you KNOW I love airplanes

Yesterday, I had to meet two clients up at the Sheraton Intercontinental to drop off some documents and get signatures. As we stood in the parking lot, the daily Lufthansa A340-300 took off over our heads, followed a few seconds later by the daily KLM 74M flight 662 to Amsterdam. I was just all twitterpated by it, and one of the couple I was meeting asked me "Are you four years old when an airplane goes over?"

Well, duh.

I got this article from one of my newsgroups today, it's copyrighted with rights to re-publish - I offer it as an example of people doing the impossible in the face of no certainty. And airplanes.

The Round The World Saga of the "Pacific Clipper"
John A. Marshall

Engines: Four (4) 1,600 hp (1,192 kW) Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone (1,192 kw), 14 cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines.
Wing Span: 152 ft. (46.33 m.)
Length: 106 ft (32.31 m.)
Max T.O. Weight: 84,000 lb. (38,102 kg.)
Max level speed: 199 mph (320 km/h)
Cruising speed: 184 mph (296 km/h)
Range: 5,200 miles (8369 km)
First flight: June 7, 1938
Ceiling: 19,600 feet
Accommodation: 10 crew, 74 passengers

December 7, 1941 The first blush of dawn tinged the eastern sky and sent its rosy fingers creeping onto the flight deck of the huge triple-tailed flying boat as she cruised high above the South Pacific. Six days out of her home port of San Francisco, the Boeing 314 was part of Pan American Airways' growing new service that linked the far corners of the Pacific Ocean. With veteran captain Robert Ford in command, the Pacific Clipper, carrying 12 passengers and a crew of ten was just a few hours from landing in the harbor at Auckland, New Zealand.

The calm serenity of the flight deck early on this spring morning was suddenly shattered by the crackling of the radio. Radio Operator John Poindexter clamped the headset to his ears as he deciphered the coded message. His eyes widened as he quickly wrote the characters on the pad in front of him. Pearl Harbor had been attacked by Japanese war planes and had suffered heavy losses; the United States was at war. The stunned crew looked at each other as the implications of the message began to dawn. They realized that their route back to California was irrevocably cut, and there was no going back. Ford ordered radio silence, and then posted lookouts in the navigator's blister; two hours later, the Pacific Clipper touched don smoothly on the waters of Auckland harbor. Their odyssey was just beginning.

The crew haunted the overwhelmed communications room at the US Embassy in Auckland every day for a week waiting for a message from Pan Am headquarters in New York. Finally they received word -- they were to try and make it back to the United States the long way: around the world westbound. For Ford and his crew, it was a daunting assignment. Facing a journey of over 30,000 miles, over oceans and lands that none of them had ever seen, they would have to do all their own planning and servicing, scrounging whatever supplies and equipment they needed; all this in the face of an erupting World War in which political alliances and loyalties in may parts of the world were uncertain at best. Their first assignment was to return to Noumea, back the way they had come over a week earlier. They were to pick up the Pan American station personnel there, and then deliver them to safety in Australia. Late on the evening of December 16th, the blacked out flying boat lifted off from Auckland harbor and headed northwest through the night toward Noumea. They maintained radio silence, landing in the harbor just as the sun was coming up. Ford went! a shore and sought out the Pan Am Station Manager. "Round up all your people," he said. "I want them all at the dock in an hour. They can have one small bag apiece."

The crew set to work fueling the airplane, and exactly two hours later, fully fueled and carrying a barrel of engine oil, the Clipper took off and pointed her nose south for Australia.

It was late in the afternoon when the dark green smudge of the Queensland coast appeared in the windscreen, and Ford began a gentle descent for landing in the harbor at Gladstone. After offloading their bewildered passengers, the crew set about seeing to their primary responsibility, the Pacific Clipper. Captain Ford recounted, "I was wondering how we were going to pay for everything we were going to need on this trip. We had money enough for a trip to Auckland and back to San Francisco, but this was a different story. In Gladstone a young man who was a banker came up to me and out of the blue said, 'How are you fixed for money?' 'Well, we're broke!' I said. He said, 'I'll probably be shot for this,' but he went down to his bank on a Saturday morning, opened the vault and handed me five hundred American dollars. Since Rod Brown, our navigator, was the only one with a lock box and a key we put him in charge of the money. That $500 financed the rest of the trip all the way to New York."

Ford planned to take off and head straight northwest, across the Queensland desert for Darwin, and then fly across the Timor Sea to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), hoping that Java and Sumatra remained in friendly hands. The next day, as they droned into the tropical morning the coastal jungle gradually gave way to great arid stretches of grassland and sand dunes. Spinnifex and gum trees covered the landscape to the horizon. During the entire flight to Darwin the crew didn't see a river big enough to set down the big flying boat should anything go wrong. Any emergency would force them to belly land the airplane onto the desert, and their flight would be over.

They approached the harbor at Darwin late in the afternoon. Massive thunderheads stretched across the horizon, and continuous flashes of lightning lit up the cockpit. The northernmost city in Australia, Darwin was closest to the conflict that was spreading southward like a brushfire. A rough frontier town in the most remote and primitive of the Australian territories, it was like something out of a wild west movie. After they had landed, the Pacific Clipper crew was offered a place to shower and change; much to their amusement their "locker room" turned out to be an Australian Army brothel.

Ford and his crew set about fueling the airplane. It was a lengthy, tiresome job. The fuel was stored in five gallon jerry cans, each one had to be hauled up over the wing and emptied into the tanks; it was past midnight before they were finished. They managed a few hours of fitful sleep before takeoff, but Ford was anxious to be under way. News of the progress of the Japanese forces was sketchy at best. They were fairly certain that most of the Dutch East Indies was still in friendly hands, but they could not dally.

Early the next morning they took off for Surabaya, fourteen hundred miles to the west across the Timor Sea. The sun rose as they droned on across the flat turquoise sea, soon they raised the eastern islands of the great archipelago of east Java. Rude thatch-roofed huts dotted the beaches; the islands were carpeted with the lush green jungle of the tropics.

Surabaya lay at the closed end of a large bay in the Bali Sea. The second largest city on the island of Java, it was guarded by a British garrison and a squadron of Bristol Beaufort fighters. As the Pacific Clipper approached the city, a single fighter rose to meet them; moments later it was joined by several more. The recognition signals that Ford had received in Australia proved to be inaccurate, and the big Boeing was a sight unfamiliar to the British pilots. The crew tensed as the fighters drew closer. Because of a quirk in the radio systems, they could hear the British pilots, but the pilots could not hear the Clipper. There was much discussion among them as to whether the flying boat should be shot down or allowed to land. At last the crew heard the British controller grant permission for them to land, and then add, "If they do anything suspicious, shoot them ot of the sky!" With great relief, Ford began a very careful approach.

As they neared the harbor, Ford could see that it was filled with warships, so he set the Clipper down in the smooth water just outside the harbor entrance. "We turned around to head back," Ford said. "There was a launch that had come out to meet us, but instead of giving us a tow or a line, they stayed off about a mile and kept waving us on. Finally when we got further into the harbor they came closer. It turned out that we had landed right in the middle of a minefield, and they weren't about to come near us until they saw that we were through it!"

When they disembarked the crew of the Pacific Clipper received an unpleasant surprise; they were told that they would be unable to refuel with 100 octane aviation gas. What little there was severely rationed, and was reserved for the military. There was automobile gas in abundance however, and Ford was welcome to whatever he needed. He had no choice. The next leg of their journey would be many hours over the Indian Ocean, and there was no hope of refueling elsewhere. The flight engineers, Swede Roth and Jocko Parish, formulated a plan that they hoped would work. They transferred all their remaining aviation fuel to the two fuselage tanks, and filled the remaining tanks to the limit with the lower octane automobile gas.

"We took off from Surabaya on the 100 octane, climbed a couple of thousand feet, and pulled back the power to cool off the engines," said Ford. "Then we switched to the automobile gas and held our breaths. The engines almost jumped out of their mounts, but they ran. We figured it was either that or leave the airplane to the Japs."

They flew northwesterly across the Sunda Straits, paralleling the coast of Sumatra. Chasing the setting sun, they started across the vast expanse of ocean. They had no aviation charts or maps for this part of the world; the only navigational information available to the crew was the latitude and longitude of their destination at Trincomalee, on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Using this data, and drawing from memory, Rod Brown was creating his own Mercator maps of South Asia. Ford was not only worried about finding the harbor, he was very concerned about missing Ceylon altogether. He envisioned the Clipper droning on over India, lost and low on fuel, unable to find a body of water on which to land.

As they neared the island they could see a cloud bank ahead. Ford said, "There was some low scud, so we descended. We wanted the maximum available visibility to permit picking up landfall at the earliest moment -- we didn't want to miss the island. All of a sudden there it was, right in front of us, a Jap submarine! We could see the crew running for the deck gun. Let me tell you we were pretty busy getting back into the scud again!"

Ford jammed the throttles of the Clipper forward to climb power, the engines complaining bitterly. Their 150 mph speed soon had them well out of range of the sub's guns, and the crew heaved a sigh of relief. It would be difficult to determine who was the more surprised; the Japanese submarine commander or the crew of the Clipper, startled out of their reverie after the long flight.

It was another hour until they reached the island, and the Boeing finally touched water in the harbor at Trincomalee. The British Forces stationed there were anxious to hear what Ford and his crew had to report from the war zone to the east, and the crew was duly summoned to a military meeting. Presiding was a pompous Royal Navy Commodore who informed Ford in no uncertain terms that he doubted Ford would know a submarine if it ran over him. Ford felt the hackles rise on the back of his neck. He realized that he could not afford to make an enemy of the British military, the fate of the Pacific Clipper rested too heavily in their hands. He swallowed hard and said nothing.

It was Christmas Eve when they began the takeoff from Ceylon and turned the ship again to the northwest. The heavily loaded Boeing struggled for altitude, laboring through the leaden humid air. Suddenly there was a frightening bang as the number three engine let go. It shuddered in its mount, and as they peered through the windscreen the crew could see gushes of black oil pouring back over the wing. Ford quickly shut the engine down, and wheeled the Clipper over into a 180 degree turn, heading back to Trincomalee. Less than an hour after takeoff the Pacific Clipper was back on the waters of Trincomalee harbor. The repairs to the engine took the rest of Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day. One of the engine's eighteen cylinders had failed, wrenching itself loose from its mount, and while the repair was not particularly complex, it was tedious and time-consuming. Finally early in the morning of December 26th, they took off from Ceylon for the second time. All day they droned across the lush carpet of the Indian sub continent, and then cut across the northeastern corner of the Arabian Sea to their landing in Karachi, touching down in mid-afternoon.

The following day, bathed and refreshed, they took off and flew westward! across the Gulf of Oman toward Arabia. After just a bit over eight routine hours of flying, they landed in Bahrain, where there was a British garrison.

Another frustration presented itself the following morning as they were planning the next leg of their journey. They had planned to fly straight west across the Arabian peninsula and the Red Sea into Africa, a flight that would not have been much longer than the leg they had just completed from Karachi.

"When we were preparing to leave Bahrain we were warned by the British authorities not to fly across Arabia," said Ford. "The Saudis had apparently already caught some British fliers who had been forced down there. The natives had dug a hole, buried them in it up to their necks, and just left them."

They took off into the grey morning and climbed through a solid overcast. They broke out of the clouds into the dazzling sunshine, and the carpet of clouds below stretched westward to the horizon. "We flew north for about twenty minutes," Ford said, "then we turned west and headed straight across Saudi Arabia. We flew for several hours before there was a break in the clouds below us, and damned if we weren't smack over the Mosque at Mecca! I could see the people pouring out of it, it was just like kicking an anthill. They were probably firing at us, but at least they didn't have any anti-aircraft."

The Pacific Clipper crossed the Red Sea and the coast of Africa in the early afternoon with the Saharan sun streaming in the cockpit windows. The land below was a dingy yellowish brown, with nothing but rolling sand dunes and stark rocky outcroppings. The only sign of human habitation was an occasional hut; every so often they flew over small clusters of men tending livestock who stopped and shielded their eyes from the sun, staring up at the strange bird that made such a noise. The crew's prayers for the continued good health of the four Wright Cyclones became more and more fervent. Should they have to make an emergency landing here they would be in dire straits indeed.

Later in the afternoon they raised the Nile River, and Ford turned the ship to follow it to the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, just below Khartoum. They landed in the river, and after they were moored the crew went ashore to be greeted by the now familiar hospitality of the Royal Air Force. Ford's plan was to continue southwest to Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo and begin their South Atlantic crossing there. He had no desire to set out across the Sahara; a forced landing in that vast trackless wasteland would not only render the aircraft forever immobile, but the crew would surely perish in the harshness of the desert.

Early the next morning they took off from the Nile for Leopoldville. This was to be a particularly long overland flight, and they wanted to leave plenty of daylight for the arrival. They would land on the Congo River at Leopoldville, and from there would strike out across the South Atlantic for South America.

The endless brown of the Sudan gave way to rolling green hills, and then rocky crests that stretched across their path. They flew over native villages, and great gatherings of wildlife. Herds of wildebeest, hundreds of thousands strong, stampeded in panic as the Clipper roared overhead. The grassland soon turned to jungle, and they crossed several small rivers, which they tried to match to their maps. Suddenly ahead they saw a large river, much bigger and wider than others they had crossed, and off to their right was a good-sized town. The river had to be the mighty Congo, and the town was Bumba, the largest settlement on the river at that point. From their maps they saw that they could turn and follow the river downstream to Leopoldville. They had five hundred miles to fly

Late in the afternoon they raised the Congolese capital of Leopoldville. Ford set the Boeing down gently onto the river, and immediately realized the strength of the current. He powered the ship into the mooring, and the crew finally stepped ashore. It was like stepping into a sauna. The heat was the most oppressive they had yet encountered; it descended on them like a cloak, sapping what energy they had left.

A pleasant surprise awaited them however, when two familiar faces greeted them at the dock. A Pan American Airport Manager and a Radio Officer had been dispatched to meet them, and Ford was handed a cold beer. "That was one of the high points of the whole trip," he said.

After a night ashore they went to the airplane the next morning prepared for the long over-water leg that would take them back to the western hemisphere. The terrible heat and humidity had not abated a bit when the hatches were finally secured and they swung the Clipper into the river channel for the takeoff. The airplane was loaded to the gunnels with fuel, plus the drum of oil that had come aboard at Noumea. It was, to put it mildly, just a bit overloaded. They headed downstream into the wind, going with the six-knot current. Just beyond the limits of the town the river changed from a placid downstream current into a cataract of rushing rapids; pillars of rocks broke the water into a tumbling maelstrom. Ford held the engines at takeoff power, and the crew held their breath while the airplane gathered speed on the glassy river. The heat and humidity, and their tremendous gross weight were all factors working against them as they struggled to get the machine off the water before the cataracts. Ford rocked the hull with the elevators, trying to get the Boeing up on the step. Just before they would enter the rapids and face certain destruction, the hull lifted free. The Pacific Clipper was flying, but just barely. Their troubles were far from over, however. Just beyond the cataracts they entered the steep gorges; it was as though they were flying into a canyon. With her wings bowed, the Clipper staggered, clawing for every inch of altitude.

The engines had been at take-off power for nearly five minutes and the their temperatures were rapidly climbing above the red line; how much more abuse could they take? With agonizing slowness the big Boeing began to climb, foot by perilous foot. At last they were clear of the walls of the gorge, and Ford felt he could pull the throttles back to climb power. He turned the airplane toward the west and the Atlantic. The crew, silent, listened intently to the beat of the engines. They roared on without a miss, and as the airplane finally settled down at their cruising altitude Ford decided they could safely head for Brazil, over three thousand miles to the west.

The crew felt revived with new energy, and in spite of their fatigue, they were excitedly optimistic. Against all odds they had crossed southern Asia and breasted the African continent. Their airplane was performing better than they had any right to expect, and after their next long ocean leg they would be back in the hemisphere from which they had begun their journey nearly a month before. The interior of the airplane that had been home to them for so many days was beginning to wear rather thin. They were sick of the endless hours spent droning westward, tired of the apprehension of the unknown and frustrated by the lack of any real meaningful news about what was happening in a world besieged by war. They just wanted to get home.

After being airborne over twenty hours, they landed in the harbor at Natal just before noon. While they were waiting for the necessary immigration formalities to be completed, the Brazilian authorities insisted that the crew disembark while the interior of the airplane was sprayed for yellow fever. Two men in rubber suits and masks boarded and fumigated the airplane.

Late that same afternoon they took off for Trinidad, following the Brazilian coast as it curved around to the northwest. It wasn't until after they had departed that the crew made an unpleasant discovery. Most of their personal papers and money were missing, along with a military chart that had been entrusted to Navigator Rod Brown by the US military attaché in Leopoldville, obviously stolen by the Brazilian "fumigators."

The sun set as they crossed the mouth of the Amazon, nearly a hundred miles wide where it joins the sea. Across the Guineas in the dark they droned, and finally at 3 AM the following morning they landed at Trinidad. There was a Pan Am station at Port of Spain, and they happily delivered themselves and their weary charge into friendly hands.

The final leg to New York was almost anti-climactic. Just before six on the bitter morning of January 6th, the control officer in the Marine Terminal at La Guardia was startled to hear his radio crackle into life with the message, "Pacific Clipper, inbound from Auckland, New Zealand, Captain Ford reporting. Overhead in five minutes."

In a final bit of irony, after over thirty thousand miles and two hundred hours of flying on their epic journey, the Pacific Clipper had to circle for nearly an hour, because no landings were permitted in the harbor until official sunrise. They finally touched down just before seven, the spray from their landing freezing as it hit the hull. No matter -- the Pacific Clipper had made it home.

The significance of the flight is best illustrated by the records that were set by Ford and his crew. It was the first round-the-world flight by a commercial airliner, as well as the longest continuous flight by a commercial plane, and was the first circumnavigation following a route near the Equator (they crossed the Equator four times.) They touched all but two of the world's seven continents, flew 31,500 miles in 209 hours and made 18 stops under the flags of 12 different nations. They also made the longest non-stop flight in Pan American's history, a 3,583 mile crossing of the South Atlantic from Africa to Brazil.

As the war progressed, it became clear that neither the Army nor the Navy was equipped or experienced enough to undertake the tremendous amount of long distance air transport work required. Pan American Airways was one of the few airlines in the country with the personnel and expertise to supplement the military air forces. Captain Bob Ford and most of his crew spent the war flying contract missions for the US Armed Forces. After the war Ford continued flying for Pan American, which was actively expanding its routes across the Pacific and around the world. He left the airline in 1952 to pursue other aviation interests.

The Crew of Pacific Clipper: Captain Robert Ford First Officer John H. Mack Second Officer/Navigator Roderick N. Brown Third Officer James G. Henriksen Fourth Officer John D. Steers First Engineer Homans K. "Swede" Roth Second Engineer John B. "Jocko" Parish First Radio Officer John Poindexter* Second Radio Officer Oscar Hendrickson Purser Barney Sawicki Asst Purser Verne C. Edwards

* Poindexter was originally scheduled to accompany the Pacific Clipper as far as Los Angeles, and then return to San Francisco; he had even asked his wife to hold dinner that evening. In Los Angeles, however, the regularly scheduled Radio Officer suddenly became ill, and Poindexter had to make the trip himself. His one shirt was washed in every port that the Pacific Clipper visited.

This article originally appeared in the August 1999 Issue of "Air and Space Magazine" and is reprinted by permission of the author

Monday, Monday ver. 831.01 (but written on Tuesday)

First of all, let's yap about the North Korean nuclear "fizzle" from Sunday - they shot off their wad, it didn't work (just as their ballistic missile didn't work months back) and now .. we're going to continue to pursue the "tough" policies that we were using before they went ahead and developed a psuedo-nuke? Okay ..

Links!

The North Korean nuke test was a dud. The Chinese don't have much of a nuclear arsenal, regardless of how much sabre rattling our own paleocons do.

And, for some expert review and analysis of how well our last five years of North Korean foreign policy has worked, click here.

Back to our own home front, an article on what one goes through with health care in these United States when one has no insurance. Don't I know this one well.

And, being arrested just for being there - a homeless man details the glee of the police cleaning out the nicer parts of town to make things pretty for the wealthier in our society.

You know I like snark, so here's a juicy bit on airline security developments from our own TSA.

On Sunday next, I'm speaking on "The Importance of Keeping Your Word," except when it applies to politics, apparently. The author relates the shameful state of politics in this country, that the biggest liars win.

And, then the last - a letter from Baghdad, telling us what it's really like over there. As distinct from the political lies we've been fed the last four years.

Today is going to be thundershower-y, they say, and mine starts with Twitch freaking out over an administrative response he has to submit by today. I've already done it, but he's all twitch-y. Just wait until he finds out that I put a padlock on the back gate so that he has to come up to the front door and be admitted like a normal person, instead of letting himself in without permission and bellowing for me from the kitchen.

I get to see Susan today, get my hair did, and pick up the mail. And some more checks, one hopes. My little spiritual program for the month is kicking my white behind.

Cross-posting Garrison Keillor

Congress's Shameful Retreat From American Values
By Garrison Keillor
The Chicago Tribune

Wednesday 04 October 2006

I would not send my college kid off for a semester abroad if I were you. Last week, we suspended human rights in America, and what goes around comes around. Ixnay habeas corpus.

The U.S. Senate, in all its splendor and majesty, decided that an "enemy combatant" is any non-citizen whom the president says is an enemy combatant, including your Korean greengrocer or your Swedish grandmother or your Czech au pair, and can be arrested and held for as long as authorities wish without any right of appeal to a court of law to examine the matter. If your college kid were to be arrested in Bangkok or Cairo, suspected of "crimes against the state" and held in prison, you'd assume that an American foreign service officer would be able to speak to your kid and arrange for a lawyer, but this may not be true anymore. Be forewarned.

The Senate also decided it's up to the president to decide whether it's OK to make these enemies stand naked in cold rooms for a couple of days in blinding light and be beaten by interrogators. This is now purely a bureaucratic matter: The plenipotentiary stamps the file "enemy combatants" and throws the poor schnooks into prison and at his leisure he tries them by any sort of kangaroo court he wishes to assemble and they have no right to see the evidence against them, and there is no appeal. This was passed by 65 senators and will now be signed by President Bush, put into effect, and in due course be thrown out by the courts.

It's good that Barry Goldwater is dead because this would have killed him. Go back to the Senate of 1964 - Goldwater, Dirksen, Russell, McCarthy, Javits, Morse, Fulbright - and you won't find more than 10 votes for it.

None of the men and women who voted for this bill has any right to speak in public about the rule of law anymore, or to take a high moral view of the Third Reich, or to wax poetic about the American Ideal. Mark their names. Any institution of higher learning that grants honorary degrees to these people forfeits its honor. Alexander, Allard, Allen, Bennett, Bond, Brownback, Bunning, Burns, Burr, Carper, Chambliss, Coburn, Cochran, Coleman, Collins, Cornyn, Craig, Cra! po, DeMint, DeWine, Dole, Domenici, Ensign, Enzi, Frist, Graham, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Hatch, Hutchison, Inhofe, Isakson, Johnson, Kyl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Lieberman, Lott, Lugar, Martinez, McCain, McConnell, Menendez, Murkowski, Nelson of Florida, Nelson of Nebraska, Pryor, Roberts, Rockefeller, Salazar, Santorum, Sessions, Shelby, Smith, Specter, Stabenow, Stevens, Sununu, Talent, Thomas, Thune, Vitter, Voinovich, Warner.

To paraphrase Sir Walter Scott: Mark their names and mark them well. For them, no minstrel raptures swell. High though their titles, proud their name, boundless their wealth as wish can claim, these wretched figures shall go down to the vile dust from whence they sprung, unwept, unhonored and unsung.

Three Republican senators made a show of opposing the bill and after they'd collected all the praise they could get, they quickly folded. Why be a hero when you can be fairly sure that the court will dispose of this piece of garbage.

If, however, the court does not, then our country has taken a step toward totalitarianism. If the government can round up someone and never be required to explain why, then it's no longer the United States as you and I always understood it. Our enemies have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They have made us become like them.

I got some insight last week into who supports torture when I went down to Dallas to speak at Highland Park Methodist Church. It was spooky. I walked in, was met by two burly security men with walkie-talkies, and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics. I was there on a book tour for "Homegrown Democrat," but they thought it better if I didn't mention it. So I tried to make light of it: I told the audience, "I don't need to talk politics. I have no need even to be interested in politics - I'm a citizen, I have plenty of money and my grandsons are at least 12 years away from being eligible for military service." And the audience applauded! Those were their sentiments exactly. We've got ours, and who cares?

The Methodists of Dallas can be fairly sure that none of them will be snatched off the streets, flown to Guantanamo Bay, stripped naked, forced to stand for 48 hours in a freezing room with deafening noise. So why should they worry? It's only the Jews who are in danger, and the homosexuals and gypsies. The Christians are doing fine. If you can't trust a Methodist with absolute power to arrest people and not have to say why, then whom can you trust?

--------

Garrison Keillor is a syndicated columnist and host of "A Prairie Home Companion."

Post Part-um

Sitting here waiting for my friend Jayne to come by and pick up her phone. It was so good for her and my other church friends to come last night.

The house looked terrific, updated and modified by Matticia, who fixed the cooktop, did party decorations outside, re-wired the home theater, etc., etc., etc. I'm now awash in champagne (the bev fridge is FULL) and vodka. Jeannie's food was smashing. The kitchen looked outstanding - I just need to get a breakfast table and chairs (and a dining table now.)

Nothing was broken, but I was just wiped out. I sat in my chair most of the evening like a queen on her throne. The patio was a hot place to be, populated until well after I went to bed at 2:00 a.m.

The home theater just sounds AWESOME. The house looks great. Last night and today, some of my guests seem to have used one of the upstairs bathroom sinks like they were trying to flood the #6 boiler room of the Titanic. The dining room ceiling is soaking wet. Again. It's dripping water like crazy. Matticia figured out what happened and has solved the problem, but it's prayer time that it doesn't collapse the ceiling.

Installed the AirPort card in the iMac DV that we've put in the kitchen. It's got a signal from the network, but it's not connecting. My Mac friends will be coming over shortly, and they'll get it connected.

We're watching the movie "Slevin." It's amazing.

Now, I want to increase the size of the television. By about 6000%.

I'm enjoying just sitting here. I should think about using my FABULOUS COOKTOP again and making some dinner.

I need to fold up all of these gift bags that are populating the hearth.

Donna sent me my horoscope on Friday; it was really something. I'm still trying to digest it.

Matticia just took a wire coat hangar and attached it to the wireless router, and now we've got massive signal strength. I still think that I'm going to buy a Linksys wireless N router.

WHOOP!

You just knew that they weren't telling what they knew -

The just resigned Chief of Staff for Reynolds (R-NY) has now said he told Hastert TWO years ago.

Humpin' Linkarama!

This is just more fun than stompin' baby chickens, as my friend Andy (from Mesquite) would say.

Read about one editor's opinion that dumping Hastert isn't going to be enough - the Foley scandal is a symptom of a "power at any cost" mentality that has been demonstrated by DeLay, Hastert and others in DC.

Or, you could read about how the Demos could go a "bit" too far in their response to the Foley scandal - since they don't offer a reasonable alternative (boy, isn't THAT true?"

And another editorial that discusses how the Republicans are "flip-flopping" faster than a cheap pair of beach sandals and trying to blame this scandal on the Demos, who are inhibiting the war on terror by pursuing this.

And, a clarification from the Washington Times on why Hastert must go.

As this day goes on, it just keeps getting funnier!

I have a whole string - a mess - a mountain from a sexual molehill of links and articles on this developing Foley scandal.

It starts with Fox News trying to tar the Democrats with the responsibility for the Foleygate massacre. Notice that both Fox News and the Associated Press have been mis-identifying Foley as a Democrat.

Shimkus, who's one of the three Congressman supervising the page program also blames the Democrats. It's also supporting the terrorists, ya know. Another Congressman, not attached to the scandal (yet) also says it's the fault of the Democrats.

Several articles on how Reynolds (R-NY) encouraged Foley to run again AFTER they knew about the naughtiness.

Speaking of Reynolds, he's wrapped up in the attempt of his chief of staff to persuade ABC News to refrain from releasing the Foleygate material. Said chief of staff has now resigned, and his pointing his own fingers.

Moving on to other central figures, Alexander (R-LA) whose page it was that Foley was chasing around has flip-flopped twice now on whether he told someone, anyone .. what was going on.

A KOS writer, georgia10 (from whom much will be heard later in life - she's still a youngster) has a compelling piece about the willingness of the Rulers to recklessly endanger anyone to keep their place in power.

Lies, lies, lies. If you lie big enough and keep repeating it, it becomes the truth. Watch.

Wondering how those activist judges on the Supreme Court are behaving, now that they're fortified by some good ol' conservatives? How about open racial epithets in the courtroom?

And, if you're wondering who the heck it is that's voting for these buffoons, here's an example. A Georgia mother (white, naturally, and blond) is trying to get Harry Potter books banned because they teach witchcraft.

Maybe she should visit Salem for vacation. And try that dunking chair on for size.

More of Circus Scandale!

It's like a French acrobatic circus! It's all interwoven, and interlocking.

Links, links, links!

They knew that Foley was after the pages in NINETEEN NINETY-FIVE.

An analysis of how bad this is for the ruling party - "dead man walking."

Here's a little discussion of how clear it is that the GOP ignored the sexual predator to stay in power.

When one asks .. "how could you be a Democrat?" The best answer isn't "'Cause I'm gay, silly.." but this.

Yolks.

How does one get a Republican to come? Page him!

New bumper sticker - "my congressman sodomized your honor student."

Mark Foley has written his memoirs - a real page turner.

Why don't Republicans use bookmarks? They'd rather just bend a page over.

Tuesday night reflections

Sitting here watching another disc of "The Hustle," which Guy brought over the other day. Today was interesting. I think that things went forward in life.

Was talking with Guy this afternoon - and trying to come up with names for the Phaeton and the Impy. He thinks that the Impy deserves a name that calls up the early 70's. Something that conveys blunt power combined with elegance.

The Phaeton, he asserted, needs to have some name that suggests high elegance.

Today, I was driving back from Nicole's place and was cruising on Westheimer .. a black Phaeton W12 went sailing by me. It was so fine looking. I know that Brian hates those cars from the depth of his soul, but they are stunning in an understated way. The one I want is so subtle as to be a mere whisper as it glides through traffic.

The kitchen looks fagulous. Fantastic. Amazing. It's not even close to being done, and it's just stunning. The halogen lamps in the breakfast area that were glaring and harsh are now looking elegant and more colorful.

I was hunting around on Craigslist tonight and found a very cool Mies van der Rohe knock off table and four chairs that would go great in the revitalized breakfast room.

Matticia comes in just 30 hours.

Up to 37 guests confirmed for the party. Shooting for 48. You know, 48 for 48 years.

This show (The Hustle, remember?) is awesome.

Ruby after being cleaned last week - still looking DAMNED good. Turning 97,000 miles this week. 

The desk area - look at how the slate goes with the new colors (as opposed to the orange and gray) 

Sage with a bit left of orange 

The coffee area with the slate cabinets 

More sage 

With the sage green on the walls -  

The kitchen; halfway through 

It's the Five Ring Circus o'Scandal!!

Let's start with some new Mark Foley material - he didn't just flirt with boys online, he DID THE NASTY with them. I can promise you. Read here, here and here and see what you think. That last one carries an explicit content/language warning from the Divo.

Hereis a fun little rant about what we CAN count on Republicans for. Don't take it personally if you're a Republican kind of person; if the Demos had had power for the last fourteen years, I'm sure that they would be in the same boat.

Here you can have a look at different quotes from today's new media about the developing Foley scandal (which is like riding my favorite roller coaster - every few hours, something else juicy and delicious is coming out of GOP scandal-land!) It seems that the "liberal media" may have found some of its bark again.

This article suggests that the House Leaderships' conscious indifference to Mark Foley's pursuit of young boys wasn't endemic to the Congress. We can read Condi's ongoing defenses of her refusal to listen, act, react or anticipate when it was HER JOB TO DO SO. If she had acted in the same way during the Cold War, and half our cities were radioactive dust, would these excuses have seemed reasonable?

Perhaps the most conservative newspaper in the country (and one owned by Rev. Moon) calls for Hastert's resignation.

Here is someone else who posted what occured to me last night - are they KIDDING? They didn't want to upset gay folks? What about that whole anti-gay amendment, and "Don't ask/don't tell," and opposition to hate crime legislation?

This one's a shocker. One of the most conservative pundits around says the GOP is unworthy of leading or running this nation. Really.

Herewe find proof that Bob Woodward is telling the truth when he reveals in his latest book that Condi, Rummy and Ashcroft were WARNED IN DETAIL that Al Queda was about to attack, probably the US on its soil in July 2001 and DID NOTHING.

Here we have Rick Santorum whining about an "unfair" political ad in which a veteran uses an AK-47 and shoots up the body armor with which our soldiers were equipped in Iraq. Then, he shoots up a modern body armor mannequin, and .. nothing happens to it. "Rick Santorum voted against me having this body armor. Now it's time for us to vote against him." The Philly newspaper investigates and finds that the ad is based on FACT.

HereMolly Ivins endorses Chris Bell for Governor of Texas in her inimitable style, and asks that we elect him for "Annie's sake."

Hereis a wild ride story - the writing of a NYT reporter who was on the Embraer Legacy business jet that seems to have collided with a GOL 737-800 in mid-air over the Brasilian Amazon, with a loss to all aboard the GOL jet.

Remember when I said that this Foley scandal was a wild ride? Well, now Hastert has laid the blame at the feet of the Democrats and the KIDS WHO WERE PAGES. It's THEIR fault, and they're AGAINST THE WAR ON TERROR. So, I guess it's okay to hide and protect someone who's using his official position to violate Federal and state laws against sex with minors AND to pollute a volunteer program that was designed to give exceptional youth exposure to the political process - a program that's been around for 150 years. BECAUSE PROTECTING AND HIDING THAT PEDOPHILE PREDATOR IS SUPPORTING THE WAR ON TERROR. Yes, it is. I looked it up. Had to call God on the hotline to be sure.

More slime. Reynolds, to whom the Foley complaint was originally brought as head of the RNCC, held a press conference today at a DAY CARE CENTER! Surrounded by children. Random children.

And, Foley now claims he was abused by a "clergyman" as a child, and that he's gay. However, is that justification for abusing others and continuing the cycle?

Monday, Monday (a bit later)

Well, I've been plugging away here today - between the barrage of emails about the developing Republican sex scandal, which I am SO enjoying - it seems that Foley pusuring illegally young boy butt was a forgiveable sin, but Clinton's escapdes with Lewinsky was Satan incarnate. Even the Focus on the Family said so!

What happened to the Gay Marriage Ban?

I've moved some things around here in the office, which has improved my mental state some. They're more accessible. I've started working on some disorganized client files (my favorite) and have a clear day ahead of me tomorrow for getting work done. By Friday, this office is going to be pin-neat, and nothing left undone.

This morning, a most unusual thing happened - I had a call from an old theater friend. Long story short, it seems that the financial questions I had raised five years ago were quite true. The malfeasance was occuring, and the coverup was real. I not only felt vindicated, but I felt like a huge weight was lifted from my heart.

I think that contributed to my productive output today.

Haven't heard from someone all day, and I'm wanting to.

I think I'm headed to bed early tonight.

Monday, Monday ver. 837.01

An important consideration...

In Case I Disappear
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Friday 29 September 2006

I have been told a thousand times at least, in the years I have
spent reporting on the astonishing and repugnant abuses, lies and
failures of the Bush administration, to watch my back. "Be careful,"
people always tell me. "These people are capable of anything. Stay
off small planes, make sure you aren't being followed." A running
joke between my mother and me is that she has a "safe room" set up
for me in her cabin in the woods, in the event I have to flee
because of something I wrote or said.

I always laughed and shook my head whenever I heard this stuff.
Extreme paranoia wrapped in the tinfoil of conspiracy, I thought.
This is still America, and these Bush fools will soon pass into
history, I thought. I am a citizen, and the First Amendment hasn't
yet been red-lined, I thought.

Matters are different now.

It seems, perhaps, that the people who warned me were not so
paranoid. It seems, perhaps, that I was not paranoid enough.
Legislation passed by the Republican House and Senate, legislation
now marching up to the Republican White House for signature, has
shattered a number of bedrock legal protections for suspects,
prisoners, and pretty much anyone else George W. Bush deems to be an
enemy.

So much of this legislation is wretched on the surface. Habeas
corpus has been suspended for detainees suspected of terrorism or of
aiding terrorism, so the Magna Carta-era rule that a person can face
his accusers is now gone. Once a suspect has been thrown into
prison, he does not have the right to a trial by his peers. Suspects
cannot even stand in representation of themselves, another ancient
protection, but must accept a military lawyer as their defender.

Illegally-obtained evidence can be used against suspects, whether
that illegal evidence was gathered abroad or right here at home. To
my way of thinking, this pretty much eradicates our security in
persons, houses, papers, and effects, as stated in the Fourth
Amendment, against illegal searches and seizures.

Speaking of collecting evidence, the torture of suspects and
detainees has been broadly protected by this new legislation. While
it tries to delineate what is and is not acceptable treatment of
detainees, in the end, it gives George W. Bush the final word on
what constitutes torture. US officials who use cruel, inhumane or
degrading treatment to extract information from detainees are now
shielded from prosecution.

It was two Supreme Court decisions, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Hamdan v.
Rumsfeld, that compelled the creation of this legislation. The Hamdi
decision held that a prisoner has the right of habeas corpus, and
can challenge his detention before an impartial judge. The Hamdan
decision held that the military commissions set up to try detainees
violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva
Conventions.

In short, the Supreme Court wiped out virtually every legal argument
the Bush administration put forth to defend its extraordinary and
dangerous behavior. The passage of this legislation came after a
scramble by Republicans to paper over the torture and murder of a
number of detainees. As columnist Molly Ivins wrote on
Wednesday, "Of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have
ever been formally charged with anything. Among other things, this
bill is a CYA for torture of the innocent that has already taken
place."

It seems almost certain that, at some point, the Supreme Court will
hear a case to challenge the legality of this legislation, but even
this is questionable. If a detainee is not allowed access to a fair
trial or to the evidence against him, how can he bring a legal
challenge to a court? The legislation, in anticipation of court
challenges like Hamdi and Hamdan, even includes severe restrictions
on judicial review over the legislation itself.

The Republicans in Congress have managed, at the behest of Mr. Bush,
to draft a bill that all but erases the judicial branch of the
government. Time will tell whether this aspect, along with all the
others, will withstand legal challenges. If such a challenge comes,
it will take time, and meanwhile there is this bill. All of the
above is deplorable on its face, indefensible in a nation that
prides itself on Constitutional rights, protections and the rule of
law.

Underneath all this, however, is where the paranoia sets in.

Underneath all this is the definition of "enemy combatant" that has
been established by this legislation. An "enemy combatant" is now no
longer just someone captured "during an armed conflict" against our
forces. Thanks to this legislation, George W. Bush is now able to
designate as an "enemy combatant" anyone who has "purposefully and
materially supported hostilities against the United States."

Consider that language a moment. "Purposefully and materially
supported hostilities against the United States" is in the eye of
the beholder, and this administration has proven itself to be
astonishingly impatient with criticism of any kind. The broad powers
given to Bush by this legislation allow him to capture, indefinitely
detain, and refuse a hearing to any American citizen who speaks out
against Iraq or any other part of the so-called "War on Terror."

If you write a letter to the editor attacking Bush, you could be
deemed as purposefully and materially supporting hostilities against
the United States. If you organize or join a public demonstration
against Iraq, or against the administration, the same designation
could befall you. One dark-comedy aspect of the legislation is that
senators or House members who publicly disagree with Bush, criticize
him, or organize investigations into his dealings could be placed
under the same designation. In effect, Congress just gave Bush the
power to lock them up.

By writing (or by me cross posting)this essay, I could be deemed an "enemy combatant." It's
that simple, and very soon, it will be the law. I always laughed
when people told me to be careful. I'm not laughing anymore.

In case I disappear, remember this. America is an idea, a dream, and
that is all. We have borders and armies and citizens and commerce
and industry, but all this merely makes us like every other nation
on this Earth. What separates us is the idea, the simple idea, that
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are our organizing
principles. We can think as we please, speak as we please, write as
we please, worship as we please, go where we please. We are
protected from the kinds of tyranny that inspired our creation as a
nation in the first place.

That was the idea. That was the dream. It may all be over now, but
once upon a time, it existed. No good idea ever truly dies. The
dream was here, and so was I, and so were you.

And a little light hearted humor from my cousin in Ohio

Once upon a time there was a female brain cell which, by mistake, happened to end up in a man's head. She looked around nervously because it was all empty and quiet. "Hello?" she cried, but no answer. "Is there anyone here?" she cried a little louder, but still no answer. Now the female brain cell started to feel alone and scared and yelled at the top of her voice,"HELLO, IS THERE ANYONE HERE?" Then she heard a faint voice from far, far away..............





"We're down here ..."

Thoughts forwarded from Sondra

Sondra's a peach. She is so wonderful, supportive, loving and frisky - one of the very few people with whom I've worked before and am still friends with.

She sent me this some time ago, and it seems doubly appropriate to share it, now that our Legislature has decided to crown Geo. W King of these United States (won't we need a new name for the country?)

1. COWS
2. THE CONSTITUTION
3. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government
can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall
where she sleeps in the state of Washington and they tracked her calves to
their stalls? But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering
around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just
give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked
for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

TEN COMMANDMENTS

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a
courthouse........You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not
Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers,
judges and politicians -- it creates a hostile work environment.

More on the anti-terror bill

This editorial sums it up nicely - what it is that is being taken away from us with the bill that passed the House of Representatives last night. Registration is required.

Here's a quite from the editorial:

Republicans say Congress must act right now to create procedures for charging and trying terrorists — because the men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks are available for trial. That’s pure propaganda. Those men could have been tried and convicted long ago, but President Bush chose not to. He held them in illegal detention, had them questioned in ways that will make real trials very hard, and invented a transparently illegal system of kangaroo courts to convict them.

When Hitler was frustrated with the civil court system in Germany, even after having made them swear to look only to him as the source of law and interpretation in Germany - he accomplished his goals by:

• Creating concentration camps, where his irregular police forces (the SS and SA) could take "detainees" without having to have a warrant, and where access to detainees was not allowed
• Created an entire court structure - the "Volksgericht" for sentencing people to punishment that was based on vague and undefined offenses - not against the laws of the state
• Did a complete end-run around the Constitutional protections of fair trial, representation by counsel, voluntary testimony (as opposed to secret testimony or forced testimony from torture) and appeal

Now, re-read the paragraph I just quoted from the editorial. Look familiar?

Time for another quote from the editorial:

These are some of the bill’s biggest flaws:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret — there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable — already a contradiction in terms — and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

Are you okay with the United States using secret testimony to convict and punish someone? Torturing someone to gain evidence or a confession? Being raped as a method of interrogation? Eliminates the right to appeal? Eliminates the right to counsel (representation by an attorney?) Functionally withdraws us from the most significant parts of the Geneva Convention? Gives the government the right to arrest YOU, without a warrant, without a criminal charge, without a reason - lock you up, abuse you to get information you don't have, keep you for however long they feel is appropriate without anyone knowing where you are, without any ability to contact the outside world, without having to be seen by a lawyer or a judge, and never to have any right to be cleared for what you never did but were detained for?

How about some radical ideas:

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
2. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
3. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
5. No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
7. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
9. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Now, re-read the summary from the editorial of what last night's bill passage would take away from us. See anything in this list that we're losing by last night's activity?

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

That means that the Geneva Convention, which is a treaty that we entered into, is the supreme Law of these United States. We don't torture.

Except when people keep voting Republican.

Thursday - more link-a-rama

See, this is good. I find 'em, I tell you about 'em, and I make you do the work of reading them.

First things first. In local news, an air quality study here in Houston has discovered that being the center of the petrochemical universe brings with it certain undesireable elements, and, no I don't mean too many pickup trucks and men chewing tobacco. Our air sucks. Ass. And, we find out that Texas (being Texas) has never implemented recommended air quality regulations AND that our TNRR (which is, I think, only organized to issue fishing licenses) doesn't even know where all of its own detectors are, let alone have them set to measure the national standard for air pollution. Oh, and we don't count automobiles, residential fireplaces, and anything but industrial pollution in our official air counts. Big changes recommended; the real estate developers have probably already huddled to figure out how to keep this from further attention.

Did you hear about the NIE that says we (the 'Murricans) are far less safe than we were before 9/11? That we've done nothing in the war against terror? N-O-T-H-I-N-G? No? Hell, last night my room mate didn't realize that we (the 'Murricans) had tortured people. To death. A couple of dozen of them. Then, he figured we'd only have done that because they were bad people. Our government would NEVER have done that. Re-read yesterday's Habeas Corpus link if you're thinking THAT'S true. Here's an article suggesting that it was our intelligence community engaging in a little karma action - releasing information about the NIE that our government had been covering up since April, 2006.

And, if you've been paying a lick of attention, you've been hearing the rumble that our Army is short-staffed, under-equipped and .. basically in the state of the German Wehrmacht around February 1945. Brigades and divisions that are still deployed as full-strength ON PAPER, but that really don't have even half of their combat effectiveness. Here's inside information that talks about that.

Let's see, where do we go next? I haven't mentioned Chuck yet this morning; he's hooked up to an IV drip of morphine and fenigrin (which I've probably mis-spelled, so forgive me.) Like 46% of the population, he's uninsured. Were you aware that our private pay health care system consumes more of our national economy than that of any other nation in the world? Before you start telling me that people in Canada can't get hip replacements (which is NOT true,) you should read about the economic harm that our health care system is doing to our economy - and then ask yourself the question - "if we ('Murricans) spent a reasonable sum on health care, what could we do with 10% of our annual economic output, which would then be freed up?"

And, last, if you've stuck your head in the sand on the state of our Constitution over the last five years, if you've said "they're only going after bad people," if you've thought "well, this really only applies to non-Americans," if you've ignored that the Freedoms that we are "promoting" around the world are being disassembled - you could read this: the most conservative of the conservative pundits (and I don't include the intellectually bankrupt entertainment staff at CNN or Fox News) are coming UNGLUED about what McCain & cronies have agreed to do with the current government.

I think that it's time for a little refresher. Pastor Niemoller was the Pastor of the largest congregation in Berlin at the time of the Nazi's rise to power. He was an initial supporter of them, and he became one of their most vocal critics. He spent eight years in Nazi concentration camps - from 1937 (two years before the war) until he was released by Allied troops.

Pastor Niemoller wrote a poem about his time in Nazi Germany, which I quite from an excellent discussion over on Wikipedia:

Original	Translation
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich nicht protestiert; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.	When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Now, you take a few minutes - think about that the legislation that the house just passed.

Have a look again at the article on Habeas Corpus from yesterday. The Senate is expected to pass this bill today or tomorrow. The Democrats are too afraid of being painted as "pro-terrorist" to do anything. They are giving themselves (the President, that is) the right to:

• Have someone "detained" without a warrant, including US citizens on US soil
• Never have to charge them with a crime
• Never have to allow them access to a lawyer or to a Judge for a probable cause hearing
• Never have to reveal to anyone who is held, where and why
• Prosecute anyone who reveals information about one of the people who is detained

Does this sound like the values our Country was founded on that you learned about in grade school?

No?

Now, read Pastor Niemoller's poem again and reflect. I'll wait.

Bonus points if you can read it in German.

Two more links for Hump Day

First, the happy-happy, joy-joy stuff. Larry (from Dallas) just sent me this link a minute ago, and I found it to be so very cute. Just trust me and click on it.

This was amazing. Someone in the MEDIA actually SAID this. This is an amazing, powerful, ten minute rant about .. well, everything that I've found upsetting over the last ten-ish years. Media player or QuickTime. Your choice. Clear the decks and watch it.

Hump day - links, and other fun stuff

You just KNOW I have links for you!

First, we have a story of the beginnings of the Bush economic dynasty. Interesting reading, and a series beginning.

Next, a discussion about Habeas Corpus. You probably don't know what it is, or why the Bush/McCain compromise that allows the government to declare an American citizen an enemy combatant and hold them without charge or right of Habeas Corpus would be a huge change. So, a little history and education is in order. Click right up there.

I don't think I've ever cross posted an article about our own rough, tough (except when he sandbagged serving in the military) Dick Cheney! Here's a little piece on his 1% doctrine (if a country has a 1% chance of developing a nuclear weapon, we should invade. Unless it's North Korea, India, Pakistan or Israel.) The article applies this logic to the concept of global warming, which could be considered a stretch, but one has to think about whether such comparisons are valid.

Finally, some amusement - non-partisan amusement, although is just happens that it's a handful of Repubs engaged in the shenanigans. A newspaper article that identifies three different politicians sending in the SAME letter to the editor, asserting it to be their own work and opinion.

I've been doing filing for hours. I have been up to my keister in loose files for weeks; it feels like months. It's been dragging on my mindset, and now each and every piece of paper that doesn't yet need to be handled or worked with has been put away. I made a ton of new files, and made up a file storage list and new labels for everything.

I've also done all the simple tax returns that needed doing; now, tomorrow, I have the jumbo yucko ones to work on. I've been in touch with the mortgage course people, and I've otherwise gotten a jillion things done.

And, yet I feel that I've been unproductive. Craziness. I'm very glad to have finally gotten all of these files organized, but I feel like I should have done this at the beginning of the summer.

Half of tomorrow is going to be picking up stuff at Chuck's, visiting him in the hospital, driving to Clear Lake to see the proposed new church space, and teaching class. This leaves me Friday and Saturday to accomplish the rest of what I need to clear out here in the office.

Nevertheless, it's going to be awesome to have all of this stuff DONE. Holy cow. I feel like there's a light at the end of the work integrity tunnel.

Just after lunch, I walked out to get the mail. The spider who's been spinning the tree outside the front door has been quite industrious - he had a web that spanned the front walk blocking the path from the door to the street. That web was some strong stuff! Then, I noticed that there was a fire ant mound next to the walk that hadn't been there yesterday. So, I went back in (with the mail) and got myself the Amdro. Came out and shook a load on the nest. I went into the backyard with the intention of putting some on the mound in the backyard (which I'd looked at in the morning and seemed to be inactive,) and found a brand new mound since this morning next to the tree stump! More amdro.

Of course, this necessitated standing next to the pool, and I noticed for the second time that the Polaris' bag was chockablock full. So, I pulled him out of the pool, took off the bag, emptied it out, re-assembled it and threw him into the pool. While I was cleaning the pool filter stuff, I had to, of course, pull out the filter basket and empty it.

Then, I thought that I'd pull the hose out of the pool and reel it back up, but then, I thought first about re-arranging the potted plants, as the two hibiscus weren't doing so well and needed more direct sunlight. So, that was done, and I decided to water all the plants with the hose before I wound it up.

How to run through a half-hour doing simple things that need doing.

I wanted to wash the car today, but that didn't get done. Now, I need to run and fill up the distilled water bottles, as they're all empty. Maybe tomorrow morning.

In going through all of these files, I can really connect with that I just don't have a lot to do. I need more work to work on; I function better with good stuff in front of me all the time. Bleh. I really need to kick up my business production. I keep thinking that if I'd just have an effective helper, I could get to executing on my various schemes - that's just no longer going to be a good excuse for me.

Somehow, my back is killing me tonight. Yarg. I want to move these printers into a different space. Maybe this weekend, I'll do that.

I have to take the trash outside and put it in the bin; I am always asleep when they roll up in the mornings. I have two big bags of shredded stuff, plus the regular household trash.

I think I'm done with the computer for a while; I'm going to go downstairs and watch a DVD.

Tuesday link-a-rama

So, today, I am expected to stay at home and WORK.

Link-a-rama!

This is a beautiful article about continuing to focus on the good in life, even when it seems that circumstances are against you. It also points out that perfidy in government isn't a new thing for the United States.

This is a reflection on the emotional expressions of WWI soliders intended to demonstrate what our soldiers are likely feeling in the current day conflicts, wherein they are required to do the impossible.

For some real amusement, let's have a look at what the Religious Right (those who know what a blog is and how to use a computer) are saying.

Finally, we have a discussion by someone who is so disgusted with the entire mess that he sought to shut off his brain and join the rest of the nabobs who are voting for these idiots. It didn't work.

Twitch hasn't been heard from all day. He was snappish with me yesterday (when trying to come by to pick up his headboard after six months without planning in advance, and after blowing me off Sunday when we had made arrangements. Again.) and I was snappish last night in an email to him reminding him of a meeting tomorrow that he has to go to. He hasn't called nor returned a call all day, which leads me to believe that he's either cranky with me, or has fallen under a bus. Or a vodka bottle.

So ..

So, tonight, I'm working on putting the dining room back together, cleaning up some things and talking to Bram about what we do next. Some good news; Curtis knows just how to hook up the cooktop, and tells me to get a dryer plug. He's going to come by in the next few days and do that.

Church website, group, calendar, newsletter are all now done.

Yurg.

Monday, Monday ver 834.01

As has become a recent custom, I'll start this morning with some blog links that I found particularly compelling:

Here is a link to the Wm. Jefferson Clinton smack-down of Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday yesterday. The transcript is here. Just for grins, compare the edited version that aired on Fox with the full transcript and see where your liberal media is. If you'd like to see what the "liberal media" is saying about this unequal fight (A battle of wits where one party, Wallace, is an unarmed man) read here. Here's what the REAL liberals think about the event. You should read it. I agree with her. Clinton did no one any favors by his actions. What? Nora Ephron isn't liberal? Well, Arianna Huffington is, and she wasn't patting Clinton on the back either.

This is an article from a sports writer that pillories the current administration for their perfidious hypocrisy. Interesting that our free press is now resident in the SPORTSWRITERS.

Here you can read a Rolling Stone article that discusses the electronic voting machines that are now in use all across the country, and insiders who are coming forward to reveal that these machines were, more likely than not, manipulated by their owners during recent elections. I've told you about this before, but .. you weren't listening to me.

Volkswagen Phaeton At Nelson Ledges

And when I'm driving the W12 Phaeton, this is how it feels

phaeton

the reasons why the Phaeton is so unique and fabulous - as validated by the BBC

VW Phaeton

SO, I've been yapping about the VW Phaeton now for a year or so - and, here's a zippy video of the car. I'm intending to go up to Minneapolis to pick up the very one that I want within the next few weeks.

Proof that Bram exists. I have to check for myself sometimes. 

Curtis' little brother. I mean LITTLE. 

Curtis, who knew about the martinis already 

Nick disbelieving the description of a martini .. before 

Nick shortly after his first martini 

Nick right before he learned about martinis 

Curtis' friend Nick installing said switchplate 

Cracked and dented a bit, but the five gang wallplate final covers the open switches that have been there since before I moved in. 

The garage light (with the unsightly basketball hoop still on the roof) Let there be LIGHT! 

Just a little Sunday night p.s.

Three more blogs of note:

If you think that the torture of nameless, faceless "terrorists" doesn't affect you, you should read this.

If you read that article, and then start wondering what methods of torture are being employed, you should consult the torture bible.

Then, once you've sated your prurient curiousity on how you can be tortured, let's hypothesize for how long you can be subject to this torture .. forever is a long time.

George Orwell, we hardly knew you.

Cleaned and scrubbed

The yard stud worked yesterday for six hours power washing the house to get ready for Divo48. It looks FABULOUS on the patio, and the fence between the garage and the house looks like new!

While waiting for him, and while waiting for my internet connection to come back up (he got the cable connection wet,) I read a bunch of blogs that I think you should be aware of .. just in case you're feeling like being better informed.

Here's the list:

This one describes the administration's war on reports that reflect anything contrary to the political message devised by the administration.

This one sums up George Will's paid shilling for Wal-Mart in the press and on punditry shows.

This one was something that made big waves in my circle this weekend - describing growing up gay in a fundamentalist family as being like a hate crime.

Then, we have the empty tradition of celebrating Labor Day after thirty years of eliminating labor as a political force, and fifteen years of cramming down worker pay and benefits.

This one is kind of surreal - the guy who rescued the WTC flag from the 9/11 wreckage was denied medical benefits and compensation, because he "couldn't prove he was there," and then uncovers the severe health risks that were hidden by the EPA, FEMA and the City of New York and is then raided by a SWAT team for his effort to reveal the truth.

Here we have a cool website by someone who's more in love with the Phaeton than I am; it's a virtual love fest of why it's probably the world's coolest car, ever.

Lastly, Guy showed me a great article about how you have to think yourself thin before weight loss will truly work for you.

By the time I went to bed (0200) my little brain manager was shutting systems down. I slept through the alarm, and got up .. late .. and barely made it out the door for church, which was AWESOME again.

Had lunch with a client, drove home, fiddled, talked to Chuck on IM some more, then Curtis from the Days of Yore came by with a friend of his and his little (and I mean LITTLE) brother. They trimmed up the sheetrock hole in the dining room ceiling, and sanded down the texture that needs to be blended, hung the outside garage light (which is FABULOUS) and his friend installed the five gang switch plate cover that's been annoying me for months. And, they fixed an under-counter lamp that had burned out.

All good stuff.

Just to make sure that you're all keeping on your toes, I found THREE MORE ARTICLES that you just simply must have a look at -

If you're one of the 46 Million Americans (not Canuckistanians, but USers) who have no health insurance, then you may find this article interesting about how to present the concept of universal health care in a more appealing way.

He's baaa-aaa-aack!! It's another Contract with America! Newt Gingrich (whose re-emergence in the world proves Nixon right that the American voting public has the memory of a hamster and the attention span of a gerbil) has for your conservative pleasure that New (!) and improved (!) ways to make America better, brighter and safer! These methods include stripping the Supreme Court, and, well, hell - all of the courts, of the obligation to oversee the operation of the executive, putting all power squarely in the hands of white Christian people, and other fun, amazol-a ideas.

Just to keep things light, you may have been wondering what tricks the Administration has up their sleeves to keep and secure power in the mid-terms in just a few weeks .. well, it seems that information is burbling up to the top. No, it's not the collapse of gas prices. It's .. attacking IRAN!

Here, re-posted, is a synopsis of the Time magazine article that reveals that .. we're going to war AGAIN! WHOO HOO!

The first message was routine enough: A "Prepare to Deploy" order sent through naval communications channels to a submarine, an Aegis-class cruiser, two minesweepers and two mine hunters. The orders didn't actually command the ships out of port; they just said to be ready to move by Oct. 1. But inside the Navy those messages generated more buzz than usual last week when a second request, from the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), asked for fresh eyes on long-standing U.S. plans to blockade two Iranian oil ports on the Persian Gulf. The CNO had asked for a rundown on how a blockade of those strategic targets might work. When he didn't like the analysis he received, he ordered his troops to work the lash up once again.

What's going on? The two orders offered tantalizing clues. There are only a few places in the world where minesweepers top the list of U.S. naval requirements. And every sailor, petroleum engineer and hedge-fund manager knows the name of the most important: the Strait of Hormuz, the 20-mile-wide bottleneck in the Persian Gulf through which roughly 40% of the world's oil needs to pass each day. Coupled with the CNO's request for a blockade review, a deployment of minesweepers to the west coast of Iran would seem to suggest that a much discussed—but until now largely theoretical—prospect has become real: that the U.S. may be preparing for war with Iran.

Does anyone remember the post I made about eight months ago discussing Iran's powerful and deadly Russian made anti-ship missles that can kill a Nimitz class aircraft carrier with one hit?

My thoughts on the death of Ann Richards

I cried last night when I read the unexpected news that Ann Richards had died. Just a little, but, as an icon in the life I've experienced, she was a politician who generally brought a pleasant tenor to her atmosphere, even when she was running a spike through the other guy.

That sort of politician, somehow, brings vitriol and spite from those who think only of winning.

Somehow, in the last thirty years, American Politics have been converted to a "team sports" mentality of win at all costs. There is no more opposing opinion, there is only the enemy who must die for their convictions and affiliation. No more is it agreeable to have two or more viewpoints at getting to the common goal. There is only the Morally Right way, the Conservative Way, the Christian Way, and the Self-Righteous demagoguery of those who view things from a conservative mind set.

In their minds, Ann Richards was a waste of a human being, and a smear on the political landscape. In their minds, the opposing viewpoint doesn't deserve to draw breath.

The comments posted here that slander Ann Richards personally are unnecessary. One can disagree with her politics, her choices, or her actions without having to demean her as a person. To those who engage in such sanctimony, I ask you - have you engaged the strength of your convictions to go against an entire social and organizational structure to accomplish the things she did personally?

The answer to that question is given by whether or not you've run for, and been elected, Governor.

Yes, my affinity for Ann Richards is rooted in a common general set of viewpoints on how the society would best work. I didn't always agree with her, and, as is consistent with most of history, as we have become removed from those days, I have come to see some of her choices that I find quite disagreeable, especially in political appointments. However, one cannot criticize her for her life.

I celebrate that we have had an Ann Richards, and I doubly celebrate that we have had her in Texas, where she was so sorely needed. She is needed yet.

I feel that the world is somewhat diminished today, until the next person who can step forward and advance the cause of inclusion is recognized.

Wow

Ann Richards died today. That made me cry a little bit.

Day two of "it's all about me getting work done today." Lots more progress. I yanked out files; church files, reading files; other files - shredded six bags of paper. Made up files. Organized things. Got things ready for tomorrow night's class, for Chuck's appointments tomorrow, and so on. Tomorrow is going to be another day fully away from the house, though. Until about midnight.

Will they lower the flags here in Texas for Ann? Somehow, I doubt it.

Monday, Monday ver. 832.01

Okay, so I've been distracted lately. Haven't felt much like blogging.

I'm going to start by cross posting links to some very interesting blog articles that I've found (and have had open on my desktop for days...)

The first one is about air traffic controllers, and how their treatment today is far worse than anything back in 1981 - and creates safety concerns that are being ignored by Congress and the media.. here.

Then, if you're offended by Disney's production of the Path to 9/11, you can read an article about how to cause Disney to pay attention here.

This next one is an interesting evaluation of the Iraq policy and how we as a nation are far less secure than before.

The third one's going to spin your wig if you're a conservative, but it goes through the Declaration of Independence and compares the current administration's actions to those of George III. Tea party, anyone?

This final one is a chilling description of third-world life inside of the United States.

Okay, so - back to the regularly scheduled blog.

Its Monday morning, and mostly, I've accomplished getting the trash out just as the little guy rode his trash hamper up the driveway, fed the dogs, fed the birds, watered the plants, put the hummingbird feeder to soak in bleach water, cleaned the kitchen, emptied the dishwasher, read all the morning blogs and news (such that the news gives us,) and talked to Chuck.

Today, it's tax returns and editing web content. All day. Wall to wall. Boxes and shopping bags of loose paper to be turned into reasonable records. It's my life these days.

Yesterday, I was at church until nearly 6:00, then visited my Dutch Auntie in the rehab hospital (which was great fun!) and then came home. I know Chuck really wanted me to come over, but I needed some down time.

A Liberal Walks Into A Bar..

From Daily Kos

by georgia10

Sat Sep 02, 2006 at 02:45:25 PM PDT

As many of you know, I spent most of August vacationing on a small Greek island. My nightly ritual included visiting a tiny rock bar owned and inhabited by my friends. Beyond the draw of its brick walls (which remind me of home sweet home), there's four computers tucked into a corner with satellite internet access. Internet access AND a friendly bar. Heaven, some might say.

A few nights before I came back to America, I was finishing up a column, and after a bit, I signed off and went over to the bar. This guy (oh, let's call him Dick, shall we?) approached me. He was a young thing, slightly younger than me, I would say, and it was his first summer in Greece. He was a friend of a friend, and he was about to regret approaching me. Really, really regret it.

The guy committed several sins when he plopped himself next to me (chief among them were wearing more jewelry than I was and dousing himself in half a bottle of cologne). But the night really took off when, upon learning that I was a political writer (and a liberal one, to boot), he laughed, said that "liberals suck" and declared George W. Bush to be "the best fucking President EVER."

Ahem.

Now, many of you I'm sure had heard the same stomach-turning phrase, and it never ceases to have to same effect. I reflexively cringe, shake my head, and wonder how on earth a single person can be so supremely ignorant of the truth. I could have ignored him, I suppose, but there wouldn't be any fun in that, now would there?

Join me on the flip...

• ::
• 
  

I took a slow sip from my drink, smiled, and asked Dick "why?". "Why what?" he asked. "Why do you think he's the best president ever? Enlighten me."

He belted out the predictable GOP answer, something about "fighting those fucking Muslim terrorists" and "not taking any shit from no one."

"Which terrorists is he fighting, exactly?"

"The ones in Iraq," he stated flatly. "Because Iraq attacked us on 9/11."

Oh boy. He shouldn't have said that.

"You trust your President, right?", I asked, knowing full well that his answer would be "absolutely." Then what, pray tell, would Dick make of the fact that his President just acknowledged in a press conference that Iraq had "nothing" to do with 9/11?

"He said that?"

Yep. Needless to say, that sure cut the Iraq conversation short.

Onto abortion.

Abortion is "murder", he proclaimed (but in cases of rape, it's ok, because, you know, "it's not the girl's fault, she wasn't a slut"). "You're absolutely SURE that a fertilized egg is a human being, worthy of protection?" I asked. Of course, he replied. So why should a fertilized egg, (or a "human" as he called it) that is the product of rape be any less valuable than a "human" which is the product of a loving relationship, I asked?

Silence.

And why, if he really believed abortion is murder, I asked, was he so unwilling to jail women who had abortions? ("Uh, ok, you got a point"). By the time I got to the burning building problem (you've got a toddler and a petri dish full of fertilized eggs, which would you save?), a small crowd had gathered around the bar. There were a couple chuckles and a very loud "She's got you there, man!"

At that point, he did what any cornered conservative would do. He whipped out Clinton's penis and waved it in my face. "Well, back to terrorism. It's all Clinton's fault you know. If he wasn't so busy getting blown, he would have killed Osama. You know he knew exactly where Osama was, but didn't pull the trigger?"

Rather than try to dilute the man's Koolaid, I decided to poison him with his own drink. I asked, assuming his assertion was true, did he believe Clinton's alleged failure to aggressively going after Osama was an impeachable offense? Of course! he replied. I then proceeded to educate him on Tora Bora, "I truly am not that concerned about him," and introduced him to three little letters: PDB. All three instances of Bush incompetence were completely foreign to him, but as I laid fact after fact at his feet, his brow furrowed and his head dipped down. I finished. He remained silent.

I'll spare you the rest of the bloody details, but suffice it to say that a lethal dose of logic left transformed this cocky young Republican into a quivering pool of confusion. I won't claim that any conversion took place at that bar that night; however, at the very least, some seeds of doubt were planted.

My little anecdote is nothing special. Many Kossacks have shared similar experiences. But not enough.

Millions of us wait around for the 247 Democrats in Congress to speak up and stand up. Brilliant diaries are penned about exactly what Democrats should say, and how they should say it. Other diaries rightly rail on "spineless" Dems who shrink from confrontation.

But we must never forget, my friends, that we are also Democrats. And every time we let a wingnut email go unanswered, we are the spineless Dems. Everytime we hesitate to jump in when our family or friends complain about politics, we are the cowards.

We're the front lines of progressivism, a 50-state army composed of millions of articulate, informed, and fundamentally right soldiers of truth. We're armed with facts, that weapon that deals a deadly blow to any Republican propaganda. And yet, in the chambers of our daily lives, I think we don't use them enough.

For example, why is it that my inbox is cluttered with right-wing chain mail but rarely any liberal forwards? And why is it that upon reading yet another email about "staying the course", my tired self is tempted to just click "delete" instead of "reply all"?

Because it's easier to let it slide, of course. It's easier to ignore than instigate. Too often, we are so afraid of getting into political fights that we shy away from having political discussions. But if we don't defend liberalism and our party, who will?

So, Kossacks, let us not shrink from educating the ill-informed, from converting the conned with logic, and from building a new Democratic majority, one voter at a time.

From now until election day and beyond, I want anecdotes. I know you have them. I want to hear about how you debunked economic myths at your Labor Day picnic, how you struck up a conversation with your co-worker about universal health care, and how your managed to get your dittohead brother to grudgingly admit that maybe, just maybe, Republicans have lost the ability to govern.

Whether it's at work or in a bar, in the presence of friends or strangers, let us become the Democrats we urge our elected leaders to be--"political warriors" in every sense of the phrase.

Cheers.

Friday whirlwind

Let's start by posting the links to a BUNCH of blogs that I found very interesting today.

Lisa chastised me severely for emailing (or paying attention to) the "condemn the brand" blog I forwarded around last week, so I have to be more careful.

This first one is here - the truth about bin laden and the Clinton administration.

The next one is a history lesson. How Iraq came to be Iraq in the first place. Talk about deja vu.

Here is one that discusses our relations with two of the "stans," and how we're promoting human rights abuses.

This next one is quite important and interesting - how privatization of government was pawned off on us, and how it hasn't worked.

Other than that, my whirlwind has taken all the support out of my sails tonight. I'm just .. wiped. I have a ton of stuff to do this weekend, yet and am

At Paladium for Surgery

I’ve been working on my talk for Sunday in church already. It’s a complex engagement.

This morning, the temperature just felt cooler – like the temperature had broken, and that the hottest part of the summer had passed already. That would be just awesome.

I worked on a client’s train wreck of a file last night until about 11:00, then gave up and went to bed rather than fall over. I felt like such a loser, compared to Bram, who worked until 2:00 a.m. or later. I have to get that file work completed by tomorrow, and a bunch of other work as well. Yurg.

One of my friends dropped in yesterday; she hadn’t been to the house yet. She was very excited about all the roooooom I have now, and was walking around asking what my thoughts were about painting and so on. She asked if I had selected the colors for the kitchen, and I said “uh, no.” She then was telling me that she had been working on color selections for her new kitchen and that she had some ideas for how I could paint the kitchen in “rich” colors that would bring out the slate floor, and make the stainless and counter tops “pop.” She had the color chips in her CAR. And, what fabulous ideas they were, too – holy schmoly. She thinks that the walls should be painted in a dark, dusky sage green, and the cabinets and wood trim in a dark, nearly black grey/green. The idea is FABULOUS. I can’t wait to get it painted now, even with the risk of moving out soon.

I’m reading the follow on book to “Wicked,” about which I just raved a while back. It just isn’t grabbing me like “Wicked” did. I guess now that the Wicked Witch is dead, I don’t have as much interest. This story is about her son she had with the man whose death took her to the castle Kiamo Ko that we remember as “her” castle from the Frank Baum story. I don’t know that it’s starting slowly or what. I want to finish it quickly so I can send it to my sister.

So, yesterday I was snooping around on the internet (‘cause I do that sometimes,) and ran a search on Secret Agent Man’s license plate number. I had always thought that he worked in government, because his cars always looked like pool cars. Well, he does.

So, if everything he’s told me about his job is a lie .. what else is? The story that he doesn’t have a wife?

I guess it’s of no real consequence.

Also found the true identity of the Cajun daddy from two months ago. VERY interesting, but what could I do with it? Nothing, really. Knowledge is power, except when discretion and moral fibre prevents one from using the knowledge.

A woman just sat down next to me with a Treo 700p. She says it’s LIGHTNING fast, and she loves it. I’m really jealous now. I need to research what my 650 is worth used on eBay, and see if I can make sense of getting the newer one. She also said that she had heard there would be a NEWER version coming in November.

My evil sister Mikey finally had two minutes together to chat with me yesterday; I was SO glad to finally be able to just chew the fat about nothing at all. I’ve missed his company.

I wonder how long this is going to last?

I think it’s time to reflect on the Virtues, of which I’m speaking the next three Sundays.

Sunday - the day before Monday

An interesting day today indeed. Church was awesome. Came home right after, and Rick came by and groomed the dogs - while he did that, I cleaned the laundry room. Cleaned it - you understand? I pulled everything out of the laundry room closet, cleaned it all, sorted it out, hung up the ironing board, the mops and brooms, the can crusher, the grocery bag holder/dispenser, re-folded all the towels...

Rick clipped and bathed and groomed and clipped and shampooed and groomed and conditioned .. He got about a trash bag of hair out of Jackie. So, the garbage can outside is already full, the kitchen counters are cleaned up and the kitchen desk drawers are all cleaned out for the first time since I moved in. I hung the cool tea light hangers that I got in New York, re-hung some plant hooks on the patio covers, and then .. FINALLY cleaned the white chairs in the breakfast area.

My evil sister Mikey - he's a smart cookie. He got this Oxy/spray cleaner thing for his car seats, and I was really impressed with how the stains came right out of his car seats. So, I asked him, I asked "Mikey, evilness, would this clean my white cloth parsons chairs in the kitchen?"

He said that it would, and told me JUST how to go about doing it .. I finally cleaned those chairs today, and he was absolutely right. They look great! I have to do it again, but what an improvement.

Watching the movie "Adam and Steve," which is pretty silly. Bram's at the ambulance company, being an EMT. He's happy.

Bram and I painted part of the upstairs hall yesterday - I painted two of the doors, and he painted the trim coming up the stairs, so we can finally take down the blue tape. We learned several things - first, that the cheap foam brushes that I had before were crap, and only a decent brush works worth a flip. Second, that the grill for the A/C cold air register was REALLY dirty, not just old. Third, that the white paint WILL cover the FOUR colors on the doors and trim. The guest room needs to be repainted before his friends from Atlanta come in on Friday. I picked out colors from the Behr website for that room; hopefully that can yet come together.

I think I've made a deal to trade doing some really old tax returns for having the outside lighting installed before the weekend - and I'm going to ask the yard stud if he can power wash the house Friday when he comes to mow.

Things are very focused for me today - I'm being boiled in my own money issues, having to be responsible for someone else that I'd do anything for. Having to produce to keep someone else comfortable and secure is about sixty thousand times more intense than having to try to trudge along keeping myself supported.

I have a lot on my mind about this ..

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somwhere in my wicked, miserable past
There must have been a moment of truth

For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good