Smells Fishy...er...Like Sulphur

The Mayor of a town in Arkansas has decided to step down. Note, this supposedly isn't part of some scandal or political hubub on the horizon, it's actually because of Satan! You see, he was living in Indiana until he took up an assumed name.
...and of course, the reason he took up the new identity was because Satanists had kidnapped him and brainwashed him! The truth came out recently after being injected with truth serum (JEEZ! now THAT's a Halloween party!).

The story falls apart a little when he explained that he had a choice:

go with these people (hey! i thought you were kidnapped!?)
-OR-
see his family killed before his eyes (i thought you didn't remember them??).

He took a 3rd route and ran away (i suppose the killers didn't have his family address). Police say he's not suspected of any wrong doing. I say he's at LEAST guilty of abandonment (or worse) with this dubious story.

EGG BOWL WIN over OLE MISS!!!

I spent the day at my mother's house. We had a shrimp boil. as good as it was, i couldn't help but squirm. i wasn't able to watch the Miss. State v. Ole Miss game and i couldn't wait to get home and watch the Tivo. I kept checking my cell phone until i 'refreshed' it so much that i'd almost ran out of battery juice. we were losing the whole game through. I'd eat a little bit and check the cell. it was killing me. 14 to nothing and then the 4th quarter came. we ended up tying the biggest late game comeback in MSU history, winning the game 17 - 14 in the final seconds with a 48 yard kick, our kicker's personal best! the coach was in tears and ran onto the field with a Giant MSU flag. something i think has never EVER been done. we've had a long hard trip to get here. nearly a decade to finally be decent. it feels awfully nice to get to a bowl game again, especially for a kid that was lucky enough to go to MSU when we were used to winning. It feels good to be winning again. OH, here's video of the end!

Mr. Pollan Goes to DC

So, it seems i've been planning a trip to DC forever, but never actually making it happen. Originally, I wanted a trip to seattle for an extended weekend, then a long weekend in DC, then back to Jackson, MS where i'll be so tired i'd need a vacation from my vacation. I spent a lot of time on the Road this summer and it wasn't always my idea of the best summer ever. One thing that made it all better was Baseball. Each team plays roughly 5 days a week, unlike (say) football, I didn't have to wait around too long to watch my team and have a few bright spots in my day. I kept trying to find a time to fit in as much baseball as possible. wasn't there a week when Seattle, Baltimore, AND DC were all playing at home on the same week!? Sadly, whenever they were, I was tied up with work. Seattle, the place i was trying hardest to visit, was just not in the cards. DC, on the other hand, was.

Luckily for me, I know a few People in DC. People with Baseball tickets. And I had a plane ticket. Little did I know i was going to run into a few odd balls: Senator Larry Craig's Pals, some buffalo, a shark, FDR's lap, 45,000 people screaming for Teddy Roosevelt, Johnny Cash, a blueberry Guinness, and a story time at a bar that left me feeling like i was in a room full of people that had never had a grandparent (or at least a crazy uncle). I'll give you more as i put the photos together.

A Quick note on Hans Von Spakovsky

Recently BRD was asked my thoughts on Hans Von Spakovsky's nomination to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). He's what is wrong with a lot of Republican leadership in government. I don't mind conservative or liberal values in office. that's the way of the world. what i don't like is when people who dislike certain programs are the very people put in charge of them. He worked in the civil rights division, supposedly helping protect the hard fought rights of the people who vote. His life work in this area (to-date) appears to be working in voter suppression and voter roll purging...particularly in democratic district. GOP districts? not so much. He's another one of these guys that go after a manufactured 'voter fraud' with a solution that is pure supression, usually catered to low income/minority districts where all the unsubstantiated voter fraud seems to pop up.

Simply put, he articulates something that sounds like a problem, but isn't (voter fraud, non registered voters voting instead of real voters, etc.) THEN he miraculously has a SOLUTION to this made up problem, and what do you know, that solution helps to minimize voter strength in low income areas, minority areas, and (could you guess?) democratic leaning districts! what a gem. I suspect he'll be OK'd. what could they object to that hasn't been par for the course in Bush Country 'election protection' for 7 years now?

Um....Wow.

This looks pretty amazing.

Thank You for Being Patient

I have a good deal to talk about this week and hope to have quite a few posts, including some super secret info from my recent trip to DC! more later...WITH PICTURES!

Worst President Ever...?

Remember when Jimmy Carter was easing past Hoover as the 'Worst President Ever' in the GOP bathed 1990's? Well, whatever anyone has/had to say for or against him, one thing is true. He's probably the most important former President this country has ever had. His work in the democratization of developing nations is second to none, and clearly a better route than that taken by others (ahem). I came across this story today:

KABKABIYA, Sudan — Former President Carter got in a shouting match Wednesday with Sudanese security services who blocked him from a town in Darfur where he was trying to meet with refugees from the ongoing conflict.

The 83-year-old Carter walked into this highly volatile pro-Sudanese government town to meet refugees too frightened to attend a scheduled meeting at a nearby compound. He was able to make it to a school where he met with one tribal representative and was preparing to go further into the town when Sudanese security officers stopped him.

"You can't go. It's not on the program!" the local security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders."

"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a crowd began to gather. "You don't have the power to stop me."

Can you imagine any of our other presidents being on the ground, in a village in Darfur? let alone at 83 and confronting armed militia. inspiring and amazing.

A Parting Shot

I was going to say that the Republicans voted against a bill today that would allow US troops to spend equal time at home with family as they do deployed in Iraq. The ratio of home/away time for the British is 4:1. Well, if i told you they voted against it, i'd be fibbing. they actually filibustered the bill so that no one would vote on it. It would have passed and the President would have to personally veto it. My question is why do this? the Senator takes heat for not being supportive of the troops and they KNOW the president would veto the bill without worrying about political heat for re-election. maybe my thinking is off here.

Close at all?

I've been meaning to put this up for a while. i suppose the likeness is pretty close.

When Does the "Better" Part Come?

I was reading the newest Harper's Index, and it said that approximately 1.2 million people have died in/since the US/Iraq war started. In this release, the White House says "Under Saddam's regime many hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of his actions - the vast majority of them Muslims."

OK.

So what does this mean? did we end the 30 year rule of a cruel, despicable dictator, only to see a few hundred thousand MORE Iraqi's dead in 4 years? Are we seeing what Saddam took a generation to do come to pass in a handful of years? Truly, when does this become 'worth it'?

Greenspan Says Iraq War was for Oil

From the Times of London:

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.

However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.

Anyone see this reported in the US News programs? pretty big deal, I think.

The part here that gets me is the 'everybody knows' phrase. I think a majority of the people, particularly those who supported the President's war, think this isn't true. the main rationale? I hear the phrase "That couldn't be true". as if its too bad to be real (or I couldn't have been so wrong about the guy) is a rationale. I guess you take the better of two evils when "profound incompetence" is the other choice on the table. The problem is that they aren't mutually exclusive.

Bad Day for the GOP.

Two Republican Legislators died today in separate instances. Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, was found dead in his apartment today, and former Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., also died after collapsing at her home in Alexandria, Va.

So, 6 Stormtroopers Walk Into a Bar...

You don't see these guys at the pub everday....

Oh, you better believe that's a paddling.

I don't fully get why this cracks me up so much, but this is probably my favorite quote from the simpsons. i think i tend to like the peripheral characters (like Ralph).

Just a Thought

It is OK to be Republican
It is OK to be Gay
It is OK to be Overly Homophobic (well, really it isn't, but i'm not gonna tell you how to live--much).

Just don't be all 3 at the same time.
...and solicit sex in airport bathrooms.

Don't worry. Fox has your back (and the Senator from Idaho may too). In a bit of history repeating itself, this guy was involved in a Congressional Page/sex scandal too. his was just a generation ago (1982).

And Another Thing

I betcha we get a recess appointment to fill the AG slot to avoid a confirmation fight. that's what i'd do if I was Pres. Bush.

The Slowest Death in Recent Memory

It appears that the final death rattle has rattled for Alberto Gonzales. For someone pronounced politically dead for months, he just kept going. The bottom line point was that the law enforcement of the Federal government was being used for Republican, Political purposes (then the Atty Gen. lied about this to congress to cover it up). The argument was made that no law was violated (debatable). This, however, begged the question of just what standards the President used for his cabinet. Can you stay if you broke the law? (seems so). Can you stay if you skirted the law, covered it up, but did it for loyal partisan reasons? (oh my, yes. could you do it again?).

What I found interesting was the treatment of Karl Rove's resignation last week. it was treated like "the successful and controversial 'architect' of the Bush success has hung up his spurs". Now, considering his involvement in the politicization of the Justice Department, one would have to see these two resignations as part of the same narrative. I believe that these resignations are tied to each other, but purposely spaced so that Rove could get cover. We'll see this week if it worked. If i can trust what i see on TV news, I'd imagine it did.

I-CHI-RO

I really like to watch this guy get ready to swing the bat. evidently from this video, i'm not alone. pretty cool!



OK...this is pretty cool too. pitching from 150 feet? more? creezus!

Around Lunch the Other Day, I Ran into this Guy...

I'd say he's pretty brazen, whatever his meaning here.

Four Days and Counting

While It may not be my Bulldogs, or my Green Wave (look at the cool shot of our new field, post-Katrina!), I have four more days to go until i can finally see some live baseball again! it is taking WAY too long to get here!