Looking Back, I Guess This Is About Right

I think I like this song by Rodney Crowell. What about you? Via Adrastos.

Howl

I am reminded by bluegal at Crooks & Liars. about what an important day today is. Allen Ginsberg read his great poem, Howl, publicly for the first time. That was a great thing for all of us. Here are a few lines from the beginning of he poem.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machin-
ery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz,

angelheaded hipsters...contemplating jazz is so right, indeed.

Polls

They are all good, as long as you are ahead.

That 8-point lead is double the 4-point lead Obama held in the last CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, taken in mid-September.

& ahead.

Yet another poll is showing Barack Obama ahead in North Carolina, a state that hasn't voted Democratic since Jimmy Carter was the South's favorite son in 1976.

The new numbers from Public Policy Polling (D): Obama 50%, McCain 44%, with a ±2.8% margin of error. A week ago, PPP had Obama up 47%-45%, a lead that appears to be increasing.

Come on, Gov. Palin, more negative, untrue campaignin' there. It's doin' wonders for us there.

UPDATE:

& ahead.

...in Virginia, Democrat Barack Obama is ahead 53% to 43%, according to this SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, WJLA-TV in Washington DC, WTVR-TV in Richmond, and WJHL-TV in the Tri-Cities.

Why Hate Lives

McLiar/Palin keep it alive. Sick, just sick. & they are the two mavericks, bound for honest glory.

No Surprise Here

Why is everyone so surprised when the facts clearly point to what has been happening for a long time.

Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli says this type of lapse in leadership dates to the 1980s when companies began to focus on aligning executive incentives with shareholder interests. He believes an excessive focus on individual financial goals, at the expense of managing in the best interests of the company overall, is at the root of the leadership debacle that has rocked the financial services sector.

Obviously, my emphasis of some obvious points.

Not Good

While I have spent the day so far keeping a bunch to great teenagers heading in more-or-less the same direction, the stock market has gone only one direction, DOWN. The S&P is truly tanking.

At 12:30 this afternoon, the Standard & Poor 500-stock index was trading around 1,042. That left it 46 percent below its inflation-adjusted high, which it hit in the summer of 2000. If shares keep falling and the index hits 967, it will be a remarkable 50 percent below its peak. That has happened only two other times since 1929 — during the Great Depression and during the 1970s.

Why Bother?

I had written a great, great post, with links to three different Wisco newspapers. I had extremely witty comments that were, of course, central to my point. I had three musical videos to go with the three links to the papers, a combination never before done with such intelligence & care. Then, the laptop turned off. This I blame on the cat, the cat that the The Twins & I had spent the whole morning putting together a wonderful play toy, a big, wonderful play toy, actually the cat can go inside this thing & also lounge around on two elevated mesh patios, the cat who came to visit me & stepped on the on/off bar. Anyway, this has gone on long enough, the stooopid Badgers lost, the stooopid Brewers lost, & the completely stooopid Green Bay Packers lost. O, effing woe is me.

Well, They Say Consistency Is A Good Thing

I'm sure that simple-minded platitude won't be helping Cub's fans. One word:

Swept.

My Friend Al

Great news out of Minnesota -

...shows Franken leading Coleman 43 to 34 percent.

This almost made me forget the story I just read in the WaPo. It's apparently going to get filthy thanks to the McLiar campaign. Just what I need & what the country needs. Maybe they ought to look at this poll - the people of MN just told Coleman(R-Asshat) to suck on his negative ads. McLiar's a POW so I'm sure this won't apply to him. I love how McLiar is going to get "fiercer" - huh? If you read the piece you'll see that the son-of-a-bitch isn't getting "fiercer" he's getting slimier & more shit encrusted.

I realize that this is McLiar's left hand, the one injured while he was a POW, POW, POW. Notice, however, that his being a POW, POW, POW, was not helpful at the de-sliming facility.

Again, I realize that McLiar is old, but a POW, POW, POW, still, I didn't realize his shit is fossilized. Who knew?

Note To U.S. Military

No one believes you anymore. Isn't this like the 7,000th mastermind you guys have killed this month?  Of course, the person pictured doesn't matter anymore, right?  Yeah, he's police business.

Ralph Stanley Cuts A Radio Ad In Virginia For Sen. Obama

Yes, this Ralph Stanley. I love this song, but hope it's not what he cut for Sen. Obama. It's a bit bleak, I guess.

Actually, I posted this song because the flunk out seeing eye dog, Rocky, is no more. He was raised by Mrs. coldH2o & The Kid. The Kid was in high school when we got the Lab, the Knob, the Rockhead, the Rockstar, the Labrador Repeater (shamelessly stolen from my friend Dave G.) & now the Darling Daughter is 30 & the mother of The Twins. He lived a long life & even though after we got him back from the school, I did everything for him, including talking to him, he was completely attached to the two women. He'd hear the wife's car turn into the driveway an eighth of a mile away & be all excited hopping to the door. I'd get home, come in the house, turn on the teevee & he'd still be sleeping. It's a sad day around these parts today. Here are some pics of Rocky, with other pets & The Kid & a Baby. These are relatively recent photos. I'll be rummaging around the BillyCreek archives in the next, oh well, several years & will be posting pics of the old man. I wasn't able to say a tear filled goodbye since I screwed up the dates, I thought tomorrow was the day. Oh well, at least I didn't break down in front of the 9th grade social studies students today. Small reward, but at least a reward.

Privacy & Palin, Oops, One More Time

Take a look at this post by dday over at Hullabaloo. It appears Palin has undercut a lot of years of fundie talk concerning privacy & Roe v. Wade. This is getting really funny, particularly since Sen. Obama appears to be opening up historic numbers for this late in a presidential campaign.

"In the last 20 days, Sen. Barack Obama has gone from seven points down to eight points up in Florida, while widening his leads to eight points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania."

McPalin Doesn't Give A Crow's Crap For Veterans

Via Crooks & Liars we are directed to Brandon Friedman at Vet Voice. The title of Mr. Friedman's post is telling:

McCain's Miserable Record of Not Supporting America's Troops and Veterans

He has done a ton of research that documents McLiar's distate for supporting the veterans of this country. It's too bad that the McLiar campaign just says something & bingo, it's the truth. Or they deny something & bingo, it's the truth. It's truly disheartening to see this sort of behavior in America in the 21st century. My only solace is that it is the ReThuglican Party. Brandon Friedman's list is a long one, but it would be good for you to print it out so you can present to the wingnuts, not only in your family, but in your neighborhood as well. Here's just one:

McCain Voted Against Increased Funding for Veterans' Health Care. Although McCain told voters at a campaign rally that improving veterans' health care was his top domestic priority, he voted against increasing funding for veterans' health care in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. (Greenville News, 12/12/2007; S.Amdt. 2745 to S.C.R. 95, Vote 40, 3/10/04; Senate S.C.R. 18, Vote 55, 3/16/05; S.Amdt. 3007 to S.C.R. 83, Vote 41, 3/14/06; H.R. 1591, Vote 126, 3/29/07)

More Lies From Palin

Another day, another lie from Palin. Do these people ever get embarrassed? I know, stoooopid question.

In an interview last week with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Palin suggested that her contact was more than just awareness of Russia's nearness. When Couric asked Palin if she'd "ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians," the governor replied, "We have trade missions back and forth."

But Steve Smirnoff, the Russian Federation's honorary consul in Anchorage, said Palin never accepted his invitation to open a dialogue with Alaska's neighbor.

When Palin took office in December 2006, Smirnoff says, he sent her a letter suggesting "she could be instrumental in reviving relationships between Alaska and Russia, and the rest of the world."

Smirnoff said he'd met Palin years before, when they both worked on then-Gov. Frank Murkowski's campaign. Smirnoff had hoped for some rapport, but "I never received a response," he said. "I don't know if it was taken to heart or thrown in the trash basket."

Hayden Carruth, R.I.P.

He was 87 years old. Obit here. Here's a poem written by Hayden Carruth:

Goes

Old guy goes downstairs reeling
and shying at newel and banister
while how his feet once blistered
the treads is what he is recalling,

for the young know how to balance.
Christ help all who wobble,
stagger, trip, step double,
and are their own hindrance,

oh help them. The day is fine out,
bright cold, the blood tingles,
in the yard laughter jangles.
It's a great day to fall on your sinciput*

blonk!--and the world is dipping,
breath is thin, vision blurred,
what no one says is what you heard.
Look at the bright blood dripping.

To help my four readers out with that word, actually, I had no idea it had anything to do with the head, even within the context of the poem, although now that I know what it is, it's perfectly clear to me now, here is the definition.

*sinciput

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

sin·ci·put /ˈsɪnsəˌpʌt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sin-suh-puht] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun, plural sin·ci·puts, sin·cip·i·ta /sɪnˈsɪpɪtə/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sin-sip-i-tuh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. Anatomy.
1. the forepart of the skull.
2. the upper part of the skull.
[Origin: 1570–80; < L: lit., half-head < *sém(i)-caput, equiv. to sémi- semi- + caput head]