PSoTD

Today's question:

If a candidate for elective office had visible and unconventional body piercings, would that have an impact on your consideration of that person as a candidate?

Norman Solomon at Media Monitors Network hits the nail on the head:

On Oct. 29, hours after the indictment of Lewis Libby, the lead editorial of the Times ended by declaring that “the big point Americans need to keep in mind is this: There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.” On Oct. 30, the Times columnist Frank Rich referred to “Colin Powell’s notorious presentation of WMD ‘evidence’ to the UN on the eve of war.”

And so it goes in the opinion section of the New York Times. There’s now eagerness to blast the Bush administration for some aspects of false prewar propaganda — while the newspaper continues to dodge its own crucial role in promoting that propaganda.

If Michael Moore was looking for an appropriate target for his next movie, the national PoliPress would be hard to beat. And I, for one, would love to watch a movie that tore into how easily these journalists convert into tools.

According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted this past weekend, less than half of the American public believes former senior White House aide I. Lewis Libby Jr. did anything illegal in the matter for which he was indicted; a majority says the controversy involving him is an isolated incident rather than symptomatic of low ethics at the White House; and there is little shift in the already low opinion ratings of the players closely associated with this controversy, including ratings of presidential adviser Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney. President George W. Bush's job approval rating has also not changed compared with polling conducted a week ago.

That's somewhat depressing for our nation, but here's the real news in the survey:

The weekend poll asked Americans how well they understand the Libby case. About two-thirds say they understand it very (22%) or somewhat (46%) well, while about one-third (31%) say they don't understand it very well or don't understand it at all.

Those who present themselves as knowledgeable about the case — saying they understand it "very well" — tend to be much more critical than others about the seriousness of the charges and the broader implications for the Bush administration. Whether this is an indication that public opinion will grow more critical as the facts become better known, or whether it merely reflects the somewhat higher proportion of Democrats among those highly familiar with the case, is not clear.

The more people know about this case, the more they are pissed off about it. More light, please. More real journalism, please. No more talking heads, please.

Others weighing in on this poll: Tennessee Guerilla Women...

Go Chicago Bears!

Did you see his lineup on Meet the Press today?

Broder,Brooks,Safire,Woodruff

Two of those four are only going to gloss over the Libby charges with Republican talking points. The other two are lost in the haze of inside DC baseball. Russert knows this. Why not have real investigative reporters on his roundtable? Why these hacks? Russert knew where this "roundtable" would go with the story.

I honestly would not be surprised if this is the last time Timmeh covers the Libby story with any open discussion for at least a month. He's not acting like someone in search for the truth. He's acting like someone afraid of the truth.

What kind of public policy education are they providing at the University of Connecticut? I'm not too impressed by this professor's comments...

Ken Dautrich, a professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut, said the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby "pales in comparison" to Watergate or the Lewinsky affair.

The significance of Friday's developments was the resignation of Libby, who while widely unknown prior to the scandal, was a prime catalyst for the administration's divisive foreign policy, Dautrich said.

"It's not the president or vice president who lied to a grand jury. It's a top aide, but Bush or Cheney, they don't have a stink left on them," Dautrich said.

"This is the guy behind the Bush administration's foreign policy. This is a guy who thought Saddam Hussein had to be taken out. He was the highest-level hard-liner, and was a close advisor to Cheney and Bush. Clinton lied to a grand jury. This was just a high level aid," Dautrich said.

Sure seems to me that a lot of folks think Bush and Cheney have quite a stench at this point.

From the Daily Tar Heel:

Students walking through Polk Place on Nov. 10 can play a game of pin-the-finger on the clit as part of the Orgasm Awareness Festival co-sponsored by Choice and Feminist Students United.

Choice members said the two groups are hosting the event to embrace female sexuality.

"Without understanding your own sexuality you can’t make informed decisions about what’s best for your reproductive life," said Jessica Polka, executive board member for Choice. "We also have the goal of trying to work towards fighting the social stigma against female sexuality."

The festival also will include a museum of sex toys, a masturbation raffle featuring vibrators, lotions and candles, an Orgasm Awareness reading list and a challenge involving putting a condom on a banana.

Only thing missing is the conservative outrage counterstrike... at this point.

Sylvester Stallone set to do sequel as an older Sgt. Joe Bomowski in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot II.

Well, close enough.

Golf as an industry is struggling.

Just a little promotion for the blogroll of Rantavation 3.0:

Flamingo Jones --- tbogg --- Juan Cole --- folkbum (Jay Bullock) --- main and central --- beautiful horizons --- tree trends --- tims el salvador blog --- thoughts from kansas --- Back To Iraq 3.0 --- Dougal --- afarensis --- Steve Gillard --- hellblazer --- opinions you should have --- rox populi --- fire dog lake --- sadly, no. --- orcinus --- funny farm online --- jesus' general --- ntodd --- an old soul --- avedon carol --- Alex --- scaim perspectives --- Donncha --- Panda's Thumb --- central america and beyond --- PZ Myers --- Zirma --- the rude pundit --- Suburban Guerrilla --- The American Street --- MaxSpeaks! --- Chronicle of a Medical Madhouse --- big monkey, helpy chalk --- feministe --- Norbizness --- beerdrinker.org --- divine invasion --- Miguel Cintellas --- prometheus 6 --- da poorman --- Rook's rant --- Pacific Views --- Low on the Hog --- blue oregon --- neddie jingo --- PSoTD --- sisyphus shrugged --- fact-esque --- no more mister nice blog

There's something a little odd about the American interest in spending a night in an old jail. Think it's not an American interest? How else can you explain all the inns and bed and breakfasts that have been converted from jails - and which retain their past history as part of their tourist allure?

There's the Jailhouse Inn in Rhode Island. The Jailhouse Inn or The Old Jail in Minnesota. The Jailhouse Inn in California, Jailer's Inn in Kentucky, Old Washington Jail B&B in Arkansas, and so on.

It's enough to make you wonder when some of the older prisons in America are decommissioned, if they may end up being converted into theme hotels.

Firedoglake has been the place to go the past few weeks about the Plame case. And she thinks that Fitzgerald has Cheney in his sights.

One of the things that the MSM does not seem to grasp in the Plame case is that the news media was a crucial pawn in a Bush Administration political pushback operation, and more importantly, apparently an illegally used one - and that is the meat of the story.

You would think they'd therefore be more careful about being used in blowback by the Bush Administration at this point in general, but particularly, on the Plame story.

We'll see. But I'm skeptical.

It must be weird to be Tim Russert right about now (even weirder than usual). He's really the crux of Libby getting caught up in trying to deceive Fitzgerald, and Libby must have made a calculated gamble that Fitzgerald would more likely believe Libby than Russert, if no other testimony was available.

Considering that Libby talked to other reporters as well - reporters that Libby could have said told him about Plame - Libby must have seen Russert as the weak link in the credibility chain. I wonder if Russert realizes that.

Others weighing in on Russert: Roger Ailes; Taegan Goddard's Political Wire; The Next Hurrah

From Instapundit:

THE MOUNTAIN HAS LABORED AND BROUGHT FORTH A MOUSE: At least if this report from the Post is true: No Rove indictment, and only a lame False Statements Act charge against Libby, which wouldn't even relate to the underlying issue. This will be a blue Fitzmas for some people if it works out that way, but it's too early to be sure that these reports are correct.

For anyone who thinks that this is the end-all to the whole investigation, please review the Watergate timeline. First arrests, June 17, 1972. Two years later? Nixon's resignation, August 8, 1974.

What happened during that time? Continued investigations, criminal convictions, and a steady loss of control by the President over all branches of government. Republicans are in denial if they don't think the Bush Administration is at quite a risk for a repeat performance.

Read.

I just heard him "marvel about how slow the wheels of justice move" on CNN concerning the Plame case. He was baffled as to why Rove would still be under investigation although not indicted today. After two years, who was left to question, etc.

Please, don't tell me that CNN is losing interest in this story already. Please, don't tell me that Miles O'Brien has never watched an episode of Perry Mason, that he doesn't realize that during one criminal prosecution evidence may come out that could lead to another criminal prosecution. Please, don't tell me that Miles O'Brien expects the Department of Justice to work at the same pathetic standards as the corporate news media, such as CNN's ability to pronounce a determination simply after being told by powerful sources that something was so, all the while being able to retract their determinations on a later date with little to no penalty.

Please, CNN and Miles O'Brien, don't expect the Department of Justice to use your standards for depth of inquiry and patience to determine the truth. Because if that were to happen, we'd all be completely screwed.

Workers of the World: Unite (on blogs)!

Charles Todd is taking a break. Hopefully he'll be back.

You could have fooled me, but rumor is that conservative women are better looking.

Somebody likes to collect old cameras, and then develop the old film they find in them. Pretty cool!

The Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005 (MORA) sounds like a good idea to me.

The most profitable costume you could wear for Halloween? Perhaps it would be a plumber...

Is it just me, or is it time for David Broder to spend his full time at the beach?

Yesterday, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. suspended shipment of Tamiflu® (oseltamivir) in the United States until there is increased incidence of seasonal flu this year, based on concerns that companies and other large entities that do not yet need Tamiflu for this year’s flu virus will hoard it.

There's ample reason for such concern. Back in August, International SOS, a London-based company that provides medical evacuations and other medical and security services to 6,400 corporations, began advising clients such as the Coca-Cola Co., Motorola Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. to consider stockpiling Tamiflu in order to protect employees and keep overseas businesses operating during a pandemic.

Now, there's nothing illegal with International SOS providing this advice. What is unacceptable is that for two-plus months, the American government didn't have the vision, the power or the public approach to actively discourage such activities. Nor was there an effort to try to promote any kind of medicinal distribution plan to the public as a real alternative to what organizations such as International SOS was advising.

It is possible - maybe even probable - that the U.S. government "requested" that HLR stop shipment for now to prevent hoarding. But in the case of pandemic, the Bush Administration needs to do more than to stop pre-pandemic hoarding. The government needs to begin the work now to re-educate Americans about the dangers of hoarding during a health emergency, because Americans haven't been in the situation much in the recent past where it has been an issue.

I'd like to see bloggers this Halloween photoshopping him in costumes like this...

Since, in our township, tonight's the night for Trick or Treat, today's question deals with that:

What kinds of treats do you prefer to buy for Trick or Treaters?

Corporations and other large entitites.

Sure would be nice if the Federal Government would try to figure out how to provide mechanisms to prevent pre-pandemic hoarding of medicines rather than depending on Hoffmann-La Roche's shipping practices to prevent such activity.

Sometimes "less government" is just less responsibility taken.

You know what would be of interest for the public to know? Just which corporations and large entities are suspected of this hoarding.

Your assignment: post the URL in Comments of the worst looking U.S. Federal Government web site you can find.

In his warped world, it was all due to government.

Far from existing from time immemorial, as many have assumed, racially segregated seating in public transportation began in the South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Those who see government as the solution to social problems may be surprised to learn that it was government which created this problem. Many, if not most, municipal transit systems were privately owned in the 19th century and the private owners of these systems had no incentive to segregate the races.

These owners may have been racists themselves but they were in business to make a profit -- and you don't make a profit by alienating a lot of your customers. There was not enough market demand for Jim Crow seating on municipal transit to bring it about.

I see. So... the restaurants around the country had no incentive to segregate the races in the late 19th and 20th centuries then, because they were private? How about the venues of entertainment? Hotels? This didn't happen without the aid of government?

Blaming segregation on anything other than the accepted society of the time is an excuse. Buses and other forms of transportation were just a segment of segregation. Jim Crow laws were a manifestation of a social structure built outside of government. Once again, Sowell is simply using selective generalizations in pursuit of a predetermined position. Cretinous.

Harriet Miers withdraws her Supreme Court nomination.

It'll be interesting to see how certain segments of the rightwing will beat their chest about this development. The way the Bush Administration is floundering at this point, I'd say the odds are 50-50 that the Bushies misstep into another major controversy in their do-over.

I received an email inquiry from a Frank Johnson, with a phone number, that simply said

"Good Service"

Having no idea what Frank meant, I did a search on the phone number in Google. There's a very strange spam campaign going on here. Check out all the industries Frank works in. Frank is amazing!

First, a bit from the source for today's Question of the Day:

If you haven't given a second thought to your brows lately, it's time to think again. Well-shaped brows can accentuate good bone structure, flatter different eye shapes and even take years off your face. While popular brow silhouettes may come and go (think Brooke Shields in the '80s or Madonna in the '90s) a classically arched, well-groomed brow (not pencil thin or penciled in) is still the most flattering.

Here's the question: What celebrities have the best and worst eyebrows?

There's a lesson in the "Nigerian 419 advance fee scam" email scam that I don't think we've quite absorbed yet:

The 419 scammer’s profession is one of daft promises made via email, backed up by weeks or months of persuasion, all to make sure that money is levered out of the gullible at long distance. The favourite targets are Americans, because they are seen as particularly greedy and easy to dupe with these ludicrous tales.

I just assumed it was an international scourge, with wealthy nations targeted equally. Apparently our country's reputation precedes the effort.

Soj is back!

Nah, they're not necessarily the most important bloggers to the entire rest of the blogosphere, but I like to read them, and they blogroll PSoTD, which I'm thankful for, so some highlights from some this blogroll's "A" letter bloggers:

A Grand Illusion: Remember When the Russians Were Threatening?

Above Average Jane: What's Sign Language for "dollop"?

After School Snack: Damn You Ticketmaster and Suck On It Fox

All Spin Zone: Keep the Powder Dry

alphabitch: How to wake up in the morning without really trying

Alternate Brain: What's This Blog Worth?
(more than mine)

American Regression: Let Hypocrisy Reign!

An Old Soul: CA: Our Governor's ties to Norquist, Prop. 75 and his appointee

Audacity: Reasons

Ayn Clouter's Blog: Out of the Shadows

But why not help celebrate?

There may be carols in the future, such as Deck The Blog with PSoTD and O Little Blog of PSoTD...

I'm not a big Katrina vanden Heuvel of the Nation fan. Chris Matthews likes to have her on his show, and then "Hardball" her, more than just about anyone else I have seen on his show. Tonight was just plain ridiculous, challenging her to have evidence that Cheney *knew* he was giving Libby classified information when he told Libby about Plame.

Seriously, is that vanden Heuvel's responsibility? What about Cheney's responsibility to admit he did this months or years ago? Why is it news today? Because Cheney and Libby hid this information.

Matthews picks vanden Heuvel primarily to discount her comments, I think, because she doesn't particularly present herself sympathetically to the audience. He can play up the Republican side against a partisan from the other side and maybe he thinks that makes the position moderate. He's no Russert, but he's quite the strawman putz.

This is a deep one. For today's question of the day:

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being disagree and 10 being agree, do you think the scale should go to 100?

We may have a weather vane on the tempest which is the Pennsylvania Legislator Pay Raise controversy. State Senator (and Senate President Pro Tempore) Robert Jubelirer has been the subject of two similar polls taken on his approvals this year - one before, one after the pay raise. Guess which poll would have Jubelirer losing a Republican primary?

Last week I had a post picked up by Daou Report, which generates quite a bit of new traffic. But this is the second or third time now that I've noticed that shortly after a Daou link, I'm getting considerably more traffic from Google as well on various searches completely unrelated to the Daou-linked post. I'm assuming that these searches are going on all the time, because they don't seem particularly time-sensitive at this point, and that for whatever reason, this blog is higher ranked as a result now. Is it due to a "higher ranking" because of the Daou Report link? I haven't had any other major blogroll links to my knowledge in the past week...

Atrios is right. Bush's answer to criticism and disbelief in his policies is to say the same thing over and over, louder and louder. It's a stupid answer. But even more moronic is laying out to the press these repetitive activities as if they were a reasonable strategy.

Will you be celebrating Ten Commandments Day?

A suggestion to the coordinators of Ten Commandments Day - if you're going to have a Day to Celebrate the Ten Commandments, and you're going to have a web site to celebrate that day, have the commandments listed somewhere on your site. And if you're so concerned about the visibility of the Commandments, try to place them somewhere on the site that can't be ignored. I know you're quite interested in selling your glitzy looking pins for $15, but it sure looks like you're forgetting the point of your "holiday".

While I'm at it, I have to admit to being curious as to whether Ron Wexler, CEO, Ten Commandments Commission, or Pastor Myles Munroe, Chairman of the Ten Commandments Commission, has ever broken the 10 Commandments. If so, where were they when they did it? Because, it seems to me that if you're all fired up to have a copy of the Ten Commandments displayed somewhere, perhaps the place to display it is where they are likely to be broken, not where people are being punished by the laws of the land. Perhaps the focus should be placing such displays at sports arenas, to prevent the taking of the Lord's name in vain; at "meetup" hotels, where adultery can be taking place; EVERY place of business that is open on Sunday; capital punishment facilities for state incarceration systems, etc.

Unless, of course, your real goal is to sell some costume jewelry.

Good for Pennsylvania Cable Network. This ought to be interesting.

Newscasts across the world are reporting on the possibility of an avian flu pandemic. But what does it all really mean and how can you protect yourself and your family? PCN will devote an edition of the PCN Call-In program to the topic on Thursday, November 3 beginning at 7:00 p.m.

During the show, viewers can call in toll-free at 1- 877-PA6-5001 to speak directly with experts from the PA Department of Health, the PA Department of Agriculture, and the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

You have to wonder how different that number would be if Tennessee had a two-year moratorium on lobbying the state government after they left public office.

85 of the 99 biggest lobbyists working the state government of Tennessee previously worked in, or have relatives working in government.

The fighter, punchdrunk and blurry, balanced on the back of his feet. He felt the blow to his face, he rode the snap of his head back, leaning into ropes, bouncing back forward. He threw his arms and hands towards the colors that faded left and right. He was strong, he was at one point stronger than his opponent, and all he had to do was land the right blow and the fight would still be his.

We all ought to recognize that the national Republican Party is, at this point, the punchdrunk fighter, and if somehow they manage to survive the Fitzgerald investigation with no indictments, that will amount to a sense of legal invincibility for the Bush Administration, with all sorts of wild flurries to follow.

Yesterday my daughter and I went to the Harrisburg Whitaker Center to see the Grossology exhibit - The Science of Really Gross Things. It's all about the body and functions. I can't say I was really impressed, but she thought it was funny.

Obviously, one of the things they cover is barfing, which is the lead-in to today's Question of the Day:

What is your body's physical cue that you are about to immediately commence barfing?

A Tickle Robot?

The video is a bit disconcerting.

Hey, if the expected announcement to name Ben Bernanke to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan does happen today, one can only hope.

Even with the recent traffic increase, we've devolved back to a Marauding Marsupial at The Truth Laid Bear. So, let me share some highlights from my new neighbors in the trees:

UnFairWitness: Daniel Goetz: A soldier silenced

GruntDoc: LSU Medical, Nursing and Dental continue despite Katrina

LannyCardow.com: Top ten young conservatives in the House

Just thought you might be interested who they think their stars of tomorrow will be.

Freedom to Tinker: Breathalyzers and Open Source

Lawyers for 150 Floridians accused of drunk driving have asked a court to order the disclosure of the source code for software running in the breathalyzer machines used by police to analyze their blood alcohol level...

Patridiot Watch: Ahmed Chalabi for Fed Chairman?

Yow. Oh, and hey, why is Brad Lidge giving up so many homeruns now?

Anyone else having real allergy problems this fall, presumably due to mold spores? October has been extremely wet for Pennsylvania. I'm noticing it.

I just saw that CNN had three newscasters standing out in Hurricane Wilma's publicized 100 mile per hour winds. Anderson Cooper and Miles O'Brien were among the three. How long until one of these folks ends up getting hurt in these winds? Is CNN saying that it's worth the risk of having a shingle or stick going through their high-priced news folks in order to get a shot of them being blown by wind?

From the Bridgeton News:

A Downe Township mother of a 15-year-old Bridgeton High student claims that the school bus her son rides has been stopping at McDonald's on East Broad Street in Bridgeton en route to the school every Friday since last school year.

She's not happy about it and doesn't believe her concerns are being taken seriously by the Downe school district, which pays to have its students bused to Bridgeton High, or Sheppard Bus Service, the Fairton-based company contracted by Downe to transport its students to school.

Linda Tyler said she learned of the weekly breakfast stops at the fast-food restaurant on Wednesday, Oct. 5, when she questioned a neighbor about why her son was out of their Newport home well before he should have headed to his bus stop. She wanted to know if the neighbor's child was already gone, too.

The bus company or the school district or both are opening themselves up to some liability if any accident should occur at the McDonald's. If it continues, it's a sign that the company and/or the school district is poorly managing the situation.

From The Times-Tribune:

Gov. Ed Rendell asked the Legislature this week to appropriate $15 million for LIHEAP, which would increase the fund to $135 million. The $120 million in the fund now would produce average grants of $239 to 330,000 households, an amount that would not even cover the projected increases.

Lawmakers also should approve Mr. Rendell’s request for a state sales tax "holiday" for the purchase of energy-efficient appliance and weatherization materials, in the interest of conservation.

The sales tax holiday idea is an interesting idea, similar to what Governor Ridge did with computer purchases during his term, but it's likely to take more than $15 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to make up for the state's share of the federal LIHEAP shortfall. Depending on the federal government to effectively take care of the rest of the funding problem seems too risky as we head into winter.

Keep an eye out for dressed up dogs...

Found via Spookypeople.com:

Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.

One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.

In an AOL-valuated world, how much is your blog worth?

According to their site, PSoTD is worth $62,099.40. Yeah, I'm a bit behind Crooks and Liars and Talk Left, but who isn't?

Hey, here's an idea - how about using the Internet more effectively, both government and farmers? Setting it aside in disaster-involved states is one thing, but the rest of the nation?

From the Montgomery Advertiser:

Alabama farmers will not have to drive miles out of their way to apply for government disaster aid and other benefits — at least for now.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it is prepared to "set aside" plans to improve efficiency by closing about one out of four of its Farm Service Agency county offices around the nation. Lawmakers had complained about the plan.

There are 49 county offices in Alabama and all were under review for possible consolidation or closure, state Farm Service Agency officials said.

Farmers in Butler County south of Montgomery were relieved to hear the local Farm Service Agency office in Greenville was in no threat of closing soon. Some would have had to drive 50 miles to get to the next county office, said Myron Salter, who raises cattle on a 400-acre farm in McKenzie.

Is a 50 mile drive such a big deal? How often do these farmers have to do this? There are commuters in California that do that every day...

Frank Rich, while you're on Meet the Press talking about the Fitzgerald investigation, can you ask Timmeh the hard questions about his involvement in the Plame case?

If Pennsylvania State Senator Jeff Piccola doesn't hire a creative team to work this imagery heavily into his television commercials during the Republican Primary for Governor race, he's missing a golden opportunity.

Pic - Co - La!

Happy Birthday, Jerome Lester Horwitz.

Although most of you may only know him as Curly Howard.

Question of the Day:

Who is your favorite non-English language singer?

Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Larry Bowa is talking to the New York Yankees about the possibility of joining the team as a coach.

There's only one thing I can think of saying about this news.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

Dear Republicans,

President Bush is yours. Please quit implying that he's not a Republican (or actually saying he isn't) about this or not a Republican about that. You've spent years accepting and adoring President Bush. He's yours. Don't try to pawn him off as anything other than the Republican Standard Bearer. Don't suggest he's somehow part-liberal. He's yours, all yours, and we're not taking responsibility for his policies.

If you're a condo or apartment dweller with a bad case of Halloween lawn decoration envy, you're not alone. Last Halloween Americans spent $780 million on Halloween decorations, part of a $3 billion Halloween industry that is "boo"-ming by an average of 53% a year. And the bulk of that Halloween decoration spending went to outdoor yard decorations; the more elaborate the better. So how can yardless Halloween fans get in on the devilish decorating fun with an equal amount of bloodthirsty creativity shown by the happily yarded? With collectible Halloween villages!

After Christmas (by far the frontrunner), and arguably Independence Day (by sheer flagitude), Halloween is the next highest decorative holiday of the year for homeowners around the United States. These holidays generate huge industries which generate huge revenues for creating such decorations and entertaining home novelties. It's enough to make you wonder what the next big decorative holiday will be. There are industries to feed.

The real key to a decorative holiday, it seems to me, is that it has to appeal to both genders and to most if not all ages. It needs common denominator status on things such as religious value and believability. It needs loveable fable status that can serve as replacements for original holiday purpose, particularly in the case of religious holidays, for those who are less faith-oriented. Christmas has that in spades, from Santa Claus to Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer to Scrooge. Halloween has it with its various monsters. But few other holidays have it. Yes, Easter has the Easter Bunny, but men tend to steer away from proudly decorating their abodes with rabbits and baskets.

Give Easter another, more "manly" fable, and it could be the next big decorative holiday. Short of that, it leaves the game open for other contenders:

St. Patrick's Day. It has the leprechaun and the shamrock - and a color. But there's the nationalistic view of the holiday, and to a lesser degree, the religious view of it as well. It's a colorful celebration day, but will Americans adopt it as their own?

Valentine's Day. Do you really think the chocolate, flower and gem industries are going to let the home decoration industry start nibbling away from money spent for this holiday? Not gonna happen.

Thanksgiving. It does have a mythical proportion to it, and it has a 4 day weekend for many folks. But it's sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, and a lot of people see Thanksgiving weekend as the time to start pulling the Christmas decorations out. They don't want to have to put away the Thanksgiving decorations at the same time. I just don't think it's the next big decorative holiday.

No, I have a holiday in mind that really doesn't have industries taking advantage of it to sell product, other than generic holiday sales. And I think it is a shame. There's a holiday out there that needs a brilliant marketer to grab, a holiday that many Americans wonder why we celebrate it anymore, a holiday that is worth celebrating and worth remembering and worth having fables that young and old, man and woman, Christian and non-Christian will appreciate.

That holiday is Labor Day. There are fabulous stories of working men and women in this country, fantastic stories of the improvements in lives by the activities of unions. The problem may be that there are too many true stories, and not enough fables that celebrate working. If nothing else, unions should work together to fund a creative effort to invigorate the Labor Day holiday, because that would also re-invigorate an appreciation of labor and unions as well.

And then... maybe cash in on that industry as well.

Yep, gonna add three of the blogs listed below to the blogroll on Saturday, and you get to help pick which ones. Vote for as many as you think should be added, and the top three votegetters get in. What about the remaining five? Next time!

Getting back to defining the venues in which lobbying is defined, Alaska seems to cover it on the state level:

Sec. 24.45.171. Definitions (effective prior to September 15, 2003):

(1) “Administrative action” means the proposal, drafting, development, consideration, amendment, adoption, approval, promulgation, issuance, modification, rejection or postponement by any state agency of any rule, regulation, order, decision, determination, or any other quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial action or proceeding whether or not governed by AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act).

(6) "Influencing legislative or administrative action" means promoting, advocating, supporting, modifying, opposing, or delaying or seeking to do the same with respect to any legislative or administrative action by means including but not limited to the provision or use of information, statistics, studies, or analyses in written or oral form or format.

(8) “Lobbyist” means

(A) a person who is employed and receives payments . . . to communicate directly or through the person’s agents with any public official for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action if a substantial or regular portion of the activities for which the person receives consideration is for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action; or

(B) a person who represents oneself as engaging in the influencing of legislative or administrative action as a business, occupation, or profession.

And in a change, they also cover the individual, regardless of whether they are paid by others or not, that attempts to influence state government action - IF they represent themselves as trying to do so. It still seems vague. If Bill Gates lived in Alaska, and went to the Governor's office, he would receive access to the Governor. If he stated his position on a variety of government policies, but didn't state that he was attempting that he was trying to get that change - for example, if he complained about something vociferously but didn't say "I Am Here To Get You To Change This", would that be considered lobbying in the eyes of the law?

Today's question:

What is your favorite Halloween holiday television show or movie?

Haven't seen any news to the effect yet, but gotta think that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is heading for a couple of record years, particularly with all the hurricane impact of this year. New Orleans had to cancel all large conventions through March at this point. The National Association of Convenience Stores Show 2005 and the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses Convention both moved their venues to Las Vegas after Katrina.

From Froomkin:

Matthews also had this to say about press secretary Scott McClellan: "How can he come out day after day like a figure on a Schwarzwarld [cuckoo] clock and just come out and make these chirpings, these announcements that turn out not to be true and then continue to do the job? Don't they just laugh at him down there?"

Whoa. One of the most oblivious talking heads on television actually noticed that Scott McClellan, is not a capable press secretary?

Bad news for Scotty, because when Chris Matthews notices that you suck at your job, then everyone other than George W. Bush has noticed.

30 years of the movie. Tis the season, too.

What's your favorite line?

Don't act like you've never watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It's been thirty years? How could you have missed it? And now, here's your chance to play the game...

Frankly, I think this was a cute idea by Fry. I'd be tempted to have paintings of Cupid on the wall as well. It's all sports-related mind games to aggravate the opponent, after all...

From KWWL:

The University of Iowa is keeping the pink visitors' locker room at Kinnick Stadium off a report to the NCAA. Instead, the university's Human Rights Committee will likely study whether it's sexist or homophobic, as several professors and students claim.

The pink locker room is a Hawkeye tradition dating back to former football coach Hayden Fry. Associate Provost Pat Cain says the university's recertification committee found Iowa in compliance with N-C-A-A rules. She says the group decided the pink issue is not really an athletics issue and does not fall under the committee's mission.

Happy birthday to the sweetest nine year old I know... you're getting too big too fast.

We'll have fun this evening!

Interesting bit from McClellan's gaggle yesterday:

Q Yes, Scott, you said that the President has directed the White House to cooperate fully with the investigation. So can you tell us whether Harriet Miers, in her connection with the White House, has been involved in any way with the leak investigation, or whether she's testified before the Fitzgerald grand jury?

MR. McCLELLAN: She has been -- carried out the direction of the President, just like the rest of us here, to cooperate fully with the special prosecutor. She has been White House Counsel during part of the time that this investigation has been ongoing. I'm not going to comment on the investigation, though, beyond that.

This puts her nomination in a slightly different light...

In order for there to be a successful effort to overhaul the industry of "lobbying", a whole picture review of the industry needs to take place, including goals for what the practice should include, and how it should balance interests in society or have those interested balanced for it, just as every other profession does.

This goes all the way back to the basics, such as what the definition of "lobbyist" actually is. In fact, the definition of "lobbyist", from state to state, ought to be methodically reviewed by someone - ANYONE - since there's a disparity of what it means from state to state. I'm sorta volunteering - I'm willing to review until I conglomerate enough that looks like it covers the waterfront for defining lobbyists. Today, I'll review North Dakota's definition of a lobbyist, which is a small and relatively general definition:

What is a Lobbyist?

North Dakota Century Code, Section 54-05.1-01, defines a lobbyist as "Any person who, in any manner whatsoever, directly or indirectly, performs any of the following activities:

1. Attempts to secure the passage, amendment, or defeat of any legislation by the legislative assembly or the approval or veto of any legislation by the governor of the state.

2. Attempts to influence decisions made by the legislative council or by an interim committee of the legislative council."

Chapter NDCC 54-05.1-02 does not apply to any person who is:

1. A legislator

2. A private citizen appearing on his own behalf

3. An employee, officer, board member, volunteer, or agent of the state or its political subdivisions whether elected or appointed and whether or not compensated, who is acting in that person’s official capacity.

4. Invited by the chairman of the legislative council, an interim committee of the legislative council, or a standing committee of the legislative assembly to appear before the council, interim committee, or standing committee for the purpose of providing information.

5. An individual who appears before a legislative committee for the sole purpose of presenting testimony on behalf of a trade, or professional organization, or a business or industry if the individual is introduced to the committee by the registered lobbyist for the trade, or professional organization or the business, or industry.

Obviously, there are some loose ends there. Supposedly, North Dakota has the highest number of millionaires per capita than any other state. Regardless of whether it holds that status, does the loose definition of a "private citizen appearing on his own behalf" give these folks a lobbying benefit not available to more traditional contract and employed lobbyists, with opportunity to operate under the radar? There needs to be protection for individual citizen access to legislators. However, there's a major difference for a grandmother contacting her state representative and a major party donor contacting all legislators about their pleasure or displeasure over a certain item. Should campaign contribution history be part of a parameter in determining whether someone is really "appearing on his own behalf"?

There's no language to the effect of trying to impact activity by executive branch organizations at all. Shouldn't that be included in any definition of a lobbyist?

Then there's the question of defining the profession for purposes of lobbying other levels of government. What about lobbying local or North Dakota regional government? Should that be part of a professional definition at the state level? It depends, I suppose, on the goals of codification of the definition, but does it, really? Other professions are specifically defined by the State for its citizens regardless of where they work and what they work on... so why should lobbying be different?

Again, this goes back to purpose - whether the goal is to establish standards of practice or if the goal is to simply provide some sort of vague measurement of activity. I'll eventually get to purpose, but for the next few lobbyblogging posts, I'll try to take a look at how other states deal with the above questions.

It's obvious to me that a lot of so-called entertainment now goes under the guise of "bleeping". When I was in Bakersfield, I caught a commercial for something, I forget what the product was, but the whole premise was to use the "bleep" in a suggestive way to make you think something "forbidden" was being said. On a commercial.

You see this on some television shows now also. These are scripted bleeps - everyone knows that the audience is going to hear a bleep, and not the word, and the bleep is the punchline. The word isn't even the punchline. The bleep is the punchline.

It's sad that television writing has sunk to the point of using the censor to fill time and quality. It's one thing if the word is the point of the joke - but it's entirely different if the "bleep" is the point of the joke. A bleep doesn't even shock an audience. A scripted bleep is the writer's way of saying that he or she didn't have the skills or take the effort to write a line that you could actually hear - but instead uses the censor's sound as a crutch to lazily get out of doing it.

I'm no highbrow, and I don't think language has to be sanitized for intelligent adults, but television writing should be a profession that requires enough skill with language to avoid using the bleep as a cheap out. Where's the pride of craft?

During the pre-incident period, who is gearing up for avian influenza, or at least is ready to sell today based on the threat?

Check out the sponsored links at Google.

Advertisers as of 8/18 include:

Gerson Company (respirators)
National Next of Kin Registry (now that's positive!)
NutriMedical Online Database of Nutritional Supplements (whenever there's a chance to sell I guess...)
MyDNA.com
wiseGEEK (you got me)

Today there's more:

Vitimmune (glutathione)
Evans Vanodine International (hygiene solutions)
SurvivetheFlu.com

At this point there's nobody hawking Agaricus Blazei Murill...

Sad news.

Longtime Oakland Athletics radio voice Bill King, whose signature call of ``Holy Toledo!'' was a household phrase for decades in the Bay Area, died early Tuesday from complications following hip surgery. He was 78.

His death came as a shock to the sports community, which considered King with his carefully groomed curled-up mustache as much a ballpark staple as the players and the popcorn. He even had his own bobblehead giveaway night.

Bill King was a great announcer, although I never really became accustomed to his style for baseball. He was an excellent basketball announcer, and during the "miracle championship" of the 1974-75 Golden State Warriors I listened to many a game on the radio that he announced. Along with his family and friends, Bay Area sports has lost a dear friend.

Othe