarification, but the others have not. For shame.
Aug. 3, 2006
I voted this morning before taking Max to school. Tennessee has an open primary, allowing me to cast a vote in either party primary. I voted in the Republican camp. I knew Harold Ford, Jr. has the Democratic nomination sewn up and I get a kick out of casting a vote for some loser Republican who doesn't have much of a shot.
The paper says this is the longest ballot in state history. Mine was 13 pages, so naturally, it took a while. After casting my vote, I got a sticker that says "Proud to Vote" around an American flag. I got one for Max, too, figuring he'd enjoy showing off his sticker at school and being the cool kid who participated in the electoral process.
As we rode down the street to his school he read the sticker.
"Proud to vote? I didn't vote."
"I know, but you were there."
"I should have a sticker that says 'Proud to Watch Somebody Vote,'" he said. "Which I'm not."
As we pulled into the loop to drop him off, I saw a small piece of paper fly into the dash from the back seat. "Don't throw things in the car," I said.
"That was my sticker," he said, grinning.
One of the services we provide for a client is to clip newspaper articles and laminate them so they can send them to the subject of the article with a nice note. It's pretty mundane PR stuff, but they like it. Until the office decides to buy a laminator, though, I'm stuck going to Kinko's and having someone laminate them for me.
Last week, I had to laminate a scan of the cover of the latest Vanderbilt magazine. The countermonkey who was way into small talk took this as a sign that I'm a fan.
"Who do you think Vandy will have to replace Cutler?" he asked. Now, I knew the name because my brother Scott is a big Vandy fan and made a big deal about Cutler getting picked in the first round of the draft. So I just happened not to be completely ignorant of what the guy was talking about. Just the same, I'm not a sports fan, so I cannot discuss any of it with any sort of competence. For these occasions, I've developed a sort of smiling head shake that says "who knows?" at the same time it tries to convey "I've given it a lot of thought and have no opinion."
"I have no idea," I said, using that head shake.
"Do they have anybody?"
"I don't know," I said, continuing to shake my head.
"It would have been nice to get him on the Titans," he said. "I mean, if we're going to have a rebuilding year anyway, let's get a local hero in there and give the fans something to rally around."
"Uh-huh," shaking my head.
"They guy they've got is about the same age as Cutler..."
"Uh-huh" shake shake shake. He was a nice enough countermonkey and he did a good job laminating my page. He just didn't seem to take the hint.
Football is just around the corner. I know that because Badger is getting excited. Mojo Nixon on Sirius Outlaw Country is excited. A side note about Badger:
He's looking for a new gig and considered being a cable TV installer. I mentioned that one of the perks was that he could get free cable TV. Currently, he's a DirecTV subscriber.
"But Comcast doesn't get the NFL channel."
"Is that so important?"
"Yeah!"
Badger watches three things on TV: the Hitler channel for stories about WWII; the animal channel for shows about whales eating dolphins and the NFL channel which is the default setting. He loves the NFL Channel. Evidently, he loves it to the point of turning down free cable if it means giving it up.
The Republicans in Nevada sent out a mailing to Democrats under the auspices of something called the Searchlight Group PAC. The mailing said "We know that the judicial candidates listed below share our desire to protect the rights of minorities and the individual from the majority. We support their election to office and ask that you cast your vote for them as well."
Then it listed the Republican judicial candidates. Now here's the deal. Sen. Harry Reid, minority leader in the Senate and Nevada Democrat was born in Searchlight Nevada. He wrote a book about the mining town called Searchlight: The Camp That Didn't Fail. Democratic voters in Nevada associate Searchlight with Harry Reid.
The Republicans responsible for the mailing said it was "tongue-in-cheek" and "a bit of fun" but wasn't designed to deceive anyone because surely "Democrats aren't that dumb."
County Republican Party chairman John Hambrick said he and party Executive Director Tim Robison put the mailer together. The PAC, he said, was "formed to do things like this."
Here's the deal. Campaign mailings aren't cheap. Neither are mailing lists, postage, design work and the costs of setting up a PAC. This wasn't a joke. It wasn't just a bit of fun. It was a dirty trick -- something we've come to expect from Republicans who cannot win without them. Was it illegal? Probably not. Was it deceptive and unethical? You bet. Are the Republicans proud of their handiwork? Probably.
Here's an interesting little tid-bit. Rumor has it that Sen. Harry Reid may ask Sen. Hillary Clinton to postpone a presidential run in exchange for becoming Senate majority/minority leader. The word is that Reid wants to step down in 2009 and would support Clinton to replace him.
So Ann Coulter made the statement on Donnie Deutsch's radio show that Bill Clinton's behavior in office suggests he's a latent homosexual:
COULTER: I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality.
DEUTSCH: OK, I think you need to say that again -- that Bill Clinton, you think, on some level has -- is a latent homosexual. Is that what you're saying?
COULTER: Yeah.
Now in her latest column, she says that she'd put even money on Sen. Clinton coming out of the closet in 2008. All of this says more about the queen of the harpies than it does about the Clintons.
The AP has a story about an unfortunate teen who drove off the road and crashed into a hollow tree. It contained about 10,000 bees who, according to the bee expert quoted in the story, are most active in warm weather and don't like to be jostled. Ouch.
Some people consider embarrasing news stories about a politician's kids to be off limits and I respect that. I don't agree, but I respect it. So, what about embarrasing stories about a politician's parents?
Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's 81-year-old dad was arrested on charges of lewd conduct and indecent exposure for having sex in a car with a 38-year-old woman outside of a pizza parlor.
One more thing of note about the election today. No one ran for constable in my district. My buddy Badger is always looking for an easy way to slip into public office and that could have been his shot.
Aug. 2, 2006
Max has reached a major milestone in his development. He found out the truth about Santa. His mother and I are surprised it took as long as it did. He's eight, after all. But he held on to it with both hands. Then, quite by accident, he learned the truth from a television show.
Thanks a lot, "Everybody Hates Chris."
Faced with the shocking realization, Max's world crumbled around him.
"You mean it was you that ate the cookies?"
"Uh-huh."
"And wrote the note?"
"Uh-huh."
"And Santa didn't bring me a Roboraptor because you couldn't afford it?"
"That's right."
Then the rest of it started hitting home.
"What about the tooth fairy?"
"Max, once you figure out Santa, you usually let the rest of it go, too."
I sat him down and explained something to him. He has a little sister who still believes. As long as she does, Santa will continue to bring him presents as well. So it is in his best interest not to go blabbing to her. Also, this is not the sort of information he needs to be passing along at school. I tried to get him to understand that he has been given wisdom that he needs to keep close to his vest and that he hasn't been betrayed by parents who have been lying to him for eight years.
Rozzy is attempting to master the art of the "knock knock" joke. Being just shy of four years old, the results are not great. She has, however, mastered the format. It is her material that needs work.
Dollie taught her one:
"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Lettuce"
"Lettuce who?"
"Lettuce in, it's hot out here."
And off Rozzy went:
"Knock knock"
"Who's there"
"Orange"
"Orange who?"
"Orange it's hot out here!"
[...]
"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Chocolate!"
"Chocolate who?"
"Chocolate, it's hot out here!"
You get the picture. In it's own way, it's funny. Just not "ha ha" funny.
You may recall that during the 2000 debates, Bush made a big deal about how two of of the U.S. Army's 10 active divisions "if called today" would have to report "not ready." He said this was due to the Clinton Administration's mismanagement of the military -- budget cuts, equipment shortages etc... It also turned out not to be true. The two divisions, the 10th Mountain and the First Mechanized Infantry only briefly reported "not ready" because a large part of their forces were in Bosnia and Kosovo on peacekeeping missions.
Now I read where more than two thirds of the Army National Guard brigades are reporting not ready for combat. You know why? Lack of equipment that will cost $21 billion to correct. When Guard units come back from Iraq, there's no money for replacement equipment and repairs.
They can take some solace in the fact that the top one percent of wealthy Americans are getting a good tax cut, though.
Is it wrong of me to feel happy about the grief befalling Katherine Harris' senate campaign? She's lost countless staff members, is way down in the polls, has lost the support of her own state party and now it seems she was subpoenaed in the Abramhoff case but didn't bother to tell her campaign staff or the House leadership (which violates House Rule VIII). Now it seems she's ducking press calls.
What goes around comes around, I guess.
Every donation to the Green Party candidate in Pennsylvania came from GOP sources with the exception of $30 -- which came from the candidate himself. It's typical of the GOP. If you cannot field a strong enough candidate, muddy the waters. Pathetic.
Rep. Charles Rangel, the senior congressman from New York and ranking member of the House Ways & Means Committee says if the Dems don't take back the House in November, he's going to quit congress. The Dems need 15 seats. If they get them, Rangel is the new chair of Ways & Means, which makes him one powerful hombre.
Members of the 9/11 Commission believe that the Defense Department misled them on what happened that fateful day.
Let's hear it for the good people of Kansas. Hopefully, they're getting tired of being an international laughing stock:
Conservative Republicans who brought international attention to Kansas by approving academic standards calling evolution into question lost control of the state school board in primaries.
As a result of the vote, board members and candidates who believe evolution is well-supported by evidence will have a 6-4 majority. Evolution skeptics had entered the election with a 6-4 majority.
Hug your children tonight and be thankful that you live in a country with basic human rights. At least while we still have them. Bush wants to expand the use of military courts:
A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal.
It seems that getting smacked down by the Supreme Court once was not enough.
My favorite Fark headline in quite some time:
First rule of Stupid Fight Club: Organizers will hand out fliers advertising the fight. Second rule: Call lawyers for the 40 arrests and 200 citations that ensue
Aug. 1, 2006
The state primary is this Thursday. If you live in Tennessee, get out and vote (unless you're my brother, Dan, in which case feel free to sleep in). Heh.
Dan's candidate to replace Frist is in a bit of trouble. Bob Corker is leading the pack, but he's been accused of lying in his TV ads. Van Hilleary has called for the newspapers that endorsed him to withdraw their endorsements. Ed Bryant has been vocal in his criticisms. It all stems over Corker ads in which he accused Bryant and Hilleary of voting to increase their own pay by more than $30,000 during their time in Congress while voting against raising the minimum wage.
Watchdog groups (as well as the two opponent camps) call this attack misleading because the way the law is currently set up, pay raises for congress are automatic unless they vote not to give themselves a raise.
Nonpartisan watchdog groups Congressional Accountability Project, National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste have called the Corker ads misleading and unfair.
The Knoxville News Sentinel and The Tennessean, two newspapers which have endorsed Corker, said in editorials the Corker ads were untruthful. The Tennessean said Corker should remove the ads.
Corker also attacked Hilleary and Bryant for being a lobbyists after leaving Congress, but Corker held a D.C. fundraiser with a bunch of lobbyists and took their money, so he opened himself up to the "hypocrite" charge.
Corker donated $2 million to his own campaign, which triggered the "millionaire's ammendment" allowing Hilleary and Bryant to raise more money to level the playing field. A move he said he had to make because his two opponents are concentrating on him, rather than each other.
Finally, if you're into the sort of politics where your kids are fair game, you can check out Wonkette's entry on Corker's daughter making out with another chick at a party. It's part of her series of embarrassing children of politicians entries.
My vacation week did not go as planned. We were hoping to get out of town and take the kids down to Chattanooga, but I waited too long to request off and Max started school. So, we decided to postpone until the end of the week and take a weekend trip down. Then our air conditioning unit went out. Dollie picked up a virus that was misdiagnosed about four times by five different health care professionals and caused her a considerable amount of pain. Then our air conditioning went out a second time.
Aside from not getting to sleep in, not getting to go anywhere and not getting to do much, it was a great vacation.
We did manage to take the kids to the Montana Drive-In in Estell Springs to watch "Pirates." We backed Dollie's truck up and everyone sat in the bed as we blasted the sound over the radio. Only Max was more interested in his GameBoy and Rozzy refused to sit down and watch the movie and both of them had to go to the bathroom during the film. By the end, Dollie and I were just glad it wasn't a double feature.
But I complain too much. It was nice spending a week out of work. Aaaannd it was nice to get back to work where I can relax.
John Boehner has announced that if the Republicans maintain their majority after November, they will work to phase out Social Security. That's as good a reason as any to throw the bums out.
Tom Delay had another bad day in court. After a judge ruled that Delay must stay on the ballot in Texas even though he resigned his seat and moved to Virginia, the Texas GOP and Delay moved the case to a three-judge panel to appeal. Early indications are that they will force Delay to remain on the ballot.
That means either Delay will be forced to run for office again or he'll have to concede the seat to the Democrat without Republican opposition. Heh. That's what he gets for trying to get cute with the election laws. See, he never intended to run again once he lost his leadership post. But the law says he can use campaign funds for his legal defense, so he continued to campaign and won the primary.
He then moved to Virginia, figuring that if he doesn't live in the district, they'll have to take him off the ballot, but the judges saw this as an attempt to circumvent election law and are forcing him to remain. That's hillarious.
Bush's nominee to head the FDA had to face some tough questioning about the FDA's reluctance to approve Plan B emergency contraception for over-the-counter use. See, the FDA's own scientists say the drug is safe. It is available in many other countries over the counter. The previous head of the FDA, Dr. Lester Crawford, resigned just two months after final confirmation due in part to criticism over his decision to delay approval of Plan B.
Since then, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach has been acting head and is trying to get confirmed now.
But Senators Clinton and Murray have put holds on the nomination until the FDA makes a final determination. In fact, the only reason Crawford was confirmed was because they lifted their hold in exchange for his pledge to make a decision. He was confirmed and then delayed the decision.
Monday's announcement that von Eschenbach would bring up Plan B for consideration was supposed to smooth the way for his confirmation.
Oh, but no:
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who has put a hold on his nomination until the FDA makes a final decision on the pill, said her hold was intended to "draw a line" against "politicizing the FDA."
"This is a slippery, dangerous slope we are on, doctor, and we are looking to you to make a decision," she said.
Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the panel's ranking Democrat, called the pending Plan B decision "a test case of FDA's integrity." If Monday's announcement "leads to a swift and clear decision, I applaud it," Kennedy said, "but we must make certain that the administration does not use it as yet another delaying tactic."
The bottom line is that the drug is safe. The FDA's own scientists say so, their panel of independent experts say so, other countries say so. The FDA estimates that if Plan B were more widely available, it would cut the number of unwanted pregnancies in America (3 million annually by some estimates) in half. That will mean fewer unwed mothers, fewer abortions and fewer children born into homes that don't want them.
The only thing holding up approval are the Republicans who want to punish women for having sex. The GOP is anti-birth control, anti-sex and anti-woman.
As the son of alcoholic parents, I know that the demon rum can turn someone into a monster. Alcohol impairs judgement, slows reflexes and makes you do stupid things. It does not, however, turn you into an anti-semite. You have to bring that brand of hatred to the party to begin with.
Mel Gibson's tirade during his arrest for "suspicion of driving under the influence" confirms what many have suspected for some time -- that he hates Jews.
It's a shame, too, because I've found many of his films enjoyable. Now I can't watch them. To be fair, I try very hard to keep the actor and role seperate. I don't, for example, avoid James Woods movies just because he's a right-wing nutjob.
But Gibson's transgressions go beyond the spouting of conservative hackery and into hate speech. I want no part of it or him ever again. I understand that he's in rehab. I hope it helps him with his alcohol problem, but it's going to take more than that for him to get past his hate-filled heart.
In Philly, the Santorum camp is seeing the writing on the wall. Why else would his backers be fronting a Green Party candidate to get on the ballot? They know that a Green will skim votes away from Santorum's Democratic opponent, Bob Casey, Jr. So, Republicans in Pennsylvania have donated more than $100,000 to the Carl Romenalli campaign.
