Turning their ads against them

Jed L takes the latest Republican National Committee ad ("Storm") and turns it against them. I love it when when Dems fight back.



--the BB

Voter alert for Californians

Mayor Gavin Newsom urges us all to do our part.



I noticed that my latest paycheck has made it into my bank account. I sent another donation (my third or fourth) to help defeat Proposition 8. I don't want to see my native state become a bastion of discrimination when it has come so far. Click on the link if you can help out.

Thanks.

My California friends, vote NO on Prop Hate.
--the BB

A little something to arouse, offend, or amuse just about everyone

I would not have food or beverage in my mouth or be at work when playing this. Though it's really just fun.



h/t to openthread at Daily Kos
--the BB

Four years from now

h/t to Joe Sudbay at Americablog
-the BB

Colorado residents - voter alert!

The company charged with sending out absentee ballots failed to send out over 5% of the mail-in ballots requested in Denver. The story is here.

NearDenver writes:

Any Colorado voter who has already signed up for a mail-in ballot but has not received one, should immediately contact your county clerk's office to verify the status.

You can also check the status of your mail-in ballot online using the following link at the Colorado Secretary of State Elections Center

One voter I know who used the Secretary of State's website last week discovered he was not signed up for a mail-in ballot even though he thought he was! This can easily happen in Colorado because if you do not check the box for a permanent mail-in ballot, they will only send one for a single election cycle. If that cycle has come and gone, you will not receive a mail-in ballot again for this current election without requesting one again.

Please vote in Colorado via a mail-in ballot or during early voting. Do not wait until the likely long lines or other problems that may arise on election day.

Thought you should know. Pass the word to friends and family in Colorado.
--the BB

An unwinding kind of day

My mind (and computer) have been wandering about today. Eighteenth century transportation - roads and boats and carts (oh my!). Forests and the flora thereof. Monsters and magic. Family trees. Legends and lore.

This has not yet resulted in much writing but I am getting a much clearer picture of what the hero of my first book experiences.

I would much rather write novels than do accounting. For now, however, accounting pays well and I am undiscovered.

This creates no jealousy around the success of my friends, however. How totally cool is it to see Jane R's book coming to birth? What a delight (and she shares photos)!

In online chat with a musician today I was struck when he told me that he can tell a story in 3-5 minutes. Well, songs do that, of course. I, on the other hand, tell stories at great length. Much of what I am doing nowadays is fleshing out concrete details to give my fantasy world substance and my characters more depth and motivation.

How very marvelous it is that we live in a world where we can tell and listen to, write and read, all manner of stories in all their wondrous variety!
--the BB

Colossal, woeful, willful ignorance

Governor Palin shot off a joke line yesterday that revealed her dangerous ignorance of and disdain for science (you know, that irritating reality stuff).

In order to fund programs for special needs children she proposes slashing earmarks for, well, in her words:

Sometimes these dollars they go to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not!

jforman has a post that demolishes this attitude since fruit flies (and other critters) are extremely relevant for the basic research that affects human health and many other things - including genetic diseases that have a lot to do with why some people have special needs.

Click on the link. You can learn a lot from jforman's article; I did.

Of course, I enjoy learning about the world I live in. I suspect the Governor of Alaska does not.

Ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity combined with power makes for a very dangerous combination (cf. George Walker Bush).
--the BB

Unanticipated day off

I got to work this morning and there was a pervasive odor of natural gas (well, the odorant they put in it to warn people) in the lobby and elevator shafts, though not in our office itself. Coworkers had alerted security, security called a building engineer, and he said that it is "nothing" and coming from the outside, though he could not smell it.

Not reassuring.

Especially since the tone of voice with which he said all this indicated that he really did not have a clue and was just trying to reassure us with BS. He had not had enough time to know this was true. Obviously I did not believe him.

If they had evacuated the building just to be on the safe side and begun a thorough investigation to determine the source of the gas, I might have stuck around in order to work with a slight delay.

What seems to me a combination of callous indifference, ignorance, and incompetence led to my decision not to work where I would breathe those fumes and be liable to a serious incident. I left a note to my lead person and came back to the apartment.

My health is not worth that risk. I am also rather upset with the lackadaisical attitude of the weekend staff of the building.

Anyway, I will go in on Sunday instead (grrrrr) and today I think I will work on my novel.
--the BB

622 - updated with photos

This is five more since I posted two days ago.

Sigh.

Here are four more who have fallen:

10/24/08 :
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Deon L. Taylor, 30, of Bronx, N.Y., died Oct. 22 in Bela Beluk, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team...



10/24/08 :
DoD Identifies Marine Casualties (2 of 2)
Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, of Scottsbluff, Neb., died Oct. 22 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force...



10/24/08 :
DoD Identifies Marine Casualties (1 of 2)
Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., died Oct. 22 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force...


10/24/08 NY1News:
NYPD Officer Killed In Afghanistan
The NYPD is mourning the loss of one of its own killed in combat in Afghanistan. The police department said Officer Deon Taylor was killed in action Wednesday while on duty with the Army National Guard as a Fire Detection Specialist.


Source

Photos from the IGTNT service at Daily Kos

Aw fuck!

I am the Byzigenous Buddhapalian and I approve this message.

h/t to openthread at DailyKos this evening
--the BB

Grim humor

h/t Dependable Renegade
--the BB

From the New York Tmes endorsement of Obama

Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.

In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.

Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.

Read it all here.

h/t to Hoffmania
--the BB

Sunset over the Superdome

Sunset over the Superdome

It is autumn.

My work in New Orleans ends three weeks from today.

There is, to me at least, something elegiac about this photo snapped just as I was leaving work this evening. The curve on the horizon to the right is the silhouette of the Superdome.
--the BB

Getting to know you - the series

You'd think McCain, from his firsthand experience of it, would be resolute in his opposition to torture. Not so much.

Read this post by Digby.

It contains the following from Glenn Greenwald at Huffington Post:

The mirage-like nature of McCain's alleged convictions can be seen most clearly, and most depressingly, with his public posturing over the issue of torture. Time and again, McCain has made a dramatic showing of standing firm against the use of torture by the United States, only to reveal that his so-called principles are confined to the realm of rhetoric and theater, but never action that follows through on that rhetoric.

Digby concludes:

I won't link to all the posts on this subject from bloggers such as Kagro X at DKos, Christie Hardin Smith, Emptywheel, Think Progress, Crooks and Liars etc. Mr Google will take you there. We've done our best to expose McCain's outrageous cowardice on this. Perhaps it's such an enormous betrayal of principle that the political establishment can't wrap their minds around it, I don't know. But it's out there if anyone wants to find it.

John Sidney McCain III is really an ambitious phony of the first order. As I have learned more about him I realize that I was mistaken ever to consider him honorable.

--the BB

Republican ex-governor endorses Obama

The Boston Globe keeps us informed:

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president on Friday, citing the senator's good judgment, "deep sense of calm" and "first-class political temperament."

Weld said he's never endorsed a Democrat for president before, but in the last six weeks or so, it became "close to a no-brainer." Obama has a history of bringing Democrats, Republicans and independents together and is the best choice at a time when America's standing in the world is at a low point, he said.

"It's not often you get a guy with his combination of qualities, chief among which I would say is the deep sense of calm he displays, and I think that's a product of his equally deep intelligence," he said in a phone interview

No comment necessary.

h/t to John Aravosis
--the BB

Former McCain advisor votes for Obama

You can read about it here.

Huffington Post has this:

Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

--the BB

A new generation of Democrats

h/t to, well, Scott Kleeb

Scott Kleeb's 10 Commitments to Serve Nebraska

As a member of the U.S. Senate:

• I will not vote for any new spending unless there is a specific way to pay for it.
• I will not accept Senate health care until all Nebraskans have access to health care.
• I will not accept a pay raise unless the budget is balanced.
• My first bill will be the "American Jobs & Energy Act," which will end tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas and use the savings to create renewable energy jobs here in Nebraska.
• I will not take junkets or gifts from lobbyists.
• I will publish a list of all targeted projects I support, and put it on the internet.
• I will publish my entire schedule on the internet and not conduct any secret, closed door meetings.
• I will publish an Annual Accountability Report and conduct an annual independent audit of my Senate Office, just like businesses do.
• I will host an "Ask the Senator" online meeting every three months.
• My wife and I will keep our family right here in Hastings, Nebraska and our two little girls will attend public school here.

--the BB

[PS: Jane and +Maya, if you two like men in jeans.... enjoy.)

About that mutilated McCain campaign worker.... [updated with video goodness]

It's bullshit.

It would be truly horrid if it were true, but it's not.

Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter "B" in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker [...]

Investigators did say that they received photos from the ATM machine and "the photographs were verified as not being the victim making the transaction."

This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the story.

Lying Republicans who smear their opponents are, since the days of Lee Atwater, par for the course.

Here's the problem. The story is out there now and not everyone knows she made it all up. Be sure to enlighten anyone who has heard it.

h/t to Markos



h/t to John Aravosis for the CNN video
--the BB

Remember my endless tirades around FISA?

Well, this is one reason (and there are others) why I stand by my homeboy Martin Heinrich running for NM-01 as a proud Democrat. (I've also forked over a chunk of change to help him fight against Darren White and the other Repugnican weasels White represents. I am not home to do legwork but I do what I can.)



Yours for a BLUE NEW MEXICO!

btw, NM is a thinly populated state. We are scattered far and wide in many senses. It takes a lot of effort and money to reach out to everyone. If anyone wants to help us turn the state a solid blue, you can chip in at True Blue New Mexico ActBlue Page. Check out fbihop's post for more info on all the races. Thanks!

h/t to fbihop
--THE BB

Political pumpkins

Erik and Gillian Peterson (East Stroudsburg, PA)

One of many photos at yeswecarve.com

h/t to John Aravosis at Americablog

A pause in my busyness

It has been some time since the elections in Zimbabwe. The path toward power sharing is fraught with many dangers and the plight of the people of Zimbabwe is great. Nearly every day for weeks there have been headlines about negotiations in Zimbabwe right near the top of the Google News page. I no longer have time (or energy - work does that) to post daily headlines from around the world. I miss doing so.

Tonight I want to ask y'all to offer a prayer, meditation, good thought, whatever works for you, for the people of Zimbabwe, for successful negotiations, for peace and a path toward prosperity. Some democracy thrown in would be good too.

Let us never abandon hope nor cease to live and proclaim Good News.

Leli vangeli bo
ayisilo lokudlala
Leli vangeli
lihamba ngomoyo oyingcwele

[No assertions about my orthography there]
--the BB

Let's do the time warp again!

Senator Obama in Indianapolis

Ron Howard and friends with some thought-provoking nostalgia

h/t to icebergslim
--the BB

Sex-obsessed pervs who blackmail - updated

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Leaders of the campaign to outlaw same-sex marriage in California are warning businesses that have given money to the state's largest gay rights group they will be publicly identified as opponents of traditional unions unless they contribute to the gay marriage ban, too.

ProtectMarriage.com, the umbrella group behind a ballot initiative that would overturn the California Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage, sent a certified letter this week asking companies to withdraw their support of Equality California, a nonprofit organization that is helping lead the campaign against Proposition 8.

"Make a donation of a like amount to ProtectMarriage.com which will help us correct this error," reads the letter. "Were you to elect not to donate comparably, it would be a clear indication that you are in opposition to traditional marriage. ... The names of any companies and organizations that choose not to donate in like manner to ProtectMarriage.com but have given to Equality California will be published."

The letter was signed by four members of the group's executive committee: campaign chairman Ron Prentice; Edward Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference; Mark Jansson, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and Andrew Pugno, the lawyer for ProtectMarriage.com. A donation form was attached. The letter did not say where the names would be published.

What total and utter assholes. Why don't we publish their names and declare that they are haters and bigots if they don't help defeat Prop 8? How childish the whole thing is.

Creeps, every one of them. And, IMHO, pervs of the highest order.

And violators of the commandment against bearing false witness. Supporting everyone's right to marry does not subvert "traditional" marriages. It only widens the circle of commitment, celebration, and recognition. That circle is not limited. It can grow.

h/t to nicweb

[Now that my godson knows how to find this blog I am not going to use the language I very much want to use right now.]

As an afterthought, I just voted for a Mormon - Tom Udall for US Senator from New Mexico - and I did so enthusiastically, but my opinion of the Mormon Church right now has them in the pit with terrorists (which they are in this campaign) and lower than Wall Street brokers. Just saying. Keep your effing theocracy out of other people's civil rights.

Jesus wept.

Update:
This from John Aravosis -

The Mormon Church has given $8.4 million to the anti-gay proposition in California - the one that would revoke the already-existing marriages of gay couples, instantly turning their children into bastards. And in fact, other estimates show the Mormons giving as much as $17.67 million to the California gay-bashing effort - a full 77% of the homophobes' budget.

And where do Mormons get off upholding traditional marriage? Or persecuting people who are differnt? I know they know their own history. Or do we need to remind them?
--the BB

Republicans for Obama

Yes, today's news was Scott McClellan endorsing Obama, but I find these folks - who seem more like ordinary persons I might know - very moving.

Here is the nutshell version on Scotty:

"From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping," McClellan told new CNN Host D.L. Hughley (CNN)

h/t to toadvantagedressed
--the BB

Sweet suffering you-know-who it is making me cackle with laughter, you betcha!

Boris and Vlad, not to be confused with Saints Boris and Gleb, have made a little video as a special tribute to the Governor of Alaska. Ah, young love: it is so heartbreaking.



h/t to RustbeltDemocrat

Speaking of Russian chaps, I have been practicing my little bit of Russian on the guys who work at the hotel next to the office since I see them every morning and evening going to and from work. I rehearsed over and over the phrases for "Tell me, please. Do you know where there is an Orthodox Church?" A Ukrainian woman I work with wondered. So, I manage to utter this in understandable Russian and the young man looks up and says, in English, "I'm Muslim."

But a helpful Muslim chap for certain. He pulls out a map and suggests St Louis Cathedral ("no, that's Catholic," I mutter) or this other church where he places an X. "I think it's Jewish," he adds.

We non-Muslims are clearly all alike to him and I was quite amused by the whole thing. The next night he is with another of his countrymen and I ask if HE knows. The first guy says, "He's Muslim too." To reinforce my scant Russian I say, rhetorically, Тоже? (Also?) We are all amused.

Last night there were three of them at the curb (they are bellmen) and I was hoping, victim of assumptions and stereotypes that I am, that the tall blond one might be Orthodox. He did not know where an Orthodox Church in New Orleans might be but he said he could call friends and find out. More joking ensued.

They are really nice guys and it's fun to see if I can express myself understandably. It is also a challenge to understand them since they do not speak in the beginning-Russian sentences we use in class. They also speak faster than Doctor Stukova.

Of course I could have googled the information but I keep forgetting when I get home. Now that I have shared this story, you know what I will do as soon as I publish this post.

До свидания,
--the BB

Don't buy the lies

h/t to LeftofArizona
--the BB

617

10/20/08 :
Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Federico G. Borjas, 33, of San Diego, Calif., died Oct. 16 in Bermel District Center, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during a dismounted patrol. He was assigned to 416th Civil Affairs Battalion, 351st Civil Affairs Command...

10/20/08 IRNA:
Taliban beheads 30 Afghans
Taliban insurgents pulled some 50 passengers off a bus in southern Afghanistan and beheaded as many as 30 of them after accusing them of being soldiers traveling in civilian clothes, Afghan officials said.

10/20/08 AFP :
British aid worker shot dead by Taliban in Kabul
A British aid worker was shot dead in the Afghan capital on Monday in a killing claimed by the Islamic Taliban militia which accused her organisation of "preaching Christianity"

10/20/08 AP:
2 German soldiers killed by blast in Afghanistan
An Afghan official says a suicide bomber in northern Afghanistan has killed two German soldiers and five children. The governor of Kunduz province, Mohammad Omar, says two other German soldiers and two children were wounded...

10/21/08 :
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Capt. Robert D. Lindenau, 39, of Camano Island, Wash., died Oct. 20 in Charbagh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle. He was assigned to the 91st Civil Affairs Battalion...

Source

4186

Latest Coalition Fatalities

10/21/08
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Pfc. Heath K. Pickard, 21, of Palestine, Texas, died Oct. 16 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he received indirect fire in Baquaba, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Div...

10/21/08
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Justin A. Saint, 22, of Albertville, Ala., died Oct. 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Source

Division is not the way

Amid the amazing ugliness unleashed out there, Senator Obama leads by example, calling us all together.



h/t to dday
--the BB

Clergy speak out

h/t to Susan Russell
--the BB

Nôtre Grandmère Mimi est toujours dans l'avant-gard

En voici l'épreuve: un video acadien pour votre plaisir.
Here's the proof: a cajun video for your pleasure.



"Oui, on peut -- Yes we can!" OBAMA ZYDECO FROM LOUISIANA 2008!

Music and Lyrics copyright 2008 Dirk Powell, Crying Bayou Music, BMI

Filmed at the Whirlybird in Opelousas, Louisiana

Musicians: Dirk Powell, Christine Balfa, Jeffrey Broussard, Zydeco Joe Citizen, Corey "L'il Pop" Ledet, and Linzay Young

Photos Courtesy of Creative Commons

BIG BIG THANKS TO: Jim Phillips, Christy Leichty, Johanna Divine, Joel Savoy, Wilson Savoy, Eric Breaux, Jacob Ross, Liz Toffey, Tony Davoren, Toby Rodriguez, Susan and Carl Brazell, Mark Herbert, Andrea Rubenstein, Norris Fontenot, Phillip Gould, All the dancers, singers, and friends of the Whirlybird that made this video possible!

h/t to the swingingest granny, bien sûr!
--the BB

Getting to know you: McCain used to be a socialist

Senex ipse loquitur

h/t to Jed L
--the BB

The mysterious traveler

Who or what is checking out the Albuquerque Sunport?

[Yes, Fran, I am tantalizing you with the Manzano Mountains, evil one that I am.]


Frequent readers will recall when Eddie and Dillinger were waiting for the Houston flight on our way to New Orleans not too long ago.


Same spot, same flight on a different day, but a different passenger with me this time.


Yes, it's Norbert the NIH worm, the newest addition to the family, a present from my godson Jack. Here he is playing in the bushes of the apartment complex where we're staying in New Orleans. [Technically in River Ridge by mailing address and just east of the Co'Cola plant - "we" being Norbert, Dillinger, Eddie, and I. Belle, Maggie, and I were in another apartment complex further west - same developers and floor plan.]


NIH worms are a marketing device and humorous invention of programming types. Norbert, you see, is a Not-Invented-Here Worm "This pest affects the brains of engineers and the managers by weakening the mental facilities of those afflicted while enhancing native stubbornness."

Jack's parents are techies and understand all sorts of computeroid things about which I have not the slightest clue. They are not, however, the robotic wetware sort of geeks one associates with many realms of technitude but warm, wonderful humanitarian types who love life, people, good food, and their two sons - my godson and Bill's.

I don't think of Norbert as a pest at all. He is actually rather sweet, though he was misbehaving in the office today with Aunt Jennifer. All the boys went in today. They are quite amazed that Excel spreadsheets are used for something other than plotting daddy's novels. Who knew you could crunch numbers with those things?

The final shot is the boys relaxing in my home away from home. Eddie and Dillinger threw a party for their friends while I was in Albuquerque this past weekend but I must say, they really cleaned the apartment nicely before dad got back. Dillinger was a touch bleary-eyed but still chipper Sunday evening and Eddie looked exhausted but happy. Needless to say I did not leave the computer or the keys to the rental car with them.

Good lads but definitely scamps.

I, of course, was never a scamp. At least not that I recall (or admit).

Greetings from Norbert and the whole gang to Jack!
--the BB

Looking back to the last presidential election cycle

John Edwards' campaign speech from the primary season:

"Today, under George W. Bush, there are two Americas, not one: One America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks. One America that will do anything to leave its children a better life, another America that never has to do a thing because its children are already set for life."

A Kerry endorsement from Nashville Scene:

George Bush's judgment is so tragically simple as to make us fearful for this nation. When an enemy in Afghanistan attacked us, he instead attacked Iraq. When the economy tanked, he gave money to the rich. And when he wasn't doing any of the above, he was putting on his cowboy hat, swaggering across America and projecting the image of America as Badass.

George Bush ran on a platform of compassionate conservatism. But when the world got dicey and his tiny viewfinder of a mind couldn't handle reality, he morphed into a schoolyard bully. If anything makes this newspaper regret this man's presidency, it is that the strongest nation in the world doesn't need to be a bully. Bullies are bullies because they're insecure and weak and dumb. This nation is none of the above. George Bush is all of above.

Pork: nothing new.... [from Grist Magazine]

The monstrous corporate tax legislation that recently sailed through Congress -- passing in the Senate 69-17 last Monday, only days after it passed in the House -- has given the environmental community a terrible case of Coulda-Been-Worse Syndrome.

"We're well aware that this bill reflects the kind of sausage-making, vote-building, pigs-at-the-trough mentality that Capitol Hill, at its worst, is known for," said Kevin Curtis, vice president of government affairs at National Environmental Trust. "But the fact is that enviros in Washington have put every ounce of our energy into keeping this bill from becoming substantially worse in terms of bad energy policy and industry handouts than it is now."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), however, could spare no kind words for the pork-laden package, which President Bush is expected to sign into law within days. "[A]t 633 pages and $148 billion, [this legislation] serves as a sad example of the way business is done around here," he said in a lengthy, withering statement submitted on the congressional record. He complained about "billions and billions of dollars in tax breaks for big corporations" and lamented that "special interests continue to rule at the expense of the hardworking American taxpayer."

Among the biggest corporate winners in this great special-interest giveaway are -- surprise, surprise -- energy interests.

This was happy and long overdue news:

Tom Delay Subpoenaed for Role in 2003 Texas Redistricting
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R) was subpoenaed in Houston to an October 25, 2004 deposition concerning his role in the controversial dispute between Democratic Legislators and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) during last year's redistricting struggle. Texas State Representative Lon Burnam (D--Fort Worth) subpoenaed DeLay in his ongoing lawsuit challenging DPS's use of public funds to achieve political ends and for its destruction of documents following the exodus of Democratic Legislators from the State to prevent a quorum in a redistricting effort that Democrats claim was illegal.

We flew to Europe on election day, part of a group of Cal alumni on our way to St Petersburg, and all groaned when the pilot announced, just as we were about to land in Frankfurt, that Bush had won. Our holiday in Russia began with a very depressed Berkeley crowd. Jet lag was nothing compared to election letdown. We had hoped and then been disappointed.

I have not abandoned hope. But we need an overwhelming victory, one the repugnicans cannot steal or subvert or question with any credibility.

Power to the People!
--the BB

Synapses are not firing right

No matter how you slice and dice it, things are just not right in John McCain's brain. That could be said on many levels but I am trying to describe nothing more than synapses firing as they ought.



h/t to John Aravosis at Americablog
--the BB

¡Que empiece el cambio!

I voted! I hope you do too.

Tanks to da padre fer the graffik. w00t!

I am fighting a cold and, today, indigestion. Blech. Today was very productive at work yet also a time of constant pressure. Glad to be back at my home away from home.

Nice to think of IT being married. Nice to see news of a widening lead in the presidential race. No time for complacency though.

And in extra good news: it is now official that come mid-November I fly home from New Orleans and begin work in Albuquerque. Home!

New Orleans is a great city and a beautiful one. It needs to survive and thrive. I am grateful for having experienced it, even in straitened circumstances. I hope and pray for its full recovery and rejoice in its people. And, in a total bonus, it is home turf to the incomparable Mimi.

We all know that if you aren't on vacation or at home you are in exile. Make straight in the desert a highway for the Bear!
--the BB

"Proud Christian Republicans"

I received the following on a listserv today and will preserve the anonymity of the writer.

Yesterday I took the time to do early voting. ...

There was a line, and immediately behind me was a Hispanic gentleman in his 50s and an Anglo couple probably in their early 60s. The hispanic guy was quite pleasantly animated and spoke of his excitement because Hilliary was coming to El Paso the next day. The Anglo woman then said, "Maybe someone will assassinate her finally." "We", she proclaimed, "are proud, Christian
Republicans and under no circumstances could we vote for the nig, ugh, black man for president of this great nation."

I was rendered quite speachless, and took quite a while to regain my composure. She went on to proclaim how much she didn't trust compter voting becuase it was too easy to cheat and not record her "right" vote.

By that time I was ready to say something but my time was up to vote.

Goodness! I know there is a lot of fear abroad these days, but that kind of invective and hate and fear I have not encountered in quite a while. I pray not to hear and witness it again ever.

Pax,

Racism is alive and well and has long been at the core of Republican strategy.

That sort of "proud" needs Jesus' own backhand, if you ask me, which you didn't.
--the BB

Getting to know you - the series

Reform. Mavericky goodness. Associations.

Well, let's see now. John Aravosis at Americablog had this to say this morning:

As Chris reported earlier, yet another McCain confidant is found to have accepted millions to keep Fannie Mae unregulated. The first time was McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis. The second time was the guy McCain hired to run his entire convention. McCain is in so deep with lobbyists, it isn't even funny. These kind of connections would be bad for the image of any politician running for president during an economic crisis, but McCain has made lobby reform and ethics his number one issue. And now we see yet again how in bed McCain really is with Washington lobbyists.

--the BB

¡Sí, se puede!

h/t to mediaprof who offered this as a palate cleanser after the story of a dead bear cub dumped at WCU with Obama signs attached.
--the BB

Thanks, Mimi

(wedding cake photo source)

Yes, I steal shamelessly. Mimi had this great video up and just in case you haven't visited her (and y'all really should as she keeps one of the greatest spots in blogland) you can watch it here.



Grandmère snaffled it from Tobias. We're all snaffleurs but we do give credit.

Congratulations, IT! We are all so happy for you.

Let's uphold equality. No on Prop 8.

And remember, because we can't say it too often: Equal rights are not "special" rights.
--the BB

Great follow-up on "voter fraud" in New Mexico

fbihop has a post at Daily Kos on the RNC, shall we say backpedaling on voter fraud? Their claims in New Mexico have proven - what a surprise - baseless.

Republican asshats.

Defend your vote and your right to cast it!
--the BB

If you live in NC or TX you need to know this before voting

There are dangers involved in voting straight Democratic ticket and they are different in the two states. Just go read about it here. Make a mistake and your vote may not count.
--the BB

A nice compilation

Colin Powell yesterday, endorsing Senator Obama along with illustrative bits:



h/t to Jed L who put it together
--the BB

Ce n'est ni juste ni nécessaire

Thanks to FranSheIs for this ad
--the BB

Barney Smith vs. Smith Barney

h/t to Joe Sudbay at Americablog
--the BB

Powell rebuffs nonsense

Following his endorsement of Barack Obama for President, Former Secretary of State and retired General Colin Powell dismisses "socialist" nonsense.

And now I guess the message this week is we're going to call him a socialist. Mr. Obama is now a socialist, because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have. Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay them, in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there's nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more or who should be paying less, and for us to say that makes you a socialist is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate.

[Emphasis mine]

Indeed.

h/t to BarbinMD and Steve Benen

--the BB, posting from the Albuquerque Sunport

Travel Day

I will soon be preaching at San Gabriel then flying back to New Orleans. Hope you all have had a good weekend.

Powell endorses Obama

With eloquence and humility, Former Secretary of State and retired General Colin Powell just provided a ringing endosement of Barack Obama as President for the United States. Among the many reasons he mentioned for his support were that Obama has reached out 'across the nation,' and 'has both the style and substance to be an exceptional President.' He ended by stating "I'll be voting for Barack Obama."

--DarkSyde at Daily Kos

Update:
Read more at Huffington Post.
--the BB