Three Love Songs - Three Divas

I was thinking about the OC and wondering how singer Katie Dixon is doing these days. Apparently she's just fine, just finishing a run of "Phantom of the Opera".

Here, Katie Dixon, Katie Ulrich, and Erin Bull show their talents!

Contractor Brings It In!

C.C. Myers finishes the Interstate 580 connector in time for Memorial Day.

Baby Blue Update

Not good. I finally summoned the courage to call W., the WCA volunteer, and learned that they had put the bird under. The bird had rickets from poor nutrition. W. says the bird's need for protein and calcium sometimes outstrips even what Scrub Jay parents can provide, and my ignorant feeding just couldn't keep up. Because of the rickets, the bird was vulnerable to injuries from falling. Despite the small fall, the leg injury was too severe (shattered hip), and there was nothing they could do.

So, learn from the experience, for the next time....

Chicks

Three peregrine falcon babies via San Jose City Hall live-cam.

Cat Hoarding Frenzy in Southern NM

All the cat lovers in Las Cruces losing control and coming out of the woodwork:

Marilyn Davis, who was charged with animal hoarding after 73 cats died as a result of a fire at her Las Cruces home earlier this month, is facing new charges after officers found 21 more cats at her downtown office on Wednesday, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

"I just want people to know that not all people who own large amounts of animals are crazy," said Davis, who told the Sun-News that some people with lots of animals spend lots of time and money taking care of them.

...The fire in Davis' van was the first of a series of animal-hoarding cases in the Las Cruces area that surfaced over a four-day period.

On May 15, 129 cats were taken from a Mesilla Park home, and while one died on the way to the Humane Society all the others were euthanized when it was found they suffered from a variety of ailments, including leukemia and AIDS, the Sun-News said.

Gina Gentile, 40, a Mesilla town employee, was arrested when she tried to sneak one of the cats away from her home in a suitcase during a welfare check at her home, the paper reported.

Then on May 16, another 34 cats were found alive and 16 dead at the Las Cruces home of 72-year-old Betty McArthur, who has not been charged in that case.

Cheney's Coup

Dick's pulling levers:

The person in the Bush administration who most wants a hot conflict with Iran is Vice President Cheney. The person in Iran who most wants a conflict is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Quds Force would be big winners in a conflict as well -- as the political support that both have inside Iran has been flagging.

Multiple sources have reported that a senior aide on Vice President Cheney's national security team has been meeting with policy hands of the American Enterprise Institute, one other think tank, and more than one national security consulting house and explicitly stating that Vice President Cheney does not support President Bush's tack towards Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic efforts and fears that the President is taking diplomacy with Iran too seriously.

This White House official has stated to several Washington insiders that Cheney is planning to deploy an "end run strategy" around the President if he and his team lose the policy argument.

The thinking on Cheney's team is to collude with Israel, nudging Israel at some key moment in the ongoing standoff between Iran's nuclear activities and international frustration over this to mount a small-scale conventional strike against Natanz using cruise missiles (i.e., not ballistic missiles).

...There are many other components of the complex game plan that this Cheney official has been kicking around Washington. The official has offered this commentary to senior staff at AEI and in lunch and dinner gatherings which were to be considered strictly off-the-record, but there can be little doubt that the official actually hopes that hawkish conservatives and neoconservatives share this information and then rally to this point of view. This official is beating the brush and doing what Joshua Muravchik has previously suggested -- which is to help establish the policy and political pathway to bombing Iran.

The zinger of this information is the admission by this Cheney aide that Cheney himself is frustrated with President Bush and believes, much like Richard Perle, that Bush is making a disastrous mistake by aligning himself with the policy course that Condoleezza Rice, Bob Gates, Michael Hayden and McConnell have sculpted.

According to this official, Cheney believes that Bush can not be counted on to make the "right decision" when it comes to dealing with Iran and thus Cheney believes that he must tie the President's hands.

On Tuesday evening, i spoke with a former top national intelligence official in this Bush administration who told me that what I was investigating and planned to report on regarding Cheney and the commentary of his aide was "potentially criminal insubordination" against the President. I don't believe that the White House would take official action against Cheney for this agenda-mongering around Washington -- but I do believe that the White House must either shut Cheney and his team down and give them all garden view offices so that they can spend their days staring out their windows with not much to do or expect some to begin to think that Bush has no control over his Vice President.

It is not that Cheney wants to bomb Iran and Bush doesn't, it is that Cheney is saying that Bush is making a mistake and thus needs to have the choices before him narrowed.

Push Coming To Shove

Slouching towards Urinetown down in SE Queensland:

SOUTHEAST Queensland councils will be forced to give up ownership of billions of dollars' worth of infrastructure under the State Government's radical takeover of major water supplies.

The Government has accepted a Queensland Water Commission recommendation for the state to control all bulk water assets such as dams and pipelines, while councils will be reduced to retailers that bill households.

The plan has created a new rift between the state and councils, with some mayors threatening increased rates because of lost revenue and the "inadequate" compensation for their assets.

Premier Peter Beattie said the plan would end the "spaghetti nation" of numerous council bodies that control water and create a more efficient regime.

America's Immigration Solution

Alicia Silverstone in the 1995 movie "Clueless":

Cher: So like, right now for example. The Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much.

Extreme Unicycling

Another silly little game on the Internet.

Lunchtime Service

When most people go to a sandwich shop, they get polite (if predictable) service.

When I go to a sandwich shop, I get personal attention from the manager. First, he shouts "your wife cheats!" This, of course, is a reference to DMTC's "Titanic - The Musical", which he saw on DVD, where I played second-class American passenger Edgar Beane, and where my social climbing wife, Alice Beane (Lauren Miller) spends altogether too much time trying to wheedle her way into first-class circles. Then, he grabs my bag of Fritos, kneads the bag, and crushes all the chips into corn dust. Then he opens the bag, fills the rest with salt, and hands it over with a cheesy smile and says: "Have a nice day!"

Nothing like personal service!

Weird Disasters

Jim McElroy points to MikeMac's post regarding the 1986 Lake Nyos Disaster. Take a read! Indeed, this was among the strangest ways people died in the 20th Century.

As counterpoint, I suggest the 1963 Vajont Dam disaster in Italy was just as strange. All that water in the new reservoir lubricated rock, eventually triggering an avalanche, and the resulting phenomenon of a megatsunami:

On October 9, 1963 at approximately 10:35pm, the combination of the third drawing-down of the reservoir and heavy rains triggered an enormous landslide of about 260 million cubic metres of forest, earth, and rock, which fell into the reservoir at up to 110 km per hour (68 mph). The resulting displacement of water caused 50 million cubic metres of water to overtop the dam in a 250-metre high wave. Despite this, the dam's structure was largely undamaged — the top metre or so of masonry was washed away, but the basic structure remained intact. However, the flooding caused by the landslide destroyed the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè, killing 1,450 people. Many small villages in the territory of Erto e Casso and the village of Codissago, near Castellavazzo, were largely wrecked. Almost 2,000 people (some sources report 1,909) perished in total. Damage was also caused by the air displacement caused from the immense "splash" in surrounding villages.

Democratic "Defeat"?

Publius is more optimistic:

With that in mind, let’s look at the “defeat.” First, Democrats had absolutely no chance of forcing troop withdrawal. None. The votes weren’t there because the margin of control is very slim, and because the Republicans are simply not yet frightened enough to abandon Bush. In addition, a chicken-like shutdown over war funding would, sadly, be blamed on Congress and could single-handedly revive Bush (which is why he refused to budge – he was hoping to trigger a shutdown).

The only way to end the war is to put political pressure on the Republicans and/or expand the Democratic majority. Accordingly, the reason the Democrats’ efforts should be seen as a success is because they drew very clear distinctions between the parties on Iraq. Virtually every single Republican is on record as supporting blank-check, endless war. Realistically speaking, the purpose of these votes (and forcing a veto) was not because troop withdrawal was realistic, but to set up the chess board for 2008. Even if the Great Pumpkin appears in September, it doesn’t matter now. These people voted for endless war and blank checks, and that should be the message and the theme for 2008.

That’s why the Democrats should stop sulking and be happy with the result – because of their spending bills, the parties are polarized on an issue where the public overwhelmingly and increasingly supports the Democratic position on the war. For this reason, the “capitulation” should instead be a time for offense – We were forced to do this because Congressional Republicans support endless, escalating war and blank checks for Bush and Cheney.

For similar reasons, Bush and the GOP should think twice before celebrating their victory. Very often, people lose sight of the substance of a debate because they get too caught up in the horse race. Sure, in some sense, Bush “won,” but what exactly did he win? He successfully obtained blanket authority for endless, escalating war – the one issue that cost the GOP Congress and will likely cost them more in 2008.

If Bush had started withdrawing, it would have taken Iraq off the table for 2008 and moved the debate elsewhere. But by escalating the war – and forcing votes on blanket authority – Bush has ensured that Iraq will still be raging during next year’s election season, thus making these early votes relevant.

In short, the war will continue until Republicans abandon Bush. That will only happen if they fear political defeat (or themselves get beaten). The Democrats’ spending bills furthered that goal, and in doing so, likely shortened the war as much as is possible. Under the circumstances, I consider that a success.

Life In The Bubble

Must be nice!:

Relieved White House officials say President Bush has finally broken the cycle of bad news and political setbacks he has endured for months.

The officials say the bipartisan agreement on immigration, backed by Bush and now being considered by the Senate, did the trick. And even though that deal is fragile and under attack from the left and the right, the fact that key Senate leaders of both parties approved it, including Democrat Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Republican John Kyl of Arizona, is seen as a sign that times will get better for Bush as he pursues his second-term agenda.

Socorro Tremor

Magnitude 3.3.

Bad Week For Wolfowitz

Girl friend dumps him.

Middlesbrough Police

The students were wise, but the cops weren't.

'Cause He Talked To A Liberal

Hyper-conservative Arizona Senator Jon Kyl stumbles across a wingnut tripwire:

The head of the Arizona Republican Party launched criticism Monday at a U.S. Senate immigration compromise bill, saying the party base is "incensed" by the deal and, particularly, by Sen. Jon Kyl's involvement in drafting it.

"We have people coming in every day, tearing up their registration cards and throwing them on the floor, or coming in and changing their registration from Republican to independent," said party Chairman Randy Pullen during a press conference at the state headquarters in Phoenix.

Pullen held up what he called a "graphic" representation of how Republicans feel. It was a drawing of a hand with the middle finger pointing up and highlighted.
"This is basically the outlook that many of our party faithful are feeling right now about the Republican Party," he said.

Kyl defended his stance on the Senate floor, referencing criticisms from his Arizona constituents, noting in a chamber now controlled by the Democrats that it's necessary to work with them to get things done.

Kyl's involvement in the compromise — he was a lead negotiator in the deal and has defended it on the national stage — has exacerbated conservative border activists' ire over the proposal.

...Kyl, whose Washington staff did not return late-afternoon phone calls, has said while he doesn't like every aspect of the bill, with Democrats now controlling Congress, the legislation is the best opportunity for action on immigration.

He reiterated that position Monday on the Senate floor, stating: "Of all of the criticism that I have received for being one of the sponsors of this legislation, the one that I don't quite understand from my constituents is, why would I sit down with Sen. (Ted) Kennedy," Kyl said, according to a transcript provided by his office.

"And what I've tried to tell them is, I understand your anxiety about sitting down with Sen. Kennedy, but on the other hand, in a body of 100 senators that are supposed to try to work together to find solutions to problems, do you not at least acknowledge that every now and then you have to sit down and talk to each other, even when you're on the other side of the aisle?"

Holiday Approaches

May 28th - not Memorial Day - rather, Kylie Minogue's 39th birthday!

Animals Under Stress

Whales not doing very well.

And my rabbit, Cloudy, seems to be faring poorly as well....

The Second Surge

It took years of pleading by the military before the Bush Administration finally - finally! - consented to increase the number of combat troops in Iraq, but characteristically, they are trying to do it all in secret, without even bothering to get popular support for a what is now a very-controversial (and likely doomed) policy. 200,000 troops is a Vietnam-like level, and probably unsustainable for a volunteer force. Looks like Bush is going for broke!:

The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday.

The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there.

The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 in early January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagon overlaps arriving and departing combat brigades.

Separately, when additional support troops are included in this second troop increase, the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase from 162,000 now to more than 200,000 -- a record-high number -- by the end of the year.

The numbers were arrived at by an analysis of deployment orders by Hearst Newspapers.

"It doesn't surprise me that they're not talking about it," said retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, a former U.S. commander of NATO troops in Bosnia, referring to the Bush administration. "I think they would be very happy not to have any more attention paid to this."