New Year's Eve

Doing laundry and watching "DATELINE: Real Life Mysteries" on TLC. Ho-hum.

Laundry is done.

I'm not a party pooper and do plan on going outside on the terrace at midnight. I wonder how Lucky will react to the fireworks. (He wasn't living here on the 4th of July.)

Watching these shows about psychopathic killers, and having read the article on psychopaths in The New Yorker, helps me to put the situation with B. and the BF into perspective (seriously).

Nice fireworks, but nothing like the 4th of July (it's too late at night). Lucky was watching but would run back inside when he heard noisemakers and a dog yapping downstairs. It was chilly out there. When I came back inside from watching the fireworks, I closed the screen door but left the slider open. Some natural A/C tonight.

A year ago tonight, I remember B. was all dressed up to go to a Latino party downstairs by the pool, one floor below, off the terrace. (I hadn't been encouraged to go and wouldn't have gone anyway.) I even chilled a magnum of cider for B. to take. I remember B. and me standing out on the terrace before he left for the party (we celebrated ringing in the New Year here together with some champagne), and the person now known to be the BF looking up at the terrace, drink in hand, with his piercing, psychopathic glare. Then, when B. went to the party, I observed him hanging out with this guy. Little did I know.

Now I call them Bonnie and Clyde (with B. being Bonnie, of course).

Has Israel Revived Hamas?

Full Washington Post article here.

JERUSALEM -- In its efforts to stop amateur rockets from nagging the residents of some of its southern cities, Israel appears to have given new life to the fledging Islamic movement in Palestine. . . .

The disproportionate and heavy-handed Israeli attacks on Gaza have been a bonanza for Hamas. The movement has renewed its standing in the Arab world, secured international favor further afield and succeeded in scuttling indirect Israeli-Syrian talks and direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. It has also greatly embarrassed Israel's strongest Arab neighbors, Egypt and Jordan.

While it is not apparent how this violent confrontation will end, it is abundantly clear that the Islamic Hamas movement has been brought back from near political defeat while moderate Arab leaders have been forced to back away from their support for any reconciliation with Israel.

By choosing the waning days of the Bush administration to attack Gaza, the Israelis knew they would face no opposition from the leader of the so-called war on terrorism. Just as George W. Bush's misadventure in Iraq played into the hands of radicals and terrorists, this Israeli action will produce nothing less than that in Palestine. Let us hope that the Obama administration will see the consequences of what is not only a crime of war but also a move whose results are exactly the opposite of its publicly proclaimed purposes.

Tuesday night

Had doctor's appointment today. All good news. Again, cholesterol is a little high, but I have very high good cholesterol which counteracts the bad, so the doctor said I'm not in any kind of danger.

Tomorrow will probably be a short day at work. Gym will close tomorrow and New Year's Day at 4:00 p.m., so most likely I won't be going. I have food here to eat, in case the stores will be closed. And I can always eat out. Will be glad when the holidays are over, alas.

Today we emailed my thank-you graphic to the sweet-gifters at work. They loved it.

The doctor made me pull my shirt up today while he was checking me with the stethoscope (I sucked my stomach in). I apologized for putting on a few pounds over the holidays (weighed 173 at the doctor's in my street clothes). He said not to worry.

Monday night

Back to work and the gym today. Weighed myself tonight at the gym. I'm still about 4 lbs. over my normal weight, owing to all the sweets sitting around the office for the holidays. Today I finished off the home-made peanut brittle myself, so that's gone. I also had some chocolate-covered nuts and cookies (some of which were also chocolate-covered). They're almost gone, too. That's good. But then we had a birthday celebration today, and I had a piece of tangerine cream pie. (Fakey but tasty.) Today at work I created a thank-you card in Photoshop to be emailed to those people who gifted us the sweets.

I eat sweets in moderation but it's hard to resist eating more when they're everywhere in abundance and free. It's good that I don't keep sweets at home. I'll eat them if they're here. But, frankly, I'd rather eat pickles (and do keep them here).

I haven't heard from Home Depot in three weeks about the bill for the electrical work or their coming back to fix the moving sink. I realize it's the holidays and the Customer Care lady in Atlanta said to be patient. So I will. Meanwhile, the kitchen is fully functional, which is the most important thing.

Watching "Intervention" now and thinking about B. How these people lie.

'Obama song mars Republican race'

"Racially tinged song has become an issue in the battle for the leadership of the Republican party." From The Guardian (UK) here.

An offensive, racially tinged song entitled Barack the Magic Negro has become an issue in the battle for the leadership of the Republican party.

The song was included in a CD distributed by Chip Saltman, who is seeking to be elected the next party chairman.

Saltman, former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who fought unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination this year, sent out the CD as a Christmas present to party members. It is a compilation of songs critical of liberals entitled We Hate the US. . . .

'NYT Columnist Calls Out Obama on Warren Selection'

From The Advocate online here. (But see immediately below.)

New York Times columnist Frank Rich took to the Op-Ed pages Sunday to rail against President-elect Barack Obama for his selection of conservative pastor Rick Warren to deliver the opening prayer at January’s inauguration.

The Obama camp has attempted to justify the selection of Warren as a way to shine a light on the “wide range of viewpoints” in a “diverse and noisy and opinionated” America. But Rich, a columnist for the Times since 1994, says Obama should know better, saying the president-elect “knows full well that a ‘viewpoint’ defaming any minority group by linking it to sexual crimes like pedophilia is unacceptable.”

Liberal writers have been up in arms about Warren’s selection since the announcement was made. So too have evangelical voices, who claim Warren should have rejected the invitation because of Obama’s pro-choice (“pro-death” in their words) beliefs.

But this is perhaps the most visible column yet to come out of the opinion pages that really calls into question Obama’s rationale in choosing Warren, the Saddleback Church pastor who campaigned heavily for the passing of Prop. 8 in California.

In the column, Rich reasons that despite calls from liberal activists to remove Warren from the inauguration, Obama now has to follow through with his decision -- civil-rights icon Reverend Joseph Lowery, an outspoken supporter of gay rights, was selected to deliver the Benediction, though that announcement was rather overshadowed by the selection of Warren.

Rich then pushed the conversation forward by turning to Timothy McCarthy, a historian who teaches at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and “an unabashed Obama enthusiast” who served on his campaign’s National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Leadership Council. His question – what happens next?

McCarthy noted that Warren’s role at the inauguration is symbolic, saying that it is now time “to move from symbol to substance,” calling on Warren to “recant his previous statements about gays and lesbians” and on Obama to start following through on his promises to LGBT Americans.

McCarthy also urged “LGBT folks to choose their battles wisely, to judge Obama on the content of his policy-making, not on the character of his ministers.”

The column’s up note, Rich reasons, is that conservative evangelical America is on its way out, albeit slowly. After spending a half million dollars in Caliofnria to pass Prop. 8, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family has now had to lay off 20-percent of its workforce.

Warren’s new generation of leaders, he says, “departs from the Falwell-Robertson brand of zealots who have had a stranglehold on the G.O.P.” He points to the recent removal of top evangelical leader Reverend Richard Cizik – known for addressing global warming and, more recently, support for civil unions – as a sign of “old establishment’s panic.”

Rich ends the column with a call to action for 2009: “Here’s to humility and equanimity everywhere in America, starting at the top, as we negotiate the fierce rapids of change awaiting us in the New Year.”

'With "Advocates" Like These . . .'

Big Tent Democrat here. (Go to the links.)

who needs opponents? From the comments section to the Frank Rich column I wrote about last night:

I've been an advocate of gay marriage for 20 years but the behavior and uproar of the gay community has turned me against them and their causes the way no right-winger or religious nutjob could ever do. How dare they make this inauguration all about them! . . . Gays have only themselves to blame for the passage of Prop 8. They did ZERO outreach to the black and latino communities. They were so arrogant that they did not mount a proper opposition to Prop 8. When it passed they started looking for people to blame--stalking donors to Prop 8 and castigating blacks.

The more the gay community rants and attacks their allies, the more they will harm their cause. Calling Obama a bigot, homophobe and traitor (as many have) doesn't make me want to storm the barricades against Prop 8. It might also make Obama drag his feet in getting around to those issues.

([Bold] Emphasis supplied.)

You see, her "advocacy" for the civil rights of gays and lesbians depended on the "behavior" of gay and lesbian advocacy groups. I think there is an important lesson here. A lot of people who claim to be supporters of civil rights for gays and lesbians only support it so long as no one actually FIGHTS for civil rights for gays and lesbians. In my book, that makes you not much of a supporter. More of a non-objector to civil rights for gays and lesbians than an advocate. Good that there are non-objectors but do not think for a moment these folks are advocates.

The commenter sounds like a closet homophobe who's just come out of the closet. (Purple emphasis supplied.) I haven't made a big issue out of this myself, but I've certainly commented on it. It is important.

Report from Key West: 'Self-propelled semi-submersibles' carry cocaine

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Marlene Dumas slide show

Click here.

Sunday evening

Felt a little deflated today after spending the past two days with friend and family. Also, it's back to work tomorrow, which I rarely look forward to. Then on Tuesday I have a doctor's appointment to get some test results and on Friday a cleaning at the dentist. Of course, we have New Year's Day off.

I decided to play it by ear today. After running the dishwasher and making West African Tuna Casserole, I cleaned myself up and walked over to Starbucks. The weather was beautiful, so I lingered outside over two cups of coffee and about finished reading my magazine (the winter fiction issue of The New Yorker).

I'm not going to the gym tonight since I want to watch "60 Minutes" (all about Obama) and then two TLC shows about someone in Indonesia who is "part man, part tree." They're repeats but I haven't seen them. See here and here.

Saturday night

Had a wonderful day. Hung out with my cousin the librarian, from Tampa, and her husband and daughter, and their dog. We figured that I hadn't seen my cousin or her husband in 26 years, since their wedding day, to be precise, when I was a small child. :-) I'd never met their daughter, of course.

We did everything as we'd planned, in addition to a drive by FIU North Campus, which sits on the bay. First, lunch at T.G.I. Fridays, al fresco, then the drive-by, then Starbucks, al fresco, then my apartment to see the kitchen and the cats and the view from the terrace and the little Christmas tree they got me. Lucky went into hiding when we got there, but Bootsy was very happy to have some company and was even licking their hands. Bootsy loves being around people, the more the merrier. And he wasn't fazed by the dog. The dog, Sandy, was fazed by Bootsy, however. (My cousin said Sandy had been attacked by a feral cat when she was a puppy. Also, Bootsy is big.) Sandy's a cross between a chihuahua and a beagle and is very sweet and well-behaved, more beagle-sized than chihuahua-. The weather, by the way, was excellent for sitting outside, and of course Sandy was in her element. She even had her own chair at our table at Starbucks.

Maybe I'd forgotten or never knew that the husband has written and had published a number of children's books. He also teaches Advanced Placement high school English. He grew up near here and on the way down from Hollywood, he drove through his old neighborhood. (I assume my cousin and the daughter had never seen it.) The daughter is now studying architecture in Tampa and lives at home. Very nice, smart family. It was certainly worth getting up earlier than I normally do.

Next year I plan on taking a little vacation in Tampa. I'll probably stay a gay guesthouse in Ybor City, a quaint, old part of Tampa that has a lively nightlife.

Latest report on the toxic coal sludge spill

There is no "clean coal." As the guy explains, the pollutants that are no longer going into the air are now staying in the ash and spilling into your property. There's no getting away from these toxins. Also, the CO2, a "greenhouse gas," is still pouring into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

I'm glad to see we're nipping the "clean coal" public relations campaign in the bud. All it took was a disaster like this. It was just waiting to happen. And George Bush is working to loosen the regulations in this industry (coal ash is already unregulated--see earlier NBC report below). Time to clamp down on this dirty, antiquated and lethal industry.

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Friday night

Had a good day today. For one thing, Christmas was over and things were back to normal--so I was able to go to the grocery store and Starbucks and the gym. For another, met an old friend I hadn't seen in a year, though we keep in close touch. He lives in the next county up, but not really that far. (We both live near the county line.) We had lunch at Flanigan's, then came back here for him to see the new kitchen, then had coffee outside at Starbucks. Weather was pleasant today--not so humid, not gusty. He brought me some new-kitchen-warming gifts. Much appreciated. (He recently started the blog "Plunked Down on Plunkett Street.")

(I realize Starbucks may not have the cheapest or even the best coffee around (I happen to like their regular coffee, and it's only $1.76 for a tall cup, including tax), but I do like the ambience and the agreeable staff and, in particular, the ample, umbrellaed (and in places architecturally overhanging, so you can get out of the rain) outside seating area at this particular location, and, even more important, the fact that it's a short walk--across the street--from where I live. (You just have to look both ways as you cross the street, and that's no big deal.) Moreover the clientele is generally attractive. They also have wifi--if you'd like to bring your laptop and go on the Internet, as many people do. Plus I appreciate the fact that the company is environmentally and socially responsible and offers good benefits (including healthcare) to its employees.)

I also checked out some iridescent glass tiles at a tile store (Iberia Tiles) in the shopping plaza where the Starbucks is located. I don't need tiles from Spain or Portugal, but I wanted to see what the place had to offer. The stuff I'm looking at costs around $20/sq. ft. at that particular store, but I can probably get the same thing cheaper at a less upscale tile store that doesn't have such a spacious and luxurious showroom. The place was almost as big as a boutique furniture store -- can you imagine, to show tile.

Tomorrow I have to get up a little earlier than I normally would on a Saturday to meet my cousin from Tampa and her family for lunch at T.G.I. Fridays. I chose Fridays, which is just up the street from me and not far from where they're staying in Hollywood, since it has a nice al fresco dining area, and they have their dog with them. (She had suggested a place with outdoor seating to accommodate the dog, a chihuahua, I believe.) They'll be driving back here after lunch to see my place (they've never seen it) and I suggested we then have coffee at . . . Starbucks. After our visit, they'll head back to Tampa. I'm looking forward to it. Then maybe I'll do a little writing afterwards on my new short story.

Had fun tonight watching "What Not to Wear." That's a really good show. I enjoy it. Hadn't seen it in a while.

P.S. Weighed myself at the gym tonight. I've gained around 4 lbs., from indulging myself over the holidays. That will stop soon.

Good riddance, Bush (the video)

More on the toxic coal sludge spill

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'Breaking: American People Really Don't Like Bush'

Really. From TPM here.

As President Bush gets ready to leave office, a new CNN poll lays out the extent to which the American people despise him.

CNN asked respondents whether various positive attributes applied to President Bush. In all cases the answer was No, and in most cases it was overwhelming. The list just goes on and on:

Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think it applies or doesn't apply to George W. Bush:

Is a strong and decisive leader: Yes 45%, No 55%

Cares about people like you: Yes 37%, No 62%

Brought the kind of change the country needed: Yes 13%, No 86%

Is honest and trustworthy: Yes 37%, No 62%

Managed the government effectively: Yes 25%, No 75%

Is a person you admire: Yes 27%, No 72%

Shares your values: Yes 34%, No 65%

Generally agrees with you on issues you care about: Yes 34%, No 66%

Inspires confidence: Yes 20%, No 80%

Has united the country and not divide it: Yes 17%, No 82%

Was tough enough for the job: Yes 49%, No 51%

Can get things done: Yes 31%, No 69%

On top of this, 75% say they are glad Bush is leaving office, compared to only 23% who say they'll miss him. And 66% want him to get out of public life, with 33% saying he should remain active.

Bye-bye, asshole!

Obama's Christmas address

Arrest details on mom of Bristol Palin's boyfriend

What a sordid bunch! It's the gift that keeps on giving. Full AP story here.

Dec 25th, 2008 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend sent text messages to two police informants discussing drug transactions before her arrest on felony drug charges, authorities say.

An affidavit filed Monday says Sherry L. Johnston sent text messages referring to "coffee" as a code for the drug OxyContin.

The 42-year-old Johnston was arrested last week after state troopers served a search warrant at her Wasilla home. She is out on bail.

Johnston is the mother of 18-year-old Levi Johnston. Gov. Sarah Palin announced in September that her 18-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant and Johnston was the father. . . .

'I love men'

'Santa Baby'

(I found this later on Hullabaloo. This was two years ago, when she was 79. President and Laura Bush are in the audience.)

Eartha Kitt, sultry 'Santa Baby' singer, dies at 81

Full AP story here.

Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died, a family spokesman said. She was 81.

Andrew Freedman said Kitt, who was recently treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, died Thursday in Connecticut of colon cancer.

Kitt, a self-proclaimed "sex kitten" famous for her catlike purr, was one of America's most versatile performers, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third nomination. She also was nominated for several Tonys and two Grammys.

Her career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television. She persevered through an unhappy childhood as a mixed-race daughter of the South and made headlines in the 1960s for denouncing the Vietnam War during a visit to the White House.

Through the years, Kitt remained a picture of vitality and attracted fans less than half her age even as she neared 80. . . .

Merry Christmas

Was going to make my own coffee today, since I figured Starbucks was closed and I had some Caribou Coffee in the fridge. Before I made the coffee, however, I went downstairs to see what was happening at Starbucks, and it must be open, since there are a lot of people sitting outside. I decided not to waste time sitting over there, reading. Plus I haven't showered. Maybe I can get some work done on a story.

Lucky had never seen me make coffee before, so of course he was curious.

Aerial Footage of Tennessee Retaining Wall Failure (Footage from Tennessee Valley Authority website)

(From Firedoglake)

Coal is not "clean" energy. TVA website here.

Obama on vacation in Hawaii

New York Post photo gallery here.

Pope offends gays at Christmas

See here for more details.

'Mormons Gone Wild'

"After one man undresses missionaries for his calendar, LDS Church–owned Brigham Young University strips him of his degree." Advocate story (and more photos) here.

When they weren’t busy promoting the passage of California’s Proposition 8 in recent months, Mormon leaders tried their best to make Chad Hardy’s life hell. Riled by his “Men on a Mission” calendar of shirtless returned missionaries, elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicated Hardy -- a lifelong Mormon -- in July. Then in September, officials from the Provo, Utah–based Brigham Young University informed the 32-year-old entrepreneur, who had participated in the school’s graduation ceremony a month earlier, that his diploma would be denied. BYU says Hardy’s expulsion from the church placed him outside of the “good honor-code standing” necessary to award him his degree, which has been placed on nonacademic hold; Hardy contends that since he completed his coursework prior to excommunication, the rule should not apply. Meanwhile the 2008 skin-baring calendar has sold more than 10,000 copies, and Hardy -- who eschews sexual labels himself -- says the just-released (and “a little bit sexier”) 2009 incarnation is already “flying off the shelves.” . . .

'Obama To Use Lincoln's Bible At Swearing-In'

From MyDD here.

I agree with Josh Marshall, this is a nice touch:

On January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. The Bible is currently part of the collections of the Library of Congress. Though there is no constitutional requirement for the use of a Bible during the swearing-in, Presidents have traditionally used Bibles for the ceremony, choosing a volume with personal or historical significance. President-elect Obama will be the first President sworn in using the Lincoln Bible since its initial use in 1861.

What's more significant for me, though, than the choice of the Bible is that the transition team, with this press release, has decided to reveal the merely ceremonial nature of the Bible in the swearing-in. . . .

A California Carol

'Coal In The Stocking - And The Drinking Water'

From DDay here.

The water main break in Montgomery County, Maryland had some compelling visuals to it, with water pouring from the ground and drivers trapped in their cars, so it received some treatment on the cable shoutcasts today. It's a good thing, too, because the rupture of a 44 year-old pipe causing this kind of chaos does show the need for infrastructure repairs, not only as part of a larger fiscal stimulus, but to avoid catastrophes and their ancillary costs, and to maintain vital services which will have tangible benefits for years to come.

But a massive coal ash spill like we saw today in Tennessee - the result of a burst dam at a private coal processing plant - is actually far more dangerous with far more lasting consequences, even if the visuals aren't as stellar.

You're talking about hundreds of acres of toxic sludge, the residue plants create by burning coal to produce energy, which includes mercury, arsenic and lead, spilling into the tributaries of the Tennessee River, poisoning the water supply for multiple communities, including Chattanooga.

And it's a direct result of our continued reliance on an industry that makes us sick but uses slick PR terms like "clean coal," happily parroted by politicians of both parties, to maintain viability.

“This spill shows that coal can never be ‘clean,’” said Kate Smolski, Senior Legislative Coordinator for Greenpeace. “If the Exxon Valdez was a symbol of pollution 20 years ago, the Tennessee Coal Spill of 2008 is the symbol of it today.”

Incredibly, this spill occurs at a time when the Bush Administration is trying to loosen environmental rules that would allow the coal industry to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining into nearby streams. In other words, they want to make a disaster like this the norm. Environmental groups are suing to stop them, but what will stop the coal companies from their inattention to basic safety?

It's key that we use the opportunity of major fiscal stimulus to improve crumbling infrastructure. It would also be nice if, in the process, we started taking a critical look at companies whose very existence threatens public health and the future of a sustainable planet. And making sure that existence doesn't continue. Coal is not clean.

Tennessee sludge spill runs over homes, water

"Clean coal"? Full story here. (Emphasis added.)

A wall holding back 80 acres of sludge from a coal plant in central Tennessee broke this week, spilling more than 500 million gallons of waste into the surrounding area.

The sludge, a byproduct of ash from coal combustion, was contained at a retention site at the Tennessee Valley Authority's power plant in Kingston, about 40 miles east of Knoxville, agency officials said.

The retention wall breached early Monday, sending the sludge downhill and damaging 15 homes. All the residents were evacuated, and three homes were deemed uninhabitable, a TVA spokesman told CNN.

The plant sits on a tributary of the Tennessee River called the Clinch River. . . .

TVA spokesman Gil Francis told CNN that up to 400 acres of land had been coated by the sludge, a bigger area than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Video footage showed sludge as high as 6 feet, burying porches and garage doors. The slide also downed nearby power lines, though the TVA said power had been restored to the area.

Francis said Environmental Protection Agency officials were on the scene and estimated the cleanup could take four to six weeks.

Some of the goop spilled into the tributary, but preliminary water quality tests show that the drinking water at a nearby treatment plant meets standards.

"I don't want to drink it. It doesn't look healthy to me," Jody Miles, who fishes in the Clinch River, told CNN affiliate WBIR. "Do you reckon they can bring all this life back that's going to die from all this mess?"

Still, there is the potential for more sludge to enter the water supply through waste runoff. . . .

Although video from the scene shows dead fish on the banks of the tributary, he said that "in terms of toxicity, until an analysis comes in, you can't call it toxic."

One environmental attorney called that statement "irresponsible." The ash that gives sludge its thick, pudding-like consistency in this case is known as fly ash, which results from the combustion of coal.

Fly ash contains concentrated amounts of mercury, arsenic and benzine, said Chandra Taylor, staff attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

[After a smaller spill eight years ago, t]he water supply for more than 25,000 residents was contaminated, and aquatic life in the area perished. It took months to clean up the spill. . . .

Poll: Obama's honeymoon continues

Christmas eve

Today my employer let us go home from work two hours early for the Christmas holiday. (We have a four-day weekend.) The cats expected to eat when I got home (early as I was), so I fed them and we took a an hour's nap.

I'd been looking forward to having a coffee at Starbucks and doing some reading and then going to the grocery store, but both had already closed for the holiday. (A few people were nonetheless sitting outside at Starbucks. I suspect they drove there for a fancy Christmas coffee and then decided just to sit a spell before driving back.) Picked up some cash at the store and then drove to Taco Bell (by then I was getting a bit hungry and was thinking about a Mexican pizza). The dining room was closed but the drive-through was open, but I nixed that and decided to check out Burger King--I wanted to sit down, and not back at home in front of the computer and TV. BK's dining room was also closed, so I ended up at the Denny's just across the parking lot. I hadn't been there in years. I was pleasantly surprised. Had some really good nachos and a huge slice of coconut cream pie. It's the holidays so I'm indulging myself a little, but still I didn't expect to get so much pie--it must have been almost a quarter of a pie and very deep, served in a large bowl. I ate it all anyway. Had a cup of coffee with that but left there feeling bloated and rather tired (like I needed another nap). This morning I called the gym, by the way, and they said they were closing at noon (!). This would normally have been a gym day and I would gladly have gone, especially with all the indulging that I've been doing, with holiday treats sitting out everywhere at work. It'll be nice to get back to my little routine.

Tonight I talked with my friend in Quebec. He'd already gone through a bottle of wine, etc. Then some friends knocked on his door while we were on the phone and I said to go party with them--I'll call him back tomorrow. The weather up there is pretty bad. It was very humid here today and kind of misting, but not even cool. A bit gusty, though.

I have nothing planned for tomorrow, besides talking to a few people on the phone. Maybe I'll get my bicycle back in condition and take a ride. I'd had it locked up in the bike rack in the parking garage the whole time the kitchen was being remodeled. Now it's back in the apartment, out of the elements, and more accessible. I just need to blow up the tires and apply a little WD-40.

A Christmas carol

Monday night

I know postings have been scant. It's the holidays. Not a lot going on. Been on the phone with friends, etc.

No news is good news.

'Biden On Rick Warren Invitation: Obama Is Keeping His Promise To Reach Out'

From TPM here.

In an interview with Larry King set to air tonight, Joe Biden defended Barack Obama's selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration:

Barack Obama said you've got to reach out. You've got to reach a hand of friendship across the aisle and across philosophies in this country.

We can't continue to be a red and blue country. We can't be divided like we have been. And he's made good on his promise.

And I would say to the gay and lesbian community, they have nothing to worry about. Barack Obama, every aspect of his life, every aspect of his public life, and every commitment he's made relating to equality for all people, will be things that he will stick with and that they should view this in the spirit in which he offered the opportunity to -- to Mr. Warren.

. . .

Sunday night

Of course, Lucky still hangs out in the bathroom sink (when it's dry) to get attention.

Didn't work my ass off this weekend as I did last. Got a lot of rest. Next week is a three-day work week, so I'll have a four-day weekend. (It's Christmas.) I still have to do a deep cleaning on the bedroom floors; maybe I'll do it then. The rest of the place is fine and, at last, presentable for guests.

I'm meeting a friend on Friday at Flanigan's. We'll have a bite to eat and then end up back here. He wants to see the new kitchen, even though the backsplashes and painting aren't done. It'll be clean, though. (I cleaned it this weekend.)

Bootsy is doing well, too. I certainly don't neglect him. He gets a lot of love and attention. I just wish B. cared about him more. No word from B. at all. I'm going to write his mother a note tomorrow (I don't have her new phone number). I'd asked B. to ask his mother whether she'd like to have my almost-new counter-top microwave oven (since I got a new one installed over the stove). (She has my really old one.) I never got any response. Maybe B. never told her, since he's in the clutches of the psychopathic BF who keeps B. drugged up. (I'm not joking.)

B.'s mother sent me a very nice Christmas card and I also sent her a nice one. (Her card was the first one I received.)

World's tallest and smallest

Watching TLC tonight. Recently I saw a program on the tallest, and tonight the smallest. Both are from Mongolia. The tallest, Bao Xishun (b. 1951), is 7' 8.95" (236 cm). The smallest, He Pingping (b. 1988), is 2' 5" (73 cm) tall. (More photos here.)

Paul Krugman: 'The Madoff Economy'

Complete article here.

The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.

Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?

The financial services industry has claimed an ever-growing share of the nation’s income over the past generation, making the people who run the industry incredibly rich. Yet, at this point, it looks as if much of the industry has been destroying value, not creating it. And it’s not just a matter of money: the vast riches achieved by those who managed other people’s money have had a corrupting effect on our society as a whole.

Let’s start with those paychecks. Last year, the average salary of employees in “securities, commodity contracts, and investments” was more than four times the average salary in the rest of the economy. Earning a million dollars was nothing special, and even incomes of $20 million or more were fairly common. The incomes of the richest Americans have exploded over the past generation, even as wages of ordinary workers have stagnated; high pay on Wall Street was a major cause of that divergence.

But surely those financial superstars must have been earning their millions, right? No, not necessarily. The pay system on Wall Street lavishly rewards the appearance of profit, even if that appearance later turns out to have been an illusion. . . .

So, how different is what Wall Street in general did from the Madoff affair? Well, Mr. Madoff allegedly skipped a few steps, simply stealing his clients’ money rather than collecting big fees while exposing investors to risks they didn’t understand. And while Mr. Madoff was apparently a self-conscious fraud, many people on Wall Street believed their own hype. Still, the end result was the same (except for the house arrest): the money managers got rich; the investors saw their money disappear. . . .

At the crudest level, Wall Street’s ill-gotten gains corrupted and continue to corrupt politics, in a nicely bipartisan way. From Bush administration officials like Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who looked the other way as evidence of financial fraud mounted, to Democrats who still haven’t closed the outrageous tax loophole that benefits executives at hedge funds and private equity firms (hello, Senator Schumer), politicians have walked when money talked.

Meanwhile, how much has our nation’s future been damaged by the magnetic pull of quick personal wealth, which for years has drawn many of our best and brightest young people into investment banking, at the expense of science, public service and just about everything else?

Most of all, the vast riches being earned — or maybe that should be “earned” — in our bloated financial industry undermined our sense of reality and degraded our judgment.

Think of the way almost everyone important missed the warning signs of an impending crisis. How was that possible? How, for example, could Alan Greenspan have declared, just a few years ago, that “the financial system as a whole has become more resilient” — thanks to derivatives, no less? The answer, I believe, is that there’s an innate tendency on the part of even the elite to idolize men who are making a lot of money, and assume that they know what they’re doing.

After all, that’s why so many people trusted Mr. Madoff.

Now, as we survey the wreckage and try to understand how things can have gone so wrong, so fast, the answer is actually quite simple: What we’re looking at now are the consequences of a world gone Madoff.

Sunday evening

Sometimes I can't find Lucky. I walk all around the place, then I'll call him and he comes out of my bedroom. Now I know where he is--in my laundry basket. Good camouflage.

Christmas tree

My cousin sent this to me. It's a potted live Mediterranean cypress tree from Alabama. Came with a string of lights and a box of miniature ornaments. From ProFlowers. Also got pears and apples from Harry & David's (one box of which I sent to myself).

Sunday afternoon

Aloe in bloom on the terrace

A couple of weeks ago

Disgraced Evangelical Leader Ted Haggard Says He Struggles With Sexuality

Good grief! If he accepted himself as being gay, he could be a winner. Story here.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard says in a new documentary that he still struggles with his sexuality yet is committed to his marriage for the sake of his children.

Haggard, 52, resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired as senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs in November 2006 after a former male prostitute went public with allegations that Haggard paid him for sex and used methamphetamine.

A father of five, Haggard had said he bought the drugs but never used them. He confessed to undisclosed "sexual immorality" and has said, "I really did sin."

The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported Thursday that in the documentary, Haggard talks about a lifelong battle with his sexuality — and that he never claimed to be heterosexual.

"The reason I kept my personal struggle a secret is because I feared that my friends would reject me, abandon me and kick me out, and the church would exile and excommunicate me. And that happened and more," he says.

Haggard's wife, Gayle, says she is committed to Haggard.

"I know to restore the honor to our children is to help restore honor to their father," she says.

"The Trials of Ted Haggard," directed by Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is set to air Jan. 29 on HBO. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Haggard has agreed to promote the documentary.

Haggard moved his family to Arizona after the scandal and also lived in Texas. He re-emerged last month at a rural Illinois church, where he delivered guest sermons and said he was sexually abused as a second-grader.

He now sells insurance and, in the documentary, says he isn't successful.

"At this stage in my life, I am a loser," he says.

'Warren misstates marital history'

This aggravates me too. From Salon's War Room here.

If you haven't had a chance to read our own Mike Madden's fine reporting and analysis on the Obama-Warren controversy, it's good stuff. One statement from a video Rev. Rick taped in support of California's Prop 8, as partially quoted by Mike in the piece, really aggravates me.

That quote is this: "We should not let 2 percent of the population determine to change a definition of marriage" -- that definition being one man and one woman for life, of course, as he states moments earlier in the video -- "that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years."

This is simply not true. Different cultures have supported different definitions of marriage, to include the following, ahem, deviations from the pastor's purported pristine, 5,000-year tradition: polygamy, marriages involving children and/or forced marriages, marriages for dowry, divorce and remarriage, and now, increasingly, same-sex marriage.

Sure, some of the above deviations from the mythic, Ozzie and Harriet norm do, technically, involve just one man and one woman (or in the case of children, one man and one girl). But Warren clearly intends to imply the voluntary, adult, non-coerced, loving, biological or maybe adoptive child-bearing, straight, monogamous version. To even hint that this model has obtained, only and everywhere, for five millenia is a lie. From a pastor's goateed mouth, no less. . . .

Times change, thank God. I'm so glad that, in my lifetime, homosexuality has been scientifically studied and revealed to have a biological basis. There's no longer any justification for treating gays and lesbians as sinners and deviants and undeserving of the rights that others enjoy.

And, by the way, Jesus never said anything at all about homosexuality, much less that it was "wrong."* He's a guy for our time.

And I'm no proselytizer, or even much of a believer nowadays.
_____________________
*I used to have a red-letter edition of the King James Bible that my grandmother gave me for, I believe, a birthday present. (Unfortunately it got lost.) Everything Jesus actually said was printed in red type. Once I went through the entire New Testament, looking for something Jesus said about homosexuality. There was nothing, nothing even close. Why the evangelical Christians make such an issue of this nowadays is mostly based on hatred arising from fear and ignorance, while Jesus preached only love and forgiveness. And he certainly didn't preach exclusion from some stupid church. He was kind of anti-church himself, if I recall, and more concerned about the way society treated lepers and other social "misfits." I'm sure he'd be sympathetic to the gays nowadays.

If they disdain me, I have no use for them or their religion

From Americablog via TPM here.

Policy statement from Rick Warren's Saddleback Church ...

"Because membership in a church is an outgrowth of accepting the Lordship and leadership of Jesus in one's life, someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted at a member at Saddleback Church." [at a member?]

I was raised to be a better "Christian" -- a better person -- than the vast majority of these divisive evangelical types. But Obama has to placate them. He's just playing politics.

'In Private Memo, RNC Chief Concedes That GOP Is Bereft Of Ideas, Vows Change Of Direction'

But we knew that already. Look at the fix that Republican ideology has gotten us in. From TPM here.

In a frank and private memo sent today to Republican National Commitee members, the RNC chairman acknowledges that the GOP has grown too addicted to ideology, places politics before policy, and is bereft of ideas -- and that it's imperative that the party shift towards a genuine effort to develop concrete policy solutions to people's problems in order to rescue itself.

The memo, which we obtained from a Republican operative. was written by RNC chief Mike Duncan to explain the RNC's decision -- first reported by Politico -- to create a new in-house think tank called the "Center for Republican Renewal," which is devoted to coming up with new policies and ideas to chart a new direction for the party after November's devastating losses.

The memo -- which reflects just how deep a hole the party finds itself in -- also reveals some concrete details about the new think tank, including the appointment of Steven Duffield, the executive director of the GOP's 2008 Platform Committee, as the organization's new chief.

"Republicans have grown accustomed to having our party recognized as the `Party of Ideas,' but we must acknowledge that many Americans today believe the party is stale and does not deserve that label," reads one of the memo's starker assessments, adding that "we have not used our principles to provide solutions to the kitchen table concerns of middle-class America." . . .

Good luck with that.

Everyone knows by now that the Republican Party's main goal is making rich people richer, at the expense of everyone else. We've got to put the brakes on this fucking ideology. Laissez-faire capitalism doesn't work. And it's certainly not a traditional American concept. Our founding fathers conceived of publicly-provided fire protection and public libraries and universities, and funded them.

This Republican ideological trend to make everything a private enterprise to enrich the Republicans' cronies is a disgrace to our own traditions, in addition to being morally bankrupt and bad public policy.

Chuck Todd has more

See here first. I only watch NBC Nightly News (when I can), and I've appreciated Todd's reporting and insights. And he's nice to look at, too.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

'Pols Are Pols . . .'

Big Tent Democrat here.

and do what they do. Kos remembers this critical point:

Obama wouldn't be out there making perhaps the strongest statement in support of gays and lesbians by a president (though he's still not technically one, I know) if it wasn't for the sturm and drang this choice generated. It is precisely this backlash that has forced Obama to clearly affirm his commitment to equality. And it will be continued pressure that will force him to do the right thing on the issue. If we shut up, he'll take the path of least resistance. And that path of least resistance is kowtowing to the conservative media, the clueless punditocracy, and bigots like Warren.

Emphasis mine. Speaking for me only.

Wine Boosts Good Omega-3 Fats

Article here.

A glass or two of wine per day may increase the amount of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids in a person's blood, a new study suggests.

The study of European adults found that those who drank in moderation tended to have higher blood levels of omega-3 -- even when intake of fish, the major dietary source of the fats, was taken into account.

The link was strongest among wine drinkers, compared with those who favored beer and spirits. The findings suggest that wine in particular may affect the body's metabolism of omega-3 fats, according to the researchers, led by Romina di Giuseppe of Catholic University in Campobasso, Italy.

The results also point to an additional explanation for why wine drinking in moderation has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, the researchers report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Omega-3 fatty acids, found in oily fish like salmon and mackerel, are thought to protect the heart by lowering triglycerides (a type of blood fat), reducing inflammation, and preventing heart-rhythm disturbances, among other benefits.

For its part, wine may boost blood levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, reduce the chances of blood clots, and improve the function of the blood vessel lining. Some lab research has suggested that moderate amounts of wine or other types of alcohol may also change the body's metabolism of omega-3 fatty acids.

"That is exactly what we found in our population study," Di Guiseppe said in a written statement. "People drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, one drink a day for women and two for men, had higher concentration of omega-3 fatty acids in plasma and red blood cells independently of their fish intake."

The study included 1,604 adults between the ages of 26 and 65 from Italy, Belgium, and England. Because people in the three nations have substantially different drinking and eating habits, the researchers were able to zero in on the effects of different types of alcohol on omega-3 levels.

They found that moderate wine consumption was particularly linked to higher omega-3 levels.

This, Di Guiseppe's team notes, suggests that wine components other than alcohol bestow the benefit; antioxidant compounds called polyphenols may play a role, the researchers say.

(I have very high good cholesterol myself.)

'U.S. Rejects U.N.'s Gay Rights Statement, Cites "Don't Ask" '

I wonder if Obama would have seen this tabled. (I doubt it.) But we'll see what Obama does. From Advocate.com here.

A joint statement addressing homophobia and LGBT rights for the first time at the United Nations was tabled today, without the backing of the United States.

"We urge states to take all the necessary measures, in particular legislative or administrative, to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention," the draft document read.

The unprecedented gay rights declaration was proposed by the French, and read by Argentinean ambassador Jorge Arguello. The non-binding statement is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

The United States did not sign the statement, but former U.N. spokesman Richard Grenell said the U.S. was hung up on its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which bars out gays and lesbians from serving in the military.

"The fact that the Bush administration hired as many gays and lesbians with top secret security clearances in and of itself means that we are not criminals," Grenell said. "To later suggest that because of 'don't ask, don't tell' we can't support this resolution flies in the face of real compassion."

Grenell added that before he left his post in October as the longest-running American spokesperson to the United Nations, he explained to State Department officials that the U.S. should sign the statement immediately, as a means to show the Bush administration is compassionate and accepting. "Yet, they came up with this phony argument that legally they had a problem with 'don't ask, don't tell.'"

Sixty-six of the 192 member countries, including the full European Union, Central African Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Israel, and Japan urged the decriminalization of homosexuality on Thursday to fellow member countries. In addition to the United States, China, Russia, and all of the Arab nations refused to back the statement.

A rival statement, read by Syria, garnered 58 signatures, according to Bloomberg. Syrian envoy Abdullah al-Hallaq, reading the statement, said homosexuality could "usher into social normalization and possibly the legitimization of many deplorable acts, including pedophilia."

More than 77 countries find consensual same-sex relations to be punishable by death, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Association, known as the ILGA. Seven countries -- Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen -- punish homosexuality by death.

A lot more on the Rick Warren flap

Here ("Obama supporters want refunds") and here (Joan Walsh) ("The divisive, self-aggrandizing right-wing evangelist was a terrible choice to give Obama's invocation") and here ("an overture to conservative Christians who rankles some Obama supporters"?) (grammar!) and here ("Barack Obama knows liberals are upset he picked the conservative evangelical preacher to pray at the inauguration. And he doesn't care.")

I frankly don't care. Obama is just being a politician here. And the only way he'll be able to get anything done -- and he has lots to do -- is to get everyone behind him, even the bigots.

More on the Rick Warren flap (and more)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Miami doctor sentenced to 30 years in Medicare HIV treatment scam

Doctors in the Banana Republic of Miami-Dade County are notorious for scamming the government. Story here.

MIAMI -- A Miami doctor has been sentenced to 30 years in prison -- one of the stiffest penalties given for Medicare fraud -- for her role in an HIV infusion fraud scheme.

A federal judge said Ana Alvarez-Jacinto lied about her role in the scam. Alvarez-Jacinto was sentenced Wednesday beyond the 22 years recommended by prosecutors. Sandra Mateos, a nurse who also participated, was sentenced to seven years.

The duo were found guilty in October for their role at a bogus AIDS clinic, one of 12 run by the Benitez brothers. The brothers, who were indicted for stealing $110 million from Medicare, are on the lam.

See article about the convictions here.

Evidence at trial established that both defendants worked at Saint Jude Rehab Center Inc. (St. Jude), a clinic that purported to specialize in treating HIV/AIDS patients. St. Jude was operated and owned by indicted fugitives Carlos Benitez and Luis Benitez, and managed by convicted co-conspirators Aisa Perera and Mariela Rodriguez.

Evidence at trial proved that between June and November 2003, Alvarez-Jacinto, with the assistance Mateos, ordered hundreds of medically unnecessary HIV infusion treatments at the clinic. Evidence at trial also established that HIV-positive Medicare patients were brought to the clinic by Carlos and Luis Benitez for the purpose of getting cash payments in exchange for allowing the clinic to bill for unnecessary treatments. Testimony at trial revealed that defendant Mateos and other co-conspirators paid the patients cash kickbacks of approximately $150 per visit. After patients had been paid, they agreed to allow Alvarez-Jacinto and her co-conspirators to prescribe, and sometimes administer, unnecessary infusion treatments. According to testimony at trial, St. Jude then billed Medicare for approximately $11 million for the unnecessary services. For those claims, Medicare paid more than $8 million to St. Jude.

I would think here it's Medicaid, not Medicare, fraud. Medicare is for the elderly. (But - who knows - I could be wrong here.) Usually people with HIV are treated through Medicaid if they don't have insurance through their employer.

See here also.

HRC Slams Inclusion of Antigay Reverend Rick Warren in Obama Inauguration

Asshole. Full Advocate story here.

The Human Rights Campaign and gay and lesbian activists are up in arms over the Obama transition team’s announcement that the Reverend Rick Warren has been selected to deliver the invocation at his inauguration in January.

The HRC sent a letter to president elect Barack Obama Wednesday expressing their disappointment in the selection of Warren. . . .

The HRC’s letter to Obama goes on to say, "Rev. Warren spoke out vocally in support of Prop 8 in California saying, 'there is no need to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population ... This is not a political issue -- it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about.'"

Garrison Keillor: "Do not flush while seated on toilet"

Hilarious. Read the whole thing here.

Dec. 17, 2008 - It is rather haunting, the notice above the Flush button in the toilet on the airliner, "Do Not Flush While Seated on Toilet." One imagines the engineers of the toilet running tests with flush dummies with big flat butts and the suction ripping the stuffing right out of them, and the engineers thinking, "Oh criminy, you mean we wasted three years on this sucker?" So lawyers were brought in to write the warning, which had to be short enough to be printed in large type so that geezers would see it, who are the ones most likely to flush while seated.

So they limited themselves to those seven words and eliminated "Flushing While Seated May Suck Your Colon Out Of You And Cut You A New Orifice While Changing Your Gender In Ways You Don't Even Want To Think About."

I sat down on the closed toilet seat to ponder this and saw that, from the angle of the sitter, the warning notice is not all that prominent. A person could sit there and not notice those seven words, or mistake them for something innocuous such as "Do Not Flush Wallet Down Toilet" or "Use Only As Much Toilet Paper As You Need," the sort of signage that's written by morons for idiots, and so -- distracted perhaps by sudden turbulence or feeling rushed because others are waiting -- he presses the Flush button and suddenly feels the toilet grip his hinder like a python seizing a rat. He tries to pry himself loose. No go.

Now the flight attendant is tap-tap-tapping on the door. "Are you all right?" she asks. . . .

Quote of the Day

From Digby here.

From Shakes:

And all I could think when I was reading this story was how extraordinarily fucked up it is that, if you want to be a parent, you're better off being a gay male penguin in China than a gay male human in Arkansas.

Do click over for the sweet story behind that quote.

From the story:

One of the stories to which Pet linked in the Morning Readings is about two gay male penguins who were given eggs to hatch and "turned out to be the best parents in the whole zoo," resulting in the zoo—Polar Land in Harbin, China—promising to "try to arrange for them to become real parents themselves with artificial insemination."

You can click on this to enlarge.

'Poll Finds Support for Obama's War Views'

Less Pessimism on Iraq, But 70% Back Pullout

Caught this on the elevator at work today. Story here.

Americans are more upbeat about U.S. prospects in Iraq than at any time in the past five years, but nearly two-thirds continue to believe the war is not worth fighting and 70 percent say President-elect Barack Obama should fulfill his campaign promise to withdraw U.S. forces from the country within 16 months, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Meanwhile, most Americans support the war in Afghanistan and a slim majority said the conflict there is essential to battling global terrorism, the poll found. Yet, a majority of Americans also believe that the U.S. military action there has been unsuccessful.

Public perceptions of the two wars appear to largely dovetail with the views expressed by Obama, who has promised to begin withdrawing most combat troops from Iraq shortly after he takes office Jan. 20. Obama has advocated shifting more U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, where the U.S.-led coalition has been struggling to quell resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. . . .

'Investigators: Adam Walsh Murder Case Is Solved'

The father hosted the "America's Most Wanted" TV show and was an activist in crime-solving. Full story here.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A serial killer who died more than a decade ago is the person who decapitated the 6-year-old son of "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh in 1981, Hollywood police said Tuesday.

The announcement brought to a close a case that has vexed the Walsh family for more than two decades, launched the television show about the nation's most notorious criminals and inspired changes in how authorities search for missing children.

"Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?" an emotional John Walsh said at Tuesday's news conference. "We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know. The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over." . . .

The suspect, Ottis Toole, had twice confessed to killing the child, but later recanted. He claimed responsibility for hundreds of murders, but police determined most of the confessions were lies. Toole's niece told the boy's father, John Walsh, her uncle confessed on his deathbed in prison that he killed Adam.

Police said Toole was long the prime suspect in the case and that they had conclusively linked him the killing. They declined to be specific about their evidence and noted they had no DNA proof of the crime, but said an extensive review of the case file pointed only to Toole, as John Wash long contended. . . .

Adam's death, and his father's subsequent activism on his behalf, helped put faces on milk cartons, shopping bags and mailbox flyers, started fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores. It spurred the creation of missing persons units at every large police department.

It also prompted national legislation to create a national center, database and toll-free line devoted to missing children, and led to the start of "America's Most Wanted," which brought those cases into millions of homes. . . .

See ABC News story here.

'25 Cars Broken Into In One Day At North Miami Neighborhood'

This happened right down the street from me. I'm glad we have an enclosed secure parking garage where I live, with security cameras everywhere. It would be difficult for a thief to get into our garage unless the gates were stuck open (which sometimes they are, but they get repaired quickly these days). Story here.

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. -- At least 25 car owners were left without radios, baby strollers and children's Christmas presents after the items were stolen from their cars Monday morning, residents said.

Local residents said they are trying to figure out how so many thieves were able to organize and execute a raid in their North Miami neighborhood at the 135th Street canal enclave, a street where police officers also live.

"We always take precautions like any other neighborhood, but I guess under-patrolled areas are always easy targets," resident Jake Barnes said. "Somehow they got past our security gates and robbed more cars than I've ever seen before."

Two different high-rise communities were attacked on the dead-end street. Security fences were breached and car windows were broken throughout open-air parking lots.

Residents of Keystone Towers, one community that was robbed, are blaming building management for the mess. With 40 percent of the two buildings unoccupied and many owners in foreclosure, they said that condo fees don't support necessary security for the residents.

The situation leaves residents and their families easy targets for Miami's criminals.

On Tuesday, Keystone's management notified residents they do not carry adequate insurance to cover Monday's losses.

Tuesday night

This one from today, when I got home from work. Lucky was back in the bathroom sink, waiting for his supper.

Bush's 'Nightmare Before Christmas'

'Bush shoe-thrower "tortured"'

Bush should have stayed home and not done his last act of meddling in these people's affairs. I would be provoked, too. From Al Jazeera English here.

An Iraqi journalist arrested after throwing his shoes at the US president has been tortured during his detention, his brother has said.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, who called George Bush "a dog" during his attack, was beaten by security guards after his arrest, Durgham al-Zaidi told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

"We know that [Muntazer] has been tortured and his hand was broken. I asked them to go and check on him in the Green Zone [in Baghdad]," he said.

Al-Baghdadia television, Muntazer's employer, reported that al-Zeidi had been "seriously injured" while in custody.

The channel has urged the Iraqi government to allow lawyers and the Iraqi Red Crescent to visit him.

The Iraqi military has denied that al-Zaidi has been mistreated while in detention. . . .

The court may send him for trial under a clause in the Iraqi penal code that makes it an offence to try to murder Iraqi or foreign presidents.

The sentence could be up to 15 years jail, Birqadr said. . . .

How is throwing one's shoes at anyone an act of attempted murder? It may have been technically an assault (in our legal system at least, or perhaps more accurately an attempted battery, but I'm no lawyer), but it in the Iraqi culture it was meant as an insult. See here also.

More on the shoe attack

I don't think the guy should go to prison. Maybe you could call it a "crime of passion."

Another Florida man accused of sandwich assault

AP story here.

French writer wins 2008 Nobel in literature

The New Yorker magazine recently published a short story by J.M.G. Le Clézio, who won this year's Nobel Prize for literature. I finished reading the story yesterday (it was in the Oct. 27 issue). It was delightful. Unfortunately, you can't read it for free.

Here's some background.

Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, little known to American audiences before being named the winner of the literature prize, is getting another introduction to U.S. readers: His work is appearing for the first time in The New Yorker.

"We thought lots of people would be very interested to see what his work was like," said New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman, whose translation of the short story "The Boy Who Had Never Seen the Sea" will appear on newsstands Monday. "We also wanted to move fast and publish it while people still remember his name."

Le Clezio, 68, was praised by the Swedish Academy for his "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" in such works as "Terra Amata," "The Book of Flights" and "Desert." Although he is ranked among the greatest living French writers, even leading American critics - including Treisman and New Yorker editor David Remnick - acknowledged they had not read his work.

A week before the award was announced, Academy Permanent Secretary Horace Engdahl told The Associated Press that the United States was too insular and ignorant to challenge Europe as the center of the literary world; Remnick was among those who objected.

Originally published in "Mondo et Autre Histoires" ("Mondo and Other Stories"), a 1978 collection, "The Boy" tells of a young loner and boarding school student named Daniel whose passion for the sea leads to his mysterious disappearance and raises him to mythical heights among those who knew him - and among the many who didn't.

"We talked about the usual school things," Le Clezio writes, "our math problems, our Latin translations, but always we were thinking of him, as if he really were a kind of Sinbad, still making his way around the world."

Treisman said that after the Nobel was announced, on Oct. 9, she contacted Le Clezio's publisher, Gallimard, who gave permission for The New Yorker to publish work from "Mondo." Treisman said she chose "The Boy" for its language and narrative and imaginative power.

Asked why she had never read Le Clezio, even though she was fluent in French, Treisman laughed and responded: "I do have an awful lot to read. I try to keep up with what's happening and I'm aware of quite a few writers in France right now, but I had no particular reason to read his work before this (the Nobel).

"So this was a big prod from the Nobel Prize committee."

Le Clézio lives in New Mexico part of the year. He spent much of his childhood on the island of Mauritius, off the east coast of Africa, where the now-extinct dodo bird lived.

Sunday night

Talked to my friend in Ft. Lauderdale/St. Louis tonight while making beef Stroganoff and doing a load of laundry. This is my friend who has the dog that was paralyzed. Dog is doing fine. Off meds now (was on prednizone to help heal her nerves). His BF is not doing well, however. The weekend before Thanksgiving he was in a straitjacket at the hospital. I don't know whether this was before or after he had a fit and destroyed his psychiatrist's office. My friend says he's a schizophrenic and won't take his meds, but the way my friend describes him, it sounds like the BF has multiple personality disorder.

Tonight, when I had almost finished pulling my work clothes one by one out of the dryer and hanging them on hangers, the dryer malfunctioned and wouldn't stop spinning when I opened the door. Some of the rest of the stuff fell out on its own, but some kept spinning around. I ended up using a heavy-duty coat hanger to knock them loose. I wasn't about to stick my arm in there. I just called the security guard about to tell him about it. Someone could get hurt.

Finished off the Stroganoff with sour cream and am boiling some egg noodles now. I'll take some of that to work tomorrow. This is kind of a poor man's Stroganoff my mother used to make with round steak. I braise it in V-8 juice and onion till the meat's tender. Tonight I used an eye of the round roast that was on sale at Publix for $2 off per pound. I slice the meat into strips, as my mother used to do. This was a popular dish in our household when I was growing up, and I still make it.

I'll be glad when the holidays are over and things are back to normal. I'm taking the holidays pretty well this year, however. Usually I get in kind of an agitated depression. It takes a lot of work for me to keep myself together under normal circumstances, and I find the holidays distracting, and draining. (I'm half-joking here.)

Maybe things are different this year because so much of the year wasn't normal anyway--with the horrible break-up with B., Lucy's sad death which I had to orchestrate because she got so sick*, and the kitchen work dragging on for so long. But now that the kitchen is functional, things are relatively normal now despite the holidays, and I'm happy. I just can't stand all the Christmas shows and Christmas music everywhere and all the hype. Of course I find myself humming Christmas carols. But you can bet I'll be glad when this year is behind me.

Made a big dent this weekend getting the place back in shape after the kitchen project. I think I'm going to tackle my bedroom next, which still has vermicelli on the floor which leaked out of one of the storage bags for kitchen stuff. (Not a lot!)
_____________
*She was a cat, but not just a cat. She was my little spirit. Thank goodness I found Lucky. Every day he makes me laugh with his antics. He's very special, and Bootsy now likes him too. We're a happy little family here. It's just too bad the cats don't get the attention they used to get when B. was here during the day, but there's nothing I can do about that.

Obama's weekly address

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s Wedding Met With Protesters

Maybe he's bi and is doing Geraldo Rivera on the side. From Advocate.com here.

When Florida Gov. Charlie Crist tied the know over the weekend in St. Petersburg Florida, some 250 peaceful protesters from Impact Florida stood across the street wanting to know, according to one t-shirt, “Congratulations Governor Crist: When can I get married?”

The conservative governor did an about face on gay rights this year when he openly endorsed the state’s Amendment 2, which wrote a ban on same-sex marriage into the constitution. Crist had previously said he wouldn’t comment on the issue.

According to reports, the protest was a peaceful one. Numerous high-profile guests, including TV personality Geraldo Rivera, attended the ceremony.

When asked last week about the gay rights group’s plans to protest his wedding to 39-year-old beard manufacturer Carole Rome, he said, “They have a First Amendment right to do so.”

Crist was one of the early names mentioned as a potential running mate for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, but was thought to be a long shot because of long standing rumors the politician is gay.

Crist announced his engagement earlier this year.

A beard manufacturer, no less.

What the shoe-thrower said (translated)

From Firedoglake here.

Harvard law prof. Elizabeth Warren oversees financial bail-out

I saw her being interviewed on TV the other day and was impressed. I'd been worrying about all that money and who was going to steal it (or had already stolen it), the way Bush's cronies stole all that money in Iraq. From TPM.

Elizabeth Warren is the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel appointed to oversee and scrutinize the TARP program and that $700+ billion of public bailout money. Long time TPMers know Elizabeth has run the Warren Reports blog at TPMCafe since 2005. The panel has now set up its own website at cop.senate.gov. And Warren has taped what I assume will be the first of many video updates on the panel's work.

Palin's 'Russia' quote tops list of memorables

Full AP story here.

Dec 14th, 2008 NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Sarah Palin lost the election, but she's a winner to a connoisseur of quotations. The Republican vice presidential candidate and her comedic doppelganger, Tina Fey, took the top two spots in this year's list of most memorable quotes compiled by Fred R. Shapiro.

First place was "I can see Russia from my house!" spoken in satire of Palin's foreign policy credentials by Fey on "Saturday Night Live."

Palin actual quote was: "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

Palin also made the third annual list for her inability to name newspapers she reads. When questioned by CBS anchor Katie Couric, Palin said she reads "all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years." . . .

"This quote helped shape the election results," he said of the Russia quote. "As it sank in the public realized this was someone really, really inexperienced and perhaps lacking in curiosity about the world." . . .

Hi-larious

Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, got a black eye in the mêlée from someone's microphone. (Photoshopped--you can click on photo to enlarge)

Shoes thrown at Bush

The video

He almost got him, too!

Sunday afternoon

Got up a little after noon feeling good -- surprisingly not achy from yesterday's housework. Ate big bowl of pot roast and then tackled the kitchen floor.

It's about as clean as it can get, although next time I'll use a little Clorox on it. First I mopped it, then went over some spots with Fantastik, then scrubbed each tile with a scrub brush, then wiped them down with a rag, using a razor blade to scrape up paint spatters. Last night I'd used a wire brush to clean the grout.

Now I have to water those pesky plants on the terrace.

Bush sneaks in laws to undermine Obama

The lame-duck Republican team is rushing through radical measures, from coal waste dumping to power stations in national parks, that will take months to overturn, reports Paul Harris in New York

What a legacy. From The Observer (UK) here.

After spending eight years at the helm of one of the most ideologically driven administrations in American history, George W. Bush is ending his presidency in characteristically aggressive fashion, with a swath of controversial measures designed to reward supporters and enrage opponents.

By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to undo.

Dozens of new rules have already been introduced which critics say will diminish worker safety, pollute the environment, promote gun use and curtail abortion rights. Many rules promote the interests of large industries, such as coal mining or energy, which have energetically supported Bush during his two terms as president. More are expected this week.

America's attention is focused on the fate of the beleaguered car industry, still seeking backing in Washington for a multi-billion-dollar bail-out. But behind the scenes, the 'midnight' rules are being rushed through with little fanfare and minimal media attention. None of them would be likely to appeal to the incoming Obama team. . . .

Outgoing presidents often use the loophole in their last weeks in office, but Bush has done this far more than Bill Clinton or his father, George Bush sr. He is on track to issue more 'midnight regulations' than any other previous president. . . .

'Bush Makes His Final Visit to Iraq'

From The New York Times here.

"President Bush ducked as a man threw his shoes at him during a news conference with Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, in Baghdad. The president was uninjured."

"Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, tried to block President Bush when a man threw his shoes at the president during a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday."

What a legacy.

An Iraqi accompanying the pool of reporters . . . said the man had shouted, “This is a farewell kiss, dog.”

See here too ("Official History Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders").

'Marching through Georgia'

This guy is trouble. See New Yorker abstract here. Audio here.

Saturday night

Enough cleaning. Then after I'd cleaned this floor, I went to move the plant in the blue pot and it tipped over, spilling dirt everywhere. So I had to move everything and re-clean it from scratch. The plant (a two-year-old amaryllis) has been banished to the terrace. It grows fine but will never bloom again unless I stick the bulb in the refrigerator for a month (or something). The plant was lopsided and too heavy for the pot.

The living room at least is basically back to normal--no trace of the chaos caused by the kitchen remodeling job--plus I cleaned some more floors. Got a lot of exercise, so I'll skip the gym tomorrow and clean the kitchen floor. I still have to do the bedrooms. Got a start on one of them today.

Enjoyed listening to my house music. I hadn't listened to those songs in a year. (I haven't listened to any CDs at all.)

I think maybe the work today was good physical therapy for my left shoulder. Normally it aches and is sensitive (and makes grinding noises), but now it's like normal.

Saturday evening

Had two cups of black coffee at Starbucks, then came home and cranked up the dance music. That got me motivated. On my hands and knees, cleaning the tile floor in the living room. (Wish I had a picture of that.)

Taking a break from my chores. Found two of B.'s pills under the TV: a Diovan and a Crestor (for blood pressure and cholesterol, respectively). These are not the ones that made him happy, like Xanax (among others), which he went into rehab to get off of. When he tried to get off them cold turkey (after his best friend died of a drug overdose), he had seizures, which scared the hell out of me. I even called 911. B. was bleeding from his mouth from biting his tongue and had hit his head on the floor (and ended up with black eyes). He was on the floor seizing when I found him. A throw rug was also smouldering, since he'd dropped a cigarette on it. Fortunately I got up from a nap in time to discover this. The emergency squad took him to a hospital.

Fla. Gov. Crist weds

See here (includes funny video). The governor looks natty in his tux.

Saturday afternoon

Was up late last night talking to my friend in Canada and making a pot roast. Had a good night's sleep. Eating pot roast now. Turned out good, considering I used frozen vegetables. Gravy is rich and delicious.

Just ordered a few gifts from Harry & David. Got free shipping. Yea! (Saved $32.17.) Sent myself a gift, also--pears, apples, etc. Their pears are the best.

Now I have to get motivated and continue cleaning here.

Another Wall Street crook exposed

Another failure at properly regulating business so that these greedy, immoral (possibly anatomically defective) people don't wreck our economy and our way of life. These people should be put in prison.

Friday night cat blogging

Something new Lucky does to get attention, lying in the bathroom sink.

Sick of politics

[Also revised.] Now that Obama has been elected and George Bush and his team are on their way out, I won't be delving too deeply into the day-to-day vicissitudes of politics. I'll leave that up to Stephanie Miller, Tweety (Chris Matthews), Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow and the full-time political bloggers (most of whom don't have day jobs).

I have extreme confidence in Obama. He knows what has to be done and how to do it, and I don't worry that the Republicans will try to undermine him (as they're already trying). Obama and his team are smarter than they are and know how to deal with it. Plus, the Radical Right's immoral winner-take-all economic policies have been exposed for the harm that they've caused the American way of life and the prosperity of other countries as well. The American people saw this and voted accordingly. I'm happy about that. I'd been so afraid that the Republicans would be able to snooker the people yet again into voting against their best interests by riling them up about gays and national security.

Need it be repeated that the 9/11 attacks happened on George Bush's watch, while his new administration was pre-occupied with attacking Iraq without provocation. (And then when 9/11 happened, they tried to blame it on Iraq.) People know this now, as much as the Bush Administration lied about it in an attempt to convince the American people otherwise.

I do think (and I'm no historian) that George Bush will go down in history as one of the worst presidents ever, if not the worst.

And Bush talks now about "freeing Iraq" as his legacy. Bullshit. The truth is that women are worse off now than they were under Saddam Hussein (as are gays). The ruling theocratic types are taking the country back in time (just as the theocratic types have tried to do here, and are failing).

George Bush has no positive legacy that I can see. By invading Iraq without provocation, George Bush has spawned new enemies for the U.S. by radicalizing otherwise innocent and perhaps open-minded (and young) people and creating ever more terrorists (generations of them, no less) who would do harm against this country and our allies.

Thursday night

[Updated] Just to get this in quickly: As of a few minutes ago, B.'s BF's black Hummer was parked downstairs in the guest parking by the lobby door. Tonight I'd been to the grocery store, driving by B.'s restaurant (it's on the way). I noticed the Hummer wasn't in the parking lot, but I knew B. works on Thursday nights. (And I looked again on the way back from the store.) I suspect the BF is here selling drugs and will pick B. up later from work, if they're still together this week. (As some of you may know, the BF had been a security guard here but was fired over a parking-space rental scam. At least that much I know. There may have been additional reasons.) [But as my friend in Canada pointed out, maybe the BF was just here for a party (some party, I'll bet!).]

I got flustered the minute I saw the Hummer. Got upstairs in a hurry. The apartment was secure. No signs of breaking and entering. (Actually the security here is very good--that's one reason why I live here--but you can imagine having a psychopath for a security guard is like letting the fox guard the henhouse.)

Enough.

There are two Publix grocery stores near here, within a mile (if that) of each other. One is relatively new and enormous (at Biscayne Commons) [there was a sparrow flying around in there tonight, not the first time I'd spotted one]. That's the one up the road (U.S. 1) from B.'s restaurant. The other one, which is old and much smaller, is three blocks down the road from here, within easy walking distance. I usually go to the one down the road, in case my truck doesn't start and I can walk home with at least some of the groceries and then walk back to the truck the next day to have it magically start right up like there was never anything wrong with it. But I haven't had trouble with the truck in almost a year. Now watch!

Tonight I wanted to buy some meat and I thought the larger store would have a better selection, since the meat section is larger. But wouldn't you know--they didn't have much to choose from tonight. So I drove down to the older store and found what I needed.

Tonight I worked an hour late to make up for some of the time I took off yesterday to go to the doctor's. I was glad I did. The building's Christmas party started at 5:30, the time I would normally leave work. I got down to the party a little early to beat the crowd and got dinner! By the time I left the office an hour later, you could barely make your way through the crowd.

The building management outdid itself. The food was amazing. Beautiful, fancy hors d'oeuvres, honey-baked ham (spiced with clove) and turkey, and a buffet table of hot items, along with assorted fruit and cheeses, all kinds of breads and crackers, and a nice assortment of desserts. I stuck to the ham and hors d'oeuvres and had a mini-cream puff and mini-chocolate mousse for dessert. It came in a tiny plastic martini glass garnished with a chunk of strawberry and a crunchy sweet waffle tube (they're big in Europe but I don't know what they're called) (I'll try to find out on the Internet) [they're called "rolled wafers" or "rolled coffee wafers" or "wafer tubes"] [see photo], with a tiny black plastic spoon stuck in it. I had the dark mousse--they also had white chocolate.

There was also live music and open bars, but I didn't get anything to drink.

Wednesday night

Not much to report. Got my greeting cards in the mail this morning after going to the doctor's. Work went as usual. Went to the gym tonight.

I've heard nothing from B. since I took him the article on psychopaths, not that I really expected to. And three weeks ago he called and wanted to come over and see his cat, and we spent several days in contact. But that was when he was living back with his mother. It makes me sad when I look at Bootsy and think how B. abandoned him for some psychopath. Also, the cats got more attention when B. was here, since he was home during the day.

I don't think getting back together with B. would work, at least not now and maybe never, so that's not where I'm coming from. I'm just hoping that he'll see the light about the psychopathic, controlling BF. Three weeks ago I saw a glimmer of hope for B. He really loved Bootsy. But apparently the BF tries to get him to forget Bootsy (I suspect drugs help).

Bootsy has it good here. And if B. is moving in and out of the BF's place, Bootsy is certainly better off here than with B. He's been living here for over five years, and cats don't like being moved around.

Obama soars in new poll

79% won't miss Bush, including most Republicans. 48% say Bush the worst president.

Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee argue gay marriage

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mike Huckabee Pt. 2

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

From Digby

Funny Christmas video from England's BBC

Here.

Tuesday night

Tonight I sat down at my new expansive bar top in the living room and wrote out my holiday cards. My handwriting always becomes spastic when I do this (maybe under the pressure of knowing that there are only so many cards and I can't screw up). (Or maybe subconsciously, I want to make my handwriting more revealing about myself than I normally would, it being the emotional holidays and all. I don't know.) At any rate, it's the thought (and feelings) that counts. They got a card so they can't complain, and these are my friends--they're not going to hold my handwriting against me.

At least I had pre-printed some nice transparent plastic labels for the addresses and my return address and managed to get them on straight, along with the stamps. Then I sealed the envelopes with some holiday stickers. The traditional holiday postage stamps were kind of ugly this year, so I used the "Celebrate" stamps and the big Bette Davis stamps instead. I also downsized my cards this year for the recession.

Tonight I was at the store for cat food and then stopped off for gas. I was able to fill my tank for $20. Wow. (I drive a small truck these days, and don't use it to commute.)

On that note, I have to say the bus I take to work and back is becoming more and more crowded. This morning I was sandwiched between two people and couldn't even move the whole time. (I couldn't wait to get off the bus.) At least Stephanie Miller kept me in a good mood. I used to be able to occupy two seats, one for me and one for my wheely bag, and be able to cross my legs at will. I'm afraid now I might get a blood clot. They should put some more buses on that route!

This morning when I got in to work, I had a message from the Home Depot Customer Care lady in Atlanta. Very nice, asking me to please be patient and telling me that she would be "reaching out" to some people in order to get me an itemized bill for the electrical work done in the kitchen. At this point, after having gone without a kitchen for so many months, I have all the patience in the world. At least now I can use my kitchen again. There's also the problem of the shifting under-mount sink that still needs to be resolved, but we didn't talk about that.

On that note, tonight for dinner I heated up some chicken gumbo and also made a batch of chili to take to work.

Tomorrow I have a nursing appoint to draw blood, then have a doctor's appointment in two weeks.

That Illinois governor is one sleazy character! We need to eradicate this behavior from our culture, no matter what political party engages in it. I wish they'd have bugged some conversations between the Bush Administration and their business cronies over the invasion of Iraq, for example. The Bush Administration has to be one of the most corrupt that has ever existed.

John Lennon murdered 28 years ago today

One of my favorite songs. (I prefer the melody and orchestration actually but like the lyrics too.) (From Digby.)

'Torture Apologist To Take Over As Canadian Liberal Party Leader'

From Firedoglake here.

It seems that Bob Rae has stepped aside for Michael Ignatieff to take over the Liberal leadership. Ignatieff is most famous for apologizing for American torture and pushing the Iraq war. Current leader Dion will step down, allowing Ignatieff to become the interim leader, then be officially confirmed in April at the Liberal convention. . . .

Can't say I'm pleased. I had problems with Rae, stemming from his time as Ontario Premier, but he was infinitely preferable to a man so morally depraved he would apologize for torture. I will not vote Liberal so long as Ignatieff is their leader. I am also disappointed by the Liberal party's anti-democratic choice to exclude ordinary party members from choosing the party's leader.

Everything you need to know about the Illinois governor's arrest

In eight minutes.

'NY's Cuomo: Merrill's $10 mln bonus for Thain "unjustified"'

Ya think? Merrill failed. No bonus for him. I can't get over the chutzpah of these people. They're--what else--psychopaths. Story here. Paul Krugman is talking about double-digit unemployment. A lot of people deserve to lose their jobs, not just their bonuses, for bringing this country to the brink of ruin (and ruining my 401K). I have no sympathy for these wheeler-dealers and their excesses. The bell is finally tolling on this immoral greed fest.

'MarketWatch's top 10 business cities in 2008'

See slide show here. Minneapolis-St. Paul is #1. Tampa-St. Pete is in the bottom 10. Miami's not quite as bad. New Orleans was the worst (for apparent reasons). See here.

Monday night

Was back at the gym tonight (after a nap), since I didn't go yesterday. Worked on holiday greeting cards afterwards. Had a long phone chat with a friend who's also a native Miamian and was a member of my church when I was growing up (I didn't know him then, however. He's 10 years older than I am.). We can talk forever about stuff. So not much to blog about, and it's getting late already.

Sunday night

"Desperate Housewives" was a little dull tonight, but OK. Carlos is getting his sight back. He notices that Gaby has gotten rid of most of her designer dresses and shoes. Surely he could have discerned that while he was blind for five years. The Lou Gehrig-signed baseball story was kind of cute.

Ate the gumbo today. Skipped the gym. I shouldn't have had the Bloody Marys this morning but I'll blame that on the cats. Bootsy bit me at around 9:00 a.m. and I had to get up to disinfect the wound. And once I'm up, I'm up, at least for a while. The last time Bootsy bit me in bed, the wound got infected. It's fine now. And the cat boxes are clean and the cats have been fed to their satisfaction. Bootsy is mad now, however, that the door to my bedroom is closed. They're not getting in there tonight. I have to go to work in the morning and need a good night's sleep.

While I was skipping the gym, I did watch "60 Minutes" and made turkey salad from the Thanksgiving turkey breast, which was still good. That took a while; left nothing on the carcass. Had gone to the store earlier to buy dill relish, among other things, to add to it. The turkey salad turned out great--chopped a lot of fresh celery--and I made two sandwiches to take to work tomorrow, on light toast.

Had a nice talk with my friend in Canada tonight. At least they have a national health plan there. If I were to lose my job and my employer-provided health insurance, which is good, I'd be in a real bind.

McClatchy putting Miami Herald up for sale

See TPM here.

Nobelist Krugman talks to Salon

Read the whole thing here.

And how soon do you think it will be before Republican ideologues start blaming Obama for making it worse? Grover Norquist is already making the claim that the bear market is a result of the 2006 election -- he says investors started dumping stocks because they were afraid of the inevitable tax hikes coming down the road. How do you fight that?

To some extent you can't fight it -- people will believe what they want to believe. If they can make FDR the cause of the Great Depression, they can do anything. But one thing progressives can do is make sure that the story of the Bush administration is told, in all respects. There's going to be huge pressure from the usual suspects to let bygones be bygones, to forget about everything from torture to reckless disregard of financial warnings. But I want truth and reconciliation across the board, and progressives have to make it clear that it was an ideology, not an act of God, that made this crisis possible.

Sunday afternoon

Cats woke me up early this morning. I got up and fed them and cleaned out the cat boxes, which I had forgotten to do yesterday (the cat boxes, that is). The cats are so spoiled. I'm trying to wean them off the four cans of cat food a day which they waste, and get them back to eating more dry food. It's better for them.

That's it. From now on, I have to close the bedroom door before I go to bed. I have sleep issues as it is. I don't need the cats exacerbating them.

Bloody Mary Sunday

My own liberal tendency would have private business run on its own. But things have gotten way out of hand. My 401K has been destroyed by a free market gone wild with greed, where the exclusive beneficiaries are the CEOs, with their multi-million-dollar salaries and severance packages. There's no accountability. It's thievery. Get the psychopaths out of the building. We need some serious rules.

It's time for liberals to get tough on irresponsible, ruthless business practices.

Sunny von Bülow dies

Sad to hear. She was 76 and had lived almost 28 years in a persistent vegetative state (a coma). Her oily husband had been convicted of trying to murder her and got off on appeal. Loved the movie starring Glenn Close, which won an Oscar.

Obama taps Shinseki for V.A. cabinet post

Shinseki was thrown under the bus by the Bush administration. See here.

The Bush administration has severely damaged the Veteran's Administration through privatizing for the benefit of their cronies.

Why national health care is a top priority

'When a job disappears, so does the health care'

This is terrifying. Full story here.

ASHLAND, Ohio: As jobless numbers reach levels not seen in 25 years, another crisis is unfolding for millions of people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, joining the ranks of the uninsured.

The crisis is on display here. Starla Darling, 27, was pregnant when she learned that her insurance coverage was about to end. She rushed to the hospital, took a medication to induce labor and then had an emergency Caesarean section, in the hope that her Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan would pay for the delivery.

Wendy Carter, 41, who recently lost her job and her health benefits, is struggling to pay $12,942 in bills for a partial hysterectomy at a local hospital. Her daughter, Betsy Carter, 19, has pain in her lower right jaw, where a wisdom tooth is growing in. But she has not seen a dentist because she has no health insurance.

Darling and Wendy Carter are among 275 people who worked at an Archway cookie factory here in north central Ohio. The company provided excellent health benefits. But the plant shut down abruptly this fall, leaving workers without coverage, like millions of people battered by the worst economic crisis since the Depression. . . .

"This shows why — no matter how bad the condition of the economy — we can't delay pursuing comprehensive health care," said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio. "There are too many victims who are innocent of anything but working at the wrong place at the wrong time." . . .

Darling, who was pregnant when her insurance ran out, worked at Archway for eight years, and her father, Franklin Phillips, worked there for 24 years.

"When I heard that I was losing my insurance," she said, "I was scared. I remember that the bill for my son's delivery in 2005 was about $9,000, and I knew I would never be able to pay that by myself."

So Darling asked her midwife to induce labor two days before her health insurance expired.

"I was determined that we were getting this baby out, and it was going to be paid for," said Darling, who was interviewed at her home here as she cradled the infant in her arms.

As it turned out, the insurance company denied her claim, leaving Darling with more than $17,000 in medical bills. . . .

M. Harvey Brenner, a professor of public health at the University of North Texas and Johns Hopkins University, said that three decades of research had shown a correlation between the condition of the economy and human health, including life expectancy. . . .

Iran: A nation of bloggers

From MyDD here.

Obama has details on stimulus plan

Naomi Klein

I'd heard about her but have not read her book, The Shock Doctrine. Reading an article about her in The New Yorker right now. Interesting.

The central thesis of the book is that capitalism and democracy, free markets and free people, do not, as we’ve been told, go hand in hand. On the contrary, capitalism—at least fundamentalist capitalism, of the type promoted by the late economist Milton Friedman and his “Chicago School” acolytes—is so unpopular, and so obviously harmful to everyone except the richest of the rich, that its establishment requires, at best, trickery and, at worst, terror and torture. Friedman believed that markets perform best when freed from government interference, so he advocated getting rid of tariffs, subsidies, minimum-wage laws, public housing, Social Security, financial regulation, and licensing requirements, including those for doctors—indeed, virtually every measure devised to protect people from the market’s harsh logic. Klein argues that the only circumstance in which a population would accept Friedman-style reforms is when it is in a state of shock, following a crisis of some sort—a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, a war. A person in shock regresses to a childlike state in which he longs for a parental figure to take control; similarly, a population in a state of shock will hand exceptional powers to its leaders, permitting them to destroy the regulatory functions of government. . . .

“It’s worth thinking about what the right has been doing for the past thirty-five years as a counter-revolution that has been waged against our victories.” The New Deal is usually told as a history of F.D.R., she said, but we don’t talk enough about the pressure from below. Neighborhoods organized, and when their evicted neighbors’ furniture was put on the streets they moved it back into their homes. It was that kind of direct action that won victories like rent control, public housing, and the creation of Fannie Mae. The other thing that’s important to remember, she said, is that the organizers were a threat—of socialist revolution—and it was that which allowed F.D.R. to say to Wall Street, “We have to compromise, or else we’ve got a revolution on our hands.” Now, these market shocks are opportunities for the same reason that the crash was in the thirties, because we are seeing the failures of laissez-faire before our eyes. “It’s time to say, ‘Your model failed,’ ” she said. “This is a progressive moment: it’s ours to lose.” . . .

Saturday evening

Got up after 1:00 today. (Don't remember what time I went to bed last night, but it can't have been that late.) I must have needed the rest. Was a little achy from the gym.

Did a load of laundry. Took the xerox of the psychopath article to B. this afternoon. (The Hummer was in the parking lot.) Making the gumbo now. Made a two-egg omelette earlier with ham, string cheese, green pepper, basil and hot red pepper. Delicious.

Drove down to CVS to buy a load of Prilosec in order to use up the money in my flex health spending account. Had a problem with the card and had to use another one, but I'll get my money back from my account. I think they try to steal your money at the end of the year, in case you've got a balance. That's probably how they make a good deal of their money. And all year long they bombard me with emails, asking for receipts from the doctor and the pharmacy to prove that the expenses are valid (the same doctor's office and the same pharmacy each time). It used to piss me off, but I no longer let it bother me.

A little later: Gumbo turned out great. Having a bowl now. The shrimp didn't add anything, but maybe their shells added something to the broth. The shrimp themselves taste like mud. :-( That's why they were so cheap. Glad I didn't buy a lot of them. The way they farm shrimp now is a failure. The only way I can enjoy them is to marinate them in chili sauce and horseradish or mayonnaise and relish after they're cooked.

Photoshop project

I fixed these old, damaged high school graduation photos for a co-worker yesterday (it's her sister). For the bottom one, I used the body of the one above it and attached the retouched head. Did these pretty quickly. They still look kind of old, but they're intact. I don't know about the lip gloss, but I didn't change it. (Maybe that was a fashion at the time.)

'The short, disgusting life of the Hummer'

"As General Motors tells Congress it is weighing the fate of the gas guzzler, Salon compiles a scrapbook. Enjoy these proud moments in Hummer history." Funny Salon story here. As you know, B.'s BF owns one of these babies, a black one with heavily tinted windows. B. drives it to work.

As Detroit once again went begging for billions from Congress on Thursday, executives from the Big Three vowed to wash their hands of gas guzzlers and embrace a future of fuel efficiency. General Motors says it is even placing the future of its Hummer division "under strategic review." For public consumption, that means selling the brand, but observers wonder who would buy it. If the Hummer meets its maker instead, its last gasp will be a symbol of gargantuan proportions.

Since its debut in the early '90s as the manly man's answer to what to drive when a Dodge Ram pickup is just too damn small, the mighty Hummer has been celebrated and reviled as a metaphor for American bravado -- and wretched American excess. But this hip-hop icon, this military-porn embodiment of America's post-911 belligerence, may now be a victim of the market. Thanks to recent high gas prices, and the stunning collapse of domestic auto sales, Detroit can't give Hummers away. The beast, at least in its North American incarnation, may die not long after the Bush administration, whose shortsighted environmental policies and twisted tax codes helped give it commercial life.

What a shame! Now what are tree huggers going to use as a symbol of Detroit's excess? What are poor Richie Sambora and 50 Cent going to drive? In an affectionate eulogy, Salon presents proud moments in Hummer history. . . .

By 2002, the New York Times reports that, thanks to changes in the tax code during the Bush administration, an eligible buyer can deduct $34,912 of the $48,800 base price of the Hummer. . . .

TGIF!

More on the psychopath topic: If we have psychopaths running our businesses, the public has good reason to be suspicious of their practices and to be on constant guard against their excesses. Predatory lending; watering down regulations that protect the health and safety of the public and preserve the environment; allowing huge financial institutions to take insane risks, with disastrous consequences for the world economy. Hell, the psychopaths destroyed my 401K! (And they would have destroyed Social Security if they'd had their way.)

I did make a copy of that article for B. Tonight, after my nap and the gym and the store, I took it over to Starbucks and highlighted parts of it while having a green tea.

I still haven't received an itemized, final bill from Home Depot's electrical contractor, and now it's been two weeks since they finished their work here. That's really been bugging me. Had a shouting match with them this week--they got nasty, and I got nasty back. Finally I told them to call Home Depot and not call me anymore, then hung up the phone. I'm really not supposed to be dealing with the contractors anyway when it comes to billing--the kitchen expediter is supposed to handle this, so Home Depot says.

Yesterday I interrupted my nap to sit down and write a long note to the kitchen expediter and the District Services Manager (with a copy to the lady in Customer Care in Atlanta and a lawyer), detailing my recent experience with the contractor. The electricians themselves have done a great job--but I have a feeling the company is trying to gouge me. They're treating the estimate as a final bill, and the estimate included work they didn't do.

Two weeks ago, the electrical inspector approved all the electrical work and made no mention, for example, about an outlet at the end of the bar, which hadn't been installed but the cost of which had been included in the estimate because the outlet was supposedly required to meet Code (so the estimator had said). Apparently the outlet wasn't necessary after all.

Probably ruthless psychopaths working there. Ya think?

Tonight my office held its holiday party (I never attend these functions). They really trimmed back this year. Instead of springing for a dinner dance, they threw a brief cocktail party at a hotel on Brickell. I hope that the money they saved will go toward our bonuses and not into the pockets of the psychopaths that run the place (just kidding, of course!).

Bought stuff at the store tonight to make my usual, basically chicken gumbo this weekend, to include, however, some cheap farmed shrimp from Southeast Asia (along with Andouille sausage). The shrimp should taste good once they soak up the gumbo juice. I've read that they're having a rice shortage in this region because they've turned the rice paddies into shrimp farms. Maybe I should do the world a favor and stick to buying wild shrimp, which taste better anyway.

The last couple of days, I've been letting dishes pile up in the new deep sink. (I've rinsed them off.) This is a momentary indulgence, now that I have a kitchen sink and the dishwasher back. When I had no kitchen, I wasn't able to let dishes pile up in my bathtub.

Soon I'll begin working on a new short story, so if I don't post as often, you'll know why. (Yes, there will be a couple of psychopaths in it.)

'Movies and booze' doing well in recession

Just heard it on Rachel Maddow.

Psychopaths are everywhere!

Great article here in The New Yorker. I think B.'s new BF is a psychopath (and may be infecting B.). I'll xerox this and take it to B. Hell, there are psychopaths among us who don't commit crimes but succeed in business by their ruthlessness and amorality--just what the winner-take-all, laissez-faire capitalism as embraced by the Radical Right here in the U.S. (including George W. Bush and his money-grubbing cronies) extols.

Cleckley emphasized his subjects’ deceptive, predatory nature, writing that the psychopath is capable of “concealing behind a perfect mimicry of normal emotion, fine intelligence, and social responsibility a grossly disabled and irresponsible personality.” This mimicry allows psychopaths to function, and even thrive, in normal society. Indeed, as Cleckley also argued, the individualistic, winner-take-all aspect of American culture nurtures psychopathy. . . .

The most agreeable vocation for psychopaths, according to Hare, is business. In his second book, “Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work,” written with Paul Babiack, Hare flirts with pop psychology [what? He's a real psychologist] when he points out that many traits that may be desirable in a corporate context, such as ruthlessness, lack of social conscience, and single-minded devotion to success, would be considered psychopathic outside of it. . . .

Hare rejects the notion that a distinction ought to be made between a violent psychopath, like Ted Bundy, and a nonviolent one who commits financial crimes. Both, he said, are willing to do whatever it takes. He went on, “Can you say Ted Bundy caused more disaster than the guys at Enron? How many destroyed lives and suicides followed as a result of so many people losing their savings?” . . .

And yes, it is possible to become "infected" by someone else's psychopathy.

During his years of teaching at U.B.C., Hare confided to me, he discovered that “it is possible for people who study psychopaths to end up becoming the victims of what you are looking for.” He described how, early in his career, one of his students became sexually involved with an inmate. Prison authorities caught the student having sex with the inmate in his cell. When confronted by Hare, the student “looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I didn’t do it,’ ” he recalled. The student denied everything so convincingly that Hare began to doubt what he knew to be true.

(I saw this happen with B.)

Local: Man allegedly assaults girlfriend with burger

This was on the AP wire today. Can a relationship possibly survive such an incident?

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A Vero Beach man is accused of assaulting his girlfriend multiple times with a McDonald's cheeseburger, according to his arrest affidavit.

The woman told the Indian River County Sheriff's Office she was sitting a car in front of the home she shares with Vincent Gonzalez, 22, of the 300 block of 12th Road, Vero Beach. The couple began arguing and Gonzalez would not allow her to leave the car, the affidavit said. The woman threw Gonzalez's drink out of the car, the report said. In response, Gonzalez grabbed the woman's arm and forced the cheeseburger into her face, the report said. Both of them stepped out of the vehicle and Gonzalez smashed the cheeseburger again into the woman's face.

Deputies charged Gonzalez with battery domestic violence. He remained in the Indian River County Jail Wednesday in lieu of $1,000 bail.

'Barack Obama's 78 Percent Approval Rating'

From MyDD here.

Wow.

President-elect Barack Obama gets soaring marks for his handling of the transition and his choices for the Cabinet, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, even at a time the public is downbeat over the economy.

More than three of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, approve of the job Obama has done so far -- broad-based support he'll need as he faces tough decisions ahead.

By 69%-25%, those surveyed approve of his pick of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his former Democratic primary rival, as secretary of State.

By an even wider margin, 80%-14%, they favor his decision to ask President Bush's Pentagon chief, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to stay on the job.

These numbers are just stunning, and serve as further proof that Barack Obama will enter the White House with a greater mandate than any newly elected President in a very long time. While I certainly do not expect this spread to hold indefinitely, or even necessarily for the duration of Obama's first 100 days in office, this level of support gives Obama the juice to hit the ground running on January 20. A sky high approval rating doesn't mean that a President should get everything he wants -- but it does mean he should be able to get much or even most of it. . . .

Prop. 8: The musical

'Art Basel Invasion!'

"Screw the recession. The nation's number one art fest is bigger than ever." From the Miami New Times here.

America might be mired in recession and gloom, but this year's Art Basel celebration will be bigger and more diverse than ever. Organizers of the Pulse, NADA, and Scope fairs, three of the largest events at Baselpalooza, all cite an increase in participant galleries. And the main event at the Miami Beach Convention Center will boast more than 220 elite galleries and upward of 2,000 artists from across the globe, a 10 percent upswing from 2007. Names such as Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, and Richard Prince, as well as stellar emerging talent, will be on display.

Now in its seventh year, Art Basel Miami Beach has become the Western Hemisphere's largest commercial art event and has far outstripped its Swiss progenitor in scope and size. Nearly a thousand visiting dealers will add to the frenetic four-day extravaganza at 20-plus fairs scattered throughout Wynwood and Miami Beach. (Details for some of the biggest events appear at the end of this story and at miaminewtimes.com.) . . .

(I saw those giants. They are cool.)

Wednesday night

Went to the gym tonight after a brief nap without the cats in the bedroom making their noises and movements. Perked me up. (Not tired.) (Not necessarily a good thing, either.)

Joan Walsh: 'The buck stops where?'

"Our delusional president laments the 'intelligence failure' that identified nonexistent WMD in Iraq and admits he was 'unprepared' for war." From Salon here. This is the column in its entirety (one of her all-time best).

I haven't written about President Bush for quite a while. I prefer to look toward the future. But his delusional exit interview with ABC's Charles Gibson made me pay attention again.

When Gibson asked Bush what he was "unprepared for" when he became president, Bush gave this rather stunning answer.

"Well, I think I was unprepared for war. I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack.'"

What an odd, self-pitying outbreak of candor for this strange president. I'm not sure how anyone could run for president and be "unprepared" for war. The job includes the title of commander in chief of the armed forces. It's true, though, that Bush didn't campaign as someone who would quickly start two wars, and commit the U.S. to a belligerent and reckless policy of unilateral preemptive attacks on our enemies based on perceived threats, not hostile actions (that's the "Bush doctrine," in case you're reading, Sarah Palin).

This was a man who warned against nation building during the 2000 campaign, who said our foreign policy must be "humble," who seemed opposed to the Clinton administration's interventionist foreign policy whether in partly humanitarian missions like Bosnia, or defensive strikes against Saddam Hussein in Iraq or Osama bin Laden in Sudan. Few people who voted for Bush thought he was gunning to be a war president, based on his campaign rhetoric, so it was an incredible bait-and-switch when he became one. In retrospect, though, it seems clear that he arrived in the White House surrounded by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other twisted neocons who were determined to topple Saddam Hussein given any excuse, or none at all.

Certainly the president was being candid in another quite concrete way: He was woefully unprepared for the Iraq war, invading with inadequate planning for the occupation and rebuilding that had to follow the fall of Saddam. Almost 5,000 Americans, and an unknown but much larger number of Iraqi civilians, have died thanks to his lack of preparation. History will prove him right on that score, but it won't be kind to him.

Bush made a second stunning admission in his interview with Gibson. "The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq," he said. "A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess."

What a cowardly, buck-passing answer. It was his administration that was responsible for the faulty intelligence; his administration that notoriously "stove-piped" the available evidence to make the case for war, ignoring all facts that contradicted the neocons' theories, crushing any dissent in the Pentagon and intelligence establishment. His administration then sold that corrupt evidence to Congress and browbeat members into authorizing the use of military force on the eve of the 2002 midterm election, by depicting them as traitors and sissies if they raised questions. Now Bush is trying to say he was misled by the "failure" of his own intelligence leaders and Cabinet advisors? What a loser.

One last related distortion was Bush's lamenting that he hadn't changed the political tone in Washington. "9/11 unified the country, and that was a moment where Washington decided to work together. I think one of the big disappointments of the presidency has been the fact that the tone in Washington got worse, not better."
But it was the Bush administration that changed the tone. On the heels of a brief bipartisan moment after 9/11, Karl Rove and others began laying the groundwork for a 2002 midterm campaign that would use the terror attacks against Democrats, and make sure that anyone who didn't support Bush's military and intelligence policies was smeared as being on the side of al-Qaida. Like the war and the intelligence failure, Bush bears personal responsibility for the ugly tone during his administration, but once again, the buck stops somewhere else.

Bush brags to Gibson that he's proud that "I didn't sell my soul for politics" during the eight years of the presidency. If that's true, it's only because he sold it a long time ago.

Update: In letters, several readers note an additional falsehood in Bush's interview: His claim that we "had to" invade Iraq because Saddam wouldn't let weapons inspectors in. Of course, Hans Blix and his team had gone into Iraq in late 2002 for the first time since 1998, and found no evidence of WMDs. In March, 2003, Bush demanded they leave before they completed their work so he could commence the invasion. Robert Parry recounts the sequence of events here. "Had we had a few months more [of inspections before the war], we would have been able to tell both the CIA and others that there were no weapons of mass destruction [at] all the sites that they had given to us," Blix told the Associated Press in 2004.

Recession special: Free Lambourghini with every apartment

Only in Miami? I don't know. Miami New Times story here.

A condo development under construction on Ocean Drive, to be called South of Fifth, is offering something like a recession special: Buy one beachfront apartment for $6 million-plus, get a $260,000 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder free.

Obama calls; Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on him

"Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on the nation's next president, believing he's just a disc jockey playing a joke." Understandable. From The Miami Herald here.

When President-elect Barack Obama called Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen at her South Florida district office Wednesday, she hung up on him.

'I thought: `Why would Obama want to call a little slug on the planet like me?' '' Ros-Lehtinen said.

A short time later, Rahm Emanuel, Obama's designated chief of staff, called. Ros-Lehtinen hung up on him, too.

''I thought it was one of the radio stations in South Florida playing an incredible, elaborate, terrific prank on me,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``They got Fidel Castro to go along. They've gotten Hugo Chavez and others to fall for their tricks. I said, 'Oh, no, I won't be punked'.'' . . .

Algae truly a 'green' energy source

Tuesday night

Tired. But I beefed up this post. [Wednesday Update: I really shouldn't try to write when I'm tired, however. I've had to go back and make changes to it (and probably will make more).]

Wrote an exhaustive email to my cousin tonight (made me tired). Took some official mail to B. at the restaurant tonight (made me more tired). He looked OK. He's still with the psychopath, however. The black Hummer (owned by the BF), which B. uses to commute, was in the parking lot. (He used to walk to work from here.)

Bought my Xmas cards tonight at CVS, along with a couple of the new light bulbs (the holidays in general make me tired).

Monday night

Tired after going back to work after the long weekend. Had a busy day. Took a refeshing nap with the cats after work. Then walked to the grocery store for a flourescent light bulb (which they didn't have), then had a mint tea at Starbucks. (There's a sale going on on the light bulbs and apparently I missed out.) I'm trying to switch all my light bulbs to flourescent, but I'm learning about the wattage I need, since these bulbs are pretty bright.

I got a rather enthusiastic compliment today on my new beard, from someone at work who'd been on vacation for a month. Actually I stopped shaving the weekend before last, and had the extra days off to not shave and see how it would grow in. It looks pretty good. Trimming it is easy with my electric clippers. It beats shaving. I'll keep it for now. Gives my aging face a rounder, more youthful look. :-)

Got a Christmas card from B.'s mom today. She signed it from herself and B. and his sister and the family. I guess I'll have to send her one too, although I hadn't planned on it. She's the one who moved B. out of here without any input from me. This has been extremely hard to deal with (and apparently for B, too, since he's been living back and forth between his mon's and the alleged drug dealer's place(s)).

Home Depot called me today. We discussed the electrician's bill and the problem with the sink. I felt reassured by the District Service Manager who was back from vacation.

'Bush: My Biggest Regret Was Failure Of Iraq Intelligence'

Of course, the intelligence Bush was getting was only what he and his handlers wanted to get. I think Seymour Hersch originally exposed this in The New Yorker (all about "stovepiping" the intelligence). We all knew it was going on (if we cared to delve into it). George Bush is such a sorry stupid ass.

This is from Greg Sargent here.

As if right on cue, Barack Obama's successful national security presser today, in which he declared that the "buck stops with me" and took full responsibility for his presidency's vision, is cast in an even more positive light by the deeply pathetic interview that his predecessor just gave to ABC News.

In the interview, which was conduced by Charlie Gibson, George W. Bush evades responsibility for his catastrophic foreign policies to the last, saying that his greatest regret was over something that he allegedly didn't control -- the intel failure in Iraq . . . .

Of course, Bush made the decision to overlook all the good intel -- not to mention the claims of those poor forgotten inspectors -- saying that Saddam wasn't really a threat at all, or certainly not one requiring the response Bush himself ordered. . . .

Bush's vengefulness (hardly "Christian") over Saddam's attempt to "kill my dad" was all that the neoconservatives in his administration needed to ram through the invasion of Iraq, while lying to the American people and the rest of the world about the reasons for doing so (viz. Colin Powell's phony presentation at the UN, which most likely will never redeem him, considering all the lives lost, all the injuries, and all the destruction to families, both here and in Iraq--not even by endorsing Obama). But the neoconservative ideology expressly allows for lying to the public, since the common people are presumed to be too ill informed to know what's in their best interest. This is about as un-American as you can get. (Our Constitution protects the freedom of the press expressly for the purpose of keeping the public informed.)

Actually, the minute Bush got into power (well before 9/11), the invasion of Iraq was already a done deal among these schemers. Bush was the perfect patsy for this bunch, whose main concern, it seems, is the security of Israel. I'm all for the security of Israel, but I think Israel would be more secure if the U.S. had a less antagonistic policy toward the Arab countries near it (but we love Saudi Arabia, don't we, which supplied most of the 9/11 terrorists and is the birthplace of Osama bin Laden). And invading Arab countries on false pretenses certainly doesn't enhance the security of Israel, in my mind. On the contrary. And certainly not for revenge on the part of a petty, shallow U.S. president who had no concept of the ramifications of his actions.

'So what's in this for Hillary?'

Full Salon story here.

What's in it for Clinton might seem a little less obvious. After all, she won 18 million votes in the Democratic primary campaign; you'd think that would give her a pretty good head start on building a national constituency as a power player in the Senate. But you'd probably be wrong, and that, former Clinton advisors say, is likely why she decided, in the end, to sign up with Team Obama. Ask John Kerry (or, for that matter, John McCain) how much clout losing presidential candidates bring home with them once it's all over. It turns out 18 million votes don't go that far on Capitol Hill. . . .

Saying no, though, might have been just as difficult. "Her life truly is about public service, and when the next president says, 'We need you,' someone like Hillary Clinton's natural inclination is to agree to do the job," Garin said. Besides, leaving the Senate may not prove to be that difficult. For all the back and forth over experience during their primary campaign, Clinton has only been there four years longer than Obama has -- this isn't exactly Bob Dole sacrificing his beloved seat after nearly three decades in a failed effort to defeat Clinton's husband. "I think Hillary loves being a senator, but at the same time, I don't think she loved a lot of the headaches that come along with being a senator," said one former advisor. . . .