Buried Martian Glaciers

Presumably much like what they call 'rock glaciers' in the mountains around here. This is encouraging!:

NASA scientists have discovered enormous underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars, away from its polar caps, in the latest sign that life might be sustainable on the Red planet.

Ground-penetrating radar used by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals numerous huge glaciers up to 800 metres thick buried beneath layers of rock and debris. Researchers said one glacier is three times the size of Los Angeles in area.

"All together, these glaciers almost certainly represent the largest reservoir of water ice on Mars that's not in the polar caps," said John Holt, a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of a report about the discovery, which appears in the November 21 issue of the journal Science.

Meanwhile, In Brisbane...

Left: This car was snapped driving through floodwaters in Eranga St, The Gap. Picture: Kerri Grott.


Things are quieter today, and people are finally getting a chance to look around their neighborhoods.

Left: Radar image of when things were at their worst.

Dow 30,000 - Wait! Scratch That, Make That 7,500

I've long thought the Dow Jones Industrials (DJI) should really be around 7,500, in order for stocks to get back to historical P/E ratios of about 15/1, and it looks like this particular version of nirvana is almost in sight, with the DJI closing today at 7,997.28.

Not that anyone is real happy about it. Remember, nirvana isn't really about feeling happy, but about feeling nothing. And Wall Street traders are now about as close as you can ever get to feeling utterly numb.

And why the decline today?:

• Housing starts dropped for the fourth straight month, signalling that the housing market has yet to stabilize. Housing permits also dropped -- promising further declines to come. (The 4.5 percent drop in housing starts translate to an annual rate of 791,000, the lowest such number since the Commerce Department began keeping records in 1959.)
  
• The minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors indicated that the Fed is open to another rate cut, pushing the Fed Funds rate down to its lowest point in 50 years, because current economic problems "could persist for some time."
  
• The CEOs of Ford and GM told the House Financial Services Committee that bankruptcy would mean liquidation of their respective enterprises.
  
• Citigroup announced it was buying $17.4 billion worth of toxic assets previously squirreled away in "Structured Investment Vehicles," (SIVs) an acknowledgement that the reeling financial giant had no other option but to assume the debt on its own books.
  
• Consumer prices fell in October at the sharpest pace in 60 years.

McCain Wins Missouri

A very close win for the Arizonan.

Final Electoral College tally: 365 for Obama to 173 for McCain.

Among World's Worst Movie Chase Scenes



I was looking up world's worst credit card, but this is more interesting. Somehow, I remember the entire decade of the Seventies as being a lot like this.

I strongly suspect this is a spoof (the one style of legal-form white box they show came into use in the 1990's, not the 1970's). And isn't that the sound track to 1977's "Saturday Night Fever"? Besides, imdb doesn't register any 1973 movie with the title of "Hard Streets" (which is amazing all in itself because it's such an obvious title for a movie.)

Nevertheless, much fun from a talented crew!

California Judge Rules Only Nurses Can Give Insulin To Kids

I very much sympathize with the affected parents, but it's important to note that this ruling effectively prevents E. from jabbing kids with needles, and that can only be a good thing:

A Sacramento Superior Court ruling Friday marks a major shift in the treatment of nearly 14,000 California schoolchildren with diabetes.

Judge Lloyd Connelly sided with the California School Nurses Organization, the American Nurses Association, the California Nurses Association and other nursing groups in their challenge to a 2007 rule that enabled trained school staff – not just school nurses – to administer insulin shots to diabetic kids.

"This is a big setback," said Jim Stone, who has a 12-year-old diabetic son and has fought, with other parents, to expand the number of people who can administer insulin to diabetic children in public schools.

There are 2,800 nurses in the 9,800 public schools across the state.

In a class-action lawsuit filed in 2005, parents had argued that with so few school nurses left in California, they were having to keep their diabetic children out of school or leave jobs to administer insulin shots themselves.

The California Department of Education settled with parents in 2007 and sent an advisory to districts throughout the state urging them to allow trained, unlicensed school staff to give the shots if a nurse or parent wasn't available.

Friday, Connelly ruled that the advisory is in conflict with state law that says only licensed nurses can administer injections.

Nancy Spradling, the executive director of the California School Nurses Organization said that "state law and the Business and Professions Code and the Nurse Practice Act all state clearly what falls under the category of nursing, which includes administering injections."

Improper administration can lead to low blood sugar, which can result in coma and death, she said.

...Spradling, with the School Nurses Organization, said "districts need to be told that school nurses are not a luxury, but a necessity, and with so many children with chronic conditions, they have to find a way to fund them."

According to the Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund, California has one of the highest ratios of students to school nurses in the country: 2,150 to 1.

India Sends Probe To The Moon



The press is tending to describe the event as a landing, although the 3,100 mph landing speed sounds more like an impact to me. Nevertheless, since the landing craft was released from an orbiting satellite, as a technical demonstration of an approach towards future landing missions, it was very impressive indeed - more sophisticated than the U.S. Ranger missions of the 1960's!:

NEW DELHI (AFP) — India rejoiced Saturday over the landing of a lunar probe on the moon's surface that vaulted the country into the league of space-faring nations like the United States, Russia and Japan.

The TV set-sized probe, painted in the green-white-and-orange colours of the Indian flag, made a "precise-to-the-second" landing on the lunar surface late Friday after being released from the unmanned moon-orbiting Chandrayaan-1 satellite, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Politicians across the spectrum buried their differences to hail the milestone in India's space history in which the nation joins Russia, the US, Japan and the European Space Agency in successfully landing moon probes.

"Today is a historic day for India," said Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party. Opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani called it an event "to be recorded in golden letters".

Former Indian president and rocket scientist Abdul Kalam said the landing of the probe -- which coincided with the anniversary of the birth of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru -- "will kindle a dream in children".

"In 15 years I want to see an Indian on the moon," said Kalam, who conceived of the so-called moon impact probe, or MIP, and is popularly known in India as "missile man".

The media was similarly ebullient. "The tricolour has landed," trumpeted the Hindustan Times daily in a banner headline, referring to India's flag. The Indian Express newspaper said: "India touches the moon."

India's first lunar mission began October 22 when a rocket transported Chandrayaan-1 into space. Chandrayaan -- the Sanskrit word for moon craft -- is on a two-year orbital mission to provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface.

The landing of the probe is a step toward landing an unmanned moon rover by 2012. ISRO also plans to launch satellites to study Mars and Venus.

Brisbane Area Absolutely Crushed By Rain!

Left: Photo of downtown Brisbane by Marc Robertson.



It's hard to believe they are still in a drought in SE Queensland (though technically that's still true)!

Debate continues whether The Gap was hit by a tornado on Sunday, or just a very powerful thunderstorm:

Mr Rolstone said supercells do have the potential to create tornados but it cannot be confirmed whether a tornado occurred during Sunday's storm.

"Supercells do produce tornados. They are rotating storms which create a funnel underneath them. They move in a different direction to a normal storm. They move left of the normal direction a storm takes and come from the south rather than from the west," Mr Rolstone said.

He said it was this intense rotating storm which devastated The Gap and surrounding areas but it was definitely not a cyclone.

Even before this latest series of storms, things were looking up rainwise:

BRISBANE could be headed for its wettest November since 1981 with the city already experiencing well above the monthly average rainfall.

...Thanks to last night's soaking, Brisbane's total for November is already at close to 170mm compared with the monthly average of 100mm.

..."We've almost become acclimatised to the dry weather in the last few years but we're getting back now to what's traditionally a south-east Queensland spring, heading into summer. We haven't seen it very often in the last few years."

Last November Brisbane had just 62mm of rain but with 12 days of the month to go, the city had already recorded 169mm with more expected in the next few days.

"In 2001, we had 192mm for the month but we look like beating that this year," Mr Banks said.

The biggest monthly fall on record for November was 413mm in 1981.

So, with the 80 mm they received last night, that means they easily beat 2001's 192 mm, with a total so far of about 250 mm. They still have time to make a lunge for 1981's record of 413 mm!

The rainfall totals from the latest storm are just staggering. Gatton received 170 mm+ in the last 14 hours (that's about 7 inches!) The perils of living in the semi-tropics, I suppose: no rain for months, then half a year's worth in a day!

Fortunately the front is blowing out to sea, and so, excepting the odd thunderstorm, maybe now they'll get a break. But most people will be too busy trying to swim to land to notice.....

SOUTHEAST Queensland has been hit by floods after an overnight deluge dumped 240mm of rain in some areas.

...Brisbane's Inner City Bypass, the Ipswich Motorway and Warrego Highway are all cut, along with suburban streets across Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast.
Primary areas affected include Ipswich, Oxley, Darra and Forest Lake plus The Gap, Ashgrove, Sherwood and Indooroopilly.

...All bus services are still operating, though with diversions in place, but no trains are running between Ipswich and Redbank, and Ferny Grove and Keperra. Buses are in place.

Police have responded to calls for assistance overnight – four homes were unroofed in Paddington and a number of cars underwater.

There have been at least nine swift water rescues of people in cars which have occurred at Ipswich, Woolshed Creek, Maudsland, Forestdale.

...The SES received more than 10,000 calls overnight as the severe storms swept through the region, causing the most problems at Ipswich and in Brisbane' west and north.

The weather bureau said rain fell at a pace of 100mm an hour in some parts.

Ipswich was badly affected _an Emergency Services spokesperson said nine swiftwater rescues were performed overnight to get people from cars in swollen creeks and rivers.

...The weather is pushing emergency volunteers to breaking point as they try to cope with one of the worst weeks of weather in the region in recent memory.

...The only bright note has been the falls in the dam catchment areas. The weather bureau said 75mm had fallen at the Wivenhoe Dam wall overnight.

Gatton had 164mm overnight while Rosewood had 208mm, mostly in a two-hour deluge.

But the heartbreak continues in Brisbane' northwest, where residents still cleaning up from last Sunday spent a sleepless night bailing water from their houses.

"We're exhausted," The Gap resident and Courier-Mail journalist Michael Lund said.

"We're a suburb that's used to watching storms go around us."

So, How's My 401K Doing?

Half of the 401K is in JADGX.

Jeesh!

The Water Cycle

I had forgotten about Earth Science basics.

"Bottle Dance" Letters Of Thanks

On October 24th, George Morales, Lindsay Carpenter, and myself performed the "Fiddler On The Roof" Bottle Dance at Phoebe Hearst Elementary School for Mr. Yee's second grade class.

In turn, the students responded with letters of thanks to all three of us. According to George, Lindsay received a very long letter from one impressed student: virtually a valentine! (As the youngest performer, the students identified most with her).

Here are a few of the letters I received:

Thank you for comming to our class. I like the bottle dance because the bottle did not fall of your head. We were happ that you came to our class. You came to a great class.

Thank you for coming to my class. I had a grate time when you were here. I like your dance.

Thank you for doing a bottle dance for us. We had fun watching you play for us.

Thank you for comming to ower class. It was relly cool when you did the Boddle Dance. You were alsome!

Thank you for coming to my class. I want to watch again.

Thank you for showing us your bottle dance for us. I really liked the dance you were doing.

You ar great at danceing.

That bottle dance was cool and fun to watch. I wish I did a bottle dance.

Fees

Don't they drive you nuts?:

Dallas police are searching for a man who marched into the Dallas Animal Shelter Monday morning and took a cat while fending off employees with a baseball bat, authorities said.

Kent Robertson, the shelter’s manager, said the man had come to the shelter in the 1800 block of North Westmoreland Road in early October and found his cat among the other animals. The cat had been brought to shelter by someone who thought it was a stray.

The man became upset when employees told him that he had to pay a $132 fee to retrieve his gray and blue short-haired cat.

According to police, the man returned about 11:30 a.m. Monday and signed into the guest book. Once he found his cat, he retreated to his truck and returned with a bat and an animal carrier.

After he loaded the cat into the carrier, staff members told him that he needed to pay the fee. The man raised the bat over his head and threatened the staff. He then walked to his truck, keeping employees at bay by swinging the bat.

He drove away in his 1986 brown Ford F-150, nearly running over two shelter employees, said Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse, a Dallas police spokesman. No one was struck or injured.

“I haven’t ever experienced this before,” Mr. Robertson said. “Usually, people thank us for rescuing their animals. This was pretty extreme.”

Getting Slammed

Left: A sulfur-crested cockatoo inspects the damage.


Lots of storm damage already done in SE Queensland, and more storms on the way!

Brisbane received 77.2 mm (3 inches) of rain in a 24-hour period!

Left: Lovely panorama of the Glass House Mountains.

Bev's "La Mancha" Review Is Out!

Two thumbscrews up! (or whatever prison reference will do):

The Davis Musical Theatre Company has mounted another enjoyable production of 'Man of La Mancha,' continuing through Dec. 7 under the capable direction of Jan Isaacson, with musical direction by Jonathan Rothman,

Dale Wasserman's Broadway hit - with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion - is a musical drama: a play within a play within a play, which tells the story of Miguel de Cervantes (Tae Kim), who has been thrown into prison to await examination by the Holy Inquisition, for having the effrontery to foreclose on a church that did not pay its taxes.

As is their custom with new arrivals, Cervantes' fellow prisoners hold their own Inquisition - a mock trial - and accuse the writer of being, among other things, an idealist and a bad poet. If 'convicted,' he'll lose his belongings, which consist primarily of an unfinished manuscript and a trunk of theatrical costumes and props.

Cervantes mounts his defense in the form of a play, in which he takes the role of Alonso Quijana, an old gentleman who has become delusional and now believes himself to be a medieval knight errant.

Quijana renames himself Don Quixote de La Mancha, and travels the countryside with his trusty squire, Sancho Panza (Jason Hammond), fighting beasts and rescuing damsels in distress: 'He ponders the problem of how to make better a world where evil brings profit and virtue none at all; where fraud and deceit are mingled with truth and sincerity.'

He promises not to allow wickedness to flourish.

At first sight, the diminutive Tae Kim seems an unlikely Cervantes; the character is more traditionally a taller, older and more commanding presence. But all doubts are erased once Kim begins to sing, and he steps comfortably into the playwright's shoes.

Kim did have a few difficulties opening night, trying to stay with the orchestra in a couple of places, but otherwise he was excellent.

Hammond is outstanding as Sancho Panza, a large but gentle man who is extremely protective of his master.

The two ride out from Quixote's home on trusty horses. The latter are prisoners in horse costume, and it's unfortunate that the actor playing Quixote's horse is so tall that he prevented the actor from being seen for most of this number.

En route, Quixote does battle with a 'monster' - actually a windmill - and decides to take refuge in a neighboring 'castle,' actuality a local tavern that only appears to be a castle in the faux knight's delusional mind.

The pair encounter Aldonza (Lauren Miller), the weary and bitter barmaid and town trollop, who appears to Quixote to be the lovely and virginal Dulcinea, the maid he pledges to serve, protect and defend with his life. Aldonza is confused by the gentle, courtly manner in which he treats her.

Lauren Miller has made quite an impact while playing roles such as Annie Oakley in 'Annie Get Your Gun,' the secretary Gladys in 'Pajama Game' and Audrey from 'Little Shop of Horrors.' All are brash, bold, colorful women, and Miller delivered them well.

Aldonza is a different type of a role, and Miller definitely has the singing voice for it - despite some harsh notes in her upper register - but her speaking voice occasionally echoes the brassy manner of all those other characters, which could be a bit grating on the ear. Despite that, Miller's Aldonza displays the proper balance of harshness and tenderness toward Quixote.

Steve Isaacson returns in the dual roles of the 'Governor' of the prisoners and the Innkeeper who is talked into knighting Quixote, and giving him the title of 'Knight of the Woeful Countenance.' As always, Isaacson's performance does not disappoint.

Mark Ettensohn is the 'Duke,' who takes an instant dislike to Cervantes; Ettensohn also plays Dr. Carrasco in the charade performance. He too, does a memorable job.

The delusional Quijana is an embarrassment to his respectable family, and the tuneful 'I'm only thinking of him' is sung by Quijana's niece Antonia (Jennifer Berry), his housekeeper (Emily Beal) and their priest (Michael Manley, who has the widest vibrato I've heard from a man in a very long time).

Isaacson's massive set is impressive, with a huge staircase that lowers whenever anyone enters the prison.

The six-piece orchestra is fine overall, although the horn section displays occasional weaknesses, particularly during the overture.

Overall, though, this is a very good production of 'Man of La Mancha,' and it's certain to satisfy audiences.

A Hero For LA

You do what you can with what you got:

Jeff Reeves became a local hero in one Yorba Linda neighborhood after spending a day and a half spraying down his neighbors' homes with his water truck.

Reeves, a grading contractor, heard that people in his neighborhood were encountering a fierce fire. So he pulled the water truck out of his yard, filled it with 2,250 gallons of water and, at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, when the fire hit, began spraying homes with loads of liquid.

He kept going all day and all night, repeatedly spraying dozens of threatened homes with gushes of water, which emerged from a nozzle on the side of the white vehicle bearing a U.S. flag. He sprayed out 49 loads, finishing up at 5 o'clock the next morning.

On Sunday his neighbors and friends on Big Horn Mountain Way and Blue Ridge Drive showed their appreciation as he took joyrides with the vehicle, children clinging onto the side.

"This dude saved a ton of houses," said Tim Tooney, a friend whose house Reeves passed over with the water many times.

"I owe you my life, man," said Bob Tillmon, Tooney's next-door neighbor and a 16-year homeowner, snapping a photo of the truck. "This guy's a hero."

TV As Downer

Don't watch it; be happy!:

An extensive new research study has found that unhappy people watch more TV while those consider themselves happy spend more time reading and socializing.

..."The pattern for daily TV use is particularly dramatic, with 'not happy' people estimating over 30% more TV hours per day than 'very happy' people," the study says. "Television viewing is a pleasurable enough activity with no lasting benefit, and it pushes aside time spent in other activities -- ones that might be less immediately pleasurable, but that would provide long-term benefits in one’s condition. In other words, TV does cause people to be less happy."

..."TV is not judgmental nor difficult, so people with few social skills or resources for other activities can engage in it," says the study. "Furthermore, chronic unhappiness can be socially and personally debilitating and can interfere with work and most social and personal activities, but even the unhappiest people can click a remote and be passively entertained by a TV. In other words, the causal order is reversed for people who watch television; unhappiness leads to television viewing."

...Concludes the study: "These points have parallels with addiction; since addictive activities produce momentary pleasure but long-term misery and regret. People most vulnerable to addiction tend to be socially or personally disadvantaged, with TV becoming an opiate."

Don't Mess With My Lap Top

Some things are holy:

Arizona State University student Alex Botsios said he had no problem giving a nighttime intruder his wallet and guitars.

When the man asked for Botsios' laptop, however, the first-year law student drew the line.

"I was like, 'Dude, no -- please, no!" Botsios said. "I have all my case notes…that's four months of work!"

...At that point, the law student wrestled the bat away and began punching Saucedo, Botsios said.

...Janet Botsios, Botsios' mother, said she took the first flight from Texas as soon as she heard what happened.

"I'm like putting my face in my hands, and I just couldn't believe it," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my God.' I'm so glad he watched all those police shows his whole life … He knew how to take care of himself … I'm very, very, very proud of him."

Alex Botsios said he learned one lesson from the incident: don't leave windows open.

Otherwise, he said he is happy that his laptop is unharmed.

"It's my baby," he said. "Don't mess with my computer."

This Can't Possibly S**k Enough

Letting Joe Lieberman off the hook. At the very least, they should have gelded the guy, or turned him into a valet boy, or Senate dishwasher, or something:

As expected, Lieberman will get to keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security committee, and will have a subcommittee chair stripped from him. Still, it was surprising to see him actually take the podium at the press conference -- indeed, it seemed that Democrats had not planned in advance to let him use their forum to talk to the press. And when he did speak, Lieberman came off as the clear winner, and did no favors for the party that had just let him off with a slap on the wrist.

As Steve Benen reports:

If we put everything else aside, the precedent here really is startling. As I reported last week, in 1964, Rep. John Bell Williams (D) of Mississippi and Rep. Albert Watson (D) of South Carolina both endorsed Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, and both were punished by losing their seniority. Four years later, Rep. John Rarick (D) of Louisiana endorsed George Wallace's presidential campaign, and the party stripped him of his committee seniority, too.

Now, Lieberman endorsed McCain, spoke at the GOP convention, helped down-ballot Republicans, and smeared the Democratic nominee at every available opportunity, and the caucus decided to let him off the hook entirely.

Interesting Fire Photo

This photo, that was posted at the LA Times, of a Sylmar fire-retardant drop, drives home just what risks firefighters have to cope with.

Nov. 17, 1968

Wow! Forty years ago! Feels like it happened yesterday! (From the Daily Rotten):

NBC preempts the final 1:05 from a very close Jets-Raiders NFL football game with "Heidi". Two touchdowns were scored during this missing time. Sports fans everywhere applaud and understand the network's decision.

Peter Schiff Vs. The FOX Business News Tools



Over the last two years, Peter Schiff was right about the financial markets.

Arthur Laffer, Ben Stein, and everyone else was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

"Man Of La Mancha" Opening Weekend

Left: Don Quixote (Tae Kim).

Below: Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller) and Don Quixote (Tae Kim).
























We are off to a good start! The cerebral nature of the musical, and its slow and deliberate pacing, makes for fewer accidents and pratfalls than in most musicals.

On opening night, the stairway had trouble descending at one point (it had been tied off as a safety measure, and not unitied for actual use). There were a few verbal and musical miscues, but really, lower than average!

Left: Horse (Brennan Ballard), Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller), and Mule (Monica Parisi).

Below: Sancho Panza (Jason Hammond) and Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).

Saturn Of Elk Grove Closes

Oh, this is a catastrophe! This is where I bought my Saturn Sports Coupe in 2002, and this is where I get it serviced for major repairs! At one time there were three Saturn dealers in the Sacramento area, but now there is just one (Saturn of Roseville, where I bought my first Saturn in 1992).

Getting auto service through a dealer is expensive, but I rest assured that there was at least someone in the city who understood my vehicle, no matter how obscure the mechanism, and could fix it if need be. As an example, they did obscure transmission work on my car as recently as last spring! Plus, the accomodations for customers at a dealership are often better than at other shops.

I used to place my left hand on my car and wave my right hand in the general direction of Elk Grove, secure in the knowledge that there were good people down there who were my allies in keeping my car running. I suppose they needed more than my goos wishes, however; my patronage, for example. Nevertheless, for common matters like oil changes, I use Jiffy Lube instead, because they are more conveniently-located than Saturn of Elk Grove's far suburban location.

Now, I am doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed!:

Another Sacramento-area auto dealership has abruptly closed its doors, the latest apparent victim of an economic downturn that has battered the auto industry nationwide.

Saturn of Elk Grove in the Elk Grove Auto Mall closed Friday afternoon, adding to the list of about a dozen area dealerships that have gone away this year alone.

The National Automobile Dealers Association recently said 590 U.S. car dealerships have closed in 2008, and the number is expected to reach 700 by year's end, up from 430 last year.

Louis Solis, general sales manager of the Saturn dealership at 8480 Laguna Grove Drive, said 32 employees were given a severance package that included six weeks' pay and vacation pay.

"Unfortunately, we just let our employees know that we're shutting the store down," Solis said. "We all went to lunch. … It was hard to see all those who have been working for us for years. It was very difficult."

Word of the closing started spreading to local media by midafternoon Friday. By 3 p.m., the store's glass doors were closed and a sheet of paper taped to the inside read: "No longer open for business."

At about the same time, a new voice message greeted callers to the Saturn store's main number. The message said: "We are sorry to say that we are now closed for business. We thank you for your years of patronage with our company, and we will sadly miss our Saturn family."

A year ago, Texas native Wil Dean was named the new president and general manager of the dealership, but attempts to talk with him Friday were rebuffed.

An employee inside the dealership said, "Mr. Dean is not seeing anyone. We are not answering any questions. … We have gone through a lot today, and a lot of people have lost their jobs."

Chevy HHR

I drove this rent-a-car all last week while my car's rear fender was being repaired in the shop way down near Grant Line Road and Highway 99.

Seems like a good car....

Storms In SE Queensland

The rainy season has arrived! But not without a cost:

BRISBANE has been declared a natural disaster area, as soldiers help repair damage caused by one of the biggest storms to hit the city in two decades.

More than 32,000 properties across Brisbane, Redcliffe and the Gold Coast were without power this afternoon after yesterday's storm brought hail and wind gusts of up to 130km/h, ripped roofs from houses and toppled power lines and trees.

...Earlier today reside living in Brisbane's storm-battered western suburbs have been warned that their tap water is not safe to drink after the roof of a reservoir collapsed.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has warned all residents and visitors to The Gap not to drink tap water without boiling it first.

The roof of the reservoir at The Gap, which provides water to homes in The Gap in Brisbane's west, caved in following last night's storm.

The roof would have been covered in bird droppings and other animal faecal matter, making it potentially hazardous to human health.

...This afternoon, 58,000 Energex customers were still without power, although Energex was hoping to reduce that number to between 15,000-20,000 by 6pm.

Premier Anna Bligh said the damage was as bad as that caused by Cyclone Larry, which flattened Innisfail in 2006.

...Dalton stood on a resident's back deck and looked out "to views across The Gap that were never once there".

He said houses which had once been completely concealed by trees were now laid bare.

"It looks like someone's dropped a military airstrike on this particular part, right through The Gap."

Dalton said any tree taller than 10m "has just sort of snapped in half".

He said a 45cm thick pine tree at the back of Mr Rowe's house snapped in half and the missing piece had disappeared.

Reporter Robyn Ironside visited damage along Waterworks Road and Settlement Road.

"It was accurate in the way police were saying it looked like a war zone - I've never seen anything like it," she said.

"Big trees were snapped off, there are trees in pools, trees in gardens ..."

She said the playground at The Gap State School was completely demolished after a large tree crushed all the play equipment.

"I don't think there's a a single swing or slippery dip that could be salvaged", Ironside said.

She said the surprising nature of the damage was that it was confined to such a narrow area.

"There's an obvious area where it was just pummelled - and metres either side of it doesn't look like anything's happened at all".

She said trees and branches tangled in powerlines were such a mess. "It looks like they've been crocheted into them.

Paul Krugman Kicks George Will's Lazy Ass

Firestorms

Very bad time, first at the wildland/urban interface, then into communities:

"Prepare yourselves for the worst," Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the crowd of frightened, exhausted people who had been evacuated early Saturday from Sylmar's Oakridge Mobile Home Park. "I don't have good news."

As some of the 200 evacuees wept nearby, Ruda held up a charred, tattered flag. "Let this American flag be a sign of hope," he said, choking up.

But by day's end, that hope was hard to cling to, as 501 of the park's 600 mobile homes had been destroyed and at least 40 more had suffered significant damage.

The park was a scene of devastation, where 50-foot flames had leveled street after street of homes and melted hastily dropped fire hoses into the pavement after even the firefighters were forced to flee. With rare exceptions, only ash and twisted metal remained.

The blaze tore through the mobile home park so fast that firefighters barely had time to rouse people from bed and urge them to safety. Several residents were put into fire engines and rushed out of the neighborhood, in some cases dropped off under freeway overpasses, the nearest safe location, before crews raced back to the battle.

Fire officials said that by early Saturday, the winds had whipped to 50 mph and firefighters reported towering flames and zero visibility. Water mains had run dry or lacked adequate pressure. The conditions became so dangerous that crews, at least for a while, were ordered to evacuate.

"We realized it was a losing battle," veteran firefighter Steve Marotta said.

Scratchy Early Morning Walk

Walking with Sparky through the shadows early on Sunday morning, scratchy sounds could be heard everywhere in the neighborhood. Most of the scratchy sounds were falling leaves. Some trees are so large the sound is essentially constant under each tree's canopy: there is always at least one leaf gently finding its scratchy way to the ground.

In one case, however, the scratchy sound came from a raccoon perched on a tree trunk, and doing his scratchy best to keep his claws in the bark. We were separated by a low fence, so I couldn't reach him, so I contented myself with waving the pooper scooper in his general direction, making him anxious and eager to dig even deeper into the bark.

In the distance, I could hear scratchy sounds approach. A homeless person approached on the sidewalk with his shopping cart full of cans for recycling. To my surprise, it was Mr. O., the homeless vet. I had never seen him out at night. He looked worried, and a bit winded. I shook his hand and he said, "I thought I had seen you. What time is it?" I replied, "It's after two: maybe 2:45." He said, "Sounds good!" Then, in businesslike haste, off he went, heading south with his burden. I knew Mr. O. attended church in south Sacramento on Sundays, so he was likely in a hurry to travel the remaining four miles, offload the cans and prepare for services. (Just because someone is homeless doesn't mean they don't have places to go and people to see.)

I worry about Mr. O. and the other homeless folks here in Sacramento this winter. The economic woes we've been facing this year have killed the recyclables market: the Chinese are no longer in a hurry to buy the scrap metal, and the stuff is piling up everywhere. The best to them all!

"Man Of La Mancha" Opens Tonight!

Left: Sancho Panza (Jason Hammond) and Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).


Wednesday and Thursday pictures!


Left: Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller) and Don Quixote (Tae Kim).

Below: Padre Perez (Michael Manley).



Left: Don Quixote (Tae Kim).

Below: "The Impossible Dream". Don Quixote (Tae Kim) and Aldonza/Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).



Left: Governor/Innkeeper (Steve Isaacson) and Don Quixote (Tae Kim).


Left: Governor/Innkeeper (Steve Isaacson) and Don Quixote (Tae Kim).

Left: Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).

Below: Horse (Brennan Ballard), Mule (Monica Parisi), and Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).



Left: Horse (Brennan Ballard), Mule (Monica Parisi), and Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).

Left: Sancho Panza (Jason Hammond).

Left: Sancho Panza (Jason Hammond).

Left: Sancho Panza (Jason Hammond) and Aldonza/ Dulcinea (Lauren Miller).

Real Estate Downfall



"It's different here."

You Know It's A Bad Day On Wall Street....

When they keep running photos of this one guy!

I wonder who he is? He's a budding star! He is my hero!

Left: Today, in The New York Times.

Left: Courtesy of The Evil Beet, from Sad Guys On Trading Floors, last month.

And Who Says Diplomacy Isn't Funny?

How French President Sarkozy barely managed to save the gonads of Georgian President Saakashvili last summer:

With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr Sarkozy told Mr Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. According to Mr Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked. “Why not?” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

"I'd Buy That For A Dollar!"

Getting a bit carried away here:

ANTI-poverty campaigner Sir Bob Geldof charged $100,000 to come to Melbourne and give a speech about world suffering.

Keep The Focus On The Money

Leave the individuals alone to the extent possible - positive persuasion works best with people - but go after the wells of support, where negative persuasion is more effective. Carrots and sticks; sticks and carrots:

"People are determining who their friends are, and who are not their friends," said Fred Karger, a Los Angeles resident and retired political consultant. "I think people need to be held accountable for their financial support."

...Hundreds of protesters converged on El Coyote on Beverly Boulevard on Wednesday night, and the picketing got so heated that LAPD officers in riot gear had to be called.

All because Marjorie Christoffersen, a manager there and a daughter of El Coyote's owner, had contributed $100 to the Yes on 8 campaign.

Christoffersen, who is Mormon, met with protesters Wednesday and at one point broke down in tears, said Arnoldo Archila, another El Coyote manager. But the activists were not satisfied with her explanation and continued to post protests about her on the Web.

"She had a chance to make nice and blew it. I was almost feeling a tiny bit of sympathy for her. Not no more!!" wrote one blog poster, who also listed competing Mexican restaurants where diners should go instead of El Coyote.

By Thursday, Christoffersen had left town, said Archila, who said El Coyote employees -- some of whom are gay -- were left staggered by the protests, including more than 50 calls a day criticizing the restaurant.

"We are all a family," Archila said. "If this is going to affect the business, its going to affect them. There are people who have to feed children and pay mortgages."

Some activists are now turning their attention to Texas-based Cinemark, one of America's largest theater chains, whose chief executive contributed nearly $10,000 to Yes on 8.

A prolonged protest could cause trouble for the Sundance Film Festival, which uses Cinemark screens to show movies during the January event in Park City, Utah. The state of Utah is a focus of some boycotts because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has its headquarters there, marshaled millions of dollars in contributions from its members for the Yes on 8 campaign.

..."Our position is that we have a festival that is essentially three months away," Addicott said. "We are committed to having our 25th festival; it's a celebration for us. We would be incredibly disappointed if people decided not to come because of a boycott."

...One business affected by the campaign is Lassen's, a family-owned chain of nine health food stores throughout California, from Bakersfield to Thousand Oaks. Lassen's owners gave $27,500 to the Yes on 8 campaign.

Scott Parvel, general manager of the Ventura store, said the contribution was a "private donation" by family members who are Mormon.

...Since the election, the stores have received angry calls about Proposition 8 as well as comments from customers. "They have a right to their views, but they should take it up with the person who did it, not the people who work here. . . . We're providing a business, that's all we do," said Parvel, who has worked for the company since 2001.

Robert Hoehn was another person who made Karger's "dishonor roll." Hoehn, vice president of the Carlsbad-based Hoehn Motors, gave $25,000 of his own money to the Yes on 8 campaign in February. And he called what followed "a really, really ugly experience."

...Next time, he said, he will be "smarter" about how he gives such a donation, possibly in a way that doesn't require listing his business. "I wouldn't not do it because of fear," he said. "I am not ashamed of it, but it has been a very educational experience."

Despite the criticism, activists say they plan to continue applying pressure. "It doesn't matter if it's the CEO or if it's the hostess that greets you at El Coyote. It really makes no difference," said Gerry Moylan, 47, a Los Angeles Realtor who planned a night of picketing in front of the restaurant Thursday.

"If I'm going to eat dinner at El Coyote and part of my money is going to pay the hostess' pay and she turns around and uses her pay to promote a proposition that takes away my rights, then I'm going to stop paying my money to her."

Sparky Update

After Sparky's collapse Tuesday night, people have been asking about his health. He seems to be improving a bit as the week winds up.

We generally have three standard walks: short, medium, and long. Tuesday night, he couldn't even do the short walk, and we had to go around the block instead. Wednesday night, Sparky did the short walk, and last night he did the medium walk.

Yesterday, the back yard gate was somehow left open, and Sparky slipped out and started wandering along the alley. My next door neighbor found him, gave him some water, and kept him company until we could be reunited.

One key is to keep Sparky properly medicated. He's devised several ingenious methods to avoid taking his pills, and I have to watch him carefully.

Tuesday night, I was convinced Sparky would have to be put under immediately, but mercifully that judgment has proved premature....

"I Find My Lack Of Faith Disturbing"

There, there, in life, we are all seekers after truth. I understand that whole galactic empire path proved to be a disappointment in the end, and so maybe there are alternatives....

Single?

Amusing investigation of a guerilla marketing strategy:

One weekend, I trekked down to South Jersey to visit my parents in my hometown of Glassboro. The town sits about 30 minutes southeast of Philadelphia and has a population of less than 20,000. As I drove past my old high school, my deal-hunting subconscious noticed something bizarre. Stuck in the grass by the curb was a white lawn sign about a foot tall with a very simple message in black Times New Roman: “Single? www.GlassboroSingles.ORG”

It looked like something the local contractor would ask to stick in your front yard while he replaced your roof. Except… well, it was plugging a dating website. I had about a million questions, but two immediately simmered to the top:

• Glassboro is a tiny market of nominal interest to even local advertisers. Who would register a domain, let alone build a website, to target our tiny population?
• Who in their right mind advertises websites with lawn signs?

By the time I pulled into my parents’ driveway, I had convinced myself that the site was the product of some overzealous local entrepreneur. I wrote off the lawn sign as an amateurish stab at guerilla marketing. When I drove out of town the next day, the sign was gone.

Fast forward a few weeks. I was back in New York, rushing up 5th Avenue on my way to work in Midtown. As I wedged myself through the usual crowd, something stopped me in my tracks. Eight feet in the air, tied to a lamp post, was a white sign with black Times New Roman: “Single? www.FifthAvenueSingles.COM”

I promptly morphed into one of those sidewalk-obstructing idiots who stares up into the sky and infuriates the people who actually have to be somewhere. Aside from the URL, this sign was identical to the one I had seen in Glassboro. By the time I got to my work, I decided that there were four possibilities:

• This was a complete coincidence and these were the efforts of two completely separate businesses with identically unorthodox advertising methods (unlikely).
• The overzealous Glassboro entrepreneur had loaded up his car with lawn signs and decided to extend his guerilla marketing scheme to the Big Apple (less likely).
• Some NY-based business had done some marketing in the tri-state area and decided Glassboro was a ripe market (even less likely).
• There was something bigger going on. This struck me as the most likely case, but raised a question that made my head hurt: if whoever is doing this has the ability to target New York City but somehow made their way down to Glassboro, how many of the towns in between have also been hit?

Not long after, I stumbled onto another clue. I was in Central New Jersey on my way to give a guest lecture at Princeton University, which is about the geographical midpoint between New York and Glassboro. As my cab rolled through neighboring West Windsor Township, I saw a familiar-looking lawn sign wedged in the grass alongside the road: “Single? www.WindsorSingles.ORG”.

That one did it for me. At the absolute least, I was now convinced that this lawn sign business had its tentacles stretched into almost every town in the state of New Jersey. It was worth spending some time to learn more....

A Stroll Down Historical Lane - The Kind Of Polarization That Doesn't Work Well

I reproduce here the Sacramento Bee article from October 12, 1991 that illustrates the kind of gay-activist polarization that really doesn't work well in winning friends and influencing people. By trying to force resolution of the Proposition 8 controversy now by dividing people into hostile camps, there is the risk of losing potential allies. Persuasion is the key.

As I mentioned in comments in the previous post, I witnessed some of this 1991 antagonism on the K Street Mall, and it was pretty ugly. Just as the gay activists were approaching the Capitol, at noon, and passing through the K Street Mall, the huge funeral for Bishop Alphonse Gallegos, who had been killed in an auto crash, was letting out at the Cathedral on the K Street Mall. Large families of somber, black-clad, mostly-Hispanic Catholics spilled out into the Mall, recoiled at the sight of an approaching army, quickly gathered their children, and fled in panicked, huddled groups, pursued by bands of shouting, belligerent, aggressive young men. I've never seen a more-graphic illustration of polarization at work!

The Proposition 8 rallies this year so far seem much, much more civil, and I hope they remain so, because there is no use driving away potential allies. The proponents of Proposition 8 have a weak coalition, with all the strength of Swiss cheese. Keep cool! Persuasion ultimately will break the coalition!

We can do much better by understanding and learning from the past. For me, it's an immediate past, but for others, perhaps more remote.

Wow, this article makes me nostalgic! Noise, fighting, shouting - isn't that what life's all about?:

DOWNTOWN ENGULFED BY GAY PROTEST
ANTI-WILSON CROWDS HALT TRAFFIC, SURROUND CAPITOL

OCTOBER 12, 1991
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: A1


By Andy Furillo, Robert Davila & Patrick Hoge Bee Staff Writers

--Thousands of defiant gay men and lesbians took over much of downtown Sacramento on Friday in a day-and-night protest that included blocking city streets, surrounding the Capitol and making a run at Interstate 5. They were kept off the freeway by club-swinging officers in a noisy demonstration against Gov. Wilson's veto of a gay rights bill. At least six demonstrators were booked on suspicion of assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and related charges on a day in which protesters also burned the American flag, smashed car windows and engaged in tense confrontations with police.

There were also isolated clashes with Christian fundamentalists who confronted the protesters and with onlookers at the K Street Mall, where marchers chanted, We're here, we're queer, and we're not going shopping!

While an estimated 4,000 demonstrators blew whistles and air horns, and listened to speakers outside the Capitol during the afternoon, Gov. Wilson hunkered down inside behind drawn curtains.

A spokesman for the governor, James Lee, said Wilson, facing a bill-signing deadline of Monday night and 500 pieces of legislation, worked all day in his office and never heard the ruckus outside. Wilson issued no comment on the demonstration.

State Police officers provided a heavy security cover for the governor's office all day, and his home was placed under the protection of sheriff's deputies.

The day of gay protest got under way with demonstrators blocking traffic at the intersection of 10th and L streets at 10:15 a.m. It concluded about 11 hours later when about 200 activists broke off from a group of 1,500 people marching through Old Sacramento to attempt to block Interstate 5.

California Highway Patrol officers who formed a line at the I Street freeway on-ramp near Old Sacramento were rushed by some of the demonstrators. A squad of motorcycle-riding officers sped through the crowd to provide backup. Some of the officers flailed at the marchers with their batons, stopping the charge.

One officer struck a protester several times, knocking him to the ground. The protester, identified by a friend as Keith Jensen, was handcuffed and taken away.

It's civil disobedience, said one demonstrator, Jerry Royse, 40, of Sacramento, in describing why the march headed toward the freeway. We want the public to know we're here. We want to let people know we've been shafted.

It would have been difficult on Friday for people in Sacramento not to know something was going on with the gay community, starting with the street closure at 10th and L, and continuing with the massive rally on the Capitol's west steps, a midafternoon march winding through downtown and another rally on the east steps of the Capitol.

Demonstrators gathered at Winn Park, 28th and P streets, at 6:30 p.m. and chanted their way through the midtown area back to the Capitol, where at 7 p.m., they formed on the east steps. Protesters set fire to the American flag while chanting, Civil rights or civil riot.

Marchers then circled the building and proceeded down Capital Mall to Tower Bridge for a wild, drum-driven dance over the Sacramento River in a celebration of their sexual orientation. That was followed by a trip through Old Sacramento stopping and screaming in bars and restaurants along the way.

Earlier in the day, protesters gathered on the west steps of the Capitol, which was draped with a three-story, rainbow-striped gay pride flag. The banner was displayed under an agreement between the Legislature's Joint Rules Committee and the governor's office, officials said.

Many activists had come to Sacramento on chartered buses and in organized caravans from Los Angeles, Orange County, the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of California. Thousands of them waved signs and wore X-rated T-shirts that voiced vehement displeasure with the governor's veto on Sept. 29 of AB 101, a bill banning job discrimination against gays. He said the bill was unnecessary because of existing laws and would burden businesses.

The demonstration coincided with National Coming Out Day, in which gay men and lesbians across the country were encouraged to express their sexual orientation.

We want to thank Pete Wilson for bringing us all together, said Jim Hormell, the national representative for National Coming Out Day and one of many speakers who addressed the crowd. He's made clear the high price we pay for our closets.

Protesters listened to speakers for more than an hour at a noisy midday rally virtually free of incidents. The gay activists also chased away two fundamentalist Christians one handing out literature, the other toting a cross bearing anti-gay messages.

About 100 State Police and another 100 CHP officers, all of whom were equipped with riot gear, guarded Capitol entrances all day. Demonstrators succeeded in removing several barricades before officers wearing latex gloves pushed them back.

I'm sorry about the violence, but we recognize the necessity for it, said Larry Gibson, 47, a Los Angeles building inspector. I understand the heterosexuals don't like it, but they don't like anything we do. They have to recognize that if they treat us like human beings, we'll settle down, be quiet and be good boys and girls.

The day's sporadic violence and vandalism began when about 75 protesters blocked the intersection at 10th and L streets, snarling downtown traffic for more than an hour.

Noisy protesters from groups such as Queer Nation and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power sat in front of automobiles and screamed in the faces of about a dozen Sacramento police officers. The police remained calm.

A guard with AMPB Security who was monitoring activity for RT Metro had the windshield of his truck smashed out and his vehicle rocked back and forth. These people said this was going to be a peaceful demonstration, but the first thing they do is start smashing things, said Al Rosenbloom, the firm's general manager.

Meanwhile, a group of protesters forced their way into the building at 11th and L streets that houses the Rev. Louis Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, a conservative Anaheim-based organization that staunchly opposed the gay rights bill.

The crowd then moved to the Capitol for a rally and afterward headed downtown. Demonstrators jammed the streets during the hourlong parade, bringing pedestrians, cars and Regional Transit trolleys to a halt. RT rerouted buses around the area.

Although no permits were issued for the march, Sacramento police held up vehicle traffic and did not stop the demonstrators from pouring into the streets. We just decided that when you have this many people determined to march in the street, the best thing to do is let them, said the city's Gary Little.

The demonstrators received numerous signs of support during their march through downtown Sacramento from people perched in windowsills. But at a light-rail stop on the mall, an angry splinter group lunged toward a woman and her three children who had just left the funeral of Auxiliary Bishop Alphonse Gallegos at the nearby Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The woman, Mary Stember of Fair Oaks, said the mob attacked after she refused to take a flier from a marcher.

Several reporters escorted the family to a restaurant as chasing demonstrators shouted, Gays bash back!

I just said, "I'm not interested. I don't want to get AIDS, it's all over the place with you,' Stember said. They were using filthy language . . . and they jumped on top of us.

Bee staff writers Dale Vargas and Edgar Sanchez contributed to this report.

Wow, Just One Company!

Spam craters today:

The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide dropped drastically today after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations allegedy engaged in spam activity was taken offline, according to security firms that monitor spam distribution online.

While its gleaming, state-of-the-art, 30-story office tower in downtown San Jose, Calif., hardly looks like the staging ground for what could be called a full-scale cyber crime offensive, security experts have found that a relatively small firm at that location is home to servers that serve as a gateway for a significant portion of the world's junk e-mail.

The servers are operated by McColo Corp., which these experts say has emerged as a major U.S. hosting service for international firms and syndicates that are involved in everything from the remote management of millions of compromised computers to the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and designer goods, fake security products and child pornography via email.

But the company's web site was not accessible today, when two Internet providers cut off MoColo's connectivity to the Internet, security experts said. Immediately after McColo was unplugged, security companies charted a precipitous drop in spam volumes worldwide. E-mail security firm IronPort said spam levels fell by roughly 66 percent as of Tuesday evening.

Anti-Proposition 8 Protest

Two a.m., and another quiet night in Sacramento.....

E.: MMMMMAAAARRRRCCCCC! Do you know that place where you get off the Capitol City Freeway, over there by P Street, where they have the Light-Rail station, and the parking lot with all those buses, over there where you get off the Capitol City Freeway - you know, the P Street exit - where the people wait for the Light-Rail, and that bus stop with the benches, where the people run across the street and wait next to all those buses, and the buses run all night long, and they wash them too, because you can see them dripping water, next to where you get off the Capitol City Freeway......

M.: Yes, I know that place.

E.: MMMMMAAAARRRRCCCCC they had lots of people there, carrying signs and planning a riot!

M.: A protest? Really, at two in the morning? That seems like a strange time. Maybe they are from out-of-town. What are they protesting about?

E.: They had a BIG American flag, and signs. One of the signs said "Equality For All".

M.: Really? It's probably a Proposition 8 protest. But two in the morning seems like a strange time for that.

E.: Maybe they plan to riot at the State Capitol!

(Apparently this silent rally is what E. noted...)

Scott Eckern's Resignation

Wow, front-page headline in today's Bee! Jeebus, it's even in The New York Times!

Not a good development, since the pro-Prop. 8 forces now have a martyr. Anyone who looks at Middle East politics can see how well that whole martyr business works out.

Rebuke against Eckern should have remained contained, and focused on a monetary penalty. Keep it focused, keep it small! But maybe that was too much to expect with the close vote, and its polarized nature. The urban/suburban-and-rural split of the vote means that people are much more likely to know and be among like-minded people. Anti-Prop. 8 folks reacted badly to defeat - how could that happen when everyone they knew was against it? And pro-Prop. 8 folks are baffled the debate's intensity is only increasing after the election - why can't "they" take defeat gracefully?

The Bee article suggests Eckern's donation may have been associated with his Mormon faith. Mormons too make contributions to art, even in California.

What next? I look forward to stagings of suicide bombings, rendered as tasteful, well-choreographed, color-coordinated, multi-media performance art.

Ben Affleck As Keith Olbermann

Courtesy of Gabe (who looks upon Olbermann's success with a little skepticism).

Rumors Of Adrienne Bailon's Publicity Stunt

Pretty dumb, if true:

Bailon's (now ex) Hollywood publicist Jonathon Jaxson admitted to Foxnews.com that after the laptop was stolen he and the 25-year-old decided to "juice up" the story by saying "nude pictures could have possibly been stolen".

"Adrienne's tour with Cheetah Girls will be over December 22nd, so she is then free to pursue other projects and wanted to be seen as more adult and sexy," Jaxson said.

"So after the laptop was stolen we used it as an opportunity to drum up some publicity and start speculating about nude photos, but we never expected anything to get out."

Jaxson said the photos were then taken from the starlet's Sidekick phone, not her laptop, and he suspects the actress may have played a part in making them public.

"Adrienne and her boyfriend (Kim Kardashian's younger brother Robert) swear they didn't leak them, but it wouldn't surprise me if Adrienne did," he said.

"It's either her or someone very close to her," Jaxson added. "Things are pretty ugly, what should have been an image boost has really turned around and bitten her in the butt."

"Great Oafs From Little Icons Grow"

Cute phrase - I must remember it....

Blogger Andrew Sullivan has his moments. Can't disagree too much about Sarah Palin. Glad to see he finally dropped his slavish fealty to George W. Bush.

Still, a few quibbles. Sarah Palin's education is inadequate, true, but it's not high-school dropout level. It's sorority-sister undergraduate level. Sorority sisters have long known how to turn feigned ignorance into a tool to get what they want:

Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy. She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history. That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve. That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling. 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural "identity". Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again. And we have to find a way to prevent this from recurring.

It happened because John McCain is an incompetent and a cynic and reckless beyond measure. To have picked someone he'd only met once before, without any serious vetting procedure, revealed McCain as an utterly unserious character, a man whose devotion to the shallowest form of political gamesmanship trumped concern for his country's or his party's interest. We need a full accounting of the vetting process: who was responsible for this act of political malpractice? How could a veep not be vetted in any serious way? Why was she not asked to withdraw as soon as the facts of her massive ignorance and delusional psyche were revealed?

The Palin nightmare also happened because a tiny faction of political professionals has far too much sway in the GOP and conservative circles. This was Bill Kristol's achievement.

It was a final product of the now-exhausted strategy of fomenting fundamentalist resentment to elect politicians dedicated to the defense of Israel and the extension of American military hegemony in every corner of the globe. Palin was the reductio ad absurdum of this mindset: a mannequin candidate, easily controlled ideologically, deployed to fool and corral the resentful and the frightened, removed from serious scrutiny and sold on propaganda networks like a food product.

This deluded and delusional woman still doesn't understand what happened to her; still has no self-awareness; and has never been forced to accept her obvious limitations. She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her.

...My point is not to persecute or hound some random person. I wish I had never heard of Sarah Palin. I wish this nightmare had never happened. I wish totally innocent by-standers, like Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston and Heather Bruce and Trig Palin, had not had their lives disrupted by this circus. It's distressing to everyone, which is why most journalists left many aspects of this charade alone. But Palin is claiming vindication, is on every cable show, is at the National Governors Association Conference, and is touted as a future leader of the GOP. There comes a point at which you have to simply call a time out and insist that this farce cease and some basic accountability and transparency be restored to the process.

Alaska Senate - Dem Takes The Lead!

Whoopee! A three-vote lead!:

Stevens (R) 125,016
Begich (D) 125,019

The lead looks unassailable to me!

How Says Missouri?

Mute, as yet:

Missouri remains the only state where it's officially unclear which candidate carried the state. And it may take another two or three weeks before a winner is declared.

McCain's latest lead is 4,968 votes, out of more than 2.9 million cast.

...Yet to be counted: an estimated 7,000 provisional ballots — most cast in Obama-leaning areas — that are just now being examined to determine which ones were cast by properly registered voters in the correct polling place.

Deadline Pressure

I hope Baz works best under stress:

Oscar-nominated director Baz Luhrmann's $130-million epic film "Australia" is due to make its world premiere in Sydney on Tuesday -- but the director says he has not finished it yet.

Luhrmann, who was honored at The Museum of Modern Art's Film Benefit in New York on Monday, is flying back to Sydney with a day to spare to complete the film he has spent four years working on.

"I'm going back to the mixing desk to finish it in 24 hours," the Australian director told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday just before he left for the airport.

"It's right on the edge, we're right up against it. I literally have to on Friday night push that button," he said. "This is really dangerous, I hope there's no problem with the plane going back."

Luhrmann said a rough cut of the film, starring Australian actors Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, had so far only been shown to U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey and her audience, and "Good Morning America" host Diane Sawyer.

Kidman and Jackman appeared on an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Monday that was dedicated to the film and Winfrey praised the film, saying: "I have not been this excited about a movie since I don't know when."

"Our hearts are all swelling because, my God, it's just the film we needed to see," she told Luhrmann, who appeared on the show via the Internet.

"Australia" is Luhrmann's fourth film. "Strictly Ballroom" (1992), "Romeo + Juliet" (1996) and "Moulin Rouge!" (2001), which was nominated for a best picture Academy Award, have earned $390 million worldwide.

..."I wrote six endings and I shot three," said Luhrmann, adding that he decided not to use the ending where Jackman's character dies. "There is a death at the end of this film, but it's a surprise how that works."

"Australia" opens in the United States and Australia on November 26 and in Britain on December 26.

Seizure

My dog Sparky's health has been deteriorating for several years from heart disease, despite a heavy investment in drugs. Age (I've had him 14.5 years, and he may be 15.5 years old), and perhaps the usual suspects - a sedentary lifestyle, a fatty diet, and perhaps a genetic predisposition - are to blame.

Last night, Sparky skipped dinner, and he seemed rather listless. On his customary nighttime walk, Sparky walked unusually sluggishly, so we circled only one city block, rather than the five or six as we do in more-normal times.

The last part of the walk is running up the back porch steps. Sparky has been having trouble with these steps lately, and so, as often as not, I carry him up the back porch steps.

Nevertheless, last night, he summoned his reserves of energy, and ran up the steps. He was barely able to do it, and he struggled mightily to make the last step. He did it, though, and I was proud of his grit and determination.

Entering the house (2:50 a.m.), I saw all four of Sparky's legs abruptly start shaking. He toppled over and collapsed in front of the kitchen stove. He let out a plaintive howl and lay motionless, except for labored breathing. I placed my hand to his chest, and I could feel his heart racing.

So, this is the end! A heart attack! I decided that, in the morning, I would take him to the vet and have him put under. He lived a good dog life, but if he can't even walk, his quality of life is over. I carried him into my bedroom, prepared a final bed, and tried to go to sleep. I hardly slept at all (probably fell asleep at 5 a.m.)

At dawn, Sparky started stirring. A bathroom break? I took him downstairs and left him in his bed there. During the morning, I could hear him at his frequent pasttime, barking at phantoms outside the yard.

Leaving home late this morning, I left food with Sparky, which he promptly began eating. He was walking about, however listlessly.

So, not yet........