Drinking Liberally

Good get-together last night. We all stuffed envelopes with Beads for Bu$hCo. Pictures were taken. They'll be mailed today.

About Time

Good news for salmon, bad news for cats.

"Federal regulators voted Thursday to impose severe restrictions on salmon fishing off the coasts of Oregon and Northern California to protect dwindling populations in the Klamath River.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council decided to close about 700 miles of coastline to commercial salmon fishing for most of June and July, the most productive months of the season. Federal fishery officials said the closures were the broadest ever imposed on the West Coast salmon fishery."

No Help Wanted

Nobody, at least nobody with any real expertise, wanted to be part of Bu$hCo's team.

"President Bush yesterday nominated the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be its permanent chief, ending a seven-month search that had become an embarrassing reminder of the government's flawed response to Hurricane Katrina and doubts about proposed administration reforms."

"Down, Down, Down

Into a burning ring of fire." Serves the bastard right.

"- Just 36 percent of the public approves of Bush's job performance, his lowest-ever rating in AP-Ipsos polling. By contrast, the president's job approval rating was 47 percent among likely voters just before Election Day 2004 and a whopping 64 percent among registered voters in October 2002."

Ice Climbing

I was at the game where Wisconsin beat North Dakota, way back in the day. It was the first big time win for the Badgers & it was just a regular game. & the best part was that it cost all of a dollar to get into the games. Go Badgers.

"With two brilliant dashes up the ice, one ending with an acrobatic leap and a highlight-reel goal and the other ending with a celebration of another Wisconsin goal, this time from his back side, UW junior Ross Carlson helped lift the Badgers to within one victory of their season-long goal:
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An NCAA men's hockey championship, a prize that has eluded UW's proud program since 1990."

They Are Hot

& they are on our side. Go listen & buy. Via Atrios.

A & E

Repeating myself: what the hell is this headline doing in the Arts & Entertainment section of the Seattle Post Intelligencer?

"Meredith Vieira to replace Katie Couric"

Fish On An Even Keel

Takes on a whole new meaning with this report. There is so much to be angry with these days, it is sometimes hard to pick a fight with all of them. Bu$hCo has perfected the keep the populace running from scandal to scandal, treason to treason, hate black people to hate brown people. It's too much, but if there is one thing about progressives it's that we are gluttons for punishment, except, of course, for John Aravosis & his tuxedo.

"Fireproof salmon, fish dosed with anti-depressants and shellfish tainted with amnesia-causing toxins can all be found in Puget Sound, researchers said Wednesday at a public forum.

'People need to be mad as hell about this situation, but they aren't,' said Brad Ack, head of the Puget Sound Action Team, a government agency. 'We haven't gotten the message across.'"

Who's The Traitor?

Bu$hCo. What will the ReThugs do now? No doubt drink the koolaid & support their traitor-in-chief & his second-in-sedition.

"“The fact that the president was willing to reveal classified information for political gain and put the interests of his political party ahead of Americas security shows that he can no longer be trusted to keep America safe,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “The more we hear, the more it is clear this goes way beyond Scooter Libby. At the very least, President Bush and Vice President Cheney should fully inform the American people of any role in allowing classified information to be leaked.”

Libby’s testimony also puts the president and the vice president in the awkward position of authorizing leaks — a practice both men have long said they abhor, so much so that the administration has put in motion criminal investigations to hunt down leakers."

Sad

This story was a long time developing. & the end result is prison, again. F. Scott Fitzgerald made equally crappy decisions, but he was never forced into prison. Richard Nixon did far more damage, yet never spent a second in prison. This is not to make light of Mr. Gooden's faults & mistakes, it's called perspective & it's about race.

"Twenty years ago this week, Dwight Gooden landed on the cover of Time magazine. The April 7, 1986, headline read: 'Doctor K, Baseball's Hottest Pitcher.'
The story included a quote, haunting in retrospect, from legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax:
'I'd trade anyone's past for Gooden's future.'
By Wednesday, that once-promising future had crumbled into the sad spectacle of the present.
Gooden had admitted to violating probation by buying cocaine in St. Petersburg and getting high. Another in a long line of strikes against him.
'I had a relapse,' Gooden told Circuit Judge Daniel Perry just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
The judge gave the former major league pitcher a long look through his wire-rimmed glasses.
'Well, Mr. Gooden, I'm going to give you a choice,' Perry said. 'You can get me out of your life today. I'll give you a year and a day' - in state prison - 'and this thing will be over, and you can go about your merry way.'
Then, the alternative.
Gooden could remain a free man, completing his community service and taking three drug tests each week while continuing rehabilitation. But if he violated probation again, 'I'm going to put you in prison for as long as I possibly can,' Perry promised. That could mean five years or more.
Gooden, 41, listened quietly.
'It's up to you what you want to do,' Perry said. 'My advice to you: Take the year and a day, get this behind you, and I'm out of your life.'
The fallen star talked with his attorneys for a few minutes, then took the judge's advice. He would accept a stint in prison."

Drowning Victim

This says more about the lack of funding for public schools than it does about minority preferences. Everyone wants their children to go to a good school, but using vouchers to cynically destroy public education will not improve public schools. It also doesn't say much about the quality of private education, remember, private schools don't have to educate everyone. That is a big difference.

"As a student at Shaw Junior High School here, Amie Fuwa strained to shut out the distractions of friends cutting up. She struggled through math, and used photocopies or the library when textbooks were scarce."

Art?

Why in the hell is this a headline in today's Arts section in the NYT?

Anchor's Chair Was an Irresistible Lure for Couric

Well, Well, Well

I know, but I'm going to do it anyway: Jesus in a RICO scam. Looks like the world & Bob Dylan got this one wrong.

"For that reason, the discoveries have proved deeply troubling for many believers. The Gospel of Judas portrays Judas Iscariot not as a betrayer of Jesus, but as his most favored disciple and willing collaborator."

Trash

Jesus in support hose, when will the ReThugs quit whining about taxes. The reason for the increase in "fees" is that the ReThugs are starving the local municipalities with tax cuts. People want streets, snow removal, parks, water systems that actually work. Remember, once something is too weak to fight back, it's easy to drown them.

"The constitutional amendment is a 'piece of garbage' because it would take authority away from local elected officials who decide how to pay for highways and other important local programs, Sen. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar) said."

NOTE: I'm late in blogging the a.m., various reasons that include Amur tigers, router tables, & Levee Beads for Bu$hCo. Plus, Blogger is acting goofball. Back to the post, Bob Jauch is my state senator & it's good to see him speaking so bluntly to these ReThugs, something he's been doing more of lately. Keep it up, Bob.

Watch For Falling Fundies

Or apoplectic apostolics. I can't wait for them to explain this new find, right after they bury their dead or move their disabled into homes for the criminally stupid.

"The newly discovered fossil shows evidence of fish scales and fins as well as wrists, fingers, ribs and neck like a land animal. It offers an important insight into how fish made the move away from the water and how the first land animals evolved."