Data points

David Letterman: "I feel like an ugly date!"

"It's not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number."
-- Treasury spokes-woman on the $700B bailout figure

On this day in 1687, the Parthenon was destroyed, in a war between the Venetians and the Turks. The Venetians sent a mortar through a gable window, igniting a Turkish store of gunpowder.
In either 1775 or 1783, John Chapman, later known as Johnny Appleseed, was born. He did not wear shoes.
in 1898, George Gershwin was born.
in 1957, “West Side Story” opened on Broadway.
In 1969, the Beatles released “Abbey Road.”
In 2001, Enron president Ken Lay urged his employees to buy Enron stock. He had been selling his own for a year, for a gain of $146 million. Enron would file for bankruptcy on December 2.

The waiting is the hardest part

Seems the bushcheney administration saw all this mess coming. And apparently let it happen on purpose. Gee, thanks, guys. I always knew you were looking out for ...yourselves.

So I agree with Naomi Klein: Now Is the Time to Resist Wall Street's Shock Doctrine.

Clearly, Republican John McCain doesn't know quite what to do. So he (wisely?) cancelled his appearance with the hard-hitting Dave Letterman so he could get back to Washington (I guess telephones and email aren't fast enough? what?), but somehow fell into an interview with softball pitcher Katie Couric. Hmm. Prepared to be president? Hah. Not even prepared to be a line cook.

On this day in 1906, Dmitri Shostakovich was born.

Just desserts

This is so good I had to share it in its entirety. Michael Tomasky writes at the Guardian UK:

Since John McCain so desperately and obviously wanted to change the subject, permit me to begin by not taking the bait and not changing the subject.

Wednesday was the worst day of the campaign for McCain. The revelations about Rick Davis' firm doing lobbying work for Freddie Mac had the potential, and still may have the potential, to cost Davis his job. Certainly the story had the potential to eat up a lot of cable television time over the next two days. Over the long term, and most importantly, the story has the power, if used properly by the Democrats, to dissolve any morsel of credibility McCain had on the subject of dealing with the current fiscal crisis.

So keep that straight. The cable coverage of McCain's ridiculous gambit about suspending his campaign and delaying Friday night's debate is not making that link explicit, because that's just not the sort of thing television does except when it really slaps them in the face, like when Bill Clinton bombed Sudan the night the House of Representatives voted the impeachment articles.

But I can guarantee you, if you think the McCain brain trust wasn't manically trying to conjure up a way to wriggle out of the Davis mess and hand the media a new story to yak about, then I have a non-bridge in Alaska to non-sell you.

This was also the day when the Washington Post and ABC released a poll showing McCain nine points behind Barack Obama. On Hardball, Chris Matthews is, to his credit, making this connection: that McCain is changing the subject because he's dropping in the polls. In fact the desperation of McCain's move makes one think that maybe his own internal polls show a gloomier picture still.

What a joke. What an unserious and contemptible joke. And so typically dishonest. Now that Obama has spoken, we know that it was Obama who called McCain, first suggesting that the two issue a bipartisan joint statement on the crisis. This obviously got McCain and Steve Schmidt thinking. Hey, maybe we can put country first here and … oops, scratch that. Since we're in such a tight spot today anyway, maybe we can put naked politics first here and go public, steal his thunder, act like we were the white hats who came up with the idea. Yeah! And while we're at it, let's take it a step further. Let's don the sack cloth of piety and insist that we feel this is so important we even think the debate should be suspended.

Think about the kind of mind that's required to even think up something like this. I could never think up something like this. Most average people, of whatever political persuasion, could never do it. Some pundits are talking about desperation and Hail Mary passes and so on, but that doesn't really begin to describe the deviousness at work here.

This is like a man who gets caught cheating on his wife and then, with his back against the wall and with confrontation looming, goes out and intentionally wrecks the car, contriving to break a few ribs and get rushed to the hospital, all to delay the inevitable conflict and in the cynical knowledge that, in front of the doctors and until the wounds are bound, the wife will be forced to offer sympathy. Males are messed up creatures, but believe me, only a rather small percentage of us is really capable of thinking this connivingly.

Will it work? I don't think so. Granted, 98% of Americans don't know about the Rick Davis story, and probably around 90% don't know about the Washington Post poll. So some people may buy it. But I don't believe most will. It just looks too sneaky. Even if one doesn't smell desperation, the odor of weirdness is all over the move.

And it looks unpresidential. Obama came out and looked presidential. Presidents need to be able to handle two problems at once, he said. Now is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from us. We both have big planes. They can get us from Washington to Mississippi pretty quickly if need be. His press conference offered, in fact, a good look at how he would be as president. He seeks non-confrontation. But he slips his points in steadily and coolly. Pretty smooth performance.

And he seems to be winning. Perhaps inevitably, one polling outfit did a snap poll on all this. Results?

Hold the debate as scheduled: 50%
Hold it but focus on the economy not foreign policy: 36%.
Postpone: 10%.

Suspend campaigns: 14%
Continue campaign: 31%
Re-focus campaign: 48%

Oopsie.

The commission on presidential debates stated shortly after Obama spoke that the debate will go on. If the commission says it and Obama says it, it will go on, I suspect. But we have yet to see which chess piece McCain moves next. Who can imagine that? Think of the most cynical thing you can think of, then double it.

Abraham Lincoln ran for re-election while leading the Union troops in the civil war. Franklin Roosevelt ran for re-election in the midst of terrible depression in 1936, a far worse economic crisis than we have right now, and in 1944 while prosecuting the second world war.

If John McCain can't debate while thinking about the country's economy, then he's even more ill-equipped to hold the job than I think he is. But of course he is capable of doing both. His proposal is not serious. It is just a rancidly political act. That he goes before cameras and tries to pass it off as nonpolitical, hoping that people will buy it, is what makes it contemptible.

When Mario Cuomo was governor of New York, he devoted a speech to improving the lot of children in New York state. He declared "The decade of the child." When, after a year or two, it became clear that somehow child poverty rates had stayed more or less the same, a joke began circulating around Albany: but he didn't mean this decade.

We've reached a similar point today, but far worse, because Cuomo's intentions were at least decent. John McCain's intentions have to do with nothing loftier than the next news cycle. He is the man who said country first. He just didn't mean this country.

OUCH! That's gotta hurt

Wowzers, Jimmy- even TIME thinks McCain has gone too far. Finally, I'm not an extremist! Yay!! Time to go a little farther left, I guess... haha
About Hanky-pank Paulson's bailout thing. People who are paid to know better, apparently deliberately over-extended their businesses. This was no 'accident.' They are bankers, ferchrissakes, they are paid very well to know how the business works. This was deliberate, and they should suffer the consequences, not us. This is criminal. I want to see people hang, at least metaphorically. I have no sympathy for thieves and bandits. None.

Here are some questions to ask (from Poynter Online):

"Do we need a bailout of American and foreign banks? Show us in detail the reasons for this, and the numbers: make the case.

Is there a market solution to this? If so, why impose a government solution? If not, what does that tell us about our entire economic theory?

Is there a less expensive solution?

How do we know this will not just be a downpayment on a much bigger bailout?

Is there a solution that provides direct help to those who took out these loans, rather than those who sold them?

If AIG and others are too big to fail, what does that tell us about government anti-trust policy and regulatory policy and inaction?

Why have both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley made clear that they want IN on this deal? Get skeptical and ask the basic questions -- who benefits, how much and what makes this plan so attractive that Goldman and MS want to participate? Ditto for GE. That they and others want to be included should prompt a great deal of skeptical questioning.

How does banning short selling of the stocks of 900 companies help the markets? (The markets are heavily biased toward the sell side, so why constrain the shorts, who often turn out to be right about stocks whose share prices has been artificially inflated?)

How is banning short selling of this growing list of companies show a commitment to "free markets," a stated goal of this and a long list of previous administrations?

During this short selling ban, why are there no parallel controls on insiders getting out of their positions?"

RESIST THE BAILOUT. It is a con.

AIG is not being bailed out because of bad debt. AIG is being bailed out because they are very, very closely tied to private security firm Kroll- the private version of the CIA, only more powerful and less restricted. Kroll does all the dirty work that the CIA used to do, back when Poppy Bush was in charge (and before, to be fair to ol' Poppy -don't have me anthraxed!). For this reason, and this reason alone, they say AIG "cannot be allowed to fail."

If you ever have trouble making sense of what a talking head is talking about, big red flags should start to wave in your head (metaphorically of course). If it doesn't make sense to you, then it probably doesn't make sense at all, and you're probably being conned. Lies are always confusing, and the truth always makes sense. If your questions aren't answered to your satisfaction; if you still don't understand the explanation, don't buy it.

October surprise? Don't forget this...

Financial terrorism

More on the Russia-Venezuela situation: Russia engages in 'gangland' diplomacy as it sends warships to the Caribbean.
Financial terrorism:
Randi Rhodes is pretty damn sharp. Go Randi! Listen to her show, it's great fun. The whole bailout plan sounds like antisocialism, to me. Unfettered capitalism is antisocial. Not only that, it's anti-human.

Wilbur Ross is "disturbed about the slippery slope that we have gotten into, where if you're stupid but really big the government will bail you out; if you're stupid but medium-sized, you die. That's going to encourage very bad behavior by very big institutions. I think that's a terrible pattern to set." I find it interesting that he's still planning on investing in industries that have been hit hard by the oil crunch. I'm trying to divine the wisdom there: he's probably counting on prices rising even farther, which implies that he's counting on a continued rise in demand for the oil as well. He may be right about demand, but that being said, I don't think we're going to burn the last of our precious petroleum in our gas tanks. More likely, it will be used in plastics, pharmaceuticals and pesticides/herbicides. Rising oil prices are going to hurt, bad, unless we find alternatives. And I'm not talking alternative fuels.

Please consider taking some action on this buyout: Call Congress, or send this letter, or write a letter to the editor of your local paper, hell- just talk about it to your friends and neighbors. This is OUR problem: the pigs have broken into the corn silo. WE need to stop them, 'coz they sure as hell won't stop themselves. "We're not going to chart a new course with the same pilot."

John McCain was a joke in the 2000 election, he was a joke in the 2004 election, and he's still a joke. I will never forget, however, that George Dumbya Bush was a joke in 1999 too....
McCain's personal fleet of cars
McCain's 'transition coach' lobbied for Freddie Mac as it collapsed
CNN gets fed up with McCain's bullshit
CNN gets fed up with Palin's bullshit
McCain trips and stumbles over his own bullshit

On this day in 1930, Ray Charles was born.
In 1932, the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd merge to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In 1949, Bruce Springsteen was born.
And in 1969, the headline “Clues Hint at Beatle’s Death,” in the Northern Star (Northern Illinois State [Hi Valerie and Rob and family!]), propelled rumors of Paul McCartney’s untimely demise by reporting on a story published in Drake University's newspaper (the Times-Delphic) reporting Paul's death.

Hunches

Trouble with a capital T ...and that rhymes with V and that stands for Venezuela. This could get very hot, very fast. It is, after all, our nation's standing policy that America IS the primary power in the western hemisphere. A president like Dumbya or Cheney (or Grampa or Caribou Barbie, for that matter...) will not let this go without comment or response. Honestly, I doubt Obama or Biden would either, but the critical difference is that the Republicans have demonstrated their willingness to meet diplomacy with force. One wonders where they'll get the soldiers.... Oh! Maybe they'll just get the Fed to print some more! Oh wait, that's money....

A couple of persistent hunches are bothering me today. Something tells me the airline industry and possibly the media industry as well are in for a big shakeup in the next few years. Airlines are almost obvious- with fuel prices rising, their already-precarious profitability will be put severely at risk. Maybe that recent spate of accidents will make passengers look twice at Amtrak or something, I don't know (I know I'm not eager to fly anytime soon, if ever again). Add to these accidents the massive scheduling problems they had such a hard time with earlier this year, and people may begin to see the value of the alternatives. If it takes three hours to cycle through two airports, plus an hour or so in the air (assuming no in-flight delays... hah!), suddenly a five-hour drive or three-hour train ride might not seem as bad. Ticket prices sure as hell aren't coming down. "Competition" in the airline industry is only a matter of how little they can get away with paying their employees.

Insurance might play a part in this, too. As health care approaches a single-payer solution, insurance companies will have to either raise their rates or find a replacement for all those lost health-care dollars. Keep an eye on your home and auto insurance rates for clues.

I'm not sure how a media industry collapse would be caused, or transpire, but experience sure shows us that massive consolidation of industry -apparently any industry-- is unhealthy. Significant difference between this industry and most others is that the media don't rely on us as customers- we're mostly irrelevant to them until their advertisers start to balk.

The fiscal recklessness of a(nother) Republican BushCheneyMcCain administration just might ensure that my hunches come to pass.

One step forward VS two steps back

Obama on taxes. Specific enough for ya? Federal income tax is important (duh?)- it mostly comes back to you in the form of local infrastructure- police, fire departments, roads, water supply, fun things like that. Lower taxes at the federal level always means higher taxes at the local level: property taxes, state income taxes, and sales taxes. The money has to come from somewhere, after all.

Obama on the economy. Yeah, it's a trifle dry, but hey, that's economics. The point is, he has specific plans, with good strong justification for his ideas. McCain ...has nothing but more of Bush's mess in store.

McCain on the economy
McCain on health care. Stunning.
McCain on ...honesty.

Remember: Obama graduated from Princeton, then graduated top of his class at Harvard Law, where he was also the first black President of the esteemed Harvard Law Review. McCain barely graduated, landing fourth from the bottom of his class at a military academy to which he was probably granted admission based on his military legacy.

On this day in 1776, Nathan Hale was hanged. “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
In 1869, Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” premiered in Munich.
In 1964, “Fiddler on the Roof” opened on Broadway.

On the home front: I'm not sure I can believe it yet, but I'm actually working on a new serigraph. What am I thinking?!?! Actually, in part, I'm being a little superstitious: I did the last one four years ago- a set of elephant 'portraits.' Yeah, elephants. Elephants are cool and all, though I don't fixate on them (as one might say I fixate on, say, goats, or cats); I did it in response to a conversation I had had with a friend who was really into elephants (he died of brain cancer before I could finish the print), but they're also the Republican "mascot." And of course, the Republican candidate "won." I'm not doing donkey portraits this time though. Or asses.

No, I'm doing a circle. Just a brushstroke. There's a work in the Spencer gallery in Lawrence KS, a Japanese ink painting on a large screen. It's so simple, so beautiful- a big circle, so spontaneous, so perfect: one big brushstroke with black ink. One of my favorite art objects, ever. I've ogled it for hours, thought about it for years, and finally decided to do a little homage: so I'm trying to imitate it with a serigraph. Very VERY different medium, in that the original was completely spontaneous and 'accidental,' whereas mine is sort-of rehearsed-spontaneous, a little practiced, but still largely accidental (that comes with doing circles freehand). I think the beauty of doing it with a serigraph is that screen printing is at once very controlled and rehearsed, while at the same time the results are very variable, depending on the qualities of ink and screen and paper, the skill of the artist-printer, and the environmental conditions (hot/cold, humid/dry, etc). I don't claim to be any good at screen printing: there's TONS I don't know; I probably don't even know enough to ask good questions about it, but I try anyway. Can't hurt, right?

Wake up! You're in the presence of your future

From XinJua

From Alaska's biggest-ever protest rally. Thanks Jeannette!!



Yes, thanks! she said.


McCain's pants catch fire

National health care is not about you, or me, or our taxes. It's a matter of the public health. Think of it this way: If your neighbor is sick, you are more likely to get sick, yourself. If that homeless guy you pass on your way to work gets sick, then everyone he's exposed to is more likely to get sick. Maybe it's not a nightmare if all they have is a cold, but what happens when Ebola crosses the Atlantic? It's a small world- given time, it's inevitable. It seems so obvious to me... how can people continue to think that they live in a safe little bubble? We all need health care. When one of us is sick, all of us are sick.

Plants and pain. Careful with that sprout, vegans!

Things that make you go "hmm..."

On this day in 1783, the first hot air balloon passengers were sent aloft, at Versailles: a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Science! And in 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev was denied entrance to Disneyland. Damn commies.

Let's make happy time

Great picture It's good to see a genuinely smiling face.

I'm tired of harping on Republicans John "W" McCain and Sarah Palin. Yawn. So, what happens when a nation's economy collapses? I guess we'll find out. I suspect we'll lose credibility on the international scene- not only economically, but also politically, militarily (because we can hardly afford what we've got goin on already, if at all), and -worst of all-- culturally.

I say 'worst of all' because culture is the only thing we really export in mass these days. Movies, TV and music. Why will this suffer as the result of electing Republican John McCain? Because we will be trying so hard to keep our little fantasy-world inflated that nothing of any value or relevance will come out. Conducting diplomacy with America will be like trying to have a conversation with a sweaty child molester in a Barney costume.

The rest of the world will shortly become just as disaffected with our political system as we already are. In other words, no one will care about the US. The eyes of the rest of the world will stop caring about what we do; they'll turn to other channels, for the same reasons we don't care about what our country does, either: because we don't feel that our voices count. And that's voter apathy.

I'm still holding to my prediction that the Republican party is coming apart. McCain will take the election, but it'll be dubious at best, and hopefully contested, but the truth of the matter will be that economic conservatives will split their votes between Ron Paul and Bob Barr, while evangelicals will split theirs between dinner at home (not voting) and Sarah Palin. It's conceivable that Palin could be the last Republican president, if she follows McCain.

Her presidency will be largely ineffectual, though, because the voting public won't elect another Republican majority in congress for a while, even if the party doesn't disintegrate, so congress won't be the lap-dog that it has been of late. I hope.

Today is the Feast Day of St Joseph of Cupertino. Joseph (1603-63) was barred by his Franciscan superiors from public worship due to his habit of levitating, utterly disrupting the service and distracting the congregation. Once, according to a witness, he 'flew like a bird on the high altar, where he embraced the tabernacle.' On another occasion, he flew into an olive tree and remained kneeling on a branch for half an hour.

Why I make shoes

Not my work- the photo is from Jill Greenberg, who's having some difficulties with The Atlantic right now, apparently (I'm not sure if she added the text or not, but it's true). Give 'em hell, Jill.


I make shoes because I saw this economic collapse coming 25 years ago. No lie: ask my friends from then if they remember (are you guys out there?)- during Reagan's first term, I said that if things continued as they were going (de-regulation was becoming very fashionable, which I saw then and still see as nepotistic Authority-encouraged selfishness), that eventually people would get carried away with the greed and the screwing of each other, and then we'd all be fucked. I wasn't sure how exactly it would happen, but I knew that you can't screw your neighbor without getting screwed yourself, eventually.

And I was right: We're fucked.

And there's more to it than the authorities are letting on, because they're not ready to let go of their control yet. This is not just a liquidity crisis, not just a stock market crisis- this won't be fixed by financial instruments alone, kids. We won't see our way out of this mess until Americans are making things for themselves again. Even if it's infrastructure; even it it's being done on assembly lines in factories: a purely service economy is not viable, especially when the society in question is based on disposability. Why pay your neighbor to fix [that thing] when you can just go out and buy a new one (made in China) for less? Well, because your neighbor needs that money, so that one day he can in turn patronize your business. Dumbass.

I quit a good job back then, cold. I was a retail marketing agent, it was a total cake job: sweet, easy, completely unfulfilling. Just walked away from my desk; I was disgusted, I didn't even wave. It took me a few years to find my calling, but I listened to my heart (and to the people who saw me trying it and wanted me to do it for them, too), and I found myself.

I make shoes because I wanted to be able to put my hands on what I do and say "this is how I contribute to the betterment of my society." I could not -can not-- bring myself to sell something I don't believe in, or work for a company so big that the owner can't recognize his employees. I wanted to contribute to society creatively, but constructively- art for art's sake is a luxury of wealth. I wanted a job I could not lose to outsourcing, a company that would not lay me off in hard times, an occupation that would still be viable after the fall. We all need shoes. We'll always need shoes. And I make them, myself.

Microbusiness is the way of the future.

On this day in 1179, Hildegard von Bingen merged with the infinite.
In 1859, Norton I proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, in his capital, San Francisco.
In 1862, the battle of Antietam commenced. It would be the bloodiest day of the war; roughly 25,000 dead today alone. Sgt. William McKinley and a single volunteer drove a wagon of hot coffee and warm food through Confederate fire to the men of the 23rd Ohio regiment. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes promoted him to lieutenant for his bravery and initiative.
In 1964, the Beatles played in Kansas City, for a then-record $150,000.00.

Memory banking

I love election politics. I hate loving election politics. I love the hating. I hate that loving....

Gutter Politics: McCain Campaign Called Out For Half-Truths
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/10/gutter-politics-mccain-ca_n_125291.html

McCain Interview On Palin Riddled With Errors
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/11/mccain-interview-on-palin_n_125743.html

Palin leaves open option of war with Russia
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Palin_leaves_open_option_of_war_with_Russia_/articleshow/3473711.cms

In a protocol breach, Brown backs Obama
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/In_a_protocol_breach_Brown_backs_Obama/articleshow/3468913.cms

Palin's ABC Interview: Stumped On Bush Doctrine, Seems To Contradict McCain On Pakistan (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/11/palins-abc-interview-stum_n_125818.html

Palin Drops Reference To "Bridge To Nowhere" In Speech
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/11/palin-drops-reference-to_n_125786.html

Defense

We need to talk about that word. It's being horribly abused.

Defense is not offense.
Do I really need to explain? I certainly don't need to define the terms, but it appears that I certainly do need to differentiate between the two. Defense is a response to an Offense-ive action. Unprovoked attacks, like ours upon Iraq, can not be said to be "defensive." As noble as our soldiers' intentions may be, we are not defending anything with our occupation. The invasion itself was offensive. In both senses.

Guns are not defensive.
Guns are a deterrent, not a defense. The gun is not going to block the incoming bullet, or the sucker punch, or the knife, unless you are extremely lucky. Rather, you pull it or carry it in the hope that you will be able to use it to either deter/intimidate or deter/kill your opponent. There is, therefore, no sensible or logical argument for concealing a gun on your person. As a deterrent, it is only effective if the rest of us know it's there. Oh hell, I'm starting to sound like Dr. Strangelove...

secrets

Lies, doublespeak and more lies from the Campaign to Nowhere

On this day in 1866, the first musical theater show ("...that conforms to the notion of a ...book musical" -wiki) opened in New York City, a four-act performance titled “The Black Crook.” It ran for 474 performances.
In 1940, four teens followed their dog down a hole near Lascaux, France, and found a gallery of 17,000+ year-old cave paintings.

Campaign to Nowhere

Interesting day in history today. Verrrrry interesting. Follow me...

In 1297, William Wallace defeated the English at Stirling Bridge.
In 1609, Henry Hudson began the colonization of the island of Manhattan.
In 1857, 120 men, women and children –all settlers-- were massacred by Mormons at Mountain Meadows, Utah. The Mormons, led by Brigham Young’s adopted son John Doyle Lee, were under the impression that these families represented an impending invasion by the U.S. Army. He offered them safe passage if they would leave their horses, wagons and weapons, and then killed all but seventeen children under the age of seven.
In 1941, ground was broken on the new Pentagon office building.
In 1973, democratically-elected Chilean President Salvador Allende shot himself after CIA-aided troops of Augusto Pinochet surrounded his fortress of La Moneda in Santiago,
Chile.
In 1990, George H. W. Bush first intoned the phrase "New World Order."

It's not the war anymore,

It's the economy, stupid. McSame has no plan, and "Dickless Cheney" won't be much help either. Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?

Palin's not qualified to be in charge of trash pickup in DC, and I don't think any thinking person in this country would dispute that. She's a vindictive game-player who thinks that political power comes from "God;" who thinks that 'creationism' should be taught in schools; and that abstinence-only education will prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies (in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, including her own daughter!).

In short, she's a high-functioning idiot.

Was anyone else surprised when the RNC crowd started shouting "Drill! Drill! Drill!" during her speech? They weren't talking about oil, folks: this was a crowd of 80% white adult males, and the speaker was a beauty queen. Think about it.

I don't think evidence is going to be much good in this contest, but what the heck, here's some against her if you want it:
A letter from someone who has known Sarah Palin since 1992
The lie she told about the plane she "sold on eBay"
Stalling the "Troopergate" investigation
Palin's pastor
Shocking Open Microphone Comments about Sarah Palin (scroll down a bit for the video)
Karl Rove explaining just how unqualified she really is (thanks Jon Stewart!)

And for those of you really interested in real issues, here's the motherlode

Sonny & Cher?

No, Johnny and Sarah! John, the sad little old guy who tries -and fails- to tell jokes and lead the show, while his trophy wife -er, trophy beauty queen- --oops sorry, trophy VP candidate-- bests him with her outrageously expensive designer outfits ...and better lines.

Written lines I mean, geez -not lines of coke. As far as I know, anyway. They do have a lot of snow in Alaska though.

Are you better off now than you were eight years ago? Gas prices are way up. Food prices are way up, and rising. Property values are down, but rent and mortgage costs keep going up....

I hear she's Commander of the Alaska National Guard. Though that's not a thing to brag about right now.

As Mayor of Wasilla, Sarah was all about reform. Re-forming the city with federal money, that is. In her own words: "We did well!" I'll say. You don't get to be a VP nominee without having a few friends in DC. Only two steps away from ex-powerhouse lobbyist Jack Abramoff!

And who knew there was more than one Bridge to Nowhere?! This one has her full support. Those kooky Alaskans...

One last thing. Y'know, our Founding Fathers were community organizers. We'd have had no revolution without organization at the community level. Jeezus, are you people even thinking? And speaking of Jesus, He was a community organizer, too. Watch your step there, folks- you might step on some unintended toes....

That girl can shop!

I didn't make that- I just thought it was funny. I don't like her one bit, and don't trust her at all.

Wasilla: Meth capitol of Alaska
And if that wasn't enough, after taking office as Mayor with a budget surplus, she left her town of 6000 people $22,000,000.00 in debt. Twenty-two million dollars! Yowza, that girl can shop! And that's to say nothing of the many millions in congressional pork that she landed, thanks to her good friendship with disgraced Senator Ted Stevens, currently under indictment on seven charges of taking bribes.

Lipstick on a pitbull-

What this guy really means is "I can't believe I got caught!"

Sorry about the short political posts lately. I have been extraordinarily busy of late, happily, blissfully working on a big huge project. (I'm drafting patterns for pre-sized shoes, if you must know. Yes, I do it by hand. No, I don't use a *@#%ing computer; computers have no sense of style.)

I've also been dealing with money problems and more relevantly, people problems. And when I have intractable problems, especially people problems, I tend to get a little introspective, just in order to make sure that it's not all me.

It's not. But I'm not sure I'm done introspecting; it's kinda nice in here.

The One Question we need to ask

Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?

Lies, untruths and prevarications at the RNC.

waltzing on the edge of sanity

John McCain likes the way the economy is going.

Sara Porkbarrelin

Wow, this is fun!

Dirty girl

Dirty girl
She knows nothing about Foreign Policy - YOU know more about Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Russia and Pakistan than she does!!

She thinks Alaska should secede from the “union”

She was FOR the Bridge to Nowhere until she was against it

She campaigned for indicted Senator Ted Stevens

She knows nothing the American Credit Crisis, Free Trade, Immigration, Economics, Foreign Policy, National Security, Education, Health Care, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea or China.

She is under investigation for abuse of power (she had her brother in law State Trooper Wooten fired during a custody battle with her sister)

She was a sportscaster, a city councilwoman and mayor of a town with fewer than 6,000 people before she was elected Governor, almost by default. She now claims “13 years of Elected Experience” because she's counting time spent on the city council.

This is her claim to "more experience" than Barack Obama and Joe Biden, though she still didn't know what the VP does.

She has served less than 2 years as Governor of one of the smallest states in terms of population.

She did not campaign with John McCain.

She did not know John McCain.

She hunts from airplanes.

She is a radical Christian who obviously does believe in choice: “Bristol CHOSE to have her baby”

She thinks the Pledge of Allegiance was written by the Founding Fathers. Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. The Founding Fathers were -almost to a man-- deists, not Christians.

She brought the issue of abortion into the Wasilla’s “Mayor” race (a non-partisan job that pays $68K/year)

Her mother in law won’t vote for her.

She doesn’t know what the Vice President “does all day.”

She stayed in Texas determined to “give a speech” at the Governors Conference AFTER her water broke prematurely with a high risk pregnancy. This is after flying all the way from Anchorage, while in her third trimester (which, incidentally, is not only a health risk to mother and child, but also expressly prohibited by most major airlines, and therefore possibly fraud on the part of Gov. Palin)

She is married to a guy who had a DUI.

She doesn’t believe Global Warming is real.

She doesn’t believe in Evolution.

Oh, and lest we forget the big guy too soon, there's this.

What kind of judgment is that?

On this day in 911, Prince Oleg –a Viking Rus-- signed a treaty with the Byzantines.

Winter Patriot summarizes my own thinking on something largely unrelated to Oleg, here.

Sara Palin? Are you kidding? I couldn't be happier. While being vetted for the nomination, she asked, "could someone please tell me exactly what the VP does?" Do I need to go on?

Consider this: she has a 7-month-old baby with Down syndrome. You'd think that might take priority in your life as a Mother, but I guess that's a personal judgment call. The story goes that she had the baby on a Friday, and was back at work the following Monday. What kind of judgment is that?

It's also been suggested that the Down syndrome baby isn't hers at all, but is rather the first child of her 17-year-old daughter, who -if this is true-- would now be pregnant with her second child. NOTE: THE CHILDREN ARE NOT THE ISSUE. The lies are.

It's really beyond my ability to understand how she can still stand behind 'creation science,' when she is personally confronted with the truth of genetics, in the form of Down syndrome. Again, I have to ask, what kind of judgment is that?

Haven't we had enough?

Not my photo (duh?); just great art.

My suspicions about our foreign-policy waltz-on-the-razor's-edge with Russia: confirmed.

On this day in 55 bce, Roman forces, under Julius Caesar, invaded Britain.

Nihilism

Nihilism is a sickness, not a philosophy. Of course it's boring; there's nothing to look at but yourself, and you're not that interesting. Get over it.

Seriously: nihilism is the very essence of monomania. It is the notion that nothing matters, that there is no more to life than what you can grasp with your grubby little fingers. Think about that: are you really surprised that it's a depressing dead end? That it leaves you feeling empty and lonely? Get this now: life goes on without you. Life goes on, and it's more fun when it matters.

Take that, F.N.

Then she appeared...

Big boy.


On this day in 1530, Tsar Ivan IV (Ivan Grozny, "the Terrible," though "the Fearsome" seems like a better translation) was born. Russia would never be the same. And in 1918, Leonard Bernstein was born. After West Side Story, American music would never be the same. If you're unfortunate enough to have not seen this movie yet, what the hell are you waiting for? I don't have much room to talk- I just saw it for the first time a couple of years ago, but holy bujeezus, it's THAT GOOD. Seriously. Looks -and sounds-- like it could have been made yesterday. I am still amazed.

It's probably not my favorite musical, though, all things considered. But it's a really good film, a great story, utterly iconic, and still fresh and original. (My favorite musical? I'll get into that later).

I'm watching a very tense situation unfold. We just sent a warship into the region. We won't win a war with Russia. I'm not sure anyone will.