No Time for Trivia

Clearly McCain’s chronic blinking syndrom is an effort to stop his transformation into a full blown Scanner.  Where his partner does not blink, McCain must blink…or he…will…explode:

Maybe it is just a code that he is tapping out to the Vietnamese thanking them for the FIVE AND A HALF YEARS he spent as a POW so he could have the opportunity to become president.   Whatever it is it is creepy as hell.  And he clearly does not trust the highly qualified soccer hunting, moose team mom to be alone with those big bad “gotcha” journalists.  He decided to go with his little love doll to protect her from their gotchiness:

Or maybe he just likes to be next to her so he can fantasize about her wearing that dorky one piece bathing suit and strutting her gams:

He may be just blinking in disbelief that he actually listened to Karl Rove and took on this walking train wreck.  It appears as if even the conservatard media are questioning whether she should just…go…away.  The Washington Post writes this:

Palin’s (Conservative) Problem?

Even as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin prepares for Thursday night’s vice presidential debate against Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, an increasing number of Republicans and conservatives are expressing reservations about both her candidacy and the way in which she is being used (or not used) by John McCain’s campaign.

The trouble began late last week with what was widely seen as a disastrous Palin interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric in which the vice presidential nominee was barely intelligible on relatively basic questions of foreign policy.

Yeah, the “I can see Russia from my house” line just isn’t accepted as “foreign policy” experience.  In fact, when you look into the abyss of the Russian frontier, the abyss looks back:

We are getting some inside looks coming in at Palin’s debate “Boot Camp” showing her intense preparation to keep her from looking like the disinterested party fembot that she is.  Here are a couple of leaked training sessions:

But it is not all fun and games.  When you have to eviscerate your opponent you need blood and guts and a hard core attitude that will bring out the inner beast and take no prisoners.  And McCain knows about prisoners:

To get back to the reason for this analysis, the blinking is a clue that something is wrong with McCain.  I believe that it may just be a method of keeping his inner voice subdued and focused on what is happening in the now.  I come to that conclusion by this look at the workings of his mind when he is not blinking.  The science is new so there may be flaws, but my gut instinct is to go with it:

So keep your eyes peeled and watch for further signs of degeneration and dementia.  There is too much at stake….

So the bail out package fell through yesterday.  It seems the Republicans had their feelings hurt by that mean old Nancy Pelosi and so voted against the package.  Now…I have very mixed feelings about this bill.  First, I do not believe near enough time has passed to study it’s expected effects, or addresses aggresively enough the reform and regulation needed to control these rogue institutions and the pirates that run them or look at other options.  However, both parties have worked together to put this bill together and unfortunately compromise is the nature of politics.  The fact that Pelosi’s speech on the House floor hurt some Republican’s feelings and caused them to switch their votes from what they had agreed was good for the country is an indication of how petty and vindictive this Republican Party is.  To read a good analysis of what went down in regard Pelos’s speech and the reaction to it, go here.

It seems that the only partisan thing that could be consider to “hurt feelings” would be this:

Madam Speaker, when was the last time someone asked you for $700 billion?

“It is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration’s failed economic policies–policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.

“Democrats believe in the free market, which can and does create jobs, wealth, and capital, but left to its own devices it has created chaos.

Yeah…the truth hurts.  So the market tumbled with the Dow losing more points in a day than any other day in it’s history.  Asian markets tumbled and world markets were severely impacted by the collapse of the bailout bill.  Meanwhile, John McGrandstand was strutting and crowing about his magical influence in getting this bill passed and then…whooops, up jumped the devil, as my grandfather used to say:

McCain Takes Credit For Bill Before It Loses

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition – hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.

Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.

“I’ve never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I’m not going to stop now,” McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. “Sen. Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn’t want to get involved. Then he was monitoring the situation.”
McCain, grinning, flashed a sarcastic thumbs up.

“That’s not leadership. That’s watching from the sidelines,” he added to cheers and applause.

Well, if Obama was “watching from the sidelines” he just saw McCain fumble on the goal line and turn the ball over to the opponent.  McCain is far from being an economic Jedi.

My apologies to Yoda.  Although I believe McCain and Yoda share the same age.  And, obtw, I heard Sarah Palin crack wise about Joe Biden yesterday at some gathering of fascist looneys.   She said she was looking forward to the debate and had not yet met Joe Biden.  However she had been reading about his speech since… she was in second grade, guffaw!  Yeah?  Well what about your running mate Methusala?  Is his age not a factor or you haven’t you noticed?  I have a feeling she is well aware of his age:

Anyway…it seems like we are in for a bumpy ride and I am not too confident that things will work out better in the Senate on this bill Thursday.  I am naturally skeptical of anything the Bush administration initiates and the speed that they want to push this through makes my spidey senses tingle.  I guess we are on wait and see mode.  Sit down and pucker up tight.

Every time I read this guy’s name it reminds me of a Lord of the Rings character.  He is not, though.  However it is nice to see him about to join his friend Randy “Duke” Cunningham for a little R&R courtesy of the US taxpayers.  Old Rany “Duke” was who the Tom Cruise character was based on in the movie Top Gun.  It seems that his need for speed was transformed into a need for greed.  And now his friend “Dusty” Foggo gets to join him.

Former CIA Executive Pleads Guilty To Defrauding The Government

Former CIA executive pleads guilty to defrauding government

Prosecutors said Kyle Dustin Foggo, along with convicted Congressman Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham, helped steer an estimated $100 million in contracts to San Diego-area firms run by Foggo’s old roommate.

Former CIA executive pleads guilty to defrauding governmentKyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, 53, who once held the third-highest position in the CIA, entered his plea in a Virginia federal courtroom, related to his dealings with defense contractor Brent Wilkes. He was accused of helping steer agency contracts to companies run by Wilkes in the San Diego area.

Foggo resigned in 2006 as executive director of the intelligence agency, and was charged in February 2007 with fraud and other offenses in the bribery case of convicted U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican from Rancho Santa Fe. Prosecutors said Foggo and Cunningham helped steer an estimated $100 million in contracts to Wilkes’ firms.

Cunningham is serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and evading more than $1 million in taxes.

Foggo was then indicted in May 2007 on charges involving Wilkes, who is serving 12 years in prison for bribing Cunningham. Foggo faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in January, but prosecutors promise to pursue no more than 37 months in prison.

“Foggo admitted he allowed Wilkes to conceal their close relationship by adopting false cover stories to hide their relationship and using straw men and shell companies,” said U.S. Atty. Karen Hewitt, based in San Diego.

It is rare that one of these former CIA thugs turned “entrepreneur” faces justice.  It is nice to see this one go down.  This guy was part of the circle of Jack Abramoff, the gift that keeps on giving in regard putting away corrupt Rethuglicans.  Gasoline or no gasoline, my day will be a bit better now.

Living in the South East and Atlanta specifically has a lot of rewards.  The weather, the laid back people, the gateway to a lot of great nature sites, etc.  However, the past couple of weeks have been downright freaky.  For a couple of weeks now gas has been increasingly hard to find.  Yesterday was the worst that I have seen.

I drive quite a bit due to my job either estimating or overseeing demolition projects throughout the city as well as the state.  I have been able to find gasoline as I weave my way through the overlapping suburbs and communities of Atlanta.  Usually after passing numerous stations with the now-familiar pricing signs with no prices listed and plastic bags on pump handles, the signs that a station has no gas.  Yesterday I could not find any gasoline except at one station near my office in Alpharetta.  The line was so long and the traffic jam that it caused as people violated numerous laws of the road as well as etiquette prevented me from getting in the queue.  As I worked my way home last night I went by no less than 12 gas stations that had no gasoline at all and one that had only diesel.

This morning I have about a quarter of a tank and am going to head towards downtown using side roads in pursuit of the elusive petrol.  It is interesting in that at a time like now how the realization that we are not really that far from a complete paradigm shift is when something so basic and taken for granted a thing as fuel is not available.  This is a city of several million and if the availability situation does not improve quickly I wonder how quickly the calm of the people will evaporate and panic sets in as people cannot get to work and the day to day commerce of a city the size of Atlanta grinds to a halt.

Who run Barter Town?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Yes, no need to wait for the Darwin Awards for this fellow.  A hat tip to the father who helped cull this diseased member of the herd.

Home Invader Dies In Struggle With Father Of Intended Victim

A man who police said broke into a home with the intention of sexually assault a 17-year-old girl in her bedroom died early Sunday morning after a struggle with the girl’s father.

David Meyers, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after officers arrived following a report of a home invasion in the 3500 block of West 79th Street at about 3:20 a.m.

Officers said they found Robert McNally, 64, on the floor with his arm around the neck of Meyers, struggling to hold him down.

It appears as if Mr. Meyers forgot to tap out.

When officers told McNally he could let go, they found that Meyers was unresponsive. Medics who were called to the scene then pronounced Meyers dead.

Indianapolis police Sgt. Matt Mount said Meyers had come into the home naked, except for a mask and latex gloves.

“He had rope, had a knife, had condoms, had a gag,” Mount said

I hope there is not too much paper work that the girl’s father has to fill out.  I am against the death penalty for convicted criminals, however, catching a perpatrator in the act of trying to rape one’s daughter is a legitimate reason to cull the herd of a deseased steer.  Here is one deranged unit that we don’t have to worry about anymore:

That is all.  Carry on.

Not only angry but also rather out of control.  His temper seems to get the better of him and he is knee jerk responsive to situations and crises.  Doesn’t sound presidential to me.  And in this clip remember the uproar in the media when Al Gore sighed at GW during the debates in 2000.  I believe that McCain uses a stronger expression than Horse Puckey in this clip:

Johnny!  Do kiss your mother with that mouth?  And on national TV.  And the “Liberal Media”  went wild with that display of language.  Oh yeah…it went by without a pause.  Horse Shit would be a step above  John McCain if he is elected president.  This guy is unhinged.

Sarah Palin, so much fodder.  So little time….

It seems that the Moose team, hockey hunting mom that “took on the old boy network” actually took from the good old boy network:

Palin And Gifts: The Mining Connection

About a quarter of the 41 gifts that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has received since taking office in December 2006 have a link to one of the state’s most influential mining lobbyists. That’s one of the findings in a report today by The Post’s James V. Grimaldi and Robert O’Harrow Jr.

Among the items on the list are:

* A $2,200 ivory puffin mask from an Alaska Native Corporation called Calista, which has mining interests in southwestern part of the state.

* A $1,200 gold-nugget pin from the city of Nome and which Palin said she would keep for “personal use.”

* More than $1,000 in gifts from the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

* A note apparently hand-written by Palin on an ethics form saying that the mining lobbyist, Wendy Chamberlain, had taken one of Palin’s daughters on a trip.

Chamberlain has been hired by Calista and Nome as a lobbyist; several representatives of Chamberlain’s clients are on the heritage center’s board, including Calista, which promoted a ceremony with the governor in its newsletter.

In all, Palin’s 41 gifts from mining industry executives, visiting dignitaries, municipalities and the nonprofit cultural center were worth $25,000, records show.

I wonder if they got anything for their gifts.  Here is something about her showing that she is indeed not fighting, but is, the good old boy network.  Or at least she is qualified to join it.

AP Investigation: Palin Got Zoning Aid, Gifts

Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception — and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.

She said Thanks, but Thanks it seems.

…she took an active role on issues that directly affected and sometimes benefited her. Her efforts to clear the way for the $327,000 sale of the Palin family home on Lake Wasilla is an example.

Two months before Palin’s tenure as mayor ended in 2002, she asked city planning officials to forgive zoning violations so she could sell her house. Palin had a buyer, but he wouldn’t close the deal unless she persuaded the city to waive the violations with a code variance.

And what a surprise, she got the exception:

But in August 2002, Wasilla Planner Tim Krug approved a “shoreline setback exception” for the Palins’ house being built too closely to the water. He sent an e-mail to the mayor saying he was drafting another variance for the side of the house built too close to the property line, but that he understood from her that the other side “will be corrected and the carport will be removed.”

A few minutes later, the mayor e-mailed back: “Sounds good.”

On Sept. 10, 2002, the seven-member Wasilla Planning Commission unanimously approved a variance for both sides of the property, with language covering “all existing structures.” Less than a week later, the Palins signed a deed to sell the house to Henry Nosek.

The carport was never removed.

The light’s always green when you are Sarah Palin, it seems.

The response to her complete lack of understanding anything about the world and the issues that she would be dealing with were she to be in the Vice President’s spot are less than flattering:

Sarah Palin’s Foreign Policy Follies

It takes a hard heart not to like Sarah Palin. She has a winning personal story. She can be poised, charming and funny. As she showed at the Republican National Convention her ability to deliver set-piece speeches — a big part of the job for all politicians, but especially Presidents — is considerable. On balance, she’s probably an asset to John McCain. But we should stop pretending that she is ready now or anytime in the forseeable future to be Commander-in-Chief.

I reached this conclusion after watching the foreign-policy portion of her disastrous Sept. 25 interview with Katie Couric. A number of commentators, including The Atlantic’s James Fallows and Slate’s Christopher Beam, have said that Palin resembled, in Beam’s words, “a high-schooler trying to BS her way through a book report,” which is an insult to both high-schoolers and B.S. Palin’s answers were hesitant, convoluted and at times — like when she appeared to suggest that Vladimir Putin might be preparing a one-man airborne invasion of Alaska — downright loony.

But the more worrisome responses were the ones that betrayed her lack of curiosity about current events and reliance on bumper-sticker wisdom over complex thoughts. There were moments, in fact, in which you wondered whether she had been paying any meaningful attention to the world outside Alaska before McCain picked her as his running mate a month ago.

Besides looking at Russia each day and wondering what she would do if Putin suddenly sent a bunch of bombers into Alaska’s airspace to bomb whats left of the ice or something.  The only qualification she has to be running for Vice President is that she looks good in a Nazi uniform.  She should fit right in with the fascists that run our country now.

Bill Maher on his “New Rules” segment hit it in the sweet spot in regard using color as a reason for not voting for a candidate.  He lists all the usual suspects of shiftless,never having done a day of hard work, thieving, baby factories, unwed mothers, product of their environment so they can’t help it chliches.  But he was still spot on.  It is the last segment of the piece:

Too, true, Bill.  Too true.

I’m just getting back from an aikido seminar in Asheville, NC.  Yamada sensei could not make it so Jo Birdsong and Daryl Tangman taught.  It was a very good series of classes and worked on some basics as well as converting techniques, or kaishiwaza.  Here is a clip of Jo Birdsong of Aikido of Austin in Texas.  He was a student of Akira Tohei sensei.  This is a clip of him at the Osensei Memorial Seminar in Austin this year:

As I am fairly beat from the seminar and the drive back I will take my Since It’s Sunday column and show some aikido clips.  Here is a compilation of some high ranking aikido senseis:

Here is David Halprin sensei demonstrating a version of maki otoshi:

And here is Claude Berthiamue demonstrating kokyu ho nage

This is a nice clip of Shoji Nishio sensei demonstrating aikido and iaido.  Truly a beautiful performance:

And I’ll leave it with this Donovan Waite sensei clip. It has some…interesting music to acompany it.  I will be training with Waite sensei in October in North Carolina and it should be fun.  Enjoy your Sunday.

McCain’s disdain fell mainly on the plain…no, what I mean is, McCain never looked at Obama during the entire debate.  I think this showed his disdain, his arrogance and was meant at some level to be insulting to Obama.  Obama, on the other hand, looked right at John McCain numerous times and showed no fear.  I find it interesting, too, that in regards Obama’s declaration that he would meet with world leaders without preconditions was met with scorn and derrision by McCain, when many top foreign policy experts wholeheartedly agree with Obama.  Also, if you are going to dis a fellow for his willingness to talk to a specific world leader, and you are using your vast foreign policy creds to base your charges on, it would help if you could at least pronounce that world leaders name:

And his self declared status of being a ‘Maverick” should be continually challenged, as Obama did.  I think even James Garner should challenge him for demeaning the title of “Maverick.”   It is clear that the following equation is true:

No, McCain showed himself to be no Maverick last night.  Just a grumpy old man that was more full of himself than concerned with the issues.  Here is an interesting clip from…Fox News:

OK, nuff said for now.  Any thoughts from anyone else on last nights debate?