PSoTD

Somebody ought to explain to me the definition of this term, and perhaps after that, explain it to the Washington Post, because I don't understand how Michael Gerson, George W. Bush's chief speechwriter from 2001 until June 2006, should possibly be allowed to write in a Washington Post section labeled as such.

Some wrestlers aren't forgotten.

When I was about 10 or 11, I had a 45 of Harry Nilsson's "The Rainmaker" which my brothers and I thought was just the greatest song. I can't find a Nilsson version of it on YouTube, but the song, in a speeded up tinny sounded version with some weird sounding instrumentation, is available in a version by Tom Northcott.

At some point, a friend of mine convinced me to trade him this 45 for a 45 he had. I really, really liked the band I trade for a lot more than Nilsson, but this song is one of my alltime least favorites, partly because I felt it was a bad trade pretty quickly and then we moved, and I couldn't get my record back.

It's sad when you realize that the predetermined observations of someone well past 15 years of writing anything enlightening will not stop receiving high level media attention until that person is dead.

Unless, of course, the newspaper outlets for that person die first.

I guess furnace companies must make a lot of money in Alaska.

From Alaska:

John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate stunned and divided Alaska political leaders on Friday. Supporters said she was a shrewd choice, but others argued Palin has no business being a heartbeat away from the presidency.

...

The reaction wasn't so rosy elsewhere. State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news.

"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

Green, who has feuded with Palin repeatedly over the past two years, brought up the big oil tax increase Palin pushed through last year. She also pointed to the award of a $500 million state subsidy to a Canadian firm to pursue a natural gas pipeline that is far from guaranteed.

Thank you to all the 500,000 plus visitors who have stumbled briefly upon PSoTD since I put Sitemeter on. This graphic of Turkish money is for you. See how much effort I put into this? Sometime last night, we clicked beyond half a mill.

Godzilla.

The McCain camp had marching orders Friday, and the news media obliged yesterday: The word of the day was maverick.

Interesting. I wonder what the McCain campaign thought was the most solid attack on him during the Democratic Convention? Could it have been that he's only 5-10% different than George W. Bush on policy at most based on his votes over the past several years? Could it be that he's been lumped together with all the other national Republican regurgitants? That he's been exposed for no longer being a maverick, but being a guy that's been bullied by his party to do what they say rather than what he believes?

Yeah, I kinda think they see that as McCain's softest spot - that McCain is a Republican that has loaned his reputation to support Bush - and was desperate to find something to disprove the narrative. Rather than going with someone properly vetted, he grabbed a nationally unknown politician who apparently has some "mavericky" reputation herself, someone outside of DC, as evidence that he's still a maverick.

It's going to prove to be evidence of being more of a kneejerk politician, I believe. Republicans can declare that it's bold, that it's outside the box, whatever. They can't declare that it was done with any sense of planning for governance. They can't say that this selection makes sense beyond the gender vote. They can't say that it changes the fact that McCain has supported Bush's Presidency for the past 8 years more than any Democrat - or even Joe Lieberman.

Choosing one's own path away from the crowd may indicate independence - but it doesn't automatically confer either leadership or wisdom that that choice. We've had a President for 8 years now that didn't listen to people other than those in his ever-shrinking circle. McCain may not appreciate the irony, but his pursuit of "maverickness" he continues to resemble Bush.

"Heh heh heh, this choice was so mavericky."

Guppies:

I have a butt load of guppies that my slider just won't eat. They keep reproducing, but he's not eating them, so it's kind of getting out of control. I got them as feeders, but some of them have random colors on their fins and all. So I guess feeder or tank guppies :) What do you have?

It is amazing: CNN sucks more as a news organization every year. Their convention coverage this year was barely better than unwatchable. I couldn't care less about every CNN personality they try to brand on their news, and it's very clear that their number one goal is to brand the news, not report it. Wolf Blitzer has become a very bad joke. They really should fire everyone there and start over. Frankly, there are people at Fox News that are better than most of the on-the-air "talent" they run at CNN.

I love how their state government officials talk about Alaska's ability to pay their own way. In 2005, $4.81 in federal funds came to Alaska for every $1.00 paid by Alaskans.

Seriously, this Palin selection is going to be a disaster. I keep seeing liberal blog commenters fretting about it, as if there was some sort of comparison to be made between Palin and Obama on experience that would benefit McCain.

Hardly.

You know, I might be concerned about Sarah Palin if she had more moderate view points, or came from a swing state, or seemed to energize John McCain himself. If she had won an election in a big state, or had done something politically impressive enough to make her name known to most Americans.

But she doesn't, and she hasn't, and she won't.

These comparisons on experience between Palin and Obama ignore the most important experience to be considered in the next two months - electoral politics. I dare say that unless Palin is some sort of amazing hidden genius in politics, that the experience advantage is Obama's. When Sarah Palin has beaten a candidate of the stature of Hillary Clinton, maybe then I'll be worried. But she hasn't. And she won't. Hell, McCain himself hasn't beaten a candidate of the quality of Hillary Clinton.

The story about how McCain came about to selecting Palin is going to become well known, because since hardly any Americans have heard of her, the vetting process becomes more important. One meeting? One discussion? Is that how we want a President to consider the most important policy decision to be made prior to election day? I just don't think normal Americans are going to accept this as the proper process for such decisionmaking.

I don't believe that Palin has been tested in a campaign anywhere near what she's getting into for the next two months. It's going to show. You can count on that.

Still, I see these liberal blog comments from worrywarts saying this is a brilliant move, how it's going to hurt Obama, blahtedyblahblah. I don't know who these people are, but they're not living in any reality that I can see. Fear can warp one's view, I guess.

Except Michael Palin is British, how can he be the VP?

Oh,he DID pick someone less known than Michael Palin. McCain likes the Dan Quayle strategy, I guess. Perhaps from now on, the desperate campaign move will be known as a "Hail Sarah"...

Funny how few television news "personalities" have been offended by John McCain's treating them like puppies chasing imaginary sticks today. Hey, Lieberman's in Dayton! No he's not! Where's my blackberry! Who has the most recent misleading hint from McCain! Woof woof!

I think he nailed the assessment of Obama's speech.

The Democratic Convention did a great job, I thought, in balling up John McCain with the sordid Republicans that have been in power the past 8 years. It is part and parcel of a Republican Administration, and the message is, no matter how much respect we may have as Americans in John McCain's POW story, there's no way those people should be left in charge any longer.

Oh, those Brazilians...

Today is the G-rated version, tomorrow will be the PG-13 or soft R version.

And... no, sometimes I just don't explain why I post what I post. That's like my blog secret sauce, seemingly random posts for no apparent reason. That's why thousands and thousands of people visit this blog every decade.

From our sixth-grade daughter after her second day of school this fall:

"I Love Middle School."

Alright, I'm putting my marker down: McCain will pick Tom Ridge as his running mate. I've been thinking about it, and I think the Lieberman talk is to make Ridge more palatable to Republicans.

Go ahead and put your guess in comments with your reasoning.

The harbour city of ancient Rome seems like a cool stop while we're in Rome, but timing is everything - not sure we'll be able to do it.

There's not enough alcohol in the world to make me agree with Peggy Noonan on this:

Michelle Obama's speech was solid, but not a home run. First impression: She is so beautiful. Beautifully dressed, beautifully groomed, confident, smiling, a compelling person. But her speech seemed to me more the speech of a candidate, and not a candidate's spouse. It was full of problems and issues. I continue to be of the Dennis Thatcher School of Political Spouses: Let the candidate do the seriousness of the issues, you do the excellence of the candidate. This is old fashioned but nonetheless I think still applicable. It has made Laura Bush (with a few forays into relatively anodyne policy questions) the most popular First Lady in modern American political history. Another problem with the Michelle speech. In order to paint both her professional life and her husband's, and in order to communicate what she feels is his singular compassion, she had to paint an America that is darker, sadder, grimmer, than most Americans experience their country to be. And this of course is an incomplete picture, an incorrectly weighted picture. Sadness and struggle are part of life, but so are guts and verve and achievement and success and hardiness and…triumph. Democrats always get this wrong. Republicans get it wrong too, but in a different way.

I think Laura Bush has benefited by comparison. Compared to her husband, she's a relatively rational, sensitive human being. And perhaps, by the term "modern", Noonan is limiting it to 21st Century First Ladies. Okay, but Hillary seemed VERY popular this primary season. Jackie Kennedy was more popular. Period, end of story, and if people don't believe it then they don't know the 60s and 70s. Lady Bird Johnson was very popular in her day. Nancy Reagan seems to be loved by a lot of Republicans.

The one thing that Noonan is bragging about here with Laura Bush - that there are no political or social accomplishments for her that Americans can think of beyond being married and devoted to George W. Bush - is the thing that is going to drag her down if she continues to act this way. Because people dislike George W. Bush very, very much, and he's going to receive a lot of the (deserved) blame for the pain we'll go through as a nation trying to correct the problems he's exacerbated or created, and if she doesn't have her own star to shine, she's going to suffer along with that.

Especially if she gets anywhere as defensive as her mother-in-law.

Have they permanently gone out of fashion?

For nuns?

Apparently we're just at the surface. Blog flotsam...

Blog Strength Score: 32%

School's in again, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly is thinking about buses:

Legislation is being drawn up in the state House that would ensure Pennsylvania's school buses are in top running condition.

The proposed bill would require PennDOT to adopt a maximum 12-year lifetime service for school buses in the state.

The 12-year maximum lifetime service proposal is based on a pair of studies that found that after 12 years of use, the annual operating costs of school buses begins to increase significantly.

Not sure how the school districts are going to respond to this proposal, but as a parent, I see this as a positive, particularly towards getting some kind of safety restraints built into school buses.

Great speech. Of course, it's going to be spun in a thousand ways, and already is, but really, she did frame Obama's candidacy and McCain's candidacy properly for her supporters.

There are dumbasses in the United States that say they will vote against their own interests out of hurt.

This just in from me: the 2004 election showed there are dumbasses in the United States that will vote against their own interests because they're dumbasses.

CNN promotes the first group, and supports the second group's ignorance. Thanks, CNN.

Do The Strand.

Can the Clinton folks just shut up? I don't know, saying that Democrats should act like Republicans and demanding instant gratification for a 4 day serial on the first night is the kind of political advice that will drive people like me - including me - out of the party if it becomes clear that it's the only operating plan in the future. Give the convention a chance.

Howard Wolfson, James Carville, and all of the other Clinton high-paid political operatives that figured out how to lose her primary and run up a huge debt when starting with advantages never before seen in a candidate - just go away. Let the actual Clintons do their thing, and shut these campaign contribution syphons up.

BTW - for all the political pundits who somehow missed the point of what last night was about - it was the connection to a mystical time for Democrats. Obama doesn't want Democrats to think it's time to go back to the Clinton years. He wants them to think about the glory of Camelot. JFK, Jackie, Bobby... didn't they see that last night?

More of that great economy news... Maybe the Canadians will help!

Reservations for seasonal rentals are lagging behind last year, which indicates the strong possibility that fewer snowbirds might come to Highlands County this winter.

Warren Wolfe, five-year owner of Woody's RV Resort, needs almost all his fingers and toes to count the number of prospective vacancies.

Most campers at the 110-site RV park reserve a spot a year in advance. At this time last year, almost every camp site was reserved for the upcoming winter season, which at Woody's, runs from November through the end of April.

Wolfe pointed to a map hanging in the community's office, with about 30 vacant spaces marked in red.

Wolfe is hopeful, but expects few campers to reserve a spot at the "last minute," which could mean a $100,000 loss from last year's revenues.

"Since 1993, and up until the last year, there were no more than two vacancies any year," said Wolfe, about seasonal RV campers. "They're staying closer to home or in their backyards."

The number of properties available for rent by the season is the some as last year, but the number or reservations is down, said Jean Eckman, Realtor with Century 21 Advanced All Service Realty Inc.

Eckman has noticed a trend over the last 20 years. In the past, snowbirds stayed from three to six months. That has changed. The average visit has dropped to one to three months.

Eckman is hoping this year's favorable exchange rate for Canadian dollars and the fact that out-of-country Canadians now have access to their health care coverages longer brings more Canadian visitors.

The NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This is about the closest thing to a handy guide for information on ordering tickets for the Final Four.

Is the textbook industry finally going to go through a "revolution" that will reduce costs?

It's pretty clear to me that when some of these folks have a choice between shutting up and making something better, or speaking and making something worse, they will always choose the speaking option.

After talking to my daughter and niece on the way to the airport last week, it's become apparent to me that "rock music", however defined, is being seen by a good chunk of their generation as "uncool". Rap is cool. Rock is heading towards the Boone Family territory.

Is there any point for anyone trying to do something to change that, and if so, what would that "something" be?

In many ways, I can't blame their generation. I try to listen to radio - to the stations that play "classic rock", and for a great portion of that experience, I feel the overwhelming urge to change the station too. It sucks. How is it possible to convince a generation that rock music is great by playing the biggest hits of Journey and Boston? It can't be done.

No, there is something going on with "classic rock radio" - and that something is a generational suicide of the music format. Yes, there is a generation or two that will still listen to most of that big hit crap, that time travel back to their days of yore and are so mesmerized by their memories associated with the music that they aren't cognizant of the major suckitude of the actual music. But why should any child of 12 or 14 or young adult of 20 listen to a music style represented so often on radio with the warbling banalities of Steve Perry? Who believes they should still have to listen to "We Built This City" 20 years after it first attacked the airwaves?

I cannot blame the upcoming generations.

So... the first thing that should be done is - kill classic rock radio to save rock music. If you really love rock music, quit listening to it on the radio. Buy it, borrow it, whatever, but don't support the local schmucks that think that playing the same three Bon Jovi songs every day is the golden goose. Slay their goose, for it is actually a big fat flightless pigeon infected with avian flu and West Nile Virus. Run away. Go elsewhere. Save rock music for a generation that hasn't had it poisoned with broadcast mediocrity yet. There's still hope, but we won't find it on radio call letters.

Well, after about a year of experience with the hot tub, I've made a few thumbnail use assessments about the kind of plants we want to have to create a slight buffer between the hot tub and the visibility of it from the street in front of our house.

A - we really don't use it much in the summer. A year ago I was against getting a summer flowering bush to use for this because of bees - the kids obviously don't like them flying around - but I don't see it as much of an issue. We've used the hot tub maybe 4-5 times this summer, and it's just not the same. It's enjoyable being in a 101 degree hot tub when everything that surrounds you is sitting in 20 degree air. But escaping from 85 degree weather and 90% humidity into the same hot tub? Um, not so great.

So, flowers are okay.

B - Berries are not. The hot tub has an "arm" for holding the lid cover, and occasionally birds like to sit on it and do their thing. Fortunately it's not too often, but I think a berry bush would increase that. It's not like I don't enjoy cleaning bird crap off the hot tub - okay, it is like that I don't enjoy it.

What would be perfect would be a bush that had a flower that looked like an owl so it would scare off all the birds, but apparently the Owlflower hasn't been genetically engineered yet. Science, get on this!

C - No thorns, spikes, whatever. Holly is out. Roses are out.

D - Prefer something that retains leaves throughout the winter, or have thick growth.

Any suggestions? I only want about a three foot tall by 5 foot wide area for the buffer (eventually, not necessarily buying it that size right away). We're either hardiness zone 6 or 7, I get varying results from different web sites. I'll probably end up going to a nursery with these same vague specifics unless I get a good suggestion elsewhere.

Have a Meetup Group.

I just can't bring myself to call it camping, but we had a great time the past two days at Twin Grove Park Campground outside of Pine Grove. And the cabins were pretty darn nice!

This Wikipedia entry of my old high school doesn't contain any information about freshman initiation. Back in the old days, I watched a few of my peers have to ride down Boot Hill on a Big Wheel, which usually lead to a crash and considerable rolling over at the steepest part. I think they used to put kids in garbage cans and roll them down the hill as well, at least that was the legend. Freshman initiation was usually imposed by senior class boys on freshman boys.

Hopefully this means that "freshman initiation" is no longer part of the high school culture. Seemed kinda stupid at the time, seems really stupid 30 years plus out.

I think this post does nibble around the juicy heart of a cultural change - how does the "marriage dance" change in an ubiquitous Google world? < Use Homer Simpson Voice In Your Mind While Reading > Plus, it's funny because I know them. And it's true. IT'S TRUE! < /Use Homer Simpson Voice In Your Mind While Reading >

Some weird strings...

Nothing new today on police inspection of the few clues left behind by Timothy Johnson, the Searcy man who's believed to have shot Democratic Party Chair Bill Gwatney to death in Democratic Party headquarters last week.

A note bearing Gwatney's name and a phone number has not yet yielded anything. The phone number is apparently a cell phone number, not a number for Gwatney, his home or auto dealerships. Police have issued a subpoena to learn the owner of the phone. That could take two to three weeks.

I watched a little bit of them in exhibition against the 49ers last night, and I have to say, if this is as lifeless as the Bears defense is going to be, then Lovey Smith should get fired by the end of the season, because that was listless.

Is Rashied Davis the only BEAR that is PUMPED Up? I don’t see many players motivated to win. You cannot turn the switch on/off in a blink of an eye. No enthusiasm and intensity, especially on defense. Where is the sense of urgency? Are the Chicago Bears in game mode? Indianapolis awaits - when will the Bears come out of hibernation?

Here's my favorite video of the song.

The Washington Post travel section suggests escaping to our town!

It's a young crowd we see, but not completely young, as we wend our way down North Second Street. It feels like Mardi Gras mixed with a beach-town boardwalk, bodies pressed together, weaving around sidewalk tables. Live music blares from a half-dozen bars. By 11 o'clock, lines are forming at dance clubs as black-garbed bouncers check IDs.

Can this be Harrisburg?

I have so many that I've lost track where the rest of them are.

and you need a commode handy, just in case...

One of the smart things I think Southwest is doing is giving passengers an arrival time that is 10-15 minutes after when they have a reasonable expectation of arriving. That way, they always seem to be running early, and as a passenger that feels good. The comparison of "how we're doing timewise" on a flight isn't compared to how much time we're in the plane in total, but compared to those numbers printed on our itinerary.

Another thing that was great, at least, about this 60 hour whirlwind trip to Seattle, is that somehow Southwest avoided the "sitting in line on the tarmac to take off or get to the gates" process that delays trips. That might have been a fluke on this trip, but still, it was a refreshing difference.

I catch the long-term parking shuttle at Baltimore-Washington International, and step into an empty bus. I ask the driver as we go around the parking lot, never picking up one other passenger, how business was. Summer's been busy, he said, mostly vacationers, but he figures in September it'll be awfully quiet. Business isn't flying NEARLY like they used to, they will probably have less buses at some times, which means less work. Vacations were locked in last winter by families and the decline in the economy couldn't stop promises made, but this fall will be a different story and NEXT summer will be terrible.

That was his opinion, anyway.

Sounds good to me.

For fliers, this is a winning plan. When new airlines join the mix, especially discount carriers, fares generally go down. In Philadelphia, for example, a year after Southwest Airlines entered the market in 2004, fares had dropped by 25%. Airlines paying for slots would want to get the most for their money: They might switch to larger jetliners, instead of smaller regional jets, to maximize profit. Fewer planes, carrying more people, could cut delays.

You're not rich. So, does John McCain support a tax increase on those that make that amount per year?

What does being a prisoner of war have to do with the idea that McCain might have "cheated" on a political discussion?

Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

Sooner or later the press has to realize that "a former prisoner of war" is not part of John McCain's name, and doesn't belong in every statement made by the McCain campaign - and call the McCain campaign on it.

This is a catchy song.

The next big thing.

The spike in gasoline prices, along with a desire for a greener commute, have people such as Wolfe increasingly turning to electric bikes as an alternative form of transportation. Experts say the bikes, which function much like typical two-wheeler with addition of a battery-powered assist, are flying off the racks.

Although official sales figures are hard to quantify, the Gluskin-Townley Group, which performs market research for the National Bicycle Dealers Association, estimates 10,000 electric bikes were sold in the U.S. in 2007, an increase of 6,000 over the number sold in 2006.

Bert Cebular, owner of NYCeWheels, an electric bike and scooter dealership in New York, reports a 50 percent jump in sales over last year. And Amazon.com Inc. reported sales of electric bikes jumped more than 6,000 percent in July from a year earlier.

"The electric bikes are the next big thing," Frank Jamerson, a former General Motors Corp. executive turned electric vehicle expert, told the AP.

The electric bikes are even more popular in Europe, where commuters seek alternatives for short trips that can free them from having to navigate overcrowded transport systems.

According to industry estimates, 89,000 electric bikes were sold in the Netherlands last year, while 60,000 power-assisted bikes were sold in Germany.

Sounds delicious.

And these two doofuses delivered. Possum?

Hey Bears fans - let's not get too excited.

Not bad. Obama goes on vacation for a week, gives McCain the national stage in a time of heightened nationalistic fervor (Olympics) and anxieties about generational enemies (Russia) and loses a whole two points. There's a lot of chatter at 538.com about it, but I think by the end of the day, the week of August 10th will be considered to be John McCain's best week in the campaign, and that's not good news for Republicans.

I guess McCain is going to have to write off Pennsylvania. Ridge as VP was about the only positive thing McCain could do that could give him a strong chance here. Short of an Obama disaster, McCain's not taking PA.

This poor pine tree was once doing just fine. A few days after these rotting eggplants were put here, the pine tree was dead. Eggplant kills!

What issues will the "Marcellus Shale reserves" create and exacerbate for Pennsylvania's local governments?

I have been supporting the same local coffee shop for over 4 years. During that period of time, it has had 4 different owners, and it is commonly thought amongst current and former regulars of the shop that the shop's overall quality has diminished over each owner.

One of the things that has annoyed me about this particular shop, and the past three owners that have run it, is that I have offered good business advice to each owner, and none have taken me up on it. To me, a coffee shop has to offer a few things to be successful, at least one that runs in a competitive marketplace in a smaller suburb:

1 - quality product at reasonable prices
2 - a comfortable environment to consumer said product
3 - a sense of community

The community is key - coffee shops succeed, or fail, on the basis of their volume and return rate of "regulars".

I've watched the current ownership of this coffee shop fail for over a year now in at first maintaining the existing regular base, and now in building a new one. It is clear to me that the shop isn't going to make it under current ownership. What they need to do - immediately - is outreach to the most likely people that can become regulars for their shop - the people that live and work within a 1 mile radius or so.

Signs aren't enough, and neither are ads in the Coupon Clipper. I've told the owners that one easy and cost efficient way to go about this is to contact Hampden Township and Camp Hill Borough, and get a list of the homeowners associations in those two entities with contact persons, and find out if they have newsletters or email lists, and advertise that way. Build community through neighborhoods. Is a person more likely to become a regular at a coffee shop where he or she never sees anyone they know, or at a place where they occasionally run into and talk to neighbors and friends?

Outreach to build their customer base from their neighbors is a freakin' no-brainer, and yet they don't do it.

Anyway, even a creature of habit has to do the right thing once in a while, and I'm not going to stop at the old coffee shop haunt any more. Dumb business approaches do not deserve support, especially when hope of change is long past. Bleh.

I predict that sometime tomorrow, Lauren Holly will make the top 100 of Google Hot Trends.

In another daring prediction, I will say that it WON'T BE for her effort in "The Chumscrubber".

If you had just 24 hours to spend in Italy, anywhere in Italy but limited to a 50 kilometer area, where would you go?

I'll run a freebie on Yahoo for anyone that wants to play along, just email me or post a comment and I'll put you in.

It's not your imagination, there are less and less of them around.

Dear State of Pennsylvania Technology Employees:

I'm just curious - what is the status of using DSF (Dynamic Site Framework) for Commonwealth web sites? Post anonymously, or email me - I would just like to know, it seems like it is disappearing from sites but that might be a mistaken impression on my part.

This is an assassination, and deserves a complete public investigation:

The Associated Press is reporting, "A gunman barged into the Arkansas Democratic Party headquarters Wednesday and shot the state party chairman three times, critically wounding him, authorities and party officials said."

Sen. Hillary and former president Bill Clinton quickly issued a joint statement on the shooting in their former home state, sending their prayers for his recovery.

It was a statement they had to update later in the afternoon.

"We are deeply saddened by the news that Bill Gwatney has passed away," they said. "His leadership and commitment to Arkansas and this country have always inspired us and those who had the opportunity to know him. Our prayers are with his family during this time."

Part of that investigation needs to be the political climate into which this assassin dwelled. It may not end up being pertinent, but if it turns out that the gunman oozed in the political hate climate of the worst of Republicans versus Democrats and visa versa, it needs to be publicly known.

Where work just keeps rolling in, and other items still needed to be done, and I couldn't wrap my head around blogging.

I've always been able to wrap my head around this tune by Nils Lofgren... Moon Tears.

Isn't it time we have a well-funded hoax, with the best special effects money can buy, for a "find" of a Bigfoot?

We went to a baptism a few weeks ago at this tiny church off of St. John's Road in Camp Hill. What a step back in time.

As sympathetic as I am about policy to reduce smoking, as long as it's legal, I see no way a homeowners association ought to try this:

A homeowners association of an affordable-housing complex is considering banning cigarette smoking in its 92 privately owned condominiums.

Some residents have argued that a ban would set a dangerous precedent for infringing on civil liberties and possibly violating the constitutional right to privacy.

Fred Peirce, attorney for the homeowners association's board, has been preparing a legal argument that could support a ban. Board President Ed Cross told residents in a letter this week that legal precedent has stated that smoking is not a constitutionally protected right.

Aspen Fire Marshal Ed Van Walraven recommended that the housing complex ban smoking after a fire caused by a smoldering cigarette in June destroyed 10 apartments in another affordable-housing complex.

The proposed ban could be brought to a vote of homeowners at a December meeting.

I see where Mike has "borrowed" the idea of posting 9 album covers and letting visitors guess what the albums and artists are. He's posted a tough set - go play!

I'm not watching the Olympics except for when it's on at the YMCA while I'm working out, and the one thing that has stood out to me during whatever competitions are on (this morning was women's volleyball) - there's a hell of a lot of empty seats.

Apparently events are sold out but people just aren't going? I saw this happen at the NCAA Men's Basketball first round in Anaheim this year as well, and I think it's truly screwed up. The idea that people can afford expensive tickets - and particularly the good seats that you can see on a televised angle for a sport are good tickets - and don't bother to show up should be unacceptable to amateur sports. I suspect that if you lowered the price of the tickets to something that the average person could easily afford, you wouldn't have this problem.

It can be quite surprising how many different items have the same model number. For example, FL1008.

I guess I've never really understood the appeal of podcasting for bloggers anyway. Don't want to bother making them, don't want to bother listening to them. I guess I'm a bad member of the blogging community.

Aha, I'm not alone.

Is there a reason to use this over Google? I haven't figured it out if there is.

We have three families that we're looking to find a centralized location for a week vacation next year, with things to do for five kids ranging in age from 8 to 15. Got something to say about this place on Lake Michigan? I'd like to read it. It's getting some play in the news, but I have to admit that the Saugatuck vacation web sites really don't sell it that well.

Times touts us as top spot
Waterlogged, mosquito-bit, but still the best of times
The $4.49-a-Gallon Vacation
A weekend getaway in western Michigan

I knew I couldn't get through a whole season without wanting this.

John McCain has not been able to get past 44 in the polls. He can try to beat up Obama as much as he wants, but it doesn't seem to help him significantly increase his own share in the polls.

What McCain desperately needs at this point is someone to take votes away from Obama that ISN'T John McCain, because John McCain probably can't. He needs a third party candidate. It's just a matter of time before he starts referencing third-party candidates - most likely Ralph Nader - in his press in an effort to elevate their visibility.

Why, International Swingers Day is August 16th 2008.

When is International Fuddy Duddy Day? C'mon, we want to party...

I'm not going to do it, but curious what others think of it.

John McCain is going to have to explain his position about sovereignty as it relates to Georgia with his position about sovereignty as it related to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And the journalistic use of the term "moral clarity" is bullshit.

Apparently McCain hasn't been paying attention to what Lieberman does, if he's really considering him for the VP slot:

Although Democrats have rejected Mr McCain’s image as a maverick politician, Mr Lieberman’s support for the presumptive Republican nominee has, much to the chagrin of his former ­colleagues, helped to boost Mr McCain’s reputation as a bi-partisan legislator with friends on both sides of the aisle. Mr Lieberman, a staunch supporter of Israel, could also help Mr McCain win over Jewish voters.

“[McCain] loves Lieberman. And he is on the [short-]list because Lieberman has never embarrassed anyone, never misspoken. The first rule is, don’t take someone who costs you votes,” said one McCain adviser.

Joe Lieberman has been costing the Democratic Party a Senate Vote for a while now. He's embarrassed Democrats in his lovefest for a lot of Bush's efforts. I hope McCain takes him.

November 1990, Ouro Preto, Brazil. Had one of the greatest lunches of my life - Feijão Tropeiro. My memory has faded - I wish I could remember where I had it exactly, but I don't remember the name - but I think it could be the RESTAURANTE CASA DO OUVIDOR. If I could ever find my journal from the trip perhaps I'd know the name for sure.

Now I'm hungry.

Here's a way for Californians to get an inventory for their residential or commercial property of its flora, fauna, geology, and ecology. Great idea.

I supported his run for President, and I think he had the best ideas of the three main Democratic candidates when they were all in the race. And I try to be understanding about human needs and impulses and weaknesses and changes, we all have them from time to time about a smorgasboard of possibilities, and things happen.

But... You can't expect to get away with a lie in a Presidential campaign, not about an affair, not in this climate, not with the press as it is and Republicans as they are. Nor should you. It isn't even about morality, it's about common sense. It isn't going to work, and when it blows up on you, it blows up big. Imagine if Edwards had been the nominee. Where would Democrats be now?

Again, this isn't about the moral value of what happened in the first place: that's not the point of this post. It's about the wisdom of lying about something that there is NO WAY he was going to get away with over the course of a campaign. Not in 2008. The mess created from this lie is greater than the mess created from the affair.

I wonder what the policy is for Flickr/Yahoo! for images posted to their site by eventual lapsed - and unidentifiable - and unclaimed - accounts. Let's say that for t