Killer Kowalski, R.I.P.

I remember watching this guy on our small black & white teevee. Obit here.

Two Reasons To Remember This Day

Via Scout Prime at the really good First Draft.

&, the great & wonderful addition to my life two years ago, The Twins. Yay, Yay.

Sisters, Identical, No Less

Lucy

Marigny

Yep, That's The Tickets

McSame has himself some real smart advisers, alright.

"The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American -- even illegal aliens -- as uninsured... So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

-- John Goodman, a health care adviser to Sen. John McCain, quoted by the Dallas Morning News.

My Pitiful More Please Request Was Answered

Harry Reid grew a pair, maybe more.

"I've served with the man 26 years," Reid said. "Do I have the ability to speak with experience about someone who has abused everyone he's dealt with? Someone who does not have the temperament to be president, who's wrong on the war, wrong on the economy, wrong on nuclear waste. What am I supposed to do? Walk around talking about what a great guy he is? I don't believe that.

»»»»

When Ralston asked if Reid thought it would be "dangerous" to let McCain be president, Reid answered: "Well, if you said it, I wouldn't correct you."

"Is that right?" Ralston asked. "You really think that?"

"That's right," said Reid,

More Of This, Please

Extremely good for John Kerry, the second Democrat in this decade to have been robbed of the presidency.

Sen. John Kerry, the one-time presidential nominee whose campaign crumbled under attacks on his military service and consistency, told fellow Democrats on Wednesday that he doesn't recognize Republican John McCain, a man he once considered as a runningmate.

Organized Much?

Despite Bu$hCo's claim of having a freedom agenda, that would be freedom for everyone but his own citizen, & despite his claims to be heading a government of efficiency, I find the two page note to be extraordinarily arrogant & counterproductive.

Although President Bush pledged in a 2005 declaration signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to "develop appropriate arrangements and agreements" formally spelling out the terms of the U.S. troop presence and other bilateral ties, no such agreements were drawn up.

Respect

Great & honorable move by Sen. Clinton. We must defeat the extremist John McCain. & let me paraphrase Wes Clark's analysis, being a prisoner of war is not a training ground for being the president of the United States. McLiar's constant use of his POW status, from everything from his many, many houses, to his lies about Sen. Obama's views on Iran, has really cheapened every prisoner of war from all wars & all countries. I didn't make any links in the last sentence because, frankly, I'm too goddamned tired tonight. If you don't believe me, check it out & you'll need to send me an apology, 50 bucks is the going rate for my accepting said apology. Here's Sen. Clinton tonight, via Talking Points Memo.

Preschoolers?

How unsurprising. Particularly with the crowd that been wrecking America for the last eight years. & after all the lies & the liars, at the direction of Bu$hCo & Dick "Dick" Cheney, who can believe anything this government says?

"Several kids and babies died in the fields because parents were fearful of sending them to Head Start," she said in an interview.

"Since early 2007 many of our programs started to notice that Border Patrol of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles were parked outside their centers and some were following buses picking up children," she said.

I suppose it's easier for these cowards to intimidate children.

Jeez Louise

Things are looking up.

Economic News For Today

This.

Cordoba, 28, rented a three-bedroom home in Riverside for six months with the help of so-called Section 8 funds, money provided by the federal government through local housing agencies. In June, when her landlord could no longer make the mortgage payments on the house Cordoba was renting, she and her three children had to move to a hotel.

Is.

The number of institutions on the FDIC's "problem list" rose to 117 at the end of June from 90 at the end of March, a 30% increase. More worrisome for the FDIC, assets of the problem banks rose to $78.3 billion from $26.3 billion, a 200% jump. The data include IndyMac Bancorp, which had $32 billion in assets when it failed in July.

Not.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. national home price index fell 15.4% in the second quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. The decline was the largest in 20 years for the index, which covers the entire U.S.

Good.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver denounced a kosher meatpacking plant accused of child labor violations, echoing Upton Sinclair’s disdain of cruelty toward immigrants.

The governor wrote a guest column in the Des Moines Sunday Register that criticized Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville for allegedly employing dozens of underage workers and taking advantage of a failed federal immigration system.

Horrible

This is why war in never the answer. I wonder how the asshole Bu$hCo will respond to the horror - the usual we are deeply sorry but those damn children were hiding bin Laden & I can't be responsible for what happens since I am the decider & commander guy. Fucker.

Video

Just play this video, many, many times. Embed it at your blog. Copy the URL & send it to your friends. It's a good reminder of what the ReThugs are offering America in 2008.

So What?

Sen. Obama chose fellow senator Joe Biden to be his running mate. About all I can say is for all of us to watch our credit cards, since Sen. Biden to vote for that awful bankrupcy bill.

The credit industry, ever relentless, kept coming back, confidant they had the number of elected officials necessary to do their bidding. They did, and Joe Biden was always one of them.

My emphasis. Still, now we have a team & it's time make sure McSame & his wealthy wife retire to one of the many home they own, if McSame can remember which one his likes best.

My Friend Al

Has recently pulled ahead of that bozo Coleman (ReThug-Asshat) Anyhoo, loyal four readers, my friend Al needs our help. Please help, if you can. Otherwise, just talk the boy up, he is my friend, after all.

Well. Well, Well

Susan Eisenhower leaves the ReThug Party for good. That's OK because McLame was a POW.

...I will be in trying to reinvigorate a political organization that has already consumed nearly all of its moderate “seed corn.” And now, as the party threatens to trivialize what promised to be a serious debate on our future direction, it will alienate many young people who might have come into party ranks.

Via Crooks & Liars.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones, R.I.P.

Sad news. Obit here.

Good

Rachel Maddow gets her own show.

About Time

He resigns. Now, if only his big buddy Bu$hCo would follow suit. Scratch that, we need him impeached.

Well. I Guess It Was Only An Exhibition Game

Favre-less Packers get their asses handed to them. Here's the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's analysis.

Playing the entire first half, Rodgers was indecisive in the pocket, failed to make a play that counted and paled in comparison to 49ers starter J.T. O'Sullivan, of all people.

"It's pretty bad when J.T. O'Sullivan is outdoing you," one personnel man said at halftime, and it most assuredly was.

& Farve? He did pretty well for the Jets. The Jets? I still can't believe what Ted Thompson did.

Favre was solid in his brief Jets debut after a week of cramming to learn his new playbook. He threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller to cap his second series in a 13-10 loss to the Washington Redskins on Saturday night.

Georgia Isn't Just For Peaches Anymore

What's funny about this is that we, i.e., the DFHs, were correct about Bu$hCo's bullshit way back in the day. & now the world just smirks & keeps the tanks rolling when this president, speaking for all Americans, yells at the wind. It's like Lear, only without the tragedy & art.

This is why most people over the age of nine learn that issuing a bunch of threats and failing to carry them through --- or following through and failing to succeed --- is a recipe for people to stop taking you seriously. Bush and Cheney (and now McCain) have made a fetish out of sabre rattling for the past eight years and the results have been, shall we say, less than stellar. The US has shown that its volunteer military, while valiant, is undermanned and overstretched, its intelligence services are willing servants of political manipulators and its leadership is dishonest, immoral and incompetent. It's understandable that somebody out there would think that now is the time to make a move. That it would be Bush's soul brother Pooty-poot was entirely predictable.

Why Science Matters

Great new discoveries in the Sahara Desert. One reason why science matters is this -

Among the scientists' most surprising discoveries has been a poignant burial tableau of a woman and two children with fingers intertwined, a find that is putting a surprisingly human face on the little-known people who enjoyed a brief visit to Eden in what is normally one of the most forbidding places on Earth.

(Mike Hettwer / National Geographic Society)

Pot, Meet Kettle

Irony? Not with the Bu$hCo gang.

President Bush on Friday accused Russia of "bullying and intimidation" in its harsh military treatment of Georgia,....

I mean, Jesus tits, how do they actually sleep?

I Must Be Drunk

But it's way too early, so, can this be true? Mrs. coldH2O is from a suburb of Milwaukee, so her influence may have made the difference. I still don't believe it. After all....

So, how can it be true?

Prepare to be shocked: A national magazine has dubbed Milwaukee its “sexiest city.”

Continuing The Ill Winds

New Orleans continues to suffer. This time it's a federal program named NOAH. Yeah, I thought the acronym was in bad taste as well. Looks like C-Ray & the feds got caught, again. I like how the mayor condescends by calling the blogger, Ms. Gadbois, an amateur investigator. Well, C-Ray, that amateur may well have done you & the feds in, this time. This is what happens when there was no real plan to rebuild NOLA after Katrina.

No Justice, No Peace

I hope Sen. Schumer's wonderful choice for Attorney General rots in hell.

Lee Young, R.I.P.

Obit here.

Creeps

Back door is an understatement. Bu$hCo will not stop until he has gutted every good policy that this country is rightly proud of having implemented. It is hateful, just hateful.

The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.

Isaac Hayes, R.I.P.

Obit here.

Isaac Hayes, the baldheaded, baritone-voiced soul crooner who laid the groundwork for disco and whose ''Theme From Shaft'' won both Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon after he collapsed near a treadmill, authorities said. He was 65.

Anthony J. Russo, R.I.P.

Another patriot gone. Obit here.

Amur Tiger Time

Thanks to my sister, we get this awfully cute Amur tiger baby.

On The Money

Forgive the pun, but lately, it just seems easier to do them. Cartoon via Crooks & Liars, a great blog.

Cloud Blogging

The other day a storm front moved quickly through coldH2Oville. Here are some pics I took of the cloud formations. They were as cool as I've seen in a few years.

Reminder

* * * * * * *

There is no longer the shadow of a doubt that the torture of prisoners was planned at the highest levels of the US government with the explicit knowledge and approval of the president. How do we know this? Bush himself admitted it.

Via Tristero.

Original post over at BooMan's.

* * * * ** *

Thursday Morning Cat Blogging

Tab Benoit, no longer the kitten, now a Cat.

This Is Just Wrong

The egos of the Packer's General Manager & coach are too big to include Brett Favre. It is mind boggling to me, a lowly, but interested fan, how these geniuses who control the Packers can believe Rogers offers a better chance at winning a Super Bowl than Brett Favre. What a sad day for sports.

Health Alert

I always like to keep my loyal four readers aprised of the latest info concerning sunscreens. Here are the top ten safest sunscreens.

1. Keys Soap Solar Rx Therapeutic Sunblock, SPF 30

2. Trukid Sunny Days Facestick Mineral Sunscreen UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum, SPF 30+

3. California Baby Sunblock Stick No Fragrance, SPF 30+

4. Badger Sunscreen, SPF 30

5. Marie Veronique Skin Therapy Sun Serum

6. Lavera Sunscreen Neutral, SPF 40

7. Vanicream Sunscreen, SPF 35

8. UV Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+

9. Sun Science Sport Formula, SPF 30

10. Soleo Organics Sunscreen all natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+

A '93 Chevy Cavalier

Is the new luxury car for the somewhat rich, well, almost rich, no, an office manager for the Hess Corp. The Hess website, unlike the executives of Hess &, apparently an office worker, loads very slowly. Oh, & the office manager, one Alice Rocchio, has a husband who is an Amtrak foreman. The average salary at Amtrak is $59,000. If Ms. Rocchio has 20 or more years of experience as an office manager, her salary would be $43,785. The two salaries of this couple is $102,785, before taxes. This is a respectable income, relatively speaking. How in the name of Jesus Christ on a Ritz could they donate $61,600 to the McSame campaign & the ReThug National Committee? & their timing is impecable, their donation came within a few days of McSame reversing his opposition to offshore oil drilling. Stop chuckling in the back you kids, there is nothing wrong here, move along.

Revenge Of The Hamburger

Well, honestly, potential hamburger.

Sad

These kids deserved better. Marengo, Wisco is close to coldH2Oville. I'm sorry for the families. Condolences to all who cared about these young people. The moral of this story is to obey the laws, no one is immune from the consequences. To quote Bob Dylan from Absolutely Sweet Marie:

But to live outside the law, you must be honest
I know you always say that you agree

More Brain Science

Boredom, not just for the young anymore. I used to call this downtime, back when I was a smoker. I'd sit by the side of the river, fly rod in my lap, feet in the water, & watch the river smoothly moving by, & smoke. I'd think just about waiting for the hatch, occasionally getting excited by the rise of a brown trout, or the vee of a swimming muskrat. As I get deeper into geezerhood, I often see those moments as helpful & mindful. I'm not sure if they were, but I will say that when I sit, in my awkward way, zazan, I just can't quiet my mind. Mountains & waters, indeed.

Water is neither strong nor weak, neither wet nor dry, neither moving nor still, neither cold nor hot, neither being nor nonbeing, neither delusion nor enlightenment.

*NOTE: This sutra is also called the Mountains & Rivers Sutra, the name I learned at the first contact with Eihei Dogen's work.

A Treasure Trove Is Right

A large population of western lowland gorillas has been discovered. This is great news, given that usually the results of these surveys indicate that the species being investigated is doomed to extinction. Let's hope that we have the good sense to just leave them alone.

More on this subspecies here.

Evil Robert Novak To Retire

This is great news.

The Packers Are Screwed

I just heard on ESPN that the Packers had hired that evil, sonofabitch Ari Fleischer as a consultant. That ought to work out for about 3 wins. After all, look what the lying slimebag did for Bu$hCo?

Dee Henderson, R.I.P.

Sometimes a person just doesn't know what to think. Obit here.

Goddamnit It To Hell

Why hasn't this been stopped? Yes, I do know about the plight of poverty stricken Africans, but why haven't we done what we claim to support, substitute actual jobs & food & water for the people? I guess all that high falutin' language is just bullshit since we must fight the war on terror, whatever the fuck that is? & yes, I want the murder in Dafur stopped right now as well. I'd warn you, but it's too late, you've already seen the picture. Capitalism sucks hind tit.