So who Knew? Via Courtney on Facebook

Courtney Chambers:  Hey Roberta, in north America we consider zucchini, pattypans, and crooknecks summer squash (which wikipedia tells me are harvested before they get too mature) and bigger squashes/gourds such as pumpkins, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and Hubbard are known as winter squash.

You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_%28plant%29

So who knew, Walnut Edition

I love walnuts, so when I was told the location of the English Walnut Tree at the Diamond D I merrily set forth with my bucket and nutcracker, envisioning an hour of sitting in the warm October sun, stuffing my face with walnuts.

Whoa!

Walnuts have HULLS. Thick green hulls which are messy and difficult to remove until they turn brown and crack. At which point one risks the squirrels making off with the good ones (like they did with the hazelnuts). So in the spirit of Save the Walnuts (especially save them for ME) I picked the ones I could reach and proceeded to remove the hulls. This involved a hammer, nutcracker and not a little perseverance. But sitting outside and watching the Spotted Towhees while pounding walnut hulls is not at all an unpleasant way to spend an hour or so. Then George showed me The Other English Walnut Tree. The one where the hulls had cracked and practically fell from the nut. But I’m sure the ones I sweated over will taste so much better.

When hulling walnuts, wear gloves. ”The indelible dye from the husk stains hands, clothes, tools and work surfaces”

When gloves develop holes, put on new ones. My thumb looks like I have just voted in Afghanistan. The rest of my fingers merely look like a hygiene problem.

So who knew, part two...

The term atavism (derived from the Latin atavus, a great-grandfather's grandfather; more generally, an ancestor) denotes the tendency to revert to ancestral type. An atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generations ago.[2] Atavisms occur because genes for previously existing phenotypical features are often preserved in DNA, even though the genes are not expressed in some or most of the organisms possessing them. (from Wikipedia). My brother Chris threw this word at us. I’m still not sure what he meant.

So who knew?

Western Gray Squirrel

Ground Squirrel

Fox Squirrel

OK.  So.  The Gray Squirrel is the one most often seen scampering around and chatting chatting chatting.  G tells me the Fox Squirrel -- I think -- is even chattier and pretty much hangs around the tree tops.  The Ground Squirrel stays on the ground.  This is all I know about squirrels, but is more than I knew yesterday  morning.
                               Redneck Squirrel Fry
                                           Thanks to Justin for sending in this recipe.

~ squirrel legs, amount depends on how many you have or how hungry you are.
~ 2 eggs
~ 1 tbsp ketchup
~ salt and pepper
~ 1 can beer
~ Drakes batter
~ butter

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the ketchup. Salt and pepper to taste
Add 1/2 can of beer and drink the rest. (you don’t want to waste it!) Mix well.
Put some of the Drakes batter in a shallow dish.
Melt several tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.
Dip the squirrel into the egg mixture and then roll in the Drakes. Repeat for thicker coating.
Add to the skillet and cook until golden brown. Turn as needed.
Serve with mashed potatoes and cream corn.
Enjoy.

"It is to die for!" - Justin 
(especially if you're the squirrel...)

Department of Tag Lines I Couldn't Pass Up

"An agnostic not because I don't know if there's a God, but because I don't care"

by filmgeek83 from today's DailyKos

Tom Lehrer: "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Prize.”

I have no idea why Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize, though after 8 years of warmongering neocons merely not threatening to nuke Switzerland would make him look like a saint. Nevertheless, I am pleased and in spite of my disappointment in the new President it is certainly a plus that U.S. citizens traveling abroad no long have to pretend they are Canadian.

Obama says he will accept this award as a call to action. Hopefully he will consider this as he decides whether or not to unleash more predators on the people of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, it will be fun to see how the Ugly Americans spin this as a negative.

Compare and Contrast:

Erick Erickson of Red State (blog): It looks like it is the Nobel committee throwing its lot with the terrorists and those who sympathize with them.

Former President Jimmy Carter says the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to President Barack Obama is a 'bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.'"

Malia Obama: "Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday."

Life at the camp...

Too lazy to post, so here is my latest email to Carol:

First of all, my sincere condolences regarding the ouster of The Hammer from Dancing with the Stars. I know how much you enjoyed watching him strut his banty stuff. And that beltless bling-studded costume Jack LaLanne would have killed for...

So. Saturday Night was Open Mic Night at the Pizza House (every first Saturday of the Month -- but of course you knew that). MC'd by my Bro; Dee (who was at the Garrett Diamond D Open Mic Night) sang and played her geetar and Barry (who literally needs a hand) played what I used to call a harmonica but now is some sort of Harp or, if you aren't squeamish, a "mouth organ." A Trio came in and that was good that there were new people and the music was ok, though I couldn't understand a word the singer said (sang). One of the guitarists also needed a hand. I wonder -- is there some sort of secret repository here where teeth and hands go to their final rest? So I drank a lot of wine and ate a lot of pizza. Did I mention that the Pizza House has very good pizza?

The temperature fell and it was drizzly for a while. Got the fireplace working in the cabin and yesterday Chris lit the pilot in the heater. Now it is clear and beautiful -- coldish at night and especially in the morning but warm in the afternoon (if you are in the sun) and a warm wind reminiscent of Santa Anas (or Santanas if you wish).

Went to Oregon on Monday with the Bro on the County/Forest Service Road which closes during the snowy season (elevation up to about 4000). Even now there were icy patches and there was some snow on the tree branches and shady sides of the road. Made me look forward to Winter. Also the leaves are turning (dying actually). Casey has her Halloween decorations up. From Cave Junction we went to Grants Pass where Chris looked at a guitar and I went to a thrift store and found a warm winter jacket and a cotton hoodie, dark green, that I LOVE. It was half price day so I spend a total of $8. This makes a total of $110 I have spent on clothing this year. Do you think that's too much?

Had a late lunch at Sesame Asian Kitchen in Ashland which is opposite Lithia Park; it was warm enough to sit outside with the dogs and the food was terrific. Went shopping at Market of Choice in Ashland, where I had been before. This is a great market -- lots of bulk stuff and a good wine selection.

And this is all the excitement I can take. -- KG

It takes a village to screw this one up, and Harry Reid is the Village Idiot. Harry, you dolt: "Die Quickly" is the CURRENT Public Option...

"I favor a public option. We're going to do our very best to have a public option. But remember, a public option is a relative term," Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday.

I'm Shocked!

http://rawstory.com/2009/09/analysis-finds-holes-in-us-iran-story-us-may-have-pretended-to-know-about-facility/

I don't know who these "US Intelligence" officials are, but suspect they are the same people Cheney & Rummy used to send to "advise" Bush and that they were kept by Obama in the spirit of bipartisanship. I was suspicious of this story right off. Our "intelligence" organizations need a big fat enema. Ditto the Defense Dept.

Senate Committee Sucky Vote ok by Chuckie

Schumer is all over the news trying to spin the latest Demo FAIL on health care. He is unhappy about an ad castigating Baucus for his lack of support of a public option. Why? Sadly, Schumer is a weenie and is into weeniness. I thought New Yorkers were supposed to be tough.

For more than a week there has been what I thought was a lone male Wood Duck among the Mallards in the pond. This morning, there were two males and two females, swimming in a group separate from the Mallards. I gather this small group is heading to SoCal or Mexico for the Winter, but they are welcome to stay.

Defense Chief Says Iran Faces ‘Severe’ New Sanctions
By BRIAN KNOWLTON (NYTimes Online Yesterday)
Emphasizing his strong preference for a diplomatic solution, Robert M. Gates said that Iran faces “severe additional sanctions” over its nuclear program.

Shouldn't this kind of pronouncement be made by the of Sec of State -- if not the President himself? I thought the Defense Dept carried out policy as opposed to setting it. Maybe he thinks he's Rumsfeld. Maybe he is.

US might have been involved in 2002 Chavez coup: Carter

I wonder what kind of talking points the right will issue to its teabagging Greek chorus regarding Jimmy Carter’s claim that the US was involved in the short-lived 2002 Venezuelan coup. Chavez has been sold as the Western Hemisphere’s Ahmadinejad to people who have no idea why the Venezuelans would elect a dark-skinned mixed blood ex-coup leader over the traditional light-skinned political aristocracy. To them this is the man who called Bush the devil and shut down media outlets that didn’t agree with him.* (Even my liberal friends get their panties in a bunch over this one.)

Why would they not applaud a U.S. backed coup in Venezuela [correction on re-edit]? Which they cannot – because they cannot be seen agreeing with Jimmy Carter even on what is a matter of fact. (OF COURSE the U.S. was complicit in that event. Venezuela has oil, remember?) So the meme would have to involve some sort of denial (“There you go again Jimmy") with sympathy for the brave people of Venezuela who sought to liberate themselves from an insane dictator (the devil himself!). The conversation would need to shift from the actual charge (what we did) to calling for sanctions against Venezuela (what they did). Socialism will be mentioned. Communism will be mentioned. Imperialism, probably not.

*Should any US media outlet openly and brazenly aid and abet a coup against the US government, it would be shut down immediately and the owners held on treason charges – something those who decry Chavez for being anti free speech should keep in mind. GWB continuously used religious references, (Crusades, evil doers) before destroying the nation of Iraq without cause.

Wandering through Wednesday...

My erstwhile husband claims he was hospitalized as a child after having been bitten by a garter snake. I have no reason to doubt him, but still have never considered garter snakes dangerous. The one I saw in the garden yesterday did alarm me though -- damn thing was so much larger than the little slithery ones in Stinson. But since it was between me and the tomatoes, I soldiered on.

I'm reading a book entitled "American Lightening" (by Howard Blum) about the 1910 bombing of the Times Building --the labor movement, the Owens Valley water project, DW Griffith, Billy Burns, Clarence Darrow etc. etc. How could I grow up in a labor family in Los Angeles and not have known this stuff? Unfortunately it is written in this faux-breezy style one usually finds in an as-told-to (though it isn't). The subject matter however trumps the garbage writing.

So I see Jimmy Carter is getting a lot of shit for telling the truth. Again. Now I have no doubt that Dick Army (FreedomWorks), Glenn Beck (Fox) and I suspect Rove and the usual suspects would be mounting Teabagging Parties and Million Moron Marches, replete with outrageous lies and slander, regardless of who the Democratic President may be. But. Having a BLACK president to beat up on rallies a whole segment of the population that is uneducated, frustrated, looking for someone to blame and is also racist. Every dog has his day, be he a pro-lifer, anti-commie, whatever, and now the racists have theirs. Hey -- it's OK to hold sign saying Africa has Lions and the White House has a lyin' African. I mean some of those signs people were carrying in DC last weekend were outrageous -- how can anyone say that Carter wasn't right on, and where, as they say, is the outrage? So now Carter will get beaten up, even by so-called liberals, and we will say we had a National Conversation. What a crock.

Yes, that pun was intentional.

Public Option, RIP

What we will end up with is the same (or worse) expensive and inadequate for-profit insurance system we had before only now buying their shitty policies will be mandatory. And if the Dems don’t back down on preexisting conditions, the policies will be priced to reflect that. They will, of course back down. It is what they do. This entire process is being manipulated back to front by the health care industries and their stone-hearted whores in D.C. Obama’s speech may have impressed Ed Schultz and company, but for me it was just another pretty speech. It’s getting so the only real straightforward action this country can perform is bombing Third World Countries and even then we have to throw in a wedding party or two. I suspect the only way the health care crisis in this country can now be tackled is by gradually expanding Medicare to cover more people – newborns to age five, for example, lowering age from 65 to 62 – and going on from there. Of course, having said that, I suspect the minimum age will soon be raised instead. Cost cutting measure, you know.

Matt Taibbi breaks down, step by step, the sabotage of the “reform” process:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29988909/sick_and_wrong

Feed my Head

It was nice to have all the sibs (minus Kelly) together for a round of Dead Skunk. Claudia and I flaked on the Sisters routine, leaving the talent responsibilities to the brothers, but the distaff side was made up for by Kennedy, who is teh pleasure. MC Christopher held it all together, in addition to setting up the sound system. I remember when a sound system was a mike and an amplifier instead of boards with knobs and switches resembling Mission Control Center. And kudos to the very awesome Dee (and her posse). Next year maybe she’ll do "Un bel di, vedremo."

Those who received an e-vite already know the menu. If you did not receive an e-vite then you just didn’t make the cut. Try to improve yourself.
Kalua Pig, Lomi Salmon, Grilled Garden Corn and Island Fruit Salad
We’ve discussed the pig; pig sandwiches are now a staple at the Diamond D. If we ever run out, I’m sure George will do another one. Lomi Salmon I could also eat daily for the rest of my days. There is a tiny bit left, which I intend to take care of within the hour.
Just writing this is making me hungry. Think I’ll go fry up some cracklins.

Happy Camp Luau/Open Mic/Engagement Party/Reunion. Part One: The Pig

OK, this isn't exactly how our Luau Pig looked. First of all the apple was green; also, the pig was cut up before being placed on the table. But this IS how it looked before being chop chopped and George did use La Caja China. It differed from any Hawaiian Luau Pig I've had in that it was good. I'm a big fan of pig, so was obviously in pig heaven. (Sorry...)

Big Foot Days

Greetings from the Diamond D Ranch, where the men are all strong and the women are all beautiful. Not so much the rest of Happy Camp, where I am told that should I find a man with teeth, I should consider him a keeper. And so, hoping to find such a specimen, I joined my family for the Happy Camp Big Foot Days Parade.

Now, I don’t own a car, but if I were driving one in a parade, I would naturally wash it first. Wouldn’t you? No? Then y’all come and join in!

I swear this town pulled its parade participants out of a halfway house. The Big Foot Queen’s only qualification seemed to be that she filled out the pink dress provided for the occasion; the Indian float featured young boyz with feathers in their headbands looking like those stereotypes that would get any other group beat up if they tried it. Best of all was Big Foot In A Cage, who would occasionally escape and attempt to terrorize the children – who seemed either medicated or naturally stuporous, although they would on occasion wander into the street to pick up candy thrown by the paraders. Throwing candy seems to be a tradition here, giving the young’uns a head start on their dentally-challenged adulthood.

And since the assembled townspeople looked like a casting call for Deliverance, I despaired of finding the toothy man of my dreams and went home. With my candy.

Happy Camp blogging -- from Stinson Beach

Much of my head is already in Happy Camp, moving furniture, making up beds for Garretts arriving for Big Foot Days, staring at the cabin shower before taking the plunge. By the time I get there, I’ll be exhausted without having done a thing…Cleverly arranged for Siskiyou Phone and Direct TV to arrive Wed, giving me almost no time to set up the desk in anticipation between then and arriving Tues pm. My priority seems to be getting the computer set up and online immediately – but why? Just writing this makes it seem less and less important. That is a good thing.

Matt Taibbi article on health care due out this week

From Matt Taibbi's column this day:

"I’ll say this for George Bush: you’d never have caught him frantically negotiating against himself to take the meat out of a signature legislative initiative just because his approval ratings had a bad summer. Can you imagine Bush and Karl Rove allowing themselves to be paraded through Washington on a leash by some dimwit Republican Senator of a state with six people in it the way the Obama White House this summer is allowing Max Baucus (favorite son of the mighty state of Montana) to frog-march them to a one-term presidency?"

http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/08/17/key-feature-of-obama-health-plan-may-be-out-washingtonpost-com/

Another Democrat FAIL -- you lose!

It is becoming more and more apparent that Obama is caving on the so called Public Option. The Public Option was the compromise plan to the Single Payer Plan, which is what would really work and is what the people want but would have made the Blue Dogs, the Republicans and anyone getting payouts from the Medical Industrial Complex unhappy. The Co-op option is a joke. The only difference between Reid and Obama is that the latter doesn't fall asleep while he is talking the talk.

Would someone explain to me why the msm portrays these teabagging trailer trash morons as an actual part of a national debate on health care? In fact, why do they even suggest that we have dialogs and debates in this society. According to the "news" , we have had National Conversations on race, religion, health care, the stimulus package, guns, immigration etc etc. Generally these conversation are set in motion by some trivial event blown out of proportion by a bunch of wingnuts and the conversation consists of wimpy liberals trying to defend themselves against an organized group of loudmouthed assholes whose only goal is to discredit Obama and other uppity colored folk (that applies to you, Maria Sotomayor) threatening their soon-to-be-gone white majority status. Mixing guns and brainwashed low-lifes can't have a good outcome...

“I feel like I’m living in a cartoon where no one remembers anything.”

And so the Democratic Party slides inexorably to the right, filling the vacuum left by the Republican Party’s descent into lunacy. I have not been a real Democrat for years, just by virtue of the fact that I’ve stayed where I have always been. Since changing addresses requires re-registering, I have used that opportunity to also change my affiliation to independent voter.

This morning's Frank Rich:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09rich.html

Newsflash!: American Journalists Refuse to Leave Korea

Two American women freed by North Korea have refused to board a private jet with Bill Clinton. "We aren't that grateful" they said.

George put in a new outdoor thermometer yesterday; it records the day's high and low; yesterday's high 110 degrees. And the damn thing isn't even in the sun. How does it know when a new day starts and it should start over? I don't think I'll ask...

If you still need a Bald Eagle, go down Chambers Drive and hang a left on the River Road. Not too many yards, there it be, sitting on a post to your right.

Sum Gai a-Birding

A couple of days ago, this guy shows up at the Dump (excuse me, that would be the Transfer Site) hoping someone there could tell him how to get into the sewage ponds, which are located on the river road not many yards from where I am sitting right now. In hand was a pretty cool birding book about where to find what, obviously written for those compiling a list of some sort ("if you still need a Pileated Woodpecker...") which mentions the sewage pond boss man as being amenable to letting birders into the ponds to look for duckies and stuff. Alas, the boss man (who is the only man) had locked up and gone home early and so our visiting birder slogs up to the dump and discovers that the guy Chris at the dump is the brother of one of California's most famous birders, Kimball Lewis Garrett. (Of course I may be prejudiced; I am his sister.) So I took Sum Gai to one of the old barns to look for roosting owls, but there weren't any. And we walked down to the sewage pond gate that fronts this property, but it was locked. Alas, lamented Sum Gai, his fence climbing days are over, but he did take a walk around the perimeter and saw Swainson's Thrush and something else I can't remember because when it comes to birding I am a disgrace to my family. --kg

Tom Horton -- but not the Blues

I've been thinking a lot about Tom these weeks here at Happy Camp. Maybe because of the garden he would have loved, even more the pool and Ramada area, dining in the evening next to the pasture. Give Tom some mowed grass and a bit of tile (even gravel) and he had a Piazza. When he was well enough to sit on the front lawn of 14 Dipsea, we would drink martinis and joke about the Seadrift Life Style. That was before he moved to the City; soon it was Kate and KH pretty much 24/7 and I was out of the picture (how out I didn't realize 'til later) which was as it should be. And when he died, I just carried on, no tears -- it was not my loss but theirs, or so it seemed. And I cried so hard for so many months when he was first diagnosed I don't think I had any tears left.

I think of Tom when I am doing the receipts here in the morning, very much like he taught me at the Stinson Beach Grill back in 1992. And I think of how I came to be here -- so many miles away from Stinson Beach and an eternity away from him. And how far from the (honorary) family status I once enjoyed; how little that family, other than him, had any real regard.

I guess it is OK to indulge a little sloppy sentiment now and then.

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III

From Dailykos this morning:

If Only ...

by BarbinMD

Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 08:26:03 AM PDT

Matthew Yglesias articulates what I'm guessing most of us are thinking:

I would pay good money to hear Sonia Sotomayor say, "Senator Sessions, I think it’s ironic to be facing these questions from a man whose judicial nomination was rejected by this very committee on the grounds that he’s a huge racist."

Watching Consummate White Man Sessions question Sotomayor on her ability to be unbiased -- maybe not the clash of civilizations, but demographically, Sir Sessions will soon exuent stage right. And take that horrible Kyl person with you please.

In Country

Since I am too lazy to do any original posting, I'm just gonna use some excerpts from my outgoing email this last week.

New Friends, Old Enemies: So Chris got the water on in my cabin, which pleases both me and my roommate, Mr. Daddy Longlegs. Mr. L looks nothing like Fred Astaire and has a large family -- hundreds it seems. Sometimes I shoo them away so I can clean, but next day, there they are. with their cute little hammocks strung around the walls and ceilings, singing "You are not alone; I am by your side."

You must be in the city. I too am going to the big city today, downtown Happy Camp, which boasts two -- count them, TWO- statues of Big Foot. I wonder if Mr. BigFoot knows Mr. L. Hope he doesn't come to visit.

Did you watch Obama and Medyvedy? I found it too boring (come to think of it, almost everything about Russia seems drab and boring*). Obama is breakfasting with Putin; do you think he will look for his soul in his eyes? Or just eat his eggs and be nice...KG

*exceptions: caviar, vodka, blinis....

MJ: And here's a not-so-wild-prediction: Jackson's funeral is gonna be a riot. Literally. kg

Honduras: Who knows. The ousted Pres is one in a series of dark-skinned-not-of -the -upper crust- leaders South of Mexico -- Hugo Chavez being the most well known. Also, the Ecuadorian President (Correa) and Bolivia (Morales). Correa has roundly pissed off the US by insisting that Chevon compensate for the damage they did to the rain forest. These guys are left of center, i.e. they want to use systems that work for them, not for the IMF and Dick Cheney. I suspect the CIA has its fingers in the current mess, just as they aided and abetted the 2002 failed coup against Hugo Chavez. That is not to say Obama would approve, but I think Panetta walked into the CIA and crawled in bed with those guys. I will never forgive the CIA for sabotaging Jimmy Carter; why don't they spend some time getting humint in the Middle East, huh????

As for what is specifically the deal in Honduras, I'm afraid I haven't kept up. But it looks like your classic upper class instigated military takeover of a democratically elected president who does not cater to them...Apparently the new guy is pretty right wing. Think Pinochet....

Have to go move sprinklers around. KG

Cabin/Palin/Etc: Chris is at my cabin -- hopefully he is turning the water on. Then I can start cleaning it up....The Vanity Fair article is about Ms. Palin and I am printing it out as we speak, so to speak...So don't buy no mags for moi! George cancelled a lo of his TV stations so I didn't see any talk shows; maybe later. He does John King's show but JK had that horrible Ed Rollins and that horrible black Demo whose name I have blessedly forgotten -- you know, the break bread lady. [on edit -- this would be Donna Brazil.] Also some other right wing moron. So I didn't watch it. Watering the garden takes up a good deal of the morning around here anyway. Let me know the update on Ronnie Wilhelm....kg

Re: Palin At first I thought it was a Pawlenty deal -- that she did not want to run again because she would lose and that would compromise her rep for a presidential run. But not if she is actually resigning. Rumors have it that there is some about-to-come-out scandal involved (oh, I'm SURE not...) but I have no idea what it would be. Maybe she is gonna fess up that Trig or whatever his name is, is actually Bristol's baby - hee hee. Maybe she is just an idiot. Oh, and it could just boil down to she is just an idiot. Remember -- it's now silly season, 24/7, 12 months a year. And we thought only Friday was Anything Can Happen Day! --- kg

Letters to the Editor Department

Mike Slizewski, managing editor
Siskiyou Daily News
PO Box 129, Yreka CA 96097
530.842.2963 x 105
editor@siskiyoudaily.com


Dear Editor:
Thank you for printing this lengthy diatribe. (...Nation is in Peril; guest opinion 6-9-09) Although it was lacking in facts and long on whining, it did provide lots of chuckles. Evidently, President Obama is the straw that this cabal thinks will break the back of the camel. Pulleeze, President Obama enjoys a 65% approval rating and where was your outrage when Bush- Cheney & co were gutting the constitution , torturing detainees,and handing out no bid contracts to their friends. When progressives and the left complained, we were called traitors, un-american and on side of the terrorists. Here's the deal: The right proved in the last eight years that they can't lead, in the last four months that they can't follow, so now it is time to get the heck out of the road and watch as we get this country back on track. Have your little meetings and whine about loosing the election, taxes, and having a president that does not look like you as you drive on the roads and expect the fire department to save you when you really are in peril.

Christopher Garrett

Hike, eat, hike, eat...

Went up to the Pt. Reyes Visitor Center Wednesday; took the Earthquake Trail and the Woodpecker Trail. By now C is fully aware that as a Birder I am a complete fraud. But she is too nice to say so. Lunch at Olema Farmhouse. Last week with the Kirby X!s took the short loop at Audubon Canyon Ranch and picnicked on the grounds (thank you Cindy!).

At Play in the Land of the Wingnuts

News Release: Summer Food Service
Source: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services


Rep. Cynthia Davis' latest outrage is Missouri’s Summer Food Service Program, which provides food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year. This week's newsletter from Davis contains a point-by-point response to a press release announcing the program, at the end of which she concludes the program is really "all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts."
And to cap things off, she offers this very helpful tip:
Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can't they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals?
Tip: If you work for McDonald's, they will feed you for free during your break.

********************
“A Republican Indiana congressman has a new plan to protect members of Congress from a terrorist attack: enclose the Capitol gallery with a Plexiglas shield.
In a little-noticed proposed amendment to a bill last week, Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) sought a study to examine the feasibility of enclosing the Capitol gallery chamber with a protective shield.
“What this bill does is it would authorize a study to look at enclosing the chamber, the gallery chamber, with Plexiglas so that somebody can’t throw a bomb down on the floor and kill a lot of us,” Burton told the Rules Committee Thursday.”


Why do I hope people like this lose their jobs, lose their health insurance, end up being carried on a cot to the local soup kitchen and have to sleep on the corner of Fifth and Mission. Or we could just encase them in Plexiglas and ship them to Disneyworld. One way only.

It was good of my bro Kelly to call me on Father's Day. As well he should, being a father and all. Now all I need are some pictures of mi sobrinos mas guapos.

"Take what you want, God said. And pay for it." -- Arab Saying

I am in awe of the brave young people of Iran....

"We should go under the rain.

We should wash our eyes,

And we should see the world in a different way."

-Sohrab Sepehri, Iranian poet

Give 'til it hurts...

The Associated Press: Pacific state Palau to take Uighur detainees: Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. was prepared to give Palau up to $200 million in development, budget support and other assistance in return for accepting the Uighurs and as part of a mutual defense and cooperation treaty that is due to be renegotiated this year.


I have always admired the generous and hospitable people of Palau. Or would have, had I known it existed. Having been enlightened I am inspired to do my part for these unloved and unwashed Uighur people whose only crime was to move to Afghanistan for training in how to overthrow the Chinese Government. Okay, let's add stupid.

Nevertheless, at $12 million a pop, I'll take two.

Happy Birthday Mom

We miss that beautiful smile....

Settlement is to Theft what Enhanced Interrogation is to Torture

Is there anyone who really thinks that Israel will stop building and expanding on the West Bank? I don't believe that the Israeli government will stop stealing Palestinian land so long as there remains one square inch on which to plant its boots.

What I do believe is that there will be new negotiations between Israel and the US. Since AIPAC and their fellow travelers will never stand for cutting off funds as a deterrent (Obama will not stand up to this voter block), I suspect we will go for the carrot instead. You stop "settling" and we'll give you more money. And they will agree, the money will flow, and Israel will keep on building away. Oh wait! That's no prediction -- that's history!

"I [Orin Kerr] have accepted a position as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations for Senator John Cornyn for the duration of the Sotomayor nomination."

Why does Cornyn need a Special Counsel? What does he do? Who pays his salary? Just asking.

As if on cue, Jeremy Scahill reports on his (new!!) blog. He was on Thom Hartmann's radio show this morning.

http://rebelreports.com/

A clown sees life simply, without complications – George Bishop

It is amusing to watch the clowns in the right wing freak show juggling for positions in the New Republican Party. These Bozos and their predecessors were promoted by Reagan in order to increase his base and the hoax was refined by the malodorous Turd Blossom during the Bush Crime Family Dynasty (a period of time that includes the Clinton presidency).

What they refuse to see is that they were always doing the bidding of the RP and continue to do so now. Their comical ravings provide the cover of an actual debate in the country between two parties and two philosophies. But this dichotomy is an illusion --there is only the One, the Corporate America Dream Machine. What is the real difference between Pelosi and the rubes who were calling for her head (until the media got tired of the whole thing)? Torture of detainees in Guantanamo and its way stations was always pretty much accepted as fact, but -like the love that dare not speak its name - was not mentioned by patriots in polite company. (Well of course there was that spoil sport Seymour Hersh, but he never really got over My Lai so why listen to him.) Pelosi did nothing about it – nothing was done or said by any of the weenie Democrats or their Repub cohorts. Now that it cannot be denied by anyone other than, say, John Ashcroft, the debate is centered on who knew what and when (as if the elephant wasn’t in the room all the time) and more important, how it can be arranged so no one is held accountable or, god forbid, testifies.

My point is that while the clowns are running the circus, the country has not changed hands or stripes or direction. It is not just the wealthy Wall Street profiteers, it is the International Free Market Capitalists and their enablers, the war mongrerers (here a pipeline, there a pipeline), and the complacent media. And a public terrified of terrorists or recession or both needs its bread and circuses. There is no longer any need for political parties, except to create the illusion of choice and it matters not a damn whether it is Obama or Bush, Thomas or Sotomayor. So enjoy the show. Popcorn included in price of admission.

Four arrested for planning New York terror attacks

This has all the bling of a good old USA sting op, wherein the FBI provides plot, plan, timetable and materiel to entrap a gang of swarthy goofballs with aka’s* like “Daoud” and “Hamza” and who couldn’t find their balls with their right hand.

Meanwhile, Harry Reid is peeing in his garment over Obama’s plan to release the Guantanamo-held terrorists into the USA, finding them jobs as baristas at a Starbucks near you. Better they should stay in Cuba eating Happy Meals with their free colonoscopies.


*James Cromitie, also known as Abdul Rahman; David Williams, also known as Daoud or simply DL; Onta Williams, also known as Hamza; and Laguerre Payen, also known as Amin and Almondo.

Ada Barker Kennedy

The wedding picture of Ada Barker and Deward Kennedy. These are the parents of Edward Richard Kennedy, AKA Dick Kennedy or, as we used to call him "Grandpa Rat."
Ada Barker was only sixteen at the time of their marraige and she died in 1898 when Grandpa Dick was three years old. Her father was a reporter who covered the Battle of Little Big Horn; he had five children: Ada, Edward, Jesse, Eugene & Charlie. My mother's notes say that Edward Richard got the name Richard from Richard Rudolph -- but I have no idea who that is. Deward Kennedy was a professor at the University of Wisconsin. I have been unable to find any more information on Ada and Deward.

Now that Obama has become Bush, what is Cheney complaining about?

As Obama morphs into Bush and the Democratic Party becomes the party of Arlen Specter….one asks

WTF?

Clearly the two party system is, in fact, a one-party system with two interior decorators but only one driving force – the big money machine of Pharma, Monsanto, Boeing etc. – and no matter who we vote for, they will surely continue to drive this boat up our asses and still come out smelling of money. That these greedy bastards end up co-opting just about everyone is obvious, but what is amazing is their ability to convince us plebes that we really do have choices – that there exists a Change We Can Believe In, a New Deal, a Thousand Points of Light – and that Yes We Can doesn’t mean Yes You Can (Suck It Up Again).

Ms. Pelosi is not caught in a net – she is part of the net and mistakenly thought being in the loop would protect her. Actually, it is apathy and a short news cycle that will protect her and all of the rest of those wide-eyed Who ME? sons of bitches.

We have ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia…

What a Boner!

John Boehner in re Nancy Pelosi’s (convoluted and self-serving) statements this morning: “It is hard to believe anyone in our intellegence area would try to deceive Congress.” John! – No one in this entire country could hear that statement without rolling their eyes.

Glenn Greenwald on Arlen Specter - Link Below

Exerpts:

Consider Specter’s most significant votes over the last eight years, ones cast in favor of such definitive right-wing measures as: the war on Iraq, the Military Commissions Act, Patriot Act renewal, confirmation of virtually every controversial Bush appointee, retroactive telecom immunity, warrantless eavesdropping expansions, and Bush tax cuts (several times). Time and again during the Bush era, Specter stood with Republicans on the most controversial and consequential issues.

--snip--


Reports today suggest that Democratic officials promised Specter that the party establishment would support him, rather than a real Democrat, in a primary. If true, few events more vividly illustrate the complete lack of core beliefs of Democratic leaders, as well as the rapidly diminishing differences between the parties. Why would Democrats want a full-blooded Republican representing them in the blue state of Pennsylvania? Specter is highly likely to reprise the Joe Lieberman role for Democrats: a “Democrat” who leads the way in criticizing and blocking Democratic initiatives, forcing the party still further towards Republican policies.

--snip--

Specter is also complaining incessently about the fact that Lieberman lost his primary and Specter only won his 2004 primary by 1%. This apparently demonstrates all sorts of bad things about our political process. They really do believe that they are divinely entitled to keep their seats forever, and anything which threatens that is intrinsically illegitimate and wrong.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/28/specter/index.html?

The world is in a truly sorry state when cranberry juice is considered a mixer and Arlen Specter is considered a moderate.

Stinson Beach Grill RIP

I've been too lazy to post, but here's a nice picture.

Happy Birthday Tom

3/18/1940-11/26/2006

Weak Sister

So Nancy Pelosi is unhappy about Obama's draw-down plans for Iraq. This is the same Pelosi who was upgraded to Speaker of the House in 2006 by voters unhappy with the continuation of a failed war and pushing for a way out. Instead Pelosi voted lock step with the Bush administration on the appropriation bills which kept the war (and the no-bid contracts) in full force. Now she and her equally ineffective partner in the Senate, Harry Reid, are opposing an effort by President Obama to revive the 1994 assault-weapons ban. For two years Reid and Pelosi have been weak and submissive. Now that they feel safe, they are using their new-found mettle to oppose and obstruct.

They should go away.

Mommy, What's a Republican?

I'm continually looking for some explanation of Republicans. Is it ideology or just plain nastiness? Do they believe all that crap they say? Are they really just a crime syndicate posing as a political party? I'm not the only one asking:

From Suburban Guerrilla

Republicanism Explained
Feb 9th, 2009 at 12:28 pm by Susie

From Jude at First Draft:

In the last few months, as the scavengers have picked at the carcass of the Republican party, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about what “conservatism” means. Most recently, the New York Times saw fit to address the issue in this waste of virtual space.

Well, I can’t definitively say what “conservatism” means. I possess no advanced degrees, am not a philosopher, and have almost no knowledge of political science. However.

I can tell you what Republicanism means, and that, I think, is a more germane issue. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we don’t have a “Conservative” party on our ballots. No. We have a “Republican” one. So figuring out what they stand for seems to be a much more useful endeavor than attempting to define “conservatism.”

Well, I’ve done a lot of observing and thinking, and it seems to me that the Republican party stands for two things.

1. Tax cuts are the cure for everything, including the common cold.
2. Fuck you.

And that’s pretty much it. All of the shit that the Republicans do flows from those two points.
Posted in The Shadow Knows

How do you explain Republicans??

Beau Garrett Heller

It has been four years now since my nephew Beau Garrett Heller disappeared -- riding off on his bicycle from his parents home in Duarte, California

We are hoping no one has forgotten about him or given up the hope that he will be found. If he is out there, he should know that there are a ton of people who miss and care about him. If you have any information - names of people Beau associated with, or anything that you may think could help in his return - please visit this website:
http://findbeauheller.com/

Beau Garrett Heller

Sex: Male
Race: White
Hair: Blonde
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5 ft. 06 in.
Weight: 165 lbs.
Date of Birth: 3/8/1976
Last Seen: 1/29/2005 in Duarte, CA

The Republicans, a crime organization masquerading as a political party, put on their Jack boots yesterday and voted as a block against the Stimulus Bill they were unable to strangle at birth.

Who votes for these morons? Ostensibly, their constituents are the fully employed, fully insured, whose lives would be perfect if not for –gasp—taxes! Unable to recognize the principle of cause and effect, these wingers are opposed to government-funded construction of anything not dedicated to Ronald Reagan and never saw a tax cut they didn’t like -- with the exception of those benefiting – well…no one is using the code phrase “welfare queens driving Cadillacs” but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility.

Personally, I recommend four years of shunning the bastards. But if Obama insists on inviting them for cocktails, making sure Cornyn got the first helping of blowfish testicle hors de oeuvres would be a nice alternative.

Snow in Saudi Arabia. Global Warming? Nuclear Freeze? Next there will be rain on Arrakis.

Department of Frivolous Deflection

from Sunday New York Times Magazine
Interview with Arthur Levitt

Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON
Published: January 22, 2009

Q: As the former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is supposed to protect the American people from investment fraud, how do you feel when you look at the current economic landscape and see 401(k)’s going up in smoke?

A: I feel saddened. I feel saddened that so many people have been hurt; that, on reflection, we’ve all acted foolishly. We’ve spent too much money on too many frivolous things.

Yes, it's true -- I have been guilty of frivolous spending. Example: for many years I frittered away large sums on hardback, lavishly illustrated cookbooks, mostly purchased on-line, by big name chefs (Batali, Bittman, Pepin) --knowing full well that most (or equivalent) recipes could be accessed via websites, no charge, no shipping fee. This indulgence was dispensed with several years ago, but I'm still guilty of other frivolities (2 ply bath tissue, fresh mozzarella) and am therefore, I suppose, as guilty as Madoff for the current economic State of the Union.

Certainly I share more responsibility than Mr. Levitt, who points out later in the interview that he "canceled a vacation to the Far East that [he] had planned for the spring" because he didn't "feel right about spending large sums of money in this environment." But in my defense I would like to point out that were I able to make such a sacrifice I would not hesitate a minute.

Taibbi on Friedman

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/19908

My bro's letter to the editor of the Siskiyou Daily News

Jan 21, 2009

Dear Editor:

There you go again. Four more columns of guest opinion for Virgil Morton to chime in his support for John Roberts' guest opinion of 1-9-09 argument that we atheists are an intolerant bunch.

Virgil, by tinkering with the phrase-- "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."--by italicizing the latter part does not negate the opening clause. How much more profound and clear does this need to be? Government grants you freedom of religion and me freedom from religion.

I am somewhat heartened that you are not now condemning all atheists as intolerant but rather saying that some of us are. As you cite no specifics other than they live in Washington State, I must ask. Have they killed anyone? Enslaved millions? Burnt thousands at the stake? Condemned minority groups for their lifestyle?

As I stated in my letter to John Roberts: We don't care what you believe, we just want your religion (whatever it may be) out of our government, public schools, State sponsored events, and off our money. We have a small victory as the new 1$ coins make no mention of any god. Would you be so emboldened if "in Allah we trust" was stamped on them?

In closing, thank you Virgil for tacitly approving my right to my beliefs or non-beliefs. Hey, I'm not intolerant. You do indeed have a constitutional right to your religion. If you feel the need to pray to burning bushes or communicate with ghosts, feel free.

Christopher Garrett

Good On You Sammy!

CSI Stinson Beach reports the busting of the TPer, caught white handed by one Chef Mika. My initial suspect was the notorious Temer Gang. (Auggie gave me a wounded glare when I accused him at the outset of the crime wave; C gave me that look, usually reserved for my wilder conspiracy theories.) So I felt quite vindicated (translate I Told You So) when Sam Temer was finally collared.

Shame

Once again the Bush administration brings shame upon our country with their veto of the U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers. A similar resolution was blocked by the U.S. at the beginning of Israeli air attacks in December. President-elect Obama has remained silent, cowering under the “only one President at a time” banner, or, worse, agreeing with the Israeli position of massive retaliation.

Meanwhile Israel continues their litany of “right to self protection,” which it seeks to accomplish by creating Hamas martyrs rather than fostering an environment which would render Hamas unnecessary.

Juan Cole on Good Stuff

From Juan Cole (Informed Comment), my go-to guy on the Middle East when I need context as opposed to just events -- which is always.


Thursday, January 01, 2009

Top Ten Good News Stories in the Muslim World, 2008 (That Nobody Noticed)
We all too often focus only on negative developments, and while it is understandable for people to keep their eyes on impending calamities, obsessing about the bad sometimes causes us to miss good news. We see a lot of that even with regard to the US. For instance, there has been a 23% decline in violent crime over the past twenty years in the US, but people who watch a lot of television (especially, I presume, police procedurals) tell pollsters they think crime has gotten worse. I see significant positive stories in the Muslim world in 2008 that don't get a lot of press in the US, but which will be important for the incoming Obama administration.

For full article:

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/top-ten-good-news-stories-in-muslim.html

The Stinson Beach Toilet Paper Terrorist has struck again. Previous attacks were confined to cars but this time the target is the Village Green Christmas Tree and Stage. Were previous assaults just warm-ups to the final act of a War on Christmas?

Just an Old Fashioned Girl

If we need a Car Czar for the auto loan, don't we need a Bank Dick for the financial bailout?

OJ, Bush, Cheney -- one down, two to go.

Dirty Dancing

There might be a reason for packing heat in a nightclub, but none immediately comes to mind. If you gotta -- carrying it in your sweatpants doesn't seem to be real smart (and why are you wearing sweatpants to a nightclub?). This guy is lucky he shot himself in the leg; Darwinically speaking the more proximal target would have been appropriate.

Not my cup of chai

Some years ago my mother, who had taken to drinking tea in the afternoon, offered me a cup of chai . I had never heard of chai but I took to drinking it on occasion during the 90’s as espresso shops and carts became prevalent (even in Stinson Beach). The machine-made chai was much better than my mom’s which, as I recall, was a sort of teabag variety. Neither preparation matches the chai described by Eric Margolis in his “War at the Top of the World”:

"Known as chai, this form of tea is unique to the Asian subcontinent. To make it properly, you must take a battered, blackened, greasy aluminum pan; add contaminated water, two or three tablespoons of insect-infested sugar, raw, unpasteurized milk, and black, perfumed tea; then boil it all up into a sweet white drink that will either cure whatever ails travelers to these parts or, more likely, leave you with Q fever, cholera, and assorted parasites. In these parts, tea cannot be refused when offered, which it always is. I discreetly gulped down an antibiotic capsule I had learned to always keep secreted in my pocket for just such social occasions."

Make mine a double

“According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again,” David Letterman said in a late-night monologue. “And I thought, "Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking.”

Some Questions:

Since over 300 billion dollars has been given to--excuse me, infused into--our banks with the intention of freeing up credit, why don't the banks lend the Top Three the 25 billion they want?

Why is Hilary dithering over the nomination for Secretary of State and when will
Obama cut her off?? If she can't negotiate this, what good is she?

If it walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then I call it a duck. Why does this not apply to Joe Lieberman?

Veterans

Washington Post via Daily Kos

• 
  Obama Positions Himself to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions on Environmental, Social Issues
  By Ceci Connolly and R. Jeffrey Smith Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, November 9, 2008

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse the president on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

Compare and Contrast:

Chicago 1968
Chicago 2008

Ok -- the '60s were a lot sexier. But now that I'm in my sixties I like last night just fine.

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

Make it happen...

To the Wire...

OK. Obama's vote on FISA was cowardly and dishonest; ditto on the $700 Billion Giveaway to Goldman Sachs et al; and his remarks regarding Israel are cookie cutter bullshit.

Barack Obama is not a Liberal. Liberal has been camping out in the Tribal Area Closet, soon to be joined by Maverick, and will probably not come out in my lifetime. As Mike Malloy says, Obama is a Corporate Democrat. And not only is that the best we can do right now, it is a lot given the rapacious appetite of the Republican Party for power and money. (How did the Rebubs let this happen?? Why weren't they grooming someone, anyone? But that is another story.)

I like Obama less than I want to-- but more than I should.

Conventional wisdom has the candidates running for the center after the primaries, but here we have McCain running to a McCarthy evoking right (Obama conflated with terrorists and socialists, the tax-and-spend refrain which no longer terrifies anyone after 8 years of Bush, a whack job religious zealot as his VP pick) whereas Obama isn't running anywhere. Mr. Obama is Mr. Cool, sitting in the shade sipping a cold one and watching the train wreck, projecting not-mean, not-threatening and not-ready-to-explode to a nervous white population sick of the fear infused twittering of the Republican right.

And he surprises me.

Example, this during a (air quotes) debate (end air quotes):

"The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions."
--Barack Obama, Hofstra presidential debate, October 15, 2008.

I thought out loud -- 'It's about time!"

His FDR-esque vision of the jobs and infrastructure equation in the face of a Republican opposition that views as socialism any non-war non-bail-out-Wall-Street spending makes perfect sense now (as it did back then). And though his health plans are, well, imperfect I think (if I squint and hope real hard) I can see the possibility of an end run around the insurance companies in there.

So. I am not over-wrought ( over-hyphenated, yes) but -- I am apprehensive.
First of all, WE (may I?) HAVE TO WIN THIS ELECTION BY MORE VOTES THAN THE REPUBLICAN MACHINE CAN STEAL. Remember 2000? 2004? Well apparently the Democrats haven't -- or just don't want to address it. So the same vote rigging and count manipulation procedures are still in force -- on steroids. (See Bradblog and keep the valium close.)

Then,we have to get rid of the Republican Fellow Travelers who have spent the last two years oiling the neocon agenda through Congress while stifling any Democratic dissent. Yes, this would be Pelosi and Reid. Pelosi is a joke -- recall her assertion that she would not oppose impeachment if anyone could show her that Bush did anything illegal. This woman is the worst kind of politician and has to go. As for Reid, he only seems to wake up long enough to kiss ass (Lieberman’s will do).

But most of all – So long as there is money to be made, Rove, Cheney et al are not about to fade quietly. And it isn't going to be land deals and a blue dress this time. Keep your eyes open -- if it is far out enough to be called a conspiracy theory, you are probably on the right track. Obama is not going to lay out his game plan on this one. But I hope it is a good one.

Scary Halloween Costumes

Joe the Senator from Israel


John the Zombie

Sarah the Whack Job

I'm not a big fan, but this picture is real cool...

And this...

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-the-peculiar-tragedy-of-this-flawed-hero-john-mccain-956553.html

Independent.co.uk
Matthew Norman: The peculiar tragedy of this flawed hero, John McCain
This bulbous oblong of coiled rage came across as an appalling old waxwork

Friday, 10 October 2008

For one whose single rhetorical flourish is the gratingly incessant appellation "My friends", John McCain has very few left. The roll call shrinks by the day as his bamboozled campaign grows nastier, and if the decline maintains its trajectory this year's Friends of McCain Thanksgiving Dinner in Arizona will be held, in homage to his naval career, in a solo canoe. By then, even the Clintons will have baled out because, barring a malevolent miracle, Barack Obama will be President-Elect, and Senator McCain's value to them as Oval Office seat-warmer until 2012 will have gone the way of Lehman Brothers. Even his wife, Cindy, can barely tolerate his presence, judging by the body language at the end of Tuesday's debate in St Louis. As they gingerly embraced, you sensed her wondering whether seven houses will provide a sufficient cordon sanitaire from each other's company come 5 November.
This debate was a riot of paradox, being at once both turgid and captivating, meaningless and hugely significant. As an aural event, it was tedious. Obama was much the more lucid, especially on healthcare and foreign policy regarding Pakistan, but McCain held his own on the economy (or about as well as any candidate advocating $300bn in tax breaks for large corporations and their CEOs could expect to do at this point in US fiscal history).
It was visually that this debate really mattered and, while it is too soon to divine public reaction from the polls, one suspects it went a fair way to securing Obama the White House in the absence of monstrous scandal: Barack and Britney caught in flagrante delicto at an Osama bin Laden fundraiser perhaps; Michelle giving OJ Simpson the Black Power salute on visiting day at the penitentiary; Russia unilaterally reviving the Warsaw Pact; or the detonation of a radioactive device on Pennsylvania Avenue.
McCain looked simply dreadful. Sallow, fatigued, hunched, tentative and miserable, this bulbous oblong of coiled rage came across as what the Prince of Wales knows as an appalling old waxwork. The clinching image, I think, was the rear overhead shot, as he made staccato movements across the stage that highlighted the large circle of hairlessness on his head. No bald man has won a general election in Britain or the US in the television age (Dwight Eisenhower was the last Anglo-American alopecian victor back in 1956) and this one is now a very long shot to buck the trend.
So much for this one, and on to "that one"... the most memorable moment of the debate season thus far. Flailing about idiotically in the quest to portray Obama as the Bush-Cheney cheerleader in contrast to his maverick self, Senator McCain mentioned an energy bill that emerged from the White House. "You know who voted for it? You might never know," he said, and then, without turning to face Obama, he flipped an arm in the younger man's direction. "That one," he added, lest any doubt remain.
We could argue until Doomsday whether "that one" was a rung or two down the offensiveness ladder from "uppity". My feeling is that it falls into that vast category of Things White People Don't Think Are Remotely Racist But Wouldn't Say In A Million Years About Other White People. Certainly, you can't imagine McCain using it of Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden.
But racism, while still a small, nagging threat to Obama's chances, is a red herring here. What was so revealing about "that one" was that it crystallised the uncontainable disdain that is annihilating McCain's reputation. It isn't undermining his candidacy, because the economic mayhem and his volatile reaction to it has already done that. Yet his inability to show Obama common courtesy is unveiling him to a previously admiring electorate as a mean-spirited, cantankerous old git. If the repeated use of "old" appears ageist, so be it. Everything about McCain's dismissive attitude to Obama is geriatric. In fact he is only 72, which these days is anything but old. My father is McCain's senior by a year or two, and could pass for his son. I have friends in their mid-80s whom I think of as contemporaries because there is nothing remotely retrograde about their perspective on life.
For all his energy, on the other hand, McCain could pass for 92 because he radiates the sourness of the crotchety Meldrovian grump, slumped in a high-backed, plastic chair snarling "dunno they're born" whenever a middle-aged politician appears on the telly. Everything about his debate demeanour bespeaks a man struggling mightily to subjugate his rage that, after all he gave up in the Hanoi Hilton – his freedom, health and, as seems increasingly evident, a portion of his sanity – this smartarse liberal from Chicago swans along, not yet out of his congressional diapers, to steal the prize to which he believes his sacrifice entitles him.
So while Obama vaguely but empathetically seeks to assuage the terrors of Americans about their financial future, McCain seeks sanctuary in the distant past. He unleashes the increasingly gruesome Sarah Palin, Alaska's very own Cretina D'Evil, to raise Obama's extremely tenuous links to William Ayers, a Weatherman four decades ago, and the only people listening are the rednecks at her rallies whose shouts of "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!" she is content to let pass without rebuke. McCain's flirtation with revisiting Tony Rezko, the bent Chicago property developer from whom Obama bought a chunk of land in a deal he long ago called "boneheaded", seems set to become a full-blown affair, meanwhile, and it can't be long before his surrogates dredge up the Rev Jeremiah Wright.
Like many failing generals, McCain is waging not the present war but the last one in which Field-Marshal Rove defeated John Kerry. He wants to shrink a truly Goliathan election into another Lilliputian one, a tactic as misconceived as making the race about mature and dependable character when it is so obvious that the only grown-up in the room is Obama.
What made McCain look so weak and hopeless on Tuesday wasn't just the combination of pallor, jerkiness, the tonsure and the contrast between how, when not speaking, Obama sat with commanding tranquillity, whereas McCain paced anxiously in the background like someone in a hurry who cannot remember where he parked the car. It was the image he projected of a man weighed down and constricted by the sense that the campaign he is fighting is unworthy of him, but unable to change his tune because there's nothing left to sing except "For God's sake don't trust this terrorist-consorting, America-hating naif."
It is the tragic hero's traditional fate to be brought down by a central flaw he cannot see in himself. The peculiar tragedy of McCain, a hero himself as his pandering to veterans ever reminds us, is that he well knows he is squandering his long-husbanded capital of personal decency with the sort of wild profligacy that created the economic catastrophe that should cost him the election. His entire sense of purpose and self-worth is founded on a romantic notion, bred in the bone of this son and grandson of admirals, of noble service to his country. This loss of his honour may prove more excruciating than losing the White House to a man that a year ago John McCain would never have dreamt of dismissing, with such vinegary condescension, as "That One".

Read this...

Make-Believe Maverick
A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty
By TIM DICKINSONPosted Oct 16, 2008 7:00 PM

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

Wine Train

On our way up to Happy Camp, Chris and I stopped in Napa for lunch on the Wine Train (thanks Geoff!).

No Bail Out for him...

September 23, 2008

CEO murdered by mob of sacked Indian workers
Corporate India is in shock after a mob of sacked workers bludgeoned to death the chief executive who had dismissed them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.

Palin Place

Sarah & Todd. Brad in rear?

Chelsea and Shane Happy Camp 2008

My niece Chelsea’s wedding at Happy Camp, August 23, 2008. Not wanting to be late, I arrived at Happy Camp on the 29th (of July) and the food was so good I stayed until the 7th (of September).