Dark Bilious Vapors

Soxtober? So what?

Over at The Hardball Times, Maury Brown (chair of SABR's Business of Baseball Comittee and owner of the Business of Baseball website crunches the numbers and reaches the obvious conclusion: if you didn't live in Chicago or Houston, you probably didn't give a shit about the World Series:

For the World Series, here’s the television breakdown comparing the 2005 World Series to the 2004 World Series between the Red Sox and the Cardinals:

2005 World Series Nielson Ratings
 
          Rating 2005/2004       % +/- 
                                from 2004
Game 1     9.5/17    13.7/25     -30.7%
Game 2    11.1/17    15.9/24     -30.2%
Game 3    13.1/23    17.3/25     -24.2%
Game 4    14.8/24     9.7/29     -24.9%

What do the numbers bear out? Welcome to the lowest rated World Series... ever. Yep, it averaged an 11.1 national rating with a 19 share, 7% lower than the previous low of 2002 between the Angels and Giants that garnered an 11.9 national rating with a 20 share.

And from what we hear from St. Louis Post-Dispatch beat writer Derrick Goold, apparently not everyone in Chicago is all that ecstatic, either:

WRIGLEYVILLE — The only reason a White Sox pennant is pinned up at all is that every Cubs opponent from this season gets one at Murphy's Bleachers, a bar in the shadow of Wrigley Field and a game-day hub of Cubdom.

The pennant is purposefully hidden behind one of the TVs.

On Friday, all of the TVs were tuned to live coverage of the parade rolling proudly through Chicago's South Side and into downtown's ticker-tape tempest. Two Sox fans, regulars even in these parts, watched from the bar.

In the parade's third hour, a Cubs fan sneered: "We're into Day 5 of the White Sox parade?"

For all the talk of history being made, it's certainly panning out to be a yawner....

:-)

Len on 10.31.05 @ 06:47 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Good Thing I Can find fafblog News...

...Always on the JOB.

From fafblog news:

If Only Corruption Came With Cliff Notes!

Michael Kinsley points us to a compelling flaw in the rationale behind the Fitzgerald investigation today: Michael Kinsley doesn't understand it.

True, the Plame scandal is simple enough to be summarized in one sentence,(1) but the devil is in the details. There are names and people and places - names like "Niger", which sounds very much like Nigeria and yet is not Nigeria - and people like "Scooter", which is the name of the Vice President's chief of staff and yet is also the name of a muppet. Will the muppet be indicted? If so, will the muppet himself be charged alone, or are the puppeteers who operate his mouth and limbs also under investigation? Was he voiced by Jim Henson, and if so, how will the Justice Department prosecute the dead? Sorting out these intricate questions of "who" and "what" would take a reporter, and Mr. Kinsley doesn't appear to know any of those.

Mr. Kinsley is also troubled by the impossible paradox of press freedom the Plame scandal presents. Should reporter-source privelege be an implied contract in which a journalist protects her source's identity in exchange for reliable information, or should it be an absolutist right wantonly abused by state officials to disinform the populace, crush their critics, and commit crimes from beyond the veil of a shield law? Mr. Kinsley can't quite decide.

The Medium Lobster could answer these questions, but that isn't the point. The point is that he shouldn't have to. Scandals should be accessible and easy to follow for all of us - even for someone like Mr. Kinsley, who was an editor of The New Republic and remains easily distracted by shiny things. America is meant to have a government of the people - and its scandals should be scandals of the people, too. Outing CIA agents, silencing war critics, covering for the false pretext of a false war - it's all too cerebral to have the kind of mass entertainment value that is the raison d'être of the American criminal justice system. Where's the heart, the soul, the semen-stained dress?

Don't worry, Mr. Kinsley - we'll work on getting you a proper, decent scandal with a proper, decent blowjob. After that there will be a big car chase and many flashing lights.

1. "White House staffers leaked a covert CIA agent's name to the press in an attempt to discredit a critic of the flawed intelligence used to support the Iraq War."

;-0

Karen on 10.31.05 @ 05:16 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Lying for Jesus...

"...So in January, [former Dover school board member William Buckingham] is as bewildered as all of us as to where [Pandas books] came from.

He muses that perhaps there was some connection to Bonsell, but he doesn't know for sure. And whoever did it, it was a kind gesture. But the truth is that he himself solicited donations to purchase the books and wrote a check to Bonsell for the purchase of the books himself.

In fact, he knew precisely where the books came from. And remember, this lie is brought to you by the same folks who claim that evolution undermines morality. But apparently, lying for Jesus is perfectly okay.

-- Ed at Dispatches From the Cultures Wars

Check out the full post to see how all this Lying for Jesus is just falling out of the mouths of the Babes on the Dover School Board in PA.

;-)

Karen on 10.31.05 @ 03:45 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Child-in-Chief's Sense of the Ironic...

"...It is particularly troubling that President Bush would nominate a judge who would reverse American progress and make the Supreme Court look less like America on the same day that most Americans are honoring the life and legacy of Rosa Parks...."

-- Howard Dean on the Alito Nomination

Molly Ivins has also commented frequently at Bush-penchant for rolling-out of some devastating policy on the anniversary or commemorative date for particular program. (Can't locate the archived article - Drat!)

It's just his *tweak* at the world, ole Child-In-Chief - can't help yanking that chain to get more attention.

Karen on 10.31.05 @ 12:24 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Sacrificial Lambs and Obvious Lies...

Like Most Bloggers…I’ve been musing over the indictment and some thoughts about “Why not Rove too.”

For a long ramble on how I think we've got to the Obvious Lies and the Sacrificial Lamb click on the "more" button to read further.




Karen on 10.31.05 @ 09:52 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

Haven't figured out a costume for tonight? There's still time....

Len on 10.31.05 @ 08:53 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Yuk o'the Day:

A rabbi walked into a bar with a frog on his head. The bartender said, "Hey, where'd you get that?" And the frog said, "Brooklyn! They're all over the place!"

Len on 10.31.05 @ 08:20 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Today's Quotables...

“…For some of us, daily life has remained safe and comfortable, so the nightmare has merely been intellectual: we realized early on that this administration was cynical, dishonest and incompetent, but spent a long time unable to get others to see the obvious.

…

Apologists can shout all they like that no laws were broken, that hardball politics is nothing new, or whatever. The fact remains that officials close to both Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush leaked the identity of an undercover operative for political reasons. Whether or not that act was illegal, it was clearly unpatriotic.

…

And as for the media: these days, there is much harsh, justified criticism of the failure of major news organizations, this one included, to exert due diligence on rationales for the war. But the failures that made the long nightmare possible began much earlier, during the weeks after 9/11, when the media eagerly helped our political leaders build up a completely false picture of who they were.

So the long nightmare won't really be over until journalists ask themselves: what did we know, when did we know it, and why didn't we tell the public?”

-- Paul Krugman (NY Times) Ending the Fraudulence.

Karen on 10.31.05 @ 07:48 AM CST [link] [ | ]

We wuz robbed!!!!!

Harriet Miers's sudden withdrawal of her nomination to Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the Supreme Court meant that suddenly Garry Trudeau, the cartoonist who writes and draws "Doonesbury", found himself with a week of strips that had been overtaken by events, so he was forced to withdraw them. A pity, since it looks like some of them are pretty good:

Fortunately, Trudeau posted the series on the Web, so you can still see them if you feel so inclined.

Meanwhile, it appears that Bush has nominated Judge Samuel "Scalia-lite" Alito of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to replace Miers. Not surprising; we've now traded a marginally (if that) qualified non-entity for a politically obnoxious (to me personally, but no big surprise) nominee with sterling qualifications.

With all due respect to Ms. Miers, I feel marginally better about this nomination. I don't ever expect Bush to nominate anyone I approve of (hey, if you don't like it, tough shit; this is a battle we lost last November), but at least he's nominated someone qualified. Which is the best I could expect under the circumstances.

Len on 10.31.05 @ 07:48 AM CST [link] [ | ]

All Hallow's Eve...

Not a *masterpiece* of FUN Like Len's post...

But we had a good time carving them (playing with the Carve a Pumpkin - which is about the only way Len would "carve" one. *teehee*)

HAPPY HALLOWEENIE!!!

Karen on 10.31.05 @ 06:36 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Happy Halloween, y'all!

[I think this one appeals to me because it's so reminiscent of the demented snowman tableaux that Calvin used to sculpt in the comic strip, "Calvin and Hobbes".]

Len on 10.31.05 @ 06:28 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Scooter who? You may remember how George Bush's friendship with Enron chairman Ken Lay evaporated when the energy company came under investigation. That looks likely to happen with Scooter Libby. Libby has resigned. Vice President Cheney has vouched for his patriotism and talents. And now the White House will attempt to change the subject.
--John Dickerson

Len on 10.31.05 @ 06:23 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Gem o'the Day:

Apparently poor Dick didn't have a very merry Fitzmas, and he's still not out of the woods, yet.

Len on 10.30.05 @ 10:12 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Silly blogmeme time....

The idea is, you take this list of characteristics that defines "an average American", and then cross out every characteristic that doesn't apply to you.

Eats peanut butter at least once a week
Prefers smooth peanut butter over chunky
Can name all Three Stooges [Hey, I can name all six Three Stooges!]
Lives within a 20-minute drive of a Wal-Mart [Usually; depends on traffic.]
Eats at McDonald's at least once a year
Takes a shower for approximately 10.4 minutes a day
Never sings in the shower
Lives in a house, not an apartment or condominium
Has a home valued between $100,000 and $300,000
Has fired a gun
Is between 5 feet and 6 feet tall
Weighs 135 to 205 pounds
Is between the ages of 18 and 53
Believes gambling is an acceptable entertainment option
Grew up within 50 miles of current home

Pretty damn average, I'd say.

Stolen from BSTommy, who's about as average as me, I'd say, but in different ways.


Len on 10.30.05 @ 10:09 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Plenty of girls and bands and slogans and lots of hoopla, but remember, no politics. Issues confuse people.
--The Penguin [TV series Batman; his mayoral election platform]

Len on 10.30.05 @ 09:53 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Jim Rockford: [answering machine picks up] This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message. I'll get back to you.
Feminine voice: Hi, Jim, it's Jamie at the police impound. They picked up your car again. Lately, they've been driving it more than you have.
--The Rockford Files [TV Series]

Len on 10.29.05 @ 03:00 PM CST [link] [ | ]

A 6th Century Mentality...

Osama Bin laden has his Caliphate. This is his Model society. The thing he asserts as the *Muslim Model of World Order* to complete his vision - recreating all societies he can undermine with his terrorism goals. A 12th century period of enlightenment with a Muslim Governmental authority controlling everything. And himself as Caliphate, of course.

But, other other side of the fundamentalist coin, the Evangelical - Christian - Fundamentalists proposing and arguing for Intelligent Design - in an attempt to re-write the rules of science - have their quintessentially "perfect world order."

According to their adherents, this would be defined by the period of Christianity in the 6th century.

Just generally, this is the time of the ascension of Pope Gregory I (also known as Gregory the Great). This would be a pre-enlightenment model for the world where Biblical Scriptural Authority Ruled. It also included the co-opting of the Salian Franks and consolidation of Christianity through the conversion of Charlemagne to the faith in the 800’s.

Now there's a period for the world to re-aspire to - NOT.

But in the Fundie's visionary retro-world, they rule all that they can survey and impose the punishments for HERESY as they see fit for deviations from this perfect world order.

Laughing are you? Return to the 6th century model for the United States? - Hahahaha. Well, don’t take my word for it – when we have their own words describing this model ideal for re-imposing Christian values on those they consider "faithless".

Click on the “more” button to read this excerpt from the Washington Un. Law Review.

Karen on 10.29.05 @ 11:45 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

Sox-Cessful Parade!

Living in the Outskirts of the Greater Chicago Area has its upside and sometimes its downside - like being TOO FAR from Downtown to just take off and go to the Celebration parade for the Soxtober WIN in the World series.

But the Chicago Tribune had some wonderful pictures (like the one below) on it's webpage.

So, click on this link to see more photos and take a peek through the festivities.

Congrats to the Chicago White Sox!!!

:-D

Karen on 10.29.05 @ 10:11 AM CST [link] [ | ]

More Un-Intelligent Design...

The Brontosaurus: Monty Python's flying creationism by William Saletan is one of several Funnies about the Michael Behe "revelations" coming forth during the ID Trial in PA:

"...its resemblance to a famous Monty Python sketch in which a television newsman interviews a theorist.

Q: You say you have a new theory about the brontosaurus.
A: Can I just say here, Chris, for one moment, that I have a new theory about the brontosaurus.
Q: Exactly. Well, what is it? …
A: Oh, what is my theory?
Q: Yes.
A: Oh, what is my theory, that it is. Well, Chris, you may well ask me what is my theory.
Q: I am asking.
A: Good for you. My word, yes. Well, Chris, what is it that it is—this theory of mine. Well, this is what it is—my theory that I have, that is to say, which is mine, is mine.
Q: Yes, I know it's yours. What is it?
A: Where? Oh, what is my theory? This is it. My theory that belongs to me is as follows. This is how it goes. The next thing I'm going to say is my theory. Ready?
Q: Yes.
A: … This theory goes as follows and begins now. All brontosauruses are thin at one end; much, much thicker in the middle; and then thin again at the far end.

...Like the theorist in the Monty Python sketch, Behe throws up a blizzard of babble: process, intelligent activity, important facts. What process? What activity? What facts? He never explains. He says the designer "took steps" to create complex biological systems, but ID can't specify the steps. Does ID tell us who designed life? No, he answers. Does it tell us how? No. Does it tell us when? No. How would the designer create a bacterial flagellum? It would "somehow cause the plan to, you know, go into effect," he proposes..."

Hahahahahahahaha!

And there is this one about Steve Fuller, another ID defender, written about in a column by Mike Argento (York Daily Record): Intelligent design's plea for help:

“….On the positive side, [Fuller] seemed very energetic about whatever it is. He was more animated than the Cartoon Network and talked really fast. As he announced the first break of the court session, federal Judge John E. Jones III pointed to Fuller and suggested to the school board attorney, Pat Gillen, "Water or decaf."

I would have made a different suggestion.

NyQuil.

A whole bottle.

The bottom line of Fuller's testimony is that intelligent design as a science is not accepted because the rest of the scientists won't let it in their little club. It's as if the real scientists are the cool kids, smoking out behind the administration building at recess, and intelligent design is the geeky kid who isn't allowed to join them because he just isn't cool enough.

What Fuller was suggesting, I think, is that science won't let intelligent design in merely because it doesn't meet the requirements of a scientific theory, as far as science is concerned.

In fact, he said to call intelligent design a scientific theory, you had to change the definition of a scientific theory. The last defense witness who did that said his definition of a scientific theory included astrology. (I don't mean to disparage astrology, which has proven to be scarily accurate since that witness uttered those words.)

Fuller said intelligent design is, essentially, a half-baked idea, pretty much something the intelligent design guys have whipped up without doing much in the way of producing evidence.

And that's why it should be taught to ninth-graders in Dover.
…
And in another bit of testimony, he said intelligent design needed "affirmative action."

Which raises the question: Why drag the brothers into it?

Or you can also read these accounts of other information surfacing during the trial: Behe's claim of 'peer' review' for his book or Curriculum 'designer' Buckingham lies under oath for a few more laughs.

Hahahahhahhaha!!

Now Funnie as this all IS - and it is a HOWL - There is much less funnie motivation for these folks to want to rewrite the definition of science and get some sort of accreditation for these biblically laced notions.

There is a bit from the Washington Un. Law Review article that explains their motivations, and since it's overly long, I'll put it in a separate post for review.

;-)

Karen on 10.29.05 @ 09:54 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Is this where we'll get Harriet's replacement?

Credit: BBSpot's "BBBloopers".

Len on 10.28.05 @ 09:26 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Sad news in St. Louis.....

Longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg is dead at age 87. Longtime as in, he started his stint as sports editor when I was one year old, and never really retired, though he was "given an official retirement notice" in September of 1985. Appropriately enough, he entered the hospital for the last time after the last game to be played in Busch Stadium II. Somehow, I suspect he wanted it that way.

Among other honors, he recieved the J.G. Taylor Spink Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1979 (which he shared with New York based baseball writer Tommy Holmes).

[I'll vent my pet peeve here: receipt of the Spink Award is not "election to the writer's wing of the Hall of Fame", nor is receipt of the Ford C. Frick Award "election to the broadcaster's wing", though this misconception is so well rooted that it is probably hopeless to rail against it.]

Len on 10.28.05 @ 08:01 PM CST [link] [ | ]

The Fitzmas 'Breaking News'...

Just Heard this on CNN:

Update: Here is the PDF file for the indictment. (It says and *error* - but keep hitting to refresh button and then it will be readable.)

Documents were presented to the Federal Magistrate and have now been released with the following indictment:

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney) Indicted- 5 Counts:

2 counts - Perjury; 1 count - obstruction of justice; and 2 counts -making false statements

Whether these other folks get something...well, we will have to see

Dan Bartlett (Counselor to the President)
John Bolton (U.N. Ambassador)
Claire Buchan (Former Deputy Press Secretary)
George W. Bush (President)
Andrew Card (White House Chief of Staff)
Dick Cheney (Vice President)
Ari Fleischer (Former White House Press Secretary)
Alberto Gonzales (Attorney General)
Stephen Hadley (National Security Advisor)
John Hannah (Aide to Vice President Cheney)
Israel Hernandez (Former personal assistant to President Bush)
Karen Hughes (Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy)
Bob Joseph (Under Secretary of State for Arms Control)
Adam Levine (Former communications Aide)
Catherine Martin (Former assistant to the Vice President Cheney)
Mary Matalin (Former Senior Advisor to Vice President Cheney)
Scott McClellan (White House Press Secretary)
Miller, Judith (New York Times reporter)
Powell, Colin (Former Secretary of State)
Susan Ralston (Personal assistant to Karl Rove)
Condoleezza Rice (Secretary of State)
Karl Rove (Deputy White House Chief of Staff)
David Wurmser (Middle East Advisor to Vice President Cheney)

One down!!

Karen on 10.28.05 @ 11:48 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Brings back some happy memories....

BSTommy graces us with some pictures of his recent trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Been quite a while since I've been to the Hall (August of 1991, to be precise). He isn't the reason I went (like Ryne Sandburg's induction this year was BST's reason for making the trek), but I'll always be grateful that my visit to Cooperstown occurred the year this guy was elected:

Len on 10.28.05 @ 11:46 AM CST [link] [ | ]

A Passing Drive by Shooting...

The Onion has taken some flak this week from the White House over use of the "Presidential Seal."

Not to be Undone by these picayune machinations, The Onion has fired these shots across the bow --

Halloween Presidential Weekly Address.

Week-Ender Update.

Enjoy!!!

:-)

Karen on 10.28.05 @ 11:11 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Gem o'the Day, World Series Edition:

You know what I get sick of hearing? This broken-down cliché of a line:

“How can they call it a World Series when it only involves teams from one country?”

Over the years, it’s been slightly updated to include Canada, but it doesn’t matter: it’s a stupid question. You know why?

The World Series has every right to be called the World Series for the simple reason that it involves the two teams who draw from the talent pool of the best players in the world. And why are the best players in the world playing here, in North America? Because this is where the money is and if it’s one thing we should all know: talent and money will find each other.

So please, until a player the likes of Vladimir Guerrero makes Japan or Mexico or Cuba his first choice as a place to ply his trade during his prime, this is most definitely the World Series.

Semantically and otherwise.
--Jim Baker [Baseball Prospectus]

Len on 10.28.05 @ 10:31 AM CST [link] [ | ]

About those Staunch 'Conservative Principles'...

"...It's hard to escape the idea that with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald breathing down the administration's neck, the president decided he could not afford any further fractures in his own political coalition. So he threw Miers over the side.

This has been a powerfully instructive moment. The willingness of conservatives to abandon what they had once held up as high and unbending principles reveals that this battle over the Supreme Court is, for them, a simple struggle for power...."

-- E. J. Dionne (WaPo).

Karen on 10.28.05 @ 07:12 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Today's GEM...

"...Fitzgerald has been thrust into the role of the un-George W. Bush -- the gritty cop vs. the rhinestone cowboy. In this corner, the scholarship kid from Brooklyn who worked summers as a doorman and went on to be the stellar student mentoring the less gifted. In the other, the son of privilege who goofed off at school, ducked the draft and always fell back on his dad's influential pals to -- in the memorable phrase of Colin Powell's former chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson, writing this week in the Los Angeles Times about Powell's role in the Bush White House -- clean all the dog poop off the carpet.

It's hard not to see Fitzgerald as the possessor of authentic traditional American virtues. Fitzgerald deals in facts, and lets facts speak for themselves. Bush talks ceaselessly of faith. The prosecutor is all about substance, the president all about surface..."

-- Tina Brown (Wa Po).

Karen on 10.28.05 @ 06:57 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Waiting for Fitzmas...

...maybe coming Today.

But while we enjoy our Fret Free Friday in Soxtober - Here's the:

The 2001 Pop Quiz from Entertainment weekly.

Have to have some Fun and Amusement on a Friday.

;-0

Karen on 10.28.05 @ 06:39 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Soxtober Parade Today

The White Sox World Series Championship
Celebration Soxtober Parade will be today beginning at 11 am.

Congrats to the 2005 World Series Champs

THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX


:-)


Karen on 10.28.05 @ 06:19 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Still The King...

Forbes magazine ("Capitalist Tool") has announced its annual list of the highest earning celebrities who are in probably the worst position to enjoy their good fortune:

They're famous across the globe. Their work is treasured by millions. And they're rolling in cash--they just can't spend any of it.

The 13 members of our annual Highest-Earning Dead Celebrities list brought in a collective $186 million in the last year. They, or more accurately, their estates, earned that money by selling their work--both written and recorded--or just the rights to use their likenesses on T-shirts, posters or in advertisements. Sometimes their life stories themselves are worth something: Musician Ray Charles makes the list for the first time this year, in part because of income related to his 2004 biopic. Johnny Cash, who also makes his first appearance this year, has his own movie out in November.

It comes as no surprise to me that the the top name on the list is the one... the only..... Elvis. After all, I live in Memphis (where Elvis is the single biggest industry), and I've seen Graceland, up close and personal, so I stand in awe of the Presley Family Moneymaking Machine.

The not-so-fortunate 13:

1. Elvis Presley
2. Charles Schulz
3. John Lennon
4. Andy Warhol
5. Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel
6. Marlon Brando
7. Marilyn Monroe
8. J.R.R. Tolkien
9. George Harrison
10. Johnny Cash
11. Irving Berlin
12. Bob Marley
13. Ray Charles

In addition to the list of the top earning celebs, Forbes also listed a few of the also-rans, the dead celebs who just barely failed to make the cut:

James Dean
Albert Einstein
Jerry Garcia
Tupac Shakur
Cole Porter

Len on 10.28.05 @ 06:12 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

A lot of readers thought I was crazy for liking "Ghosts of Mars" (2001) and "Red Planet" (2000) and "Total Recall" (1990), but blast it all, at least in those movies, you get to see Mars. I'm a science fiction fan from way back. I go to Mars, I expect to see it. Watching "Doom" is like visiting Vegas and never leaving your hotel room.
--Roger Ebert

Len on 10.28.05 @ 05:53 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Maybe these have a valid use after all...

Bryan over at WHY NOW? was lamenting the infiltration of the Holiday and pure Un-Hallo-Merican-Weenie Spirit of "Ghost Pumpkins"

But Hold The Presses - I May have found a *perfect use* for them Ghost Pumpkins over at American Daughter.

*Tee* and *Hee*

Ghost pumpkins would get the the *undead skin tones* right...eh?

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 06:18 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Just for FUN...

This FUN site found on Pen Elayne On The Web:

Carve your own Pumpkin and see it LIGHT UP!!

Go Ahead, pretend ya has still got the Halloween Whooooo-Ahhhhh's Spirit and Give is a try - or several trys for that matter!!

*smile*

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 01:52 PM CST [link] [ | ]

My obligatory World Series post.....

There are only three people I "know" (interpreting that term rather loosely; one of them I have yet to meet in person) who live outside of Chicago's South Side and who actually claimed to be fans of the Chicago White Sox this season: my co-blogger, Karen, who lives in Greater Chicagoland, Steve Steffens, the "LeftWingCracker", who's a native of Northern Illinois, and Mad Molecule (the blogger formerly known as SadPunk; I'll get around to fixing the blogroll Real Soon Now), a Memphian who adopted the Sox in the middle of this season after being a somewhat half-hearted "hereditary Braves fan". Enjoy your good fortune guys, and remember, I only have five words for you:

Lowest. World. Series. Ratings. Ever.

Remember, the rest of us in the Real World™ will have forgotten this in less than a week. In fact, quite a few of us have forgotten already.

:-) [Actually, I'm happy for y'all, but I just have to take this opportunity to tease Karen yet again...]

As long as we're actually thinking about the White Sox, let's talk about their anthem: "Na Na Hey Hey [Kiss Him Goodbye]". The band which charted this one, Steam, may have missed its chance at being a one hit wonder by virtue of the fact that it was even less of a band than The Archies, if such a thing is possible:

Considering that they only charted one hit record and that they scarcely even existed, the background of the group Steam is amazingly complex. Their story actually begins in Bridgeport, CT, in 1960-1961, with a group called the Chateaus, who cut a handful of unsuccessful records for Coral and Warner Bros. before breaking up. Cut to the end of the 1960s: Paul Leka, their pianist, by then was a producer and songwriter, co-authoring "Falling Sugar" by the Palace Guard in 1966, producing "Green Tambourine" by the Lemon Pipers in 1968, and also producing sides by the Left Banke, and was working for Mercury Records in 1969. His former Chateaus bandmate, Gary DeCarlo, arranged to cut four solo sides for Mercury with Leka producing, but DeCarlo's songs so impressed the label, that it wanted to issue all four as A-sides, which meant that they needed an additional B-side in a hurry for the first single.

It happened that the night they were cutting what was supposed to be a throwaway, their fellow Chateaus member Dale Frasheur was present and he suggested they cut a song they'd performed eight years previously called "Kiss Him Goodbye," which the three of them had written in 1961. It was Leka's idea to put a chorus into the number, which, at the piano, in the absence of a lyric, became "na na na na, na na na na." Then fate really took a hand when the management at Mercury Records heard the throwaway side and determined that it should be the single. The three musicians, especially DeCarlo, were outraged and they refused to put their names on the record, though they did claim the songwriting credit, which proved to be a shrewd move. "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," released late in 1969, rose to number one on the charts that December and sold more than a million copies in America alone. In place of their names, the trio okayed it going out under the name Steam.

Suddenly, with a number one single to its credit, however, there were demands for Steam to perform, make appearances on television, and do all the other things that were usually done by groups to support a hit record -- except that there was no group. Leka put together a band, consisting of Jay Babina and Tom Zuke on guitar, Mike Daniels on bass, Hank Schorz at the keyboards, Ray Corries on drums, and Bill Steer (no, not the same one who was in Napalm Death) handling the lead vocals. All came from Leka's hometown of Bridgeport, CT, and toured behind the single during 1970. A self-titled Steam album was cut at Mercury and a handful of follow-up singles appeared, only one of which ("I've Gotta Make You Love Me") ever charted, just missing the Top 40 in 1970.

...

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" never did disappear -- quite the contrary, it rode the charts for a big chunk of 1970 and then got put into every and any hits anthology that Mercury could release or license, and was quickly accepted as into oldies collections (it qualified as a '60s hit, after all, and offended no one)... According to performing rights organization BMI, the song is in the elite company of pop/rock compositions that have had at least three million airings on radio. The song has also been the (ex officio) anthem for the Chicago White Sox and is one of those '70s hits that listeners never seem to tire of.

Not bad for a song that, technically, is unfinished....

And now that there's only one remaining classic sports curse left to be lifted, I'll voice my fervent desire:

The Cubs can't win the World Series until 2009.

I think that it will be a great, great misfortune if some team doesn't go a full century (or longer) without taking it all, and I want to see that happen in my lifetime. The Cubs are the best shot at that achievement, and it'll only take three more seasons to accomplish it.

1n 2009, you can have it all, guys. Just wait til then.

Len on 10.27.05 @ 12:30 PM CST [link] [ | ]

The 'Rain Man' of Baseball...

This week's Sports Illustrated edition has this piece from Rick Reilly about A.J. Pierzynski, A Madness to his Method:

"...He wakes up. His first thought is, Who am I catching tonight? If it's righthander Jose Contreras, he must get out on the right side of the bed. The first foot to touch the ground must be his right. If he forgets, he must get back in bed and start over.

Everything he picks up, all day, must be with his right hand first. Toothbrush, spoon, wallet, doesn't mater. If he messes up, he's certain the Sox will give up a run in the first inning. As he walks from the parking lot to the clubhouse, he looks like a man crossing a river on turtles' backs. Each time he comes to a new surface -- asphalt, curb or grass -- he must lead with his right foot.

"I know, I know," he says. "It's weird."

Oh, it gets weirder.

Once he's at the stadium, he cannot walk anywhere near the trainer's room, even if it means taking the long way around the clubhouse. Always, his bat must stand barrel down, handle against the wall...

...He is Rain Man in a mask. He leaps, hops and loops, navigating oddly around bases and plates and umpires. In his locker he must have three full bottles of water -- not two, not four -- unopened and warm, though he'll drink only one. And his shin guards must face up, left on the bottom, right on top.

He can't touch the bullpen gate on his way to warm up the starter. He must have all his weight on his right foot (for a righty) during the national anthem. He must be the last man out of the dugout when his team takes the field..."

But people have often noted what a *supertitious bunch* baseball players are (and teams - as demonstrated in the Astros desire to have the Astodome roof closed for the World Series games because they have better win average, and felt they'd be jinxed other wise.)

So, if Pierzynski is merely more superstitious than most player...Hey, could be worse.

He could be a *Superstitious Loser*! Sorry, Astros, better luck next time!

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 09:16 AM CST [link] [ | ]

No More Troubles With Harrie...

CNN is just reporting Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination for the Supreme Court. From her letter:

"...I am concerned the confirmation process presents a burden to the White House and our staff is not in the best interests of the country..."

*Whew*

Now What??? Or rawther WHO?

;-)

Update: CNN also reports NO Announcements will be coming from the Special Prosecutors Office from Ftizgerald. No press conference either (I presume.)

So - It's an all Harriet Miers-All Day experience. (Except for the WHITE SOX Win *wink*)

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 07:58 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Gem o'the Day:

...to read the Bush-Miers correspondence is to gain a disturbing insight into Mr. Bush's personality: he likes having his ass kissed. Ms. Miers' cards and letters to the then-Governor of Texas belong in the Brown-Nosers Hall of Fame. You can be sure the younger and less experienced Bush White House aides are even more obsequious. The last thing this President wants is the first thing he needs: someone to slap his spoiled, pampered, trust-funded, plutocratic, never-worked-a-day-in-his-life cheek and make him face the reality of his foul-ups.
--Paul Begala

Len on 10.27.05 @ 07:47 AM CST [link] [ | ]

A data point...

showing that Bush is feeling some heat recently. The Associated Press is reporting that the bAdministration is reversing its suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act's wage protections. The best news in this is an apparent breakdown of solidarity in the GOP ranks:

The White House promised to restore the 74-year-old Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protection on Nov. 8, following a meeting between chief of staff Andrew Card and a caucus of pro-labor Republicans.

Democrats and the moderate Republican group both claimed their pressure caused President Bush to reconsider his open-ended suspension of Davis-Bacon starting Sept. 8 in hurricane-affected areas.

The Republican group originally sent a letter to the White House in September arguing that suspension of the wage law only leads to shoddy workmanship, reduces federal oversight and allows workers outside the region to undercut the local market.

Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, who founded the pro-labor caucus with Rep. Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey earlier this year, said the Bush administration was not receptive to the initial letter. But the White House eventually acknowledged the suspension of the wage law was not saving the government money on billions of dollars in Katrina contracts, he said.

Len on 10.27.05 @ 07:41 AM CST [link] [ | ]

The wit and wisdom of the blogger formerly known as SKB....

From Facing South, we get this story on hurricane preparedness. Writing on Jeb Bush's comments on the failure of Florida residents riding out Hurricane Wilma to stock up on necessities, Randy Neal observes:

One wonders, though, if he knows what it's like out in the real world. I know from personal experience that employers often won't let people take off work to prepare. They want everyone working up until the last minute, or until a mandatory evacuation is declared. Even if you are able to get time off, Home Depot runs out of plywood, plastic sheeting, and duct tape days before the storm arrives. Grocery store shelves are emptied of bottled water, pork & beans, toilet paper, and diapers. Long lines form at gas stations, and many run out. That's the situation even in affluent communities where people have money and transportation. That's the real world.

Which reminds me of a story from when we lived in Florida. A storm was approaching and even Disney had shut down for the first time in their history. On the way home from scavenging for hurricane supplies, we stopped by the local 7-11 store looking for batteries. I walked in and announced "OK, I need Spam, beer, batteries and ammunition!" Folks in the long checkout line chuckled, and the cashier said "Sorry, we're all out of Spam and batteries." "That's OK," I replied. "If you've got ammunition I can get everything else."

OK, then.

Len on 10.27.05 @ 07:32 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Parade to Celebrate...

Grant Park rally, parade to come - City officials planned to announce Thursday details regarding a parade and rally for the White Sox.

City Hall sources said late Wednesday that the celebration "probably" would be on Monday, beginning with a motorcade of players and their families leaving U.S. Cellular Field. The motorcade likely will wind through several Chicago neighborhoods before arriving at Grant Park for a rally.

-- Chicago Tribune.

;-)

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 07:31 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Geek eroticism....

Just for those of you who want to be on the bleeding edge, tech-wise: The Toy

The Toy is a Bluetooth vibrator which is worn internally and … ahem …activated … by SMS messaging via Bluetooth. Yes, really. The Toy is the invention of British company Cool & Groovy Toy Co., who refer to “The Toy” Bluetooth vibrator as a “a hi-tech vibrating bullet". Or maybe an SMS Ben Wa Ball.

Explains Cool & Groovy, “The Toy is worn internally, linked to a mobile phone and controlled by sms text messages sent to the phone. Once read, the message is transported automatically to The Toy, which turns it into vibrations - with a huge range of movements, depending on what you have written. Just say what you feel, The Toy will do the rest.”

Ok, we’re all geeks here, so I know that what you really want is the specs. So here they are:

The Toy has onboard undiscoverable Bluetooth, turbo-boost circuitry “for more motor power", a power status and charge indicator (The Toy’s charge, not hers), will run all day on a 4-hour charge and has an “intelligent CPU” (you know, I’m not sure that I’d want to shove something with a CPU in my..well, anywhere.)

As for the SMS aspect, The Toy responds only to messages which come from the paired phone, and which are specially tagged. Each letter of the alphabet has three different movement profiles, each of which have five associated speeds and time settings. That means that there are dozens of possible movement-speed-time combinations for each letter. Which means that every word you send via SMS to The Toy will trigger several different vibrations.

Cool & Groovy claims that The Toy has a “worldwide range, the only limit is network coverage.”

Just the thing to liven up a dull day at the orifice....

:-)

Len on 10.27.05 @ 07:11 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Horoscopes...

My Horoscope from The Onion:

Scorpio

October 24 - November 21

You've felt for weeks as if they were on the verge of figuring out your secret shame, which is ridiculous, as no one even knows who you are.

Hahahahahahhahaha!!!

Thanks Onion - I needed that. Keeps me from getting a "swelled-head."

;-)

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 06:37 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Hit a nerve, apparently....

Major League Baseball is apparently seething over a set of commercials which were aired (at least in some parts of the country; I didn't see them, myself) during the baseball postseason:

SAN FRANCISCO - The latest "Got Milk?" commercial hit a little too close to home for Major League Baseball. Poking fun at the league's steroid scandal, the television ad for the California Milk Processor Board talks about a player getting pulled from a game "after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance."

In the next scene, a coach pulls a carton of milk from the slugger's locker.

If you're interested in seeing the ads themselves, they're on the web (of course). However you may run into some network congestion issues (I did when I tried to look at them); unsurprisingly, they appear to be quite popular.

Len on 10.27.05 @ 06:20 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Harriet Miers has suffered badly because she doesn't fit into any of those established camps. She's too politically tone-deaf to be a hack. She's too obsessed with process to be a wonk. And apart from a promising stint in the Latin Club at Hillcrest High, she doesn't have the numbing credentials to be a nerd.
--Bruce Reed

Len on 10.27.05 @ 06:09 AM CST [link] [ | ]

The Curse is 'Broken'...

WHOOOO-HAAAAAA!!

The White SOX have swept the Astros and WON the World series in a 4 Game sweep!!! (A 1-Zip game winning score.)

The Curse of Shoe-Less Joe Jackson is Broken. Chicago is a Happy Town (and Fie on them *Texans* - wink) and have the first World Series win in 88 years.

This a Historic Baseball Moment for the Record books. Congrats to the Chicago White Sox!!!

:-)


Update: As a statistical footnote. On the third game in the extra innings, the camera caught a shot of Roland Hemond (a retired former White Sox General manager kissing his wife at 12:01 am.

Roland was interviewed on WSCR - sports radio Chicago - and asked about the kiss. He told the announcer that the game ahd rolled over into the 26th and so at 12:01 it was his birthday - and his wife kissed him.

But, he noted, that since the White Sox had a chance to win the game that night, he'd be the only Former General manager who's team won a World Series in a 4 game sweep, ending an 88 year old Curse, in TWO games won on his birthday.

TOO FUNNIE!! Happy Birthday to Roland Hemond.

Karen on 10.27.05 @ 05:42 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Geek Toy o'the Day

This is the best one since the Baby Name Wizard Name Voyager:

zipdecode

As you enter in a zip code, you'll see the application highlight the "map" so as to narrow down the communities within that zip code range (if that sounds confusing, I'm not explaining it right. Just play with it a bit, and you'll intuit it).

For a real fun time, click on "zoom" (or hit the "z" key) to enable zooming, and as you enter the zip code the "map" will zoom into the community you're finding the zip for. The only thing I could ask for is more map details (especially in zoom mode; it'd be interesting to zoom down to, say, a street map of my neighborhood when I type in my zip code). I think this application, overlaid on Google Maps using the Google Maps API, would be awesome.

Credit: The For Real Deal (formerly "The Phil Harwell Blog Type Thing"; I'll get around to changing that on the blogroll Real Soon Now).

Len on 10.26.05 @ 09:36 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Jury Duties and Late Night Court visits...

Hmmm....Since I have not so much experience with Criminal law and these kind of indictments - Dan Froomkin (WaPo) has this *interesting* tid-Bit:

"...I can't think of any reason for Fitzgerald to put anything under seal -- unless he's offering his targets the opportunity to turn themselves in before it turns into a real circus over there.

So, two suggestions for the folks staking out the courthouse:

* Even if he seals everything, Fitzgerald would have to take any indictments returned by the grand jury to a judge today. And he would be accompanied by his grand jury foreperson. So keep an eye out for that.

* Also keep an eye out for senior administration officials showing up at the courthouse very, very late at night.

Karen on 10.26.05 @ 04:42 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Do NO harm...

Today’s Gem from David Corn:

”…Should liberals and Democrats choose sides in this shootout [over Miers] between the neocons/legal cons and the social cons?
...

Here's an idea that I reserve the right to reject upon further reflection: Democrats in the Senate should vote "present" on the Miers nomination. It's not an aye,†and it's not a nay.
…

Oh, some cranky think-tankers and commentators will call this a cop-out, a dereliction of constitutional duty. But why validate--or be used by--either side in the Republicans civil war? Once in a while, the correct response to a situation is, don't just do something, sit there.
…

In the meantime, the Senate Democrats ought to consider taking a Hippocratic approach to the vote on Miers' nomination: First, do no harm.

Karen on 10.26.05 @ 02:12 PM CST [link] [ | ]

While we WAIT...

...Via Larry Johnson over at No Quarter is a bit on this piece from Richard Sale:

"...Although most press accounts emphasized that Fitzgerald was likely to concentrate on attempts by Libby Rove and others to cover-up wrongdoing by means of perjury before the grand jury, lying to federal officials, conspiring to obstruct justice, etc. But federal law enforcement officials told this reporter that Fitzgerald was likely to charge the people indicted with violating Joe Wilson's civil rights, smearing his name in an attempt to destroy his ability to earn a living in Washington as a consultant.

The civil rights charge is said to include "the conspiracy was committed using U.S. government offices, buildings, personnel and funds," one federal law enforcement official said.

Other charges could include possible violations of U.S. espionage laws, including the mishandling of U.S. classified information, these sources said..."

-- Richard Sale at Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005

Karen on 10.26.05 @ 11:56 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Gem o'the Day:

From the Billy-Ball mailing list, on the FOX broadcast of last night's 14 inning World Series Game:

It’s time for Tim McCarver to stop talking…and talking…and talking. I don’t mind if he talks about the fact that Geoff Blum's home run was the first extra-inning game-winning home run by a visiting player in the World Series since his own three-run, 10th-inning homer enabled the Cardinals to defeat the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1964 Series. But please stop making puns, please stop talking about “Journey” please, stop talking.

I'm already on record with this (but when have I let that stop me before?), but the Buck-McCarver broadcast team is the absolute pits. If there is a hell, I'm sure that its deepest, most painful circle consists of nothing but listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver call baseball games for the rest of eternity.

And I say this knowing that both men have significant ties to St. Louis (Joe is, of course, a native St. Louisan, spawn of the Cardinals' "Hall of Fame" broadcaster Jack Buck, and himself broadcasts Cardinals games on occasion (having started his major league broadcasting career with the Cardinals), while McCarver played with the Cardinals for 12 of the 21 seasons he spent in The Show).

Fascinating factoid of the day: McCarver's Baseball Reference stat card is sponsored by ShutUpTimMcCarver.com:

Can't stand him? Neither can we!! Join the millions of McCarver haters around the world at our site!

So see, I'm not the only one who feels this way:



Len on 10.26.05 @ 10:48 AM CST [link] [ | ]

A few blog read around GEMS...

The clock ticks down towards High Noon by Driftglass.

2000 by Bilmon.

Brownie Really Wanted His Stiff Margarita BEFORE Katrina by Karen Russell.

and - Unfortunately, CNN is reporting NO Fitzmas indictments will be revealed yet.

So it’s still *Anticipation* in the waiting.

:-)

Karen on 10.26.05 @ 10:29 AM CST [link] [ | ]

No More Pardons

Add your voice to those insisting that there be NO More Pardons over the forthcoming indictments in the outing of Valerie Plame's CIA NOC status.

Use this link to send a letter on this to the Child-In-Chief. (They have a pre-prepared text for your editing to use as a template.)

Make your postion KNOWN to this administration - Today!

Hat tip to John Conyers (Huffington Post Op-Ed).

Karen on 10.26.05 @ 08:58 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

Anticipation....

Well, well - let's see Fitzmas, Sox win third World Series game in a row, soon the PA court will issue a ruling that is sure to take those IDer's down, Harriet Miers gets Borked and her nomination has cause the scales to fall away from a core of conservative CIC supporters.

Nationally historic sports curses - soon to be broken,

Evil government cabals - soon to be broken,

Evil religious cabals - soon to be broken,

Cronyism for the unqualified - soon to be broken.

Were just having a Banner MONTH. And still have the Regular Holiday season to look forward to.

I always love the Fall…when the “Aspens will already be turning …”

Hahahahhahaha!

Karen on 10.26.05 @ 07:58 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Good news for you Dilbert fans....

For the record, even though I am a geek, I'm not a big Dilbert fan. Yes, Dilbert can be amusing at times, but frankly, the newspaper comics world took a big hit when Gary Larson retired from "The Far Side", and when Bill Watterson hung up his spikes and retired "Calvin and Hobbes", that was the end of the newspaper comics world for me. "Dilbert", compared to The Big Two, is at best a mere third rate also-ran.

But for those of you who are Dilbert fans, you'll be pleased to know that Scott Adams has started a Dilbert Blog. In the Dogbert's New Ruling Class newsletter, Adams explains how he came to that momentous decision:

When I see news stories about people all over the world who are experiencing hardships, I worry about them, and I rack my brain wondering how I can make a difference. So I decided to start my own blog. That way I won’t have time to think about other people.

People who are trying to decide whether to create a blog or not go through a thought process much like this:

1. The world sure needs more of ME.
2. Maybe I’ll shout more often so that people nearby can experience the joy of knowing my thoughts.
3. No, wait, shouting looks too crazy.
4. I know – I’ll write down my daily thoughts and badger people to read them.
5. If only there was a description for this process that doesn’t involve the words egomaniac or unnecessary.
6. What? It’s called a blog? I’m there!

The blogger’s philosophy goes something like this:

Everything that I think about is more fascinating than the crap in your head.

The beauty of blogging, as compared to writing a book, is that no editor will be interfering with my random spelling and grammar, my complete disregard for the facts, and my wandering sentences that seem to go on and on and never end so that you feel like you need to take a breath and clear your head before you can even consider making it to the end of the sentence that probably didn’t need to be written anyhoo.

So enjoy.

Len on 10.26.05 @ 06:58 AM CST [link] [ | ]

From the Spam Folder this morning....

an email with the subject line: "With VIAGRA Soft Tabs You Can Screw A Horse".

Which raises the even more interesting question: why would I want to?

Len on 10.26.05 @ 06:06 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

In the movie, which takes place in a “not too distant future” (though if current space travel events are any indication, maybe all of the main characters should have been Chinese), something has gone awry at the Olduvai Research Station on Mars. Something called the Union Aerospace Corporation had been conducting archeological research there, and now they’ve lost contact with one of their science teams. It’s up to the Marines’ Rapid Response Tactical Squad to go there and sort things out, hopefully with lots of explosions and messy disembowelments.

The RRTS is made up of the usual multicultural, shallow-as-a-wading-pool suspects: Sarge (The Rock) is the steely-eyed squad leader, while Reaper (Karl Urban) is the Brooding Killing Machine with a Past. There’s also a psychotic Bible thumper, a pervert, the inscrutable Japanese guy, and two black dudes – one a stoic badass, the other a jive-talking pussy hound. Fascinating, I know, but let’s not forget that “Doom” wasn’t exactly a video game that focused on character development (the movie, in fact, would’ve been more accurate if it only had one guy). Knowing that the majority of these dudes are demon food tends to take the edge off any artistic outrage.
--Pete Vonder Haar [on the film Doom]

Len on 10.26.05 @ 06:03 AM CST [link] [ | ]

About that Government inside a Government...

He's not quite done about the evil "cabal"...

"...It takes firm leadership to preside over the bureaucracy. But it also takes a willingness to listen to dissenting opinions. It requires leaders who can analyze, synthesize, ponder and decide.

The administration's performance during its first four years would have been even worse without Powell's damage control. At least once a week, it seemed, Powell trooped over to the Oval Office and cleaned all the dog poop off the carpet. He held a youthful, inexperienced president's hand. He told him everything would be all right because he, the secretary of State, would fix it. And he did — everything from a serious crisis with China when a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was struck by a Chinese F-8 fighter jet in April 2001, to the secretary's constant reassurances to European leaders following the bitter breach in relations over the Iraq war. It wasn't enough, of course, but it helped.

Today, we have a president whose approval rating is 38% and a vice president who speaks only to Rush Limbaugh and assembled military forces. We have a secretary of Defense presiding over the death-by-a-thousand-cuts of our overstretched armed forces (no surprise to ignored dissenters such as former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki or former Army Secretary Thomas White).

It's a disaster. Given the choice, I'd choose a frustrating bureaucracy over an efficient cabal every time.

-- Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (LA Time Op-Ed)

Karen on 10.25.05 @ 08:21 PM CST [link] [ | ]

From the Jarring Comics Crossovers department:

"The Crossover You've Been Dreading": The Punisher Meets Archie

Len on 10.25.05 @ 06:18 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Is IT Science Yet?...

Off on a Slow Day...but spent part of it reading this most excellent Washington University Law Quarterly article: Is it Science Yet? Intelligent Design Creationism and the Constitution.

A long piece (149 pages) with a complete review of all the issues and legal/historical context for refuting the claims by the I.D. proponents. Well worth the time and effort to read through it.

Great Job by Matthew Brauer, Barbara Forrest and Steven Gey in comprehensively explaining and debunking the latest in a series of legsl skirmishes on this issue. Can't wait to see the end of the trial conclude and the Judicial opinion forthcoming in this matter.

:-)

Karen on 10.25.05 @ 05:28 PM CST [link] [ | ]

High atop the list of Holiday gifts I'll be giving myself.....

is The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.

In honor of the release of TCCaH, CNN gives us an update on the whereabouts and recent activities of Bill Watterson, creator of the devilish 6 year old and his preternaturally wise stuffed tiger.

Bill Watterson, 47, hasn't made a public appearance since he delivered the commencement speech in 1990 at his alma mater, Kenyon College. But he recently welcomed some written questions from fans to promote the October 4 release of the three-volume "The Complete Calvin and Hobbes," which contains every one of the 3,160 strips printed during its 10-year run.

Among his revelations:

• He reads newspaper comics, but doesn't consider this their golden age.
• He's never attended any church.
• He's currently interested in art from the 1600s.

Never attended any church? I knew there was a reason I loved Watterson and his work so much.

There are two things you have to admire about Watterson. First, you have to admire anyone that can walk away from a tremendously successful media property at the height of its popularity, while he's still on top of his game. Second, and more important in my mind, is his incredible artistic integrity. During its heyday, you could make a damn good case that "Calvin and Hobbes" was simply The. Best. Newspaper. Comic. Strip. Ever. And it was certainly the most popular of its time (possible exception: "The Far Side"). And in a time when syndicated comic strips were considered cash cows, especially for lucrative marketing and licensing deals (see, e.g., "Garfield"), Watterson was known for his unwillingness to market or license "Calvin and Hobbes".

Especially admirable, when you realize that if Watterson had licensed the rights to just one "Calvin" spin off--a stuffed "Hobbes"--he would have probably received wealth far in excess of that of Bill Gates. And that's just his share; whoever he'd granted the licensing rights to would be richer than Croesus as well.

This steadfast unwillingness to cash in on the "Calvin and Hobbes" cash cow makes me especially saddened when I see unauthorized "Calvin" merchandise out there. Like t-shirts, or the ubiquitous "Calvin pissing on a" [insert symbol of object of derision here]. Like the "Calvin pissing on a Chevy logo" you'll see on some Ford trucks. Or "Calvin pissing on a Ford logo" that you see on Chevy trucks. (I'm sure you can think of others).

Worst of all, though, is a Calvin sticker I see way too much of here in the Bible Belt. That's the "Calvin kneeling reverently in prayer in front of a cross" sticker.

This one pisses me off for two reasons. First and foremost is, of course, that it's an infringement on Watterson's rights to his character, and the violation of Watterson's own integrity in not exploiting Calvin for commercial gain.

But even worse, the production of that sticker rubs me the wrong way because it evidences such a complete and utter lack of understanding of everything that Calvin stands for (to the extent that Calvin stands for anything, which is debatable). Anyone who's a true "Calvin and Hobbes" fan knows that Calvin has reverence for nothing, and the likelihood of his kneeling reverently before the cross anytime before his 45^th birthday is about zero.

Now Calvin pissing on the cross would be much, much more in keeping with the character. And watching the Jebus lovers pop a few blood vessels in their brains wrapping their minds around that would be well worth the price of admission....

Len on 10.25.05 @ 08:04 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Even more sad news....

Air America Radio this morning is reporting that we've passed the 2000 dead mark in Iraq. The Iraq War Casualty Count is still sitting at 1999, for what that's worth.

UPDATE (1:02 PM): Now Air Am is going with the 1999 figure reported by Iraq War Casualty Count. Interesting....

Len on 10.25.05 @ 06:46 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Just in time for your second childhood....

Adult Sized Big Wheels.

It's at a time like this that I wish I was still in the Navy, and posted to someplace like Subic Bay, where we'd have weeks to months of very little to do, punctuated by days of frenetic activity (i.e., the fleet being away from port, versus the fleet making a port call; this is the JAG's version of the standard line about naval warfare: "hours of boredom punctuated by minutes of sheer terror"). During the slow periods, we'd find our amusement by engaging in activities like miniature golf tournaments and go-cart races (very elaborate, day long multiple elimination tournaments; you have a tendency to do that when you belong to a group of overeducated bastards who have a love of complexity for it's own sake, and a lot of time on their hands).

Somehow, if we could have gotten our hands on about six of these back then, we could have done some serious road racing around the base...

Credit: Tony Rickey, who apparently is letting Law Review get in the way of more important things. Like blogging. :-)

Len on 10.25.05 @ 06:42 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Sad news this morning....

Civil rights icon Rosa Parks, dead at age 92.

Requiescat In Pace, Ms. Parks.

Len on 10.25.05 @ 06:18 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

SPECIAL NOTE TO THE SPEAKERS OF FRENCH AND OTHER EXOTIC LANGUAGES:
Numerous quotations and bibliographic citations found in this book have been copied verbatim from the original sources. If you believe you have found a typographic error, you must prove it by showing that the original was incorrectly transcribed; believe it or not, your language has changed over the years, just as English has.
--Donald E. Knuth [partial "ground rules" of his system of paying readers for spotting errors in his magnum opus, The Art of Computer Programming]

Len on 10.25.05 @ 05:38 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Goldberg on Scowcroft...

In anticipation of the article "Breaking Ranks" by Brent Scowcroft, the New Yorker Magazine [for an Oct 31st edition] has this on-line interview about Scowcroft - provided by Jeffery Goldberg and their reporter, Amy Davidson: The Republican Rift.

Give it a read through.

Hat tip to Digby: and Digby's take on the new *lingo* coined by Goldberg in the piece is a GEM and worth it's own read through.



Karen on 10.24.05 @ 11:54 AM CST [link] [ | ]

For some folks...

...Life just couldn't be good enough. Decisions...decisions...

The best doubleheader ever?:

Lucky fans leave early from Soldier Field to head south for Game 2 of World Series:

"Around halftime of Sunday's Bears game, the march began. Sports fans clutching World Series tickets, strolling--nearly floating on the chill autumn air--from Soldier Field toward cars and trains and traffic and lines, hyped to spend a few more hours outside in the rain.

...

For those lucky enough to hold tickets to both games--and to witness a Bears win and a dramatic White Sox victory--a dreary Sunday in Chicago felt like a sunny spring day..."

Sheesh, some folks have all the *luck* to have tickets to EVERYTHING.

*smile*

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 10:45 AM CST [link] [ | ]

About those 'bAdministration' Successes...

In addition to this one about the Illinois lawsuit against “No Child Left Behind” act , a while back I issued a "challenge" of sorts for anyone defending this bAdministration to list five *successes* -Except "No Child Left Behind" was disqualified.

I promised a Whack upside their head for anyone showing temerity enough to put that boondoggle forward as a *success.*

So here is the National Report Card on the flat performances of testing results since the policy’s implementation:

"Reading scores among fourth- and eighth-graders showed little improvement over the past two years, and math gains were slower than in previous years, according to a study released yesterday. The disappointing results came despite a new educational testing law championed by the Bush administration as a way to improve the nation's schools.

Most troubling for educators are the sluggish reading skills among middle-school students, which have remained virtually unchanged for 15 years...

[snip]

...No one can be satisfied with these results," said Ross Wiener, policy director for the Education Trust, an advocacy organization that backed No Child. "There's been a discernible slowdown in progress since '03, at a time when we desperately need to accelerate gains. The absence of particularly bad news isn't the same as good news."

[snip]

Some scholars cautioned against tying the scores directly to No Child this early. "Let's put it this way," said Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, "reading scores were flat and math scores on the rise before No Child Left Behind, and reading scores are flat and math scores are still up after No Child Left Behind. It's impossible to know whether NCLB had an impact -- either positively or negatively..."

Here is the graph of results:



Hardly a stunning *Success* or any success at all. So, anyone out there got any *successful bAdmin policies* they'd like to list? Hahahahaha!

[Just remember the rules: To be a policy success - they have to have measured goals, fit within the purpose and design of the policy, and fit within the costs as laid out at their inception.]

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 10:38 AM CST [link] [ | ]

About that NOLA Flooding...

As I mentioned in an earlier piece about the NOLA shipping canal design flaws exacerbating the flooding from Hurricane Katrina:

"Investigators in recent days have assembled evidence implicating design flaws in the failures of two floodwalls near Lake Pontchartrain that collapsed when weakened soils beneath them became saturated and began to slide. They also have confirmed that a little-used navigation canal helped amplify and intensify Katrina's initial surge, contributing to a third floodwall collapse on the east side of town. The walls and navigation canal were built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for defending the city against hurricane-related flooding.
...
Experts now believe that Katrina was no stronger than a Category 3 storm when it roared into New Orleans, and Congress had directed the Corps to protect the city from just such a hurricane.

"This was not the Big One -- not even close," said Hassan Mashriqui, a storm surge expert at LSU's Hurricane Center. He said that Katrina would have caused some modest flooding and wind damage regardless, but that human errors turned "a problem into a catastrophe..."

-- Link Levee Failures to Design Flaws: Three Teams of Engineers Find Weakened Soil, Navigation Canal Contributed to La. Collapses

For "human errors" - read *Army Corps of Engineers*! But give the article a full read through and *you decide.*

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 09:50 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Squeezing 'Spongy'...

Seems like the Senate is about the put James "Spongy" Dobson through the wringer and squeeze out the information he so *coyly* referred to over the Harriet Miers nomination:

"...Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday that his panel is likely to require Dobson and perhaps others to testify about such purported conversations. Asked on CBS's "Face the Nation" whether the committee will "bring some of these people who said they were told things that perhaps they shouldn't have been told, like Mr. Dobson," Specter replied: "my instinct is that they'll be called. And the American people are entitled to clarification."...

That IS unless the Child-In Chief and Dick-Yourself and Blooming Shit-Head can *think* of a graceful way to scuttle her nomination after this weekends Camp David consultation and select a replacment candidate before the Congressional hearing begin in earnest.


Karen on 10.24.05 @ 09:20 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Aww...More Temper Tantrums from the Party of the Five Year Olds...

"Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because he knows they can take it. Lately, however, some junior staffers have also faced the boss' wrath.

"This is not some manager at McDonald's chewing out the help," said a source with close ties to the White House when told about these outbursts. "This is the President of the United States, and it's not a pleasant sight."

-- Thomas M. DeFrank (Daily News)

Hmmm...

Maybe we need to send the Child-In-Chief to his corner for a TIME-OUT.

Or settle him down for a good Long Nappie (with his favorite safety blankies: Cheney, Rove, Libby and Card.)

Better yet - a permanent *recess break* to his fake Texas ranch in Crawford via impeachment, while his underlings languish in a Federal Prison they can dub the "Western White House" - While we let some Grown-Ups run the Country! What a novel idea.

:-)

[A great funnie is this one...give the entire piece a read through.]

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 08:59 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Since Halloween is right around the corner...

Double helping of candy bowl research:

“David Kessler of MIT informs us of an unplanned experiment with a candy bowl:

MIT Sloan School has lots of candy sitting around on the various desks. I work in a cube where all the students and administrators come to drop off forms, ask questions, get guidance on a range of B-school miscellany. On the reception desk for them is a bowl of candy. It used to brim with a variety of candies but has slowly been whittled down to the one kind of candy that no one seems to like -- banana flavored Laffy Taffy.

The bowl was too big for it's space, so someone took it away and left the Banana Laffy Taffy in a small pile where the bowl was. No one touched the Banana Laffy Taffy. Some people even commented that it was so sad how no one liked this candy -- and they didn't take it either.

Today, Brian Pope, one of the students, arranged the Banana Laffy Taffy in 2 neat columns, and over the past hour since I've seen at least 4 people take one. Yup, a candy that no one has taken for a couple of weeks has suddenly started going like gangbusters because it is set out in orderly rows.

This comes on the heels of other candy bowl research news. An Associated Press report explains:

Scientists studying candy-jar psychology have confirmed what most of us know instinctively: Out of sight is out of mind.

Secretaries who were given Hershey kisses ate more of them when the jars were clear or on their desks than when the chocolates were in opaque containers or placed a short distance away....

The study was led by Brian Wansink, a Cornell University food marketing and eating behavior expert....”

BUT I like the Banana Laffy Taffy™. (Remember it's the Candy Corn™ everyone HATES!!)

*wink*

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 08:18 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Close (well, not that close), but no cigar....

A Slate column pointed me to an interesting clothing site: Jewish Fashion Conspiracy ("Putting the 'racy' back in conspiracy"). One of their products:

brought back a happy memory.

Back in the early '80s (late '70s to early '80s, to be precise), there toiled in the vinyards of The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field a journeyman infielder by the name of Ivan DeJesus (his main claim to fame now is for serving as trade bait, heading to the Phillies in 1982 in return for Larry Bowa and Cubs legend (and Hall of Famer) Ryne Sandberg). One of my favorite pastimes in law school (I attended A Highly Overrated Law School In Chicago Which I Refuse To Name Here, though I have mentioned it in the past) was cutting class to attend baseball games at Wrigley Field. And one day, when attending a game at Wrigley, I saw one of the funniest t-shirts I've ever seen. It said: "Jews for DeJesus". Much better, IMHO, than "Jews for Jeter". But you just had to be there.....

Once again, alas, Google Images fails me, so instead of a picture of the "Jews for DeJesus" t-shirt, I'll just have to settle for this:



dating from when Ivan did a stint with the Cardinals in '85

Len on 10.24.05 @ 08:12 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Today's Funnie...

From McSweeny's is this GEM:

THE NAMES
OF THE PRESIDENT
AND THE MEMBERS OF
THE PRESIDENTIAL
CABINET ACCORDING TO
THE ETYMOLOGICAL
BACKGROUNDS OF THEIR
FIRST AND LAST NAMES,
AND OF THEIR
MIDDLE NAMES WHEN AVAILABLE.*
BY JØRGEN G. CLEEMANN
- - - -

The Earthworker Who Engages in the Practice of Shrinking and Thickening Wool and Dwells Near the Thicket, President

The Brave Power Who Hails From the Oak Forest Around the French Town of Brieuse, Vice President

The Manly One Who Prepares Wool for Spinning and Weaving and Lives Near a Mound, White House Chief of Staff

The Bright Nobleman Who Is Son of the Battlemaker, Attorney General

The Fierce Warrior With Sweetness, Secretary of State

The Ruler of the World and the Ruler of the Home Who Hails From the Field of Wild Garlic, Secretary of Defense

The Wellborn Warrior Who Regularly Invokes the Name of God, Secretary of Agriculture

The Warrior Who Descends From the Ruler of the Army, Secretary of Commerce

The Little Pearl-Encrusted Scythe, Secretary of Education

The Bathhouse Builder Who Has Been Heard by God, Secretary of Energy

The Pious and Humble Man From the Beloved Gate That Lies in the Land of Many Yokes, Secretary of Health and Human Services

The Pious and Humble Man Who Is Descended From the Devil, Secretary of Homeland Security

The Battle-Ready Man Who Is Descended From One Who Believes in the Grace of God, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

The Graceful Tempest From the Northern Settlement, Secretary of the Interior

The Torch From the Orchid-Nest, Secretary of Labor

The Exceptionally Pale and Pious Man Who Has a Desire to Protect, Secretary of the Treasury

The Bright and Famous Supplanter Who Is Descended From He Who Represents the Victory of the People, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

- - - -
* Secretary of Transportation Norman Yoshio Mineta omitted due to unavailability of a reliable translation of the name "Mineta."

:-)

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 07:55 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Time to Remove the Two Foxes in the Oil Henhouse

Today’s editorial in The NY Times

“There's no serious disagreement that two major crises of our time are terrorism and global warming. And there's no disputing that America's oil consumption fosters both. Oil profits that flow to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries finance both terrorist acts and the spread of dangerously fanatical forms of Islam. The burning of fossil fuels creates greenhouse emissions that provoke climate change. All the while, oil dependency increases the likelihood of further military entanglements, and threatens the economy with inflation, high interest rates and risky foreign indebtedness. Until now, the government has failed to connect our crises and our consumption in a coherent way. That dereliction of duty has led to policies that are counterproductive, such as tax incentives to buy gas guzzlers and an overemphasis on increasing domestic oil supply, although even all-out drilling would not be enough to slake our oil thirst and would require a reversal of longstanding environmental protections.

Now, however, the energy risks so apparent in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have created both the urgency and the political opportunity for the nation's leaders to respond appropriately. The government must capitalize on the end of the era of perpetually cheap gas, and it must do so in a way that makes America less vulnerable to all manner of threats - terrorist, environmental and economic.

[snip]

"We know that the days of unlimited, inexpensive gasoline are over," William Clay Ford Jr., chairman and chief executive of the Ford Motor Company, said last week. So be it. Cheap gas is no longer compatible with a secure nation, a healthy environment or a healthy economy - if ever it was. The real question is whether we should continue paying the extra dollar or two per gallon in the form of profits to the Saudis and other producers, or in the form of taxes to the United States Treasury, where the money could be used to build true energy independence.

-- Gas Taxes: Lesser Evil, Greater Good

And not that these proposals to painfully reduce the consumption of petroleum-oil based fuels are not a temporary solution - BUT -- it doesn’t really go far enough in weaning the petroleum dependency at all and removing the root cause of this issue – Petroleum based fuels.

To read further, click on the “more” button.

Karen on 10.24.05 @ 07:36 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

Get in on the action....

More fun than your office's annual NCAA Tournament pool: The l'affaire Plame Pool. Predict who'll be indicted, and win..... well, some semi-celebrity, I guess:

Winners with the most correct answers in the Plamegate Pool will be identified by first name, last initial and city only, and will be announced the day the indictments are unsealed.

Len on 10.24.05 @ 07:09 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Link o'the Day: Turtle Pr0n...

Josh Schulz has all the luck. Back in the day, when I took my daughter to the zoo, all we got to see was an elephant pissing (to which my daughter, then about 2 or so, said, "Mommy, that elephant needs a diaper"). When Josh takes his daughter to the zoo, he gets to see (and take pictures of) turtles screwing.

There is nothing funnier at the zoo then turtles having sex. Nothing. Ever. The highlights are many and varied:

They make a weird noise. It’s like a honk every minute or so, just out of the blue: “honk”.

They don’t appear to move. Except every once in a while they twich. Then it’s back to standing pretty much still. And it takes forever.

I was seriously tempted to post Josh's picture of the inhuman spectacle here, but I won't deprive him of the hits. For a good laugh, go see it for yourself.

Len on 10.24.05 @ 07:01 AM CST [link] [ | ]

I wish I could be as hopeful....