California, Land Of Extremes

Egads! Nothing for the Tehachapis?

Superconducting Trains

John writes:

Hey Marc,

This is pretty bizarre. It made some degree of sense until it was turned upside down. Any thoughts?

My reply:

Here’s another YouTube video - longer, and in English.

I’ve forgotten enough physics that it seems like magic to me. Apparently the key is what kind of magnetic field you first induce in the superconducting material. Once it’s locked in, it will maintain it, since current in the superconductor has no resistance. Magically that translates to maintenance of a fixed distance, no matter what direction the gravitational force is. Think of the roller coaster fun you can have with that!

Sixties Nostalgia: Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit

It's less than two weeks before I reach 53 years of age! Fifty-three freakin' years! What, after all this time has passed, have I learned? Do I have any wisdom to convey to today's youth?

It's funny what sticks with you after half a century of sunrises and sunsets. I remember one tedious New Mexico evening, watching television, sometime around 1964. I think I was watching NBC's 'Friday Night At The Movies'. Occasionally, if the night's film was rather short, they had time for an extra short film or cartoon, and that night they had the funniest cartoon ever: Bob Godfrey's "Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit", which apparently dates from 1961.

FUNNY! What I most remember was their crude, jerky illustration of animated arm movement. The movement required maybe three or four separate drawings, but it was coupled with the outrageous claim that eight million separate drawings were required to make it. The brazenness of the claim made me double up with laughter! Plus, the cartoon is THE direct ancestor of Terry Gilliam's animation style, as used by Monty Python. As a historical relic it is even more important than the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

But is the cartoon available on the Internet?

YouTube used to have it, but copyright claims have shut it down. Increasingly desperate, I turned to that one place where copyright claims seem to have no weight - yes, China! Yes, this Chinese Web Site hosts the "Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit", and for 500 guineas and an Australian wombat, you too can watch it. The first play is very jerky due to the slow download speed, and eventually the site virtually locks up your computer, but for a short interval, for the second through fourth plays, you too can drink in the style of comedy that eventually made Monty Python the epitome of British humor and helped relieve the tedium of a New Mexican childhood.

After 53 years, that is all I know. I'll get back to you after another 53 years.

Damned Environmentalists

This annoys me:

Reporting from El Centro, Calif. - Across the desert flatlands of southeastern California, dozens of companies have flooded federal offices with applications to place solar mirrors on more than a million acres of public land.

But just as some of those projects appear headed toward fruition, environmental hurdles threaten to jeopardize efforts to further tap the region's renewable energy potential.

The development of solar-power facilities in the desert has been a top priority of the Obama administration as it seeks to ease the nation's dependence on fossil fuels and curb global warming. In addition, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has urged that the state meet one-third of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020.

Companies are racing to finalize their permits and break ground by the end of next year, which would qualify them to obtain some of the $15 billion in federal stimulus funds designated for renewable energy projects. At stake is the creation of 48,000 jobs and more than 5,300 megawatts of new energy, enough to power almost 1.8 million homes, according to federal land managers.

But the presence of sensitive habitat, rare plants and imperiled creatures such as desert tortoises, bighorn sheep and flat-tailed horned lizards threatens to stall or derail some of the projects closest to securing permits.

"There are significant environmental issues involved in the California gold rush-like scenario unfolding in the desert," said Peter Galvin, conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "We are not going to just roll over when critical wild lands and last habitats of endangered species are in the mix."

...Even further along in the permitting process is BrightSource Energy, which plans to start construction in March on a 6-square-mile solar facility in eastern San Bernardino County's Ivanpah Valley.

BrightSource says the site is ideal, in part because it has been used for cattle grazing and off-road vehicles. It also has a major gas line and two major transmission lines.

Ivanpah is "a showcase of world-class technology and environmentally friendly development, and serves as a catalyst for economic growth," said company spokesman Keely Wachs.

But environmental groups say it would destroy what they see as a relatively pristine habitat that is home to a colony of about 30 threatened California desert tortoises. It is also studded with endangered cactuses, including varieties of cholla, a ground-hugging species also known as "horse tripper."

Of particular concern are BrightSource's plans to move the California desert tortoises. Environmentalists say the tortoises often die as a result of attempts to relocate them.

The Sierra Club has recommended that the company instead develop its facility in wide open, ecologically disturbed areas a few miles to the east, next to Interstate 15.

"We believe there is room for solar energy development in the California desert," said Joan Taylor, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's California/Nevada desert energy committee. "But there is no reason to put it in the wrong place."

BrightSource is "very concerned about the welfare of the desert tortoise," Wachs said, adding that the company has worked extensively with regulators and environmental groups to come up with a strategy that protects the species.

State and federal regulatory agencies are reviewing BrightSource's tortoise relocation plan, but one state official was critical of the project's location.

"BrightSource did not choose an ideal site. They are going to have to do some serious mitigation," said Dan Pellissier, Schwarzenegger's deputy secretary for energy and development.

He said the state energy commission and Bureau of Land Management "are working on a plan" that would require the company to buy three acres of habitat elsewhere for each acre developed. "It looks like we'll get them through" the permitting stages, he said, "and we'll end up with a responsible process that will keep us from ever allowing this to happen again."

Meanwhile, pressure to approve solar plants continues to mount in Bureau of Land Management offices throughout Southern California.

"Bullying us to step up the pace won't help," said Greg Miller, head of a new team created to speed up the bureau's permitting of renewable energy projects. "We're going to do this right; this land belongs to the American people."

The trouble with the Sierra Club's proposal is that all that nice, suitable land next to I-15 they'd instead prefer to sacrifice for development is very likely playa lake bed. The land is effectively desolate, but the place floods - not often, but often enough to play havoc with equipment and cause lots of damage! What does the Sierra Club prefer to do about all the damage?

And what does this mean?:

"It looks like we'll get them through" the permitting stages, he said, "and we'll end up with a responsible process that will keep us from ever allowing this to happen again."

There is no land, anywhere, that will not have the same issues crop up, again and again. Solar power collection surfaces take up a lot of space, no matter what. It's a feature, not a bug. If it's a problem in the Mojave, think how much bigger a problem it would be - wherever!

This is all just so annoying. Conservation is the answer, of course, but who listens anyway?

It's time to hear from "The Knights Who Say 'Ni'":

Ramshackle Zoos

Popular and pathetic:

GAZA—Something didn't quite look right about the zebra, but it was hard to say exactly what. Of the several ramshackle zoos in Gaza, Marah, located not far from the Bureij refugee camp, is by far the cheeriest: The animals are lively, the enclosures clean, and children gather around the cage of a resting lion.

Then again, the competition is hardly stiff: The zoo in Rafah features dead animals left to rot in their cages; another animal park, situated in a densely populated neighborhood in Bureij, recently shut down amid financial difficulties (and after neighbors complained of the smell). A third, also in Bureij, is so short of funds that a fox is kept in a grocery cart with a board over the top.

Yet Marah, with its broken-down bumper cars and a pit filled with sadly deflated balls, had its own not-quite-right feel—particularly the zebra. Standing near the back of its cage, facing away from the spectators, the animal kept its head tucked down.

"It's really a painted donkey," admitted Mahmud Berghat, the director of Marah, when asked about the creature. Making a fake zebra isn't easy—henna didn't work and wood paint was deemed inhumane, so they finally settled on human hair dye. "We cut its hair short and then painted the stripes," Berghat explained behind the closed door of his office.

It did the trick—if not for zoologists, then at least for legions of Gaza schoolchildren who have never seen a real zebra. When I asked him whether anyone had ever caught the ruse, the director admitted that two sharp university students had IDed the counterfeit creature. "But don't tell anyone," he said. "The children love him."

The idea of a zoo creating a fake zebra sounds preposterous, but this is Gaza, which, after two years of an economic blockade, is renowned for recycling, repurposing, and smuggling just about anything that can't be imported legally. The zoo, in a way, represents all three of these coping mechanisms: a couple of house cats stand in for wild cats; the lion was drugged and smuggled through a tunnel from Egypt; and the zebra, as Berghat joked, was "locally made."

Rings, And Moons, and Shadows, Oh My!

John sends this link to spectacular pictures of Saturn from the Cassini mission.

Commisserating With Tourette's

Sometimes I think I have a mild form of Tourette's Syndrome. I'll start shouting "bitch!" and shorten it midstream to "bit!" People say "what?" and I say "oh, nothing...." Or at home I'll shout "money!" for no particular reason, or start reciting DMTC's or my indebtedness with a glazed-eye mumble, or state grandly "Ronald Reagan is dead!" But, in public, I keep this side under control.

As I get older and older I care less and less what the public thinks. I mean, who cares, after all? Someday, I'll just let rip....:

Former nightclub bouncer Paul Stevenson was busying himself as a stay-at-home dad when Tourette syndrome turned his life upside down at age 46.

Until the start of this year he had shown no signs of the expletive-laden and often "bizarre" outbursts which now form a constant part of his daily routine.

The father-of-three now shouts "I'm a gay man" as he wakes next to his wife in the morning and can't prevent himself from swearing in front of his young children.

...But the ex-doorman believes certain mild symptoms were not spotted in his youth and that his now severe condition was triggered by the trauma of his best friend committing suicide in March.

Mr Stevenson, of Scremerston, near Berwick, Northumberland, said: "He was like a brother to me, so the news of his death hit me really bad.

...In August he was finally diagnosed as having Tourette syndrome with Coprolalia, which is the form of the condition which involves involuntary swearing.

...Mr Stevenson, who is originally from Darwen in Lancashire, said he was determined to come to terms with the dramatic change in his life, despite admitting to a current reluctance to leave his home.

He said: "Other than attempting to suppress the urge, I have no control over what I'm going to say and the tic is like a lottery machine in that it just says what pops into your mind.

..."I was speaking to a police officer recently and shouted out 'I sell drugs to kids'.

"I realise that it is bizarre and that it can be humorous but I can despair at times.

"People have followed me in the street thinking it's funny and obviously some people just stare at you like you're from a different planet.

Analyzing Conservatives

Among their many other complaints, conservatives often feel like liberals patronize them, and this analysis could fit that mold. Nevertheless, it is an interesting analysis, with some insights.

Liberal that I am, I dismiss most of the concerns conservatives have regarding Obama, and find their kvetching to be fairly hallucinatory. Obama is a pretty conservative fellow, in the end - how can one make him more liberal? - is what I wonder. I am more disturbed by conservative penchant to misremember recent history and to concoct political fables explaining recent events. That will be where the trouble comes....:

The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans
Why Republican Leaders will have Trouble Speaking to the Rest of America

The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America, according to focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps. These base Republican voters dislike Barack Obama to be sure - which is not very surprising as base Democrats had few positive things to say about George Bush - but these voters identify themselves as part of a ‘mocked’ minority with a set of shared beliefs and knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority in the country.

They believe Obama is ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt the United States and dramatically expand government control to an extent nothing short of socialism. While these voters are disdainful of a Republican Party they view to have failed in its mission, they overwhelmingly view a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of this country’s founding principles and are committed to seeing the president fail.

Instead of focusing on these intense ideological divisions, the press and elites continue to look for a racial element that drives these voters’ beliefs – but they need to get over it. Conducted on the heels of Joe Wilson’s incendiary comments at the president’s joint session address, we gave these groups of older, white Republican base voters in Georgia full opportunity to bring race into their discussion – but it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost
beside the point.

The Republican base voters are not part of the continuum leading to the center of the electorate: they truly stand apart. For additional perspective, Democracy Corps conducted a parallel set of groups in suburban Cleveland. These groups, comprised of older, white, non-college independents and weak partisans, represent some of the most conservative swing voters in the electorate, and they demonstrated a wholly different worldview from Republican base voters by dismissing the fear of “socialism” and evaluating Obama in very different terms. Most importantly, regardless of their personal feelings toward Obama or how they voted in 2008, they very much want to see him succeed because they believe the country desperately needs the change he promised in his campaign. Though we kept discussion points constant between the two sets of groups, on virtually every point of discussion around President Obama and the major issues facing our country, these two audiences simply saw the world in fundamentally different ways – underscoring the extreme disconnect of the conservative Republican base voters.

Despite this growing disconnect, the base voters remain relevant – particularly for Republican elected officials who must face them at home. The conservative Republican base represents almost one-in-five voters in the electorate, and nearly two out of every three self identified Republicans. The universe of our focus groups is representative of this conservative Republican base.

Ideologically, these voters possess a deeply engrained conservatism. In our
favorability exercise, they give the National Rifle Association a 74.3 mean rating on a 100-point scale, and pro-life, anti abortion groups a mean score of 61.8. They have extremely low feelings toward gay marriage, rating it even lower than they rate the state of the economy, and almost all – 90 percent – oppose health care reform out of hand.

These views are more than matched by their views of President Obama: only 12 percent approve of his performance, 75 percent do not like him and 91 percent say the country is off on the wrong track. That is not out of line with how liberal Democrats viewed George W. Bush at a comparable time. But liberal Democrats are outnumbered by moderate Democrats (36 to 61 percent of all Democrats) and their reactions lacked the absolute and apocalyptic character of judgments about Obama.

First and foremost, these conservative Republican voters believe Obama is deliberately and ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt our country and dramatically expand government control over all aspects of our daily lives. They view this effort in sweeping terms, and cast a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of the United States as it was conceived by our founders and developed over the past 200 years.

This concern combines with a profound sense of collective identity. In our conversations, it was striking how these voters constantly characterized themselves as part of a group of individuals who share a set of beliefs, a unique knowledge, and a commitment of opposition to Obama that sets them apart from the majority of the country. They readily identify themselves as a minority in this country – a minority whose values are mocked and attacked by a liberal media and class of elites. They also believe they possess a level of knowledge and understanding when it comes to politics and current events, one gained from a rejection of the mainstream media and an embrace of conservative media and pundits such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, which sets them apart even more. Further, they believe this position leaves them with a responsibility to spread the word, to educate those who do not share their insights, and to take back the country that they love. Their faith in this country and its ideals leave them confident that their numbers will grow, and that they will ultimately defeat Barack Obama and the shadowy forces driving his hidden agenda.

And yet remarkably, these voters had virtually nothing positive to say about the Republican Party. They see their own party as weak, old, and out of touch. They feel it has lost sight of conservative values and conservative voters and is in desperate need of new leadership. They identified a clear disconnect between ‘the people’ and ‘the politicians,’ which poses a growing threat to the party’s ability to challenge Democratic control in Washington. While they continue to defend George W. Bush personally, his presidency is an embarrassment to them and represents the culmination of a creeping betrayal of conservative values that started with the election of his father more than 20 years ago. The lionization of Ronald Reagan in these groups was as strong as we have seen for any political figure, as was the desperate desire for a new Reaganesque figure to lead them out of their current wilderness.

Looking at the current political debate, it was evident in our focus group discussions that the divide between conservative Republicans and even the most conservative-leaning independents remains very, very wide. Independents like those in our suburban Cleveland groups harbor doubts about Obama’s health care reform but are desperate to see some version of health care reform pass this year; the conservative Republicans view any health care reform as a victory for Obama and are militantly opposed. Asked about the issues of greatest importance to them in choosing a candidate for Congress, health care ranked sixth among the Republicans, below issues such as tax cuts, immigration, and a candidate’s personal values and faith; but for the independents, health care was number one.

The language they use further reflects this divide. Conservative Republicans fully embrace the ‘socialism’ attacks on Obama and believe it is the best, most accurate way to describe him and his agenda. Independents largely dismiss these attacks as partisan rhetoric detracting from a legitimate debate about what many of them do see as excessive government control and spending.

In the wake of Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst during the president’s joint session health care address and other strident personal and political attacks against President Obama, many in the media and Democratic circles advanced an explanation that this virulent opposition is rooted in racism and reactions to President Obama as an African American president. With this possibility in mind, we allowed for extended open-ended discussion on Obama (including visuals of him speaking) among voters – older, non-college, white, and conservative – who were most race conscious and score highest on scales measuring racial prejudice.

Race was barely raised, certainly not what was bothering them about President Obama. In fact, some of these voters talked about feeling some pride at his election. They were conscious of the charge that opposition to Obama is racially motivated and that bothered conservative Republicans and independents alike. They basically could not let it go and returned to this issue again and again throughout our conversations across myriad topics.

...They see this as a personal rights issue because the racism charge is being used to prevent them from fulfilling their duty to stand up to Obama and his agenda. They see no difference in the opposition Obama faces and the opposition other liberals have faced, because they believe it is based in the same unwavering, bedrock conservative principles that have always led them to oppose liberal policies.

...The conservative Republican base is deeply suspicious of Obama’s political success and true motivations. These questions were part of the conversation throughout the 2008 electioncycle, but now they feel their greatest fears are being realized, and they do not understand the lack of outcry from the rest of the country. They believe Obama is determined to fundamentally change and weaken our country, taking it away from its founding principles. Four central pillars support their beliefs:

Pillar #1 – Deception and a Hidden Agenda
Their feelings toward Obama are not simply a reflection of intense partisan differences. They are actively rooting for Obama to fail as president because they believe he is not acting in good faith as the leader of our country. Only 6 percent of these conservative Republican base voters say that Obama is on their side, and our groups showed that they explicitly believe he is purposely and ruthlessly executing a hidden agenda to weaken and ultimately destroy the foundations
of our country.

...Closely related to this well-established notion of a secret agenda is a hidden set of liberal elites or power brokers who have guided and directed Obama as a puppet, helping him to reach the highest office in the land. It is simply implausible to them that Obama has reached this position on his own without some greater force at work. ....

Pillar #2 – Speed
A key piece of the hidden agenda identified and detailed by conservative Republican voters in our focus groups was speed, which was linked to the larger pattern of deception detailed above. They believe Obama is pushing his agenda at record pace because he does not want the American people to know what he is doing. The decision to tackle so many major issues at once early in his term is born not out of necessity, but out of secrecy and political calculation. And the media is once again a key part of this strategy, refusing to expose information that might slow down his legislative march. ....

Pillar #3 – Driving Government to the Brink and Total Control
Conservative Republicans do not oppose Obama’s policies simply because they think
they are misguided or out of partisan fervor. Rather, they believe his policies are purposely designed to fail. When they look at the totality of his agenda, they see a deliberate effort to drive our country so deep into debt, to make the majority of Americans so dependent on the government, and to strip away so many basic constitutional rights that we are too weak to fight back and have to accept whatever solution he proposes. The numbers from our database also demonstrate this belief – 92 percent of these voters believe Obama is a “big spender” and only 17 percent
believe he has good plans for the economy. ....

Pillar #4 – The Ultimate Goal: Socialism and End to Liberties
There is no doubt in their minds that the ultimate goal of this strategy is to change our country to a socialist nation. In their minds, this is the key to truly understanding the Obama presidency and what is happening in our country today. Everything goes back to government control and Obama (aided by Democrats in Congress and the liberal media) seeking to systematically strip away individual rights and insert government into every aspect of our daily lives.

...The final, and in many ways most important, piece of evidence they cite is the planned government takeover of health care. The notion that Obama's health care reforms represent a government takeover of all aspects of health care is an article of faith; they reject as laughable the suggestion that it might not, pointing to his arguments to the contrary as further proof of his determination to lie and deceive to fulfill his ultimate agenda. Even after a description of the health care reform plan in our recent polling, these conservative Republican base voters reject it by a 59-point margin, with nearly two-thirds (64 percent) strongly opposed to reform (77 percent total opposed).

...One of the most telling differences between the partisan Republican groups and the independent groups was the language they used. Conservative Republicans fully embrace the ‘socialism’ attacks on Obama and believe it is the best, most accurate framework for describing him and his agenda. Independents largely dismiss these attacks as the kind of overblown partisan rhetoric that obscures the facts and only serves to cheapen the political discourse.

...The other dominant lesson that emerged from our focus groups and provides critical insight into the thinking of today’s partisan Republican voters is their clear sense of shared identity. In our focus group discussions, we quickly noted how they routinely used plural firstperson pronouns to describe a group of individuals (including all those in the room but extending far beyond those walls) who share a set of beliefs, knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority of the country. Democrats may joke that Republicans seem to live on a different planet sometimes, but in some important ways, these Republicans
would happily agree.

...Conservative Republicans passionately believe that they represent a group of people who have been targeted by a popular culture and set of liberal elites – embodied in the liberal mainstream media – that mock their values and are actively working to advance the downfall of the things that matter most to them in their lives – their faith, their families, their country, and their freedom.

...The notion of a liberal media using its reach and power to advance a radical agenda is a given for these voters. If you do not see and understand this reality, you are not a part of their collective group and you cannot possibly understand the current political environment in our country. This creates an almost siege-like mentality, in which these conservative Republicans are always on the defensive, at all times looking for any slight against them and their beliefs and seeking to link it back to a broader effort rooted in the liberal media.

...A central part of the collective identity built by conservative Republicans in the current political environment is their belief that they possess knowledge and insight that the majority of Americans – whether too lazy or too misguided to find it for themselves – do not possess. A combination of conservative media outlets are the means by which they have gained this knowledge, led by FOX News (“the truth tellers“), and to a lesser degree conservative talk radio. Their antipathy and distrust toward the mainstream media could not be stronger, and they fiercely defend FOX as the only truly objective news outlet.

...The final aspect of the collective identity shared by conservative Republicans is the call to action. The attacks they suffer for their values and the special knowledge they share as a result of their devotion to conservative media and active rejection of mainstream media are ultimately meaningless if it does not help defeat Obama and his hidden agenda. This is where the sense of collective purpose is greatest. They see a nascent movement building, still not fully realized or activated but with a growing number of people watching and listening, growing increasingly frustrated, and looking for ways to stop the growing threat they perceive.

...The religious undertones to this language – planting a seed, a people awakening – are unmistakable and speak to the fervor of these partisans. This is about an attack on their most closely held beliefs and values, and they will not simply turn the other cheek. They passionately believe that, through their hard work and determination, Obama and his agenda will ultimately be defeated.

They celebrated the tea parties as early signs of this movement coming together, talking about the tea parties in first person despite not having attended any events themselves.

...The symbolism of the tea parties reflects one of the key findings of this research. Asked what it is that they want out of this movement, aside from defeating Obama and his agenda, conservative Republicans constantly returned to a common refrain – returning our country to its founding principles. While they do not necessarily agree on what this means, they can agree that the country has wandered dangerously far from the vision of our founding fathers and that Obama wants to take us even further from that foundation.

...The disconnect these partisans see between the party leadership and the party faithful is at the root of their discontent. They have no intention of leaving the party per se – they still believe it is the best and only means of opposing Obama and the Democratic Congress – but they also have little confidence in its current direction or leadership, and there is an emotional distance that can be damaging.

...This crisis within the Republican Party is nothing new from the point of view of its most ardent supporters. As strong believers in the power of leadership and symbolism, this is a trend that they believe started with the end of the Reagan presidency and the election of George H.W. Bush and his subsequent tax increase. Of course, the Clinton administration was a nightmare for these voters, although the Obama experience has created some revisionist history in their minds.

...The eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency created a great deal of dissonance for these voters. Overall, they are embarrassed by his presidency. They are most likely to cite the prescription drug benefit and his failure to rein in spending or the size of government, although his public speaking and blunders also play a role in their overall disappointment. Nonetheless, they will passionately defend him on a personal level and praise him for his conviction and devotion to doing what he felt was best for the country.

...Asked what their party needs to reinvigorate itself and close the gap between its leaders and its rank and file, these conservative Republicans are almost unanimous in their solution – new leadership. And although they expressed some hope for a variety of names (Gingrich, Romney, Huckabee, Jindal), there was only one figure who truly excited them and created real passion – Sarah Palin. They see in her the uncompromising personal conviction and integrity that they admired in Bush, but with an authentic conservatism that reflects her personal background.

...They disagree on her viability as a candidate for national office, but they do not disagree on her ability to lead. Some say she needs to get more experience or take on responsibilities that will burnish her credentials and reassure uncertain swing voters while others maintain she has nothing to prove and is already more experienced and qualified than the current incumbent.

...The independent voters in our groups clearly viewed these issues very, very differently. They share the conservative Republicans’ disdain for the current Republican Party, but their critique is not that the party has abandoned its conservative principles but instead that it advances the interests of the rich and big businesses at the expense of the middle class. They worry about the Democratic Party’s proclivity to spend tax dollars and provide ‘freebies’ to those who do not
do their fair share, but they appreciate the Democrats’ focus on ‘the little people’ (among which they included themselves) and the fact that ‘it’s not all about the money.’

They view FOX News as another media outlet, decidedly conservative in its point of
view but no more or less biased than any other media outlet; their assumption is that every outlet has a bias that reflects the interests of its own bottom line. FOX is no different, and certainly not a source of special insight and information that cannot be gained elsewhere. They generally laugh at conservative commentators such as Limbaugh (‘overbearing,’ ‘egotistical,’ ‘idiot’) and Beck (one man called him a ‘crybaby’). When it comes to Sarah Palin, there was almost universal agreement that she could never be elected president, with most citing her inexperience and
baggage as obstacles too great to overcome. But even more important to them, most felt she was ultimately driven by greed and ambition more than anything else and would rather use her newfound fame to enrich herself than improve the country.

...All of which underscores how much the conservative Republicans are a world apart – with big consequences for the Republican Party.

Two Loudmouths Square Off

What's that African saying? "When elephants fight, the grass suffers":

The Reverend Al Sharpton wants an apology from right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, or he's filing a defamation lawsuit.

"In the op-ed published in Saturday's Wall Street Journal Limbaugh writes Sharpton 'played a leading role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot (he called neighborhood Jews ‘diamond merchants’) and 1995 Freddie's Fashion Mart riot,'" CNN reported.

“Not only did Rush Limbaugh try to criminalize the NFL,” Sharpton told a columnist with the Palm Beach Post."But now he is saying I’m a criminal. He can call me a race-baiter and all that stuff like he does. But don’t call me a criminal.”

Sharpton issued the following statement on the matter to CNN: "Mr. Limbaugh's blatant and defamatory statements regarding the Crown Heights Riots falsely give the impression that Rev. Sharpton was present during the violence that occurred when in reality he had been called in by the family after the violence.

Sharpton told news agencies that he was not in Crown Heights until after the violence, calling Limbaugh's statement false.

"Starmites" - DMTC

Last show this afternoon! Check it out!

x

Not to put too much weight on a show based on a comic-book theme, but sometimes musical theater strains the boundaries of the credible, just a wee bit. Here, the Banshees sing and dance while they surreptitiously kidnap the sleeping Starmites.

It works as camp, though....

It's "Hard To Be Diva"!

(Ain't that the truth!)

"Hard To Be Diva"

What to do with the captured Starmites?

x

"The Connuptial Dance" - Bizarbara tries to find a suitable mate.

Frightening times in a distant galaxy.

Bizarbara's Wedding.

Bad times on Bizarbara's Big Day.

Diva (Kaitlyn C.) and Eleanor (Amanda C.).

Balking at the first kiss....

Shak Graa (Matthew F.) plays 'Cruelty', and transfixes both Starmites and Banshees.

x

Shak Graa (Matthew F.) faces defeat as 'Milady' is revealed to be none other than Eleanor!

Lottery Hoax Woman

The lottery-hoax woman and her fun.

It does sound like it would be fun to play rich for an hour or two! The key is to get sponsors, and proper television coverage.

What The Housing Bubble Looked Like In Phoenix

Wow, that's quite remarkable! Housing prices nearly doubled in a two-year period, then collapsed!

I wonder what the next bubble will be?

Arizona Drought

The situation there is getting worse, quite rapidly! They need some rain!

Political Analysis In One's Sleep

I remember back in high school, when I would sometimes wake up in the morning with a blinding flash, having solved some physics homework problem in my sleep. Once I put the solution down on paper, however, I realized that, not only was the approach to solution unnecessarily labored, but the answer was wrong too.

This morning I awoke with a blinding flash, having solved the political problem of accounting for Sarah Palin's popularity. According to my nocturnal analysis, she is popular because she is, or at least resembles, the female equivalent of Teddy Roosevelt. There is, or there should be, a space in the American political firmament for a female version of TR. It would be natural that John McCain, an admirer of TR, would naturally fall under her spell.

Of course, since I thought of it in my sleep, millions of other people must have thought of it when they were awake, and sure enough, the Internet reveals lots of such comparisons, mostly of a superficial nature that hides the great dissimilarities between the two people. For example, TR was a well-read scholar and writer: Palin, not so much.

So, betrayed by my sleeping mind again. Time to dream again and set the matter right.

Blame, Blame, Blame Everywhere

Yet none, oddly enough, for himself:

Conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh lashed out at NFL union leader DeMaurice Smith, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the media a day after being dropped from a group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. On his syndicated show Thursday, Limbaugh said he was approached by St. Louis Blues chairman Dave Checketts earlier this year about participating in a Rams bid. Checketts assured him his involvement as a minority investor had been vetted by the NFL, he said.

"I said to him at this meeting, 'Are you aware of the firestorm?' He said 'We wouldn't have approached you if we hadn't taken care of that,'" said Limbaugh, a conservative favorite who is reviled by many liberals.

Limbaugh added that Checketts had told him his involvement had been cleared at the "highest levels of the NFL."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Colts owner Jim Irsay each expressed misgivings this week at a league-wide meeting about Limbaugh's involvement, with Goodell saying Limbaugh had made "polarizing" comments and Irsay vowing to vote against him. On Wednesday, Checketts said Limbaugh had been dropped from the bid.

During a 15-minute counterattack at the start of his show, Limbaugh said he believes he's been made an example by a players' union seeking leverage in talks over a new collective bargaining agreement. What happened to him was an illustration of "Obama's America on full display," the commentator said.

...Limbaugh blamed Smith, executive director of the NFLPA and an "Obama-ite," along with Sharpton and Jackson, whom he referred to as "race hustlers," for Checketts' decision to drop him. He said his sacking was an example of the political clout wielded by President Barack Obama's administration.

"What is happening to the National Football League, what is about to happen to it, has already happened to Wall Street, has already happened to the automobile business," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh said he was victimized in the media by "misreporting, lying, repeating the lies while also saying 'Limbaugh denies,' repeating the made-up quotes, the blind hatred."

"Believe me, the hatred that exists in this is found in the sports writer community, it's found in the news business, it's found in the race hustler business," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh said Checketts telephoned on Tuesday, asking him to withdraw from the group. Limbaugh responded that he wouldn't withdraw and that Checketts would have to "go public and fire me," and thought the news would be made public Thursday morning.

Smith, the NFLPA head, last week voiced his objections to Limbaugh's bid with Goodell, and urged players to speak out. Sharpton and Jackson also attacked Limbaugh's involvement, asserting that Limbaugh's track record on race should exclude him.

Limbaugh said the real reason he's out is the NFLPA's attempt to influence negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. "It's designed to intimidate the owners, frighten the owners, and say 'We're running this league now, gang, not you,'" Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh said he's "lost nothing" over the episode and vowed to continue being the "biggest non-paid promoter of the sport."

Karaoke Video

Today, I'm taking video of Jetta's karaoke, because she wants to be a star (who doesn't?) and because the deadline for video submittals for Oprah's national karaoke contest is this Monday. So, if you want to compete, get your act together!

Scary Citrus Heights Resident

It's hard to change your relatives, but sometimes it's worth the effort:

A man stabbed and bludgeoned his sister and her husband to death in El Cerrito in 2006 because he thought the couple were too liberal, were raising their children wrong and because they hadn't invited him over for Christmas, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Edward Wycoff, 40, of the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights coldly planned the slayings, including getting Lasik surgery and using night-vision goggles so he could find his way around the house where Julie Wycoff Rogers, 47, lived with her husband, Paul Rogers, 48, prosecutor Mark Peterson said.

He also purposefully picked the date for the killings - Jan. 31, 2006 - Peterson said in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. That was 20 years to the day after Wycoff's grandmother, whom he hated, left his home after breaking her hip, the prosecutor said.

Wycoff regarded his grandmother as "evil" and thought his life improved considerably after she left, Peterson said. Because he believed the couple had also been making his life miserable, he chose that date to break into their home on Rifle Range Road overlooking Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, stab them repeatedly with a knife and bludgeon them with a wheelbarrow handle, Peterson said in his opening statement in Wycoff's murder trial.

Although Wycoff was also armed with a gun, he didn't use it because he didn't want to boost the cause of gun-control supporters, the prosecutor said.

Wycoff, who is serving as his own attorney, told jurors that he still hates the couple "a little."

"They owe me a life," he said. "This has ruined my life, and Julie and Paul owe me for that."

Wycoff agreed with the prosecutor that he resented members of Paul Rogers' family for their liberal politics, and that he thought the couple were at times "too easy" when they disciplined their children.

He also said that "it wasn't just Christmas" when he wasn't invited over. It was also Thanksgiving in 2005, the year his and Julie Rogers' father died.

"When someone does that, they hate you - they're out to destroy you," Wycoff said.

Peterson said Wycoff had planned to adopt the couple's three children after he committed the killings.

...In an interview from jail after the slayings, Wycoff, who is 6 foot 5 and weighs 300 pounds, said he had tried to disguise himself during the killings by wearing a motorcycle helmet and attaching a ponytail with his late mother's hair.

...Wycoff's opening statement indicated he would try to justify the killings to the jury, rather than deny he committed them.

At the close of his remarks, Wycoff told the "few fans" in the gallery to contact his advisory attorney, David Briggs, if they wanted autographs.

Rush Sacked

The NFL is an unforgiving meritocratic place where you don't get do-overs, there are few consolation prizes, and where actions have consequences. It is also filled with rich black men who know racism when they meet it and will crush it when they can, which is often.

Sorry, Rush:

Rush was hanged by his own very real words. There's too many example to quote here, but here are three examples of the many, many episodes over the years.

Limbaugh says "NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips." On January 19, 2007, Limbaugh stated: "Look it, let me put it to you this way. The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There I said it."

Limbaugh on Survivor series: "African-American tribe" worst swimmers, Hispanics "will do things other people won't do." On August 23, 2006, Limbaugh suggested that the competition in a season of CBS' Survivor, in which contestants were reportedly divided into competing "tribes" by ethnicity, "is not going to be fair if there's a lot of water events." In support of this assertion, he cited a March 2, 2006, HealthDay article reporting that "young blacks -- especially males -- are much more likely to drown in pools than whites." He later added that Hispanics have "probably shown the most survival tactics," that they "have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders," and that they can "do it without water for a long time, they don't get apprehended, and they will do things other people won't do." On his September 29, 2006, show, Limbaugh claimed "[t]here can only be one reason" Survivor scrapped "segregated" competition after two episodes -- "the white tribe had to be winning."

Then there's this, from Newsday in 1990:

Recalling a stint as an "insult-radio" DJ in Pittsburgh, he admits feeling guilty about, for example, telling a black listener he could not understand to "take that bone out of your nose and call me back."

You see, it's "insult radio," so that makes it OK! And it one sense, it is. We've argued here a lot this year about free speech in America, and what it means. Rush Limbaugh is free in America to say what he wishes -- and I go even farther, in that I have no problem with him hosting a radio show for whatever Americans choose to listen to his dreck. But words have consequences. If the Eagles had the right as a private employer to fire the "Dam Eagles R retarted" Facebook guy, then the NFL -- also a private entity -- has the right to choose who they want to "hire," and they are choosing to reject Rush Limbaugh because for all of his Dittohead radio listeners, there are millions more who find his speech -- these real quotes, well documented -- to be offensive.

Because words are free but they also have consequences, even for a politically influential multi-millionaire like Rush Limbaugh.

Worried About "No Worries"

Australians long ago adopted "no worries" as a sort of reflexive national mantra. Paycheck late? "No worries!" Tax bill due? "No worries!" Tsunami approaches? "No worries!"

Interestingly, though, I notice "No worries!" is creeping into American English. I just heard it today at the office. I've heard it several times just this week at the office. I'm not sure why, exactly, or how. Is there a popular TV show to blame? If anything, Australian media influence in North America seems to be waning these days, not waxing. But there is the telltale sign of cultural imperialism anyway!

That's OK, though. Australian English teachers have been exasperated for years about the cultural ruination caused by American English.

Spouting Off About Camille Paglia Spouting Off Again

Today, Salon.com has their monthly Camille Paglia feature, where she opines contrarily about any number of things. Lately she has, in my opinion, been giving too much weight to the importance of Talk radio and Tea Parties. Thus, my rebuke:

I'm surprised Paglia can't spot the men behind the curtain running the supposedly-spontaneous Tea Bag demonstrations - the corporations and the folks at FOX. The Tea Parties are ersatz - protest kitsch - Disneyfied imitations of political demonstrations that would be best based on real anger. Like the post-1970 Vietnam War demonstrations compared to the pre-1968 ones, they possess a real cynical heart. If Paglia thinks listening to Talk Radio gives her an insight that other metrosexuals don't have, she's wrong. We listen to Talk Radio too, and we think those folks are way, way off base!

In California, at least the anti-Prop. 8 demonstrations have a seed of anger: the gays briefly had a right that was taken away from them. Like one sign I remember seeing: "Married October 22, 2008 - Screwed November 4, 2008".

With the Tea Partiers, however, what these suburbanites lost was the complete dominance they had from 2000-2006 over the American political agenda. Sorry, but elections have consequences! Urban 'enclaves' make up the majority of the country! Wake up!

The media does a dreadful job covering Tea Parties, but they've always done a dreadful job covering any kind of demonstrations. And if the mainstream media disdains the Tea Parties, perhaps there is a reason. Unlike academics, the MSM can't be caught mistaking gilt for gold, and it's hard to fake real anger.

I'm Too Sexy For Your Standards

Apparently the latest outrage to community standards, at least according to Bill O'Reilly and his FOX Culture Warriors, was a dance routine at Rio Americano High School. Following my usual pattern of first offering opinions about things I don't understand, and then informing myself, I will first comment about the story, and then look at the video.

I guess they got all worked up over there at FOX:

Fox News television host Bill O'Reilly's show recently blasted Rio's song team for provocative dance moves during a performance at a back-to-school rally.

His "Culture Warriors" segment featured Fox commentators Margaret Hoover and Gretchen Carlson dissecting the dance routine while a recording of the most titillating moves played over and over on a loop. "They were absolutely overtly sexual," Hoover said. "What do you call spreading your legs and shaking your booty? They look like they're in an MTV music video, not at a high school performance."

Then Carlson chimed in:

"Can you imagine the young teenage boys sitting in that school audience? How in the heck were they concentrating on algebra after that?"

Not very well, apparently.

Senior John Butterfield, 17, had a front-row seat at the performance. He left the rally so shaken that he wrote an opinion piece for the Mirada, the school's student newspaper.

"Moves like we saw at the Aloha Rally are not allowed at normal school dances or even in most socially acceptable settings," Butterfield wrote. "This is a high school rally, not the latest music video, and when the song team spends most of the routine bent over, while it may (elicit) catcalls from the audience, it is simply not appropriate."

About 50 parents attended the Aug. 24 rally, and none of them complained, Principal Brian Ginter said.

The song team's routine didn't strike him as anything particularly noteworthy. By high school dance team standards, the girls were modestly dressed in loose-fitting light pink blouses, full-length pants and sneakers.

"What our girls did at their dance routine wasn't really anything different than I've seen in dance routines across the country," Ginter said.

Butterfield's 450-word piece Sept. 25 on Page 6 of the school newspaper ignited media interest. First News10 did a segment, and then O'Reilly.

"I enjoy the fact that people are talking about it," Butterfield said Tuesday.

The song team, on the other hand, is not so happy people are talking about it. The coach and student dancers declined to be interviewed for this story. Ginter said they feel the television coverage was unfair to them.

The girls face no discipline because they didn't break any rules, he said. And even before their routine was skewered by Fox pundits, Rio's song team had revised its dance in response to Butterfield's criticism.

"They went through the video and the article and looked at the things he felt were inappropriate. They looked at the dance they did and said maybe this is something that could be considered overboard," Ginter said. "There were adjustments made."

Trent Allen, spokesman for the San Juan Unified School District, said the only complaints that have come to the district have been from O'Reilly viewers outside Sacramento. He praised the song team for accepting Butterfield's opinion as constructive criticism.

"That shows a huge amount of professionalism from a high school team," Allen said.

For Butterfield, the whole episode has been a lesson in the power of the pen. He's thinking about how he can spin the story into an essay for his college applications.

"It makes me feel good that people considered what I wrote in the paper and thought about taking action," Butterfield said. "In high school, a lot of the time we feel powerless. � It makes me feel hopeful that if the adults keep listening to what we put in the paper, things will get better."

First, except for furtive book perusal in the bleachers, few people ever go to the gym to study algebra. Even back in the Jurassic Era, when loud-mouthed Bill went to school, hardly anyone went to the gym to study algebra.

Now to the video:



(After watching the video) Great dancing! I like the way they hit the floor on their knees, and not be crippled for a week, like I would be if I tried it.

Nevertheless, this supposedly overt sexuality doesn't even approach the level offered by other high schools across the country. The dance wasn't choreographed to be over-the-top sexy. It was choreographed to be hip-hop. When, according to the commentators, the coach said that the team was trying to keep up with the competition, he meant the hip-hop competition, not the sexiness competition. There are strict standards that must be met, and Rio Americano can't fall behind! Dance standards, fool!

The dancers weren't trying to make a statement about sexuality or teenage life, but it certainly gives an opportunity for others to grab a soapbox and do so. I like Margaret Hoover's forthrightness when she declares: "Girls need to know, Bill, that the most important thing about them is their character and their intelligence, not their sexuality." Nevertheless, she is wrong. Adolescence is when sexuality inevitably becomes an important part of their life and they have to successfully integrate it with their character and intelligence. That is as it has always been, in every society, always! To try to deny "teh sex" is to deny reality.

And I wonder about this John Butterfield fellow. The song team did not spend "most of the routine bent over". Look at the video again, if you disagree. It's time for Butterfield to spend some time trying to successfully integrate his sexuality with his character and intelligence. And it would be helpful if he learned something about hip-hop. He speaks from a position of ignorance.

Inflatable Ball-Gate

Just weird:

Kings co-owner Joe Maloof ordered an e-mail sent to the NBA's other 29 teams, hoping to spread the word about unforeseen dangers that can arise when performing even basic workouts with an inflatable exercise ball commonly found in many gyms and homes.

More Final Weekend "Seussical" Pix

Madder'n A Wet Hen

E.: MMMMAAARRRCCC! It's ridiculous! I'm mad! The newspaper boy threw the paper into the patio!

M.: (The patio? There is no patio...)

E.: The newspaper is all wet! It's in the sink drying out. I'm going to complain! Call me at work. Don't forget! I left a paper with instructions on how to leave a message for me.

M.: (Instructions on how to leave a message?)

E.: And above all, don't go to Davis! It's too dangerous!

M.: Absolutely! (Whatever!)

Airlines Everywhere Will Take Heart, I'm Sure

Fire a laser at an airliner as a prank and maybe they'll blow your fender off:

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — The Air Force and Boeing say an airborne test last month of an advanced tactical laser damaged a moving ground vehicle.

A Boeing spokesman says the Sept. 19 test was aimed at damaging, not destroying, the vehicle.

A C-130H aircraft took off from Kirtland Air Force Base and fired a high-power chemical laser above White Sands Missile Range, about 200 miles south of the Albuquerque base.

The Air Force and Boeing say the test completed the project's first air-to-ground, high-power laser firing at a mobile target.

They say the beam control system guided the laser's energy to the unoccupied target, putting a hole in a fender.

They say the test demonstrates the project's ability to aim and fire a high-energy laser beam at a moving target.

Doughnuts Over Moscow

Last night, I tuned in late to Coast-to-Coast AM with George Noory, and they were discussing this halo in the clouds over Moscow. Discussion by UFO expert Nick Pope was so dilatory and fraught with fake stage excitement it made me itch. "No meteorologist can explain it," he said. "Ask me," I thought. I know what's causing it even though I haven't even seen a picture of the phenomenon yet.

When ice crystals are dropped, from above, into supercooled liquid water stratus clouds, they will slowly consume the droplets and punch an ice-crystal-filled hole through the cloud deck that can be very circular in shape and be very-interesting to look at as well. The ice crystal seeds could come naturally from a descending ice crystal tail from cirrus clouds above (cirrus uncinus), could be artificially-seeded by cloud researchers, or even simply drop from an aircraft passing above. Other such holes have been observed in numerous other places. It's fun and pretty easy to do too, if you have an aircraft at your disposal. It's Science! - there is no reason to worry about Alien Mother Ships or what British Intelligence thinks.

Next freakin' question, please.....

Kamikaze Birther

Bravado will eventually get Orly Taitz disbarred:

Reached on her cell phone by TPMmuckraker and informed of the $20,000 fine imposed on her by a federal judge this morning, Birther attorney Orly Taitz responded, first, with laughter.

"So he didn't recuse himself?" Taitz asked, after letting out an extended, nervous-sounding chuckle.

Still defiant after months of legal wrangling and, by our count, three written denunciations by federal district court Judge Clay Land, Taitz said she had absolutely no plans to pay the $20,000 fine.

"Are you kidding? Of course not," she said, asked whether she planned to send a check. "This is a form of intimidation."

Instead, she plans to file yet another written response (though it's unclear whether the court will even accept one).

"I'll go to the circuit court of appeals. I'll take this as high as I have to go," Taitz said.

Asked about the judge's promise to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney if she didn't pay within 30 days, Taitz said she'd have to take a look at the order.

Vegan Spider

Time to give up the predator lifestyle?:

SCIENTISTS have discovered the world’s first known vegetarian spider.

Bagheera kiplingi, a South American species, lives almost exclusively on leaf buds and is thought to be the only spider of about 40,000 species to have rejected a carnivorous diet.

Instead it has developed a laidback lifestyle based on nutritious wild acacia plants — and has no need to spin a web to catch its prey.

The females have even dispensed with the time-honoured spider custom of eating their sexual partners immediately after mating.

“This is the first spider known to ‘hunt’ plants as a primary food source,” said Christopher Meehan of Villanova University, in Pennsylvania, who observed the creatures, about the size of a thumbnail, on a field trip in Mexico.

The vegetarian diet of B kiplingi appears to have prompted other changes. Since it no longer needs to go through the energy-sapping business of catching prey, it has diverted its web-spinning abilities to building family homes. Mothers use the nests to rear their young.

Thrashed That Left Foot

Yup, I've really messed up my left foot. I'll probably have to be careful for months to come!

In general, I have weak feet, but for the last 27 years have managed to keep the problem at bay by regular ballet exercise. But this summer, the balletic regularity got disturbed for the first time. First, my dad got sick, and then he died, and then Ron Cisneros moved his studio. Class was effectively dismissed for nearly two months. My feet slowly weakened, and so when I finally resumed ballet, I was primed for an injury, which, sure enough, followed as I feared (Ron was substituting for Victoria Johnson on Saturday, and I tried an outside pirouette on the left foot and felt something rip). So now, it's time to recuperate....

But I don't want to give up Monday evening aerobics, which I attended, and didn't do very well in, but at least survived.....

And how about the Wednesday and Thursday aerobics classes? Can't miss those either...

Ham Radio, Colorado's Fourteeners, and Goat Cams

Lisa sends this. Admirable and strange at the same time.

"Seussical, The Musical" - Final Weekend

Left: Horton the Elephant (Kyle Hadley).
Opening number. Kimmie R., Ana C. (JoJo), Mina A., Kyle Hadley (Horton the Elephant), Helen Spangler (Court Marshal), Steve Isaacson (Judge Yertle the Turtle), Jennifer Berry, Elena L. (Cindy Lou Who), Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly (Genghis Khan Schmitz), Chanel Charity, Kendyl I., Cole Y., and Riley S.
Hunters!
Mayzie LaBird (Kay Hight) hands off her egg to Horton, for good.
x
General Genghis Khan Schmitz (and occasional Sneetch; Jeffrey Lloyd Heatherly), at ease.

The Bloogosphere

This is my experience of the Internet, in a picture (from "Oh, the THINKS You Can Think!", Dr. Seuss, 1975).

At the restaurant last night, after Seussical strike, people were passing around a copy of the book. Jojo had this page opened. I looked over Jojo's shoulder, and was charmed!

Dianne Feinstein Wants A Rally

Senator Feinstein wants a health care rally on Thursday in Davis. It would be nice to comply, then change the subject to why she is so shrill for war in Afghanistan. I mean, after all, one of the main competitors for health care dollars is the military:

Where: Enterprise Newpaper 3rd and G Street (in Davis)

When: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009, at 10:00 AM

Bill Hader As James Carville

It's A Little Early For Halloween, But....

Paris Hilton plays “a demon who feeds on the disorienting power of celebrity.”

Suck. On. This.

Apparently the right is apoplectic about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Well, in the memorable words on Thomas Friedman regarding Arab protests about America's forthcoming invasion of Iraq: Suck. On. This.

Didn't someone (Tom Lehrer?) say that irony was dead after Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize? What goes around comes around, as they say.

Obama Wins The Nobel Peace Prize

How odd! So early! But nevertheless welcome, since it gives him enhanced prestige and leverage to push his policies along. Often, prestigious prizes come along too late to do much good. But not this time around!

Oh, So THIS Is Leopard Man!

About that second show, no problem, Nate! I thought I was Kylie's biggest fan, but maybe you are!

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Sit Down

Jack LaLanne turns 95 and he wants you to get some exercise:

LaLanne has made a fortune, but he won't retire. He carries on his crusade with the zeal of a man whose jumpsuit is on fire.

"If you believe something, live it!" LaLanne barks.

...LaLanne at 15 was "a miserable goddamn kid. It was like hell." He was a sugarholic, gorging on sweets then barfing to make room for more. He was constantly sick, underweight, had zero energy, headaches so bad he would bang his head against a wall. He had an explosive temper, severe depression and a head full of demons when he dropped out of Berkeley High.

Then a neighbor gave Jack and his mother tickets to a lecture by clean-eating advocate Paul Bragg. Boom! Jack LaLanne was born.

Says LaLanne, "Bragg said, 'My dear friends, it matters not what your physical condition is. If you obey nature's laws, you will be born again.' I went home and prayed, 'Dear God, give me the willpower to refrain from those foods that are killing me.' "

Soon LaLanne was healthy beyond his dreams. He became a football star, a wrestling champ and a babe magnet. At 22, he opened a gym in downtown Oakland, and when business didn't boom - maybe because in 1936 nobody knew what the hell a gym was - he told himself, "Jack, people are not coming to you. You gotta go to them!"

He trained cops and firefighters, he recruited at high schools, and in 1951, he began hosting a daily exercise show on KGO (Channel 7) - where he met Elaine - that became a network smash, running until 1985.

Using his personality and pep - with his muscles serving as his background singers - he bullied a nation into rethinking its nonapproach to nutrition and exercise. He invented and pioneered the fitness industry.

"My whole life," LaLanne says, "is, 'How can I help people like that man (Bragg) helped me?' "

Missing Lung

If you find an extra lung, let them know and collect the $ 2,000.00 reward:

A travelling exhibition of human cadavers wants a stolen lung back.
The left lung was taken in Peru from "Bodies: The Exhibition," which has travelled the globe displaying cadavers preserved through a process that replaces water in biological tissues with polymers.

The organ disappeared from an area where visitors can touch preserved cadavers.

"In the whole world this has never happened," said Susan Hoefken, manager of Lima-based Impacto, the company presenting the exhibition.