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September 29, 2005

Blog Schedule

Crunch time.

We move into the new house on Saturday, and there's a lot to do between now and then. Okay, maybe not a lot, but a few dozen little things, so blogging may be erratic or nonexistent. Complicating things is the fact that Verizon has to switch my internet service from one house to the other, and I'll lose access in the interim.

In the meantime, here's my Republican Journal column on the joys of home ownership and renovation.

Posted by slublog at 12:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

iTunes Rankings

The crew at "The Corner" had an interesting idea. iTunes allows you to organize songs by most to least played. Here are my "top five" songs:

1 - "C'mon, C'mon" by the Von Bondies
2 - "Teardrop" by Massive Attack
3 - "Walking Away" by Lifehouse
4 - "Let Go" by Frou Frou
5 - "Karma" by Alicia Keys.

Interesting. I love the Von Bondies song, but didn't think I listened to it that often.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 28, 2005

Choose your battles wisely, Bayh!

Okay, so I'm in Indiana so I can write about this guy and you all in Maine have to put up with it. You'll hear about this guy soon enough, Evan Bayh is going to run for President in 2008. His is a big political family here in Indiana, and everyone knows his intentions. My local county fair this summer even had an "unofficial" Bayh '08 booth set up.

One of the juiciest things Bayh brings to the table is a very real possibility of swinging Indiana's 11 electoral votes to the blue side; the GOP is going to have to fight hard to keep it, this isn't Edwards and NC, Bayh is actually quite popular here. This only helps in November, though, and to get on that ticket he has to make it through the primary season. To that end, he has thrown the hard-liners a bone by voting against Roberts because he was "vague." This has not gone over well in Indiana, where (I know this may be hard for you to believe, Mainers) newspapers actually write positive things about Republicans and negative things about Democrats. Bayh is going to have to walk a fine line to pull this off. One thing he does have going for him, though, he'd be a whole lot more "electable" than Hillary.

Posted by at 01:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

DeLay Indicted

Yawn.

I've never been a big fan of Tom DeLay. While he does a fine job of whipping the Democrats into an angry froth, under his leadership Republicans in Congress are spending more money than ever. His recent comments suggesting the budget was pared down as much as possible were foolish and put yet another dent into the image of Republicans as fiscally disciplined.

That having been said, I don't think much will come of this indictment. The Texas DA has made some rather boneheaded moves during this process, such as giving partisan fundraising speeches about the case, that will give DeLay's lawyers plenty of ammunition to use in the inevitable motions to dismiss the charges against him.

I think John Podhoretz is right in saying this will give DeLay critics much to be happy about and could possibly, along with Frist's stock issues, could lead to a compelling 'throw the bums out' message for Democrats in 2006.

Wouldn't be the first time a political party has suffered for the sins of its leaders.

Posted by slublog at 01:05 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Media Gullibility, Part 2

Jonah Goldberg looks at the recent coverage of Hurricane Katrina and calls it "gale-force exaggeration." In it, he notes the major fact of what the media did wrong. It's not that they were biased or emotional. What happened with the Katrina coverage was, from a media perspective, much worse.

They got the story wrong.

In the last month or so, we've heard a lot of self-congratulation from the press about what a great job they've been doing. At the high water mark of their rain-soaked Katrina coverage, they started to sound like Stuart Smalley telling the mirror, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, doggone it, people like me." Even the normally hilarious and cynical Jon Stewart of The Daily Show broke character to congratulate the press for its excellent work.

We now know, thanks to valuable post-mortems by the Los Angeles Times and the New Orleans Times-Picayune, that a great deal of the "great reporting" was in fact great rumor mongering. The stories of rape and murder in the Superdome were all unfounded. Six people died in there, tragically. But nobody was murdered.

I'll admit, I got heated and angry at the federal government's response to the hurricane. I can't imagine actually being on-scene and hearing the survivors talk about what was happening. The emotional intensity of that situation led many reporters to report anything that they heard, rather than verify the stories they were being given.

As Goldberg points out, they were not helped by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who constantly provided unverified information to the press during his tirades.

Sometimes, a reporter will get facts wrong in a particular story. What reporters should avoid, though, is becoming so emotionally connected to a story that they lose perspective. This happened in New Orleans, and it led to dozens of reporters getting the story wrong. They reported false information. To keep their credibility, I hope news organizations investigate why their reporters showed such a lack of restraint when it came to rumor mongering, and take steps to prevent it from happening in the future.

Posted by slublog at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 27, 2005

This Explains EVERYTHING

Just listened to Scott Stevens on the Glenn Beck program. Who is Scott Stevens, you ask?

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho weatherman says Japan's Yakuza mafia used a Russian-made electromagnetic generator to cause Hurricane Katrina in a bid to avenge itself for the Hiroshima atom bomb attack — and that this technology will soon be wielded again to hit another U.S. city.

Meteorologist Scott Stevens, a nine-year veteran of KPVI-TV in Pocatello, said he was struggling to forecast weather patterns starting in 1998 when he discovered the theory on the Internet. It's now detailed on Stevens' website, www.weatherwars.info, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported.

Hm.

So it wasn't Karl Rove this time? Unless, of course, Karl Rove controls the Yakuza mafia.

Stop the presses!

Posted by slublog at 11:41 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Quick! Tap the Maine Ice Reserve!

This guy needs our help, now!

Posted by slublog at 11:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Finally, a flower shop that understands guys

No idea who should get credit for this one, I'm guessing by the .ie that it's from Ireland.

Posted by at 10:36 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

A Media Creation

So I see Cindy Sheehan was arrested. Hm.

Looks awful happy about it, too.

Hey, attention is attention, right? Personally, I knew Sheehan's celebrity was coming to an end when I read this:

i am watching cnn and it is 100 percent rita...even though it is a little wind and a little rain...it is bad, but there are other things going on in this country today...and in the world!!!!

Yup. It's got to be awful when those cameras go away.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

September 26, 2005

"Missed it by that much"

Don Adams of "Get Smart" dies at age 82.

Turns out he fought at Guadacanal in World War II. Who knew?

Posted by slublog at 11:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Scandal of Media Gullibility

Michelle Malkin looks at the truth behind the reporting during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. While there were some murders in the city, there was nothing like the out-of-control lawlessness that was constantly reported on the cable news channels.

After the major reporting from the area, a lot of people commented on how the display of emotionalism was the media's 'finest hour.' Given how badly the media botched the facts of this story, I disagree. The media has no reason to be proud of its reporting - shame would be a more appropriate response to its failures. I doubt, however, we'll see much of it.

Posted by slublog at 12:10 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Damned if he does...

NRO's Media Blog has an example of how, in the eyes of some reporters, President Bush is wrong no matter what he does. It's going to be interesting to see how the media act after the Bush presidency, and whether their sloppy, biased and just plain bad reporting during these years will affect their reputation in the future.

Posted by slublog at 11:00 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

A Pair of Scandals

I've spent a lot of time this week working on the new house, so I missed some recent scandal stories out of Washington. The first deals with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's recent, um, examination of Maryland Lt. Gov Michael Steele's credit records. It's a wonderfully Nixonian scandal, and I look forward to finding out what other records have been unearthed by the DSCC.

The second scandal involves one of my least favorite politicans, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Turns out the good senator may have used inside information for a recent stock sale. I don't know whether Frist committed a crime, but I certainly agree with Captain Ed:

That brings us to the other aspect that Paul and Stephen miss: the political aspects. In January, he told his constituents that he had no clue whether he owned HCA stock. If the AP documents prove authentic, he had set up his trust to keep him informed of the components of his portfolio. That means he lied about the blind trust. That may not rise to a violation of the law, but it certainly amounts to a violation of the trust that Frist needs between himself and the voters. Under those circumstances, Frist doesn't belong as a party leader in the Senate, and perhaps his constituents might want to rethink his representation of him there in any capacity.

As I posted earlier, we need to ensure that those documents are authentic. If they are -- which is what I said earlier -- then Frist needs to step down as Senate Majority Leader, regardless of whether he engaged in insider trading. Lying about the blind trust will give us enough headaches, and given Frist's generally lackluster performance in his leadership role anyway, he isn't worth the political capital that the GOP will have to spend defending him.

Frist is not a very good leader, and quite frankly isn't worth the fight. If it's revealed that Frist did lie, or that he's been dealing in inside information, Republicans should be the first to call for his resignation as their leader.

Yes, the Democrats are going to make political hay out of this scandal. But Republican senators should not let their disdain for the glee of political opponents lead them to knee-jerkedly defend Frist. If he did something wrong, he needs to go. It's that simple.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 22, 2005

Oil-Based Paint is of Satan

That's just one of the things I learned today. Put some primer on the wall of what we're planning to make our dining room. Discovered oil-based primer is sticky, smelly and generally unpleasant to work with. There is no conceivable reason a man should be wiping himself down with paint thinner at the end of the day, but that's what I ended up doing this evening. Extremely bad.

I also learned is that the self-checkout option at Home Depot is annoying. It was like having Hal 9000 as a cashier - "What are you doing, Dave? Put your items back into the bagging area."

The closing itself went well. A lot of papers to sign, a check handed over, and it's done. Amazing how 'easy' it is to spend over $100,000. On the plus side, we have no rent, no mortgage payment for the next month. It's like a vacation.

Except for all the work, that is.

Posted by slublog at 11:01 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Closing the Deal

Blogging will likely be light today, as we're closing on the house, then going to visit what will surely become our new "favorite" store - Home Depot - for some primer. We're planning to paint over some of the hideous wallpaper now in the house. At one point in Bangor's history, homeowners must have been required to have one room with blue flowered wallpaper. Ugh.

So if I don't update, respond to comments or anything like that, it's because I'll be signing paperwork, painting, or climbing around on the roof to fix something called 'chimney flashing.'

Yup, I've got a lot to learn.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

September 21, 2005

A Great Quote

I agree with Vodkapundit - a new catchphrase has been born.

Click for larger image.

Thank you, General Honore.

UPDATE - The Ace of Spades remix:

Welcome, new visitors from various sites. Thanks for stopping by.

Posted by slublog at 12:48 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The Dying Newspaper Industry?

The New York Times Company announced today that it will cut 500 jobs.

The New York Times Co. said Tuesday it would cut about 500 jobs, or about 4 percent of its work force, as part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs. The reductions come atop another 200 jobs that were cut earlier this year.

The Times said it expected 250 jobs at its main newspaper group to be affected, which includes the Times, the International Herald Tribune and the online operation of the Times. Of those job cuts, about 45 will come from the Times' newsroom, the company said in a statement.

Another 160 jobs will be cut from the Times' New England operation, which includes The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Boston.com. The company did not provide a breakdown of those job cuts other than to say that 35 newsroom jobs would be cut at The Boston Globe.

This is a trend that will likely continue, given the variety of ways news consumers can find information. That's too bad, because I really enjoy reading a newspaper in the morning with my first cup of coffee.

I think the future of journalism is local papers. The newspaper group I write for is a good example of the type of newspaper that will thrive in this new media environment. People will get their national and international news from cable, the internet and the big three networks. They will look to smaller papers for their state and local news.

If newspapers like the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald are smart, they will stop running AP stories above the fold every day and start featuring local stories by their own reporters. It makes sense, from a business perspective. Most of the time, national AP stories in the Bangor Daily are hours old by the time the newspaper hits front steps every morning.

This is not to say they should stop running those stories entirely, but they should put local news at the top, not run it as an afterthought in a second section.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 20, 2005

A Contrary View: To Pork ot Not to Pork

I originally was going to enter this as a comment to Slublog's earlier pork threads here, here and here, but I'll make it a post in its own right instead. I want to raise the possibility that even what seems to be the most egregious pork may in fact be utterly essential to the recipients.

What can a small town with a big infrastructure problem do? It does not have a large enough tax base to raise the money itself. Muni bonds are an option, but some projects are so big that the interest would be crippling to the budget. Without money from the government, the problem cannot be fixed. My town, for instance, needs a new sewage treatment center to grow any more--you literally are not allowed to build any more houses in town on the north side of the railroad tracks. They've been raising the water rates a lot but that won't be nearly enough; we'll need money from the state and feds to do it. If our legislators manage to get this money for us, we're not going to call it pork, we're going to call it a lifesaver.

Let's use the Greenville airport example, and come up with a scenario where this could be defended as non-pork. Moosehead is a proverbial can't-get-there-from-here place with appealing opportunities for outdoor recreation. Let's suppose that a lot of visitors choose to fly in, on chartered or private planes. To be able to do this, these sorts of people are big-bucks people. I think it would be fair to assume that tourist dollars are a big chunk of that area's economy, hence getting these sorts of people to the area is of prime importance. Now we don't know how bad a shape that runway is in. Maybe it's a grass runway and has drainage problems, or it's an asphalt runway frost-heaved to pieces. If it's in bad enough shape, or dangerous, those big bucks won't come back for a second visit, and advise their big bucks friends to avoid the airport and hence the area. It seems like a lot of money, but civil engineering isn't cheap.

Of course, it might also be that one of these big bucks visitors is a powerful lobbyist down in Portland who wants to fly up to Greenville to go fishing on the weekends without getting mud on his tires, and that if they can get that runway fixed, maybe his organization will endorse the legislator. That's pork: funding local projects to purchase of political favors.

I'm pretty sure that just looking at a list of funding can't tell you whether something is pork or not. Only by knowing the local situation can you tell whether it is a legitimate need or not, and only then can you begin to say whether it is pork or not. Maybe that bridge in Stillwater helps people avoid a busy stretch of highway where there have been several pedestrian accidents in the past few years. You can make some general assumptions about how much of a list of projects might be pork, but you have to go local to single out any particular project. I agree, a lot of them seem ridiculous, and many of them seem to have no value, but living in a town in desperate need of "pork" has opened my eyes to its necessity. This kind of funding is ripe for abuse, but killing it would do more harm than good.

Posted by at 08:59 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Maine's Pork, Cont.

Michael Barone wonders about the political value of pork:

A worthy idea, and one that raises the question, an uncomfortable one surely for many congressmen, of whether voters really value pork barrel projects. Of course some interested parties do, but do most voters?

(h/t: Heh) Short answer? No. Pork coming to Maine irritates me as much as pork going to other states. Searching through my congressional delegation's websites, I've found some other projects that quality as wasteful government spending:

$4,154,730 to the Greenville Airport to rehabilitate and reconstruct its runway. Greenville - population 1,623

$2.8 million for the Penobscot Riverfront Development project for bicycle trails, amenities, and traffic circulation improvements in Bangor

$1 million to construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Stillwater River in Orono

$500,000 for improvements to the Interconnecting Trail System for bike and pedestrian trails in the Katahdin region

$4 million for general construction plus multi-use trail and snowmobile accommodations for the Route 116 Bridge in Medway

$250,800 to Bar Harbor for new buses to enhance commuting near the Jackson Laboratories

$250,000 to support increased signage, mapping, and access for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail

$1 million to fund improvements for the scenic roadways in the Rangeley Lake region to ensure that Mainers and visitors can enjoy rich natural beauty of area.

$1,205,855 to the Bar Harbor airport. Gotta keep those celebrity jets coming in

Many of these pork projects were found on Senator Olympia Snowe's website. Snowe is a major supporter of the so-called 'pay as you go' budgeting plan that would offset any tax cuts with either matching spending cuts or other ways to raise money. However, Snowe shows no interest whatsoever in spending cuts but I guess as long as she pretends to care about spending, she can keep opposing those evil tax cuts.

More pork as I find it.

Posted by slublog at 12:42 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Yet More Pork

Government pork - the gift that keeps on giving.

$25,000 to support a traveling exhibition and ethnographic marketing workbook for Tuscarora beadworkers and Akwesasne basketmakers.

$10,000 to support the construction of an 18-foot birch bark canoe.

$10,000 to support the production of a contemporary play. As part of its Classics in Context Series, The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman will be produced with accompanying community outreach activities.

$15,000 to support a summer symposium series to expand the public's knowledge of ceramics.

$1.3 million to provide for construction of new hangar, removal of old hangars, and improved road access at the Frenchville (population 1,225) Airport

$97,000 to the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, an organization committed to preserving and promoting all aspects of the Franco-American heritage, including the culture, history, and language.

You know, this is beginning to annoy me. I simply cannot believe how much of my money is wasted by the government.

Posted by slublog at 12:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Kudos to MSNBC

The news channel is correcting the record regarding Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans, and his story about a friend's mother drowning.

This story illustrates one of my major complaints with the media - it tends to give emotional people too much credit. Broussard cynically used the death of his friend's mother to criticize the federal government, and the media eagerly believed his story because he was crying, and crying people make for good television.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 19, 2005

Maine's Pork

This is just a great idea. Find pork in your state or congressional district, point it out on the web, and contact your senators and representatives about it.

It's pretty easy to find pork in Maine, since our senior senator tends to brag about it on her press release page. So, without further ado, these are just the ones I found while on my lunch break:

$57,500 for the Moosetown Riders, Inc. to purchase a snowmobile trail groomer

$38,000 to the St. Croix Economic Alliance to conduct a feasibility study to identify potential benefactors for the Downeast Heritage Center

$22,000 to the Portland Stage Company to support the production of a play entitled Yemaya’s Belly by Quiara Alegria Hudes.

$20,000 to the Center for Cultural Exchange to support a commissioning, production, and touring initiative titled Unintended Consequences. The director will create a multimedia performance based on the repercussions of September 11, 2001, in the lives of refugee and immigrant communities in Maine.

$25,000 to the Alice James Poetry Cooperative, Inc. to support the publication and promotion of poetry titles selected from two annual competitions and a new and selected poetry collection by Donald Revell.

$44,600 grant to Hancock County Commission to provide technical assistance to increase recycling and composting

$850,000 to Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber in Brunswick to help construct a new structure to serve as their tourist Information Center and provide administrative office space

$555,000 to Knox County to improve air service. The grant, awarded under the Small Community Air Service Development Program, will be used to provide eight island communities off the coast of Rockland with service to the mainland

Grand total: $1,610,000.

That's just a start. If you'd like to contact members of our congressional delegation to ask them to give up some of their pork to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, here is that information:

Senator Olympia J. Snowe
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1903

Senator Susan M. Collins
172 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Representative Tom Allen
(1st District)
1630 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Representative Michael Michaud
(2nd District)
437 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Signed letters work better than emails, and remember to be polite.

Posted by slublog at 12:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

The Human Element

Friday, I was extremely frustrated with the company (name since removed from site - hey, we want that house) that is handling our home loan. Last night, as I wrote the new letter they requested, those feelings came back to me. I've successfully squelched them this morning with coffee.

I checked the stats a few minutes ago and noticed I had about 10 visits from the web domain of the company in question. I regret using the name earlier, but let my frustration get the best of me. So if you're a visitor from that company, have no fear.

I'm still looking forward to the survey, though. I think large companies need to be reminded once in awhile how stressful and confusing the homebuying process can be, and take that into account when dealing with the buyer. I don't do this for a living. I just want to sign the necessary papers so we can move into our new house. Any steps companies can take to make that process more user-friendly would be appreciated not just by me, but by the millions of others who depend on the services of lenders.

I'm an ardent capitalist, but I'm wondering whether we've lost the human element in our commercial dealings as a society.

UPDATE - A note on removing the company name. I'm not afraid of company retribution. That would be odd if a company cared enough about what a guy said on the net to deny him a loan. I just wanted to be fair to the people who worked there that have dealt fairly and well with me.

The more relevant reason for removing the name was I noticed that after mentioning this loan company's name, my comment spam exploded in volume. I was getting two, three hits a minute for a couple of hours at a time throughout the weekend. Thank goodness for my spam block/removal program. That blog entry was like spam-bait.

Posted by slublog at 10:34 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Bush isn't interested in diplomacy, except when he is

North Korea, after negotiations with the United States and other countries, has agreed to abandon its nuclear program.

North Korea on Monday agreed to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances, in a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.

The chief U.S. envoy to the talks praised the breakthrough as a “win-win situation” and “good agreement for all of us.” But he promptly urged Pyongyang to make good on its promises by ending operations at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

“What is the purpose of operating it at this point?” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. “The time to turn it off would be about now.”

I'm hoping there are more inspections post-agreement than there has been in previous agreements so we won't be surprised years from now if they don't abide by the set terms. Thanks to Joe for emailing me about this story.

Posted by slublog at 09:39 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Law of Unintended Consequences Strikes Again

The nanny-state Maine legislature banned the sale of soda and candy during school hours to help fight obesity. Now some booster clubs are complaining the rules are hurting candy fundraisers. A 'public health advocate' says those who are complaining are just being silly.

The resistance to the new rule has not been surprising to public health advocate Karen O'Rourke, although she sees the irony in parents of student-athletes selling junk food.

"It's about money," said O'Rourke, vice president of operations at the Maine Center for Public Health. "I think they don't realize or can't quite get their brain around the fact that they can make money some other way. So when someone tries to tell them they have to do something differently, there's a lot of pushback."

Yes, Karen. Everyone who disagrees with you is stupid. Good thing we have people like you to tell us how to think.

Did it ever occur to Ms. O'Rourke that people might be pushing back because we're tired of these do-gooders trying to force their opinions about food on the rest of us? It's one thing to tell people what's good for them, nutrition-wise. It's another to take away people's options because you think you know better than the poor, uneducated hoi polloi.

Some nutritionists predict that children will gladly go for Wheat Thins and granola bars if that's all that's available. But some students seem reluctant to give up junk food quietly.

"I like to eat crappy foods," said 16-year-old Keshia White, a field hockey player at Portland High School. "Besides, I run it all off, so it doesn't really affect me."

Her schoolmate Andrew Howard, 17, said it was a good idea to offer more healthful alternatives.

"But," he said. "I don't think they should replace everything else."

It's pretty sad when a 17-year old makes more sense than a so-called 'public health advocate.' I think obesity is a problem, but O'Rourke and her ilk should educate, not mandate.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hugh Laurie Was Robbed

James Spader? James Spader?

Have these people ever actually seen House, M.D.? I didn't watch much of the ceremony, but did catch Jon Stewart's painfully unfunny skit about the response to Hurricane Katrina. I do like The Daily Show, but this didn't even elicit so much as a chuckle. The 'censorship' gag is just...old.

Oh, and James Spader?!?

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Clinton Returns to Form

Dave at Garfield Ridge looks at former President Clinton's recent criticisms of the current president. I guess trying to show unity during a national crisis and holding to presidential tradition was just too much to ask.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 18, 2005

A Good Week

Sorry I didn't take the time to post on the blog or respond to comments this weekend. My wife and I were in western Maine, visiting her parents and attending a dinner. Seems the column is working out pretty well for me. Not only do I get paid, but I was just named the top columnist in Maine for weekly papers with a circulation over 5,000 by the Maine Press Association.

The awards dinner was nice. Got a chance to see an old college friend, and had a nice meal at a very swank hotel. It's nestled right up against the Sunday River ski slopes. Seeing the slopes without snow, I wondered excatly why people find it fun to slide down those hills with waxed skis attached to their feet.

On an unrelated note, thanks to everyone who posted or emailed their congratulations about the upcoming kid. I appreciate it.

Posted by slublog at 11:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 16, 2005

Random Rants

Overall, I'd classify today as a good day with some odd or bad bits. The bad? Our home loan people called. They need a more detailed letter about the gap in my employment history. This, less than a week before our closing. Oh, and they need us to re-sign a form - seems they used the old one by accident.

Grrrr...so far, I've been less than impressed by (name removed on Monday). One person, the branch manager who knows us, has been great to deal with. The rest of the process has been a real pain. They promise we'll get a customer satisfaction survey to fill out. I can't wait.

I questioned the rather last-minute timing on giving us this important information and they didn't really seem all that concerned about it. I think, like many large companies, they forget there are real people behind those forms. This is the first house my wife and I have purchased, and we have questions, concerns and have no idea how the process works. Some understanding of that on the part of those paid to usher people through the system would be nice. I just can't wait for this to be over.

And the odd?

Some friends and I went to dinner this evening to celebrate Steve's (one of the co-bloggers) birthday. As we waited outside to be seated, a car sped by at what I'd estimate was about 35-40 mph in the parking lot. The kid behind the wheel saw an empty spot and sped into it in front of the car about to take that spot. Upon getting out of the car, he literally sauntered in front of the car he'd cut off and gave them a 'tough guy' look that was, to be completely honest, comical as heck.

Everyone in front of the restaurant was commenting on the kid's idiocy, my friends and I included. I guess he heard us offer our opinion of what a moron he was, because he turned to us and said "In a democratic society I'm free to do that. People don't have the right to reserve parking spaces."

Criminy, I hate college students.

What a day.

Posted by slublog at 11:23 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Maine's BMV Woes

Private sector motor vehicle services may be returning to Maine, thanks to some, er, problems with the current BMV.

AUGUSTA - Mainers are waiting too many hours at regional Bureau of Motor Vehicle offices to complete routine tasks such as vehicle registrations, prompting some lawmakers to consider looking at the private sector to deliver what the state apparently cannot.

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap was grilled by members of the Legislature's Transportation Committee for nearly an hour Thursday about the lengthy delays at the state's 13 regional BMV offices. Dunlap told the panel that on average BMV customers are waiting more than an hour to register new vehicles or obtain new licenses, but he also acknowledged that in some urban areas such as Bangor, the wait can last for "several hours."

"We're in a pretty horrific situation ... ," Dunlap said. "It's news to nobody that we've had a pretty tough situation in the branch offices this summer with extended wait times and a greatly heightened number of complaints about those wait times and inability to obtain services. Earlier in the summer, that [wait] was ascribed largely to some failures within our computer system to remain stable."

Heck, even when the computers weren't malfunctioning, the wait times were bad. Plus, there are 6 or seven windows at the local branch of the BMV. Usually, only half of those are used. It's like going to a store (cough...samsclub...cough) with 18 registers built, but only three in use at any given time.

If you don't plan to use the resources you have to serve the public, don't bother building them. Seeing unused windows or registers only makes the wait all the more frustrating.

Posted by slublog at 10:59 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

So, honey, how was work today?

When your lab works with mice infected with the Plague, it is probably a good idea not to lose track of them. Whoever does inventory control at that lab is going to have a hard time in his upcoming interviews explaining why he left his previous job.

Posted by at 10:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

"Hey, Has Anyone Seen the Plague Mice?"

This is not a headline you want to see, ever.

Investigators said the lab mice were injected as part of an inoculation and vaccination experiment with the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The bacterium causes bubonic and other forms of plague -- an infectious disease which has claimed more than 30 million lives through history and even today sparks fear and panic around the world at the very mention of its name.

"It's a bad disease," noted John G. Bartlett, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

With modern antibiotics, plague can be treated if quickly diagnosed and is not the scourge that wiped out a third of Europe during the years of the Black Death in the 14th century, but it remains a deadly killer.

Oh, well. Simple lab mix-up. I mean, who among us has never misplaced carriers of the Black Death?

Note to self: don't visit New Jersey for the next few months. (h/t:Malkin)

Posted by slublog at 10:11 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

God Hits the Reset Button

The line above, written by James Lileks, perfectly describes the feelings I had eleven weeks ago when my wife showed me a plastic stick with two lines on it. It took me a few seconds to realize the implications of that test, and to be honest it's still hard to believe that seven months from now my life is going to change, big time.

My wife is pregnant with our first child.

Although the kid's arrival is still months away, Lileks' description of how he felt rings true - a lot of my priorities have been reset. Sure, it would be great to have a better-paying job, a nicer car or a Bose home theater system, but those things are honestly much less important to me right now than having a healthy son or daughter.

I have to say, I'm looking forward to meeting this kid. Even if, at the moment, he or she kind of looks like an Area 51 alien on the sonogram.

Posted by slublog at 12:29 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Hm. Nice to See People with Perspective

Anne Rice, in an interview with CNN.

"It is a cataclysm. It's something like the destruction of the city of Pompeii," she said in an interview to air Friday night on "Paula Zahn Now."

Hm.

Pompeii - the burial of an entire city under tons of volcanic ash, resulting in its complete destruction. Burial is so total, the city is lost for centuries.

New Orleans - city flooded by a hurricane, starts the rebuilding process weeks later.

Yeah, I see the similarities.

Posted by slublog at 12:20 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The Bush Speech

I, uh, didn't watch it.

Bad blogger! No Instalanche!

To be honest, after the sound and fury of the past few weeks, I was just tired of politics. I watched extras from the Shaun of the Dead DVD instead. Very entertaining.

Here's a transcript of the speech. After reading it, all I could think was hold on to your wallets, folks. This is going to get ugly.

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One Week Away

Serenity.

Man, I hope this movie doesn't stink.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 15, 2005

Busy Little Bees

The spammers have been working overtime today. My spam program's log says over 500 attempts at comment and trackback spam have been blocked today.

I don't know who writes the programs that generate such messages, but remember guys, no one likes spam - and some people really hate it.

Posted by slublog at 02:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The Paying Gig - Time for Heath to Resign

My newest Republican Journal column is now online. Maybe, for the first time since I started writing it, I'll get some emails or letters from this one.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Why Do They Hate Us?

I often (okay, pretty much everyday) take part in discussions at Ace of Spades HQ. When debating with those on the left about America's role in the world, someone will inevitably say a variation on the following - "After September 11, we had the world's sympathy and support and George Bush had to go and squander that with his reckless policies."

Thus the hatred of the United States is blamed not on those in other countries who choose to indulge their hatreds, but on us. It's enough to make you believe that Jeane Kirkpatrick was right.

Jonah Goldberg, writing in National Review, points out that Europe has never really been all that big a fan of us in the first place.

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Hey, Look. Newdow's Back in the News

Wow.

Is it just me, or is this guy more desperate for attention than Paris Hilton? I personally don't care whether 'under God' remains in the pledge of allegiance or not, but Newdow's crusade is just annoying. I wonder how much of our taxes are going to pay for the court time taken up by his publicity-seeking lawsuits?

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 14, 2005

How Boring is Maine?

Our eco-vandals don't attack ski resorts, or luxury SUV dealerships. No, they hit trash dumps.

FBI joins probe of landfill vandalism

OLD TOWN - The FBI is assisting Old Town police in investigating more than $30,000 worth of vandalism done on Sunday at the West Old Town Landfill.

The vandals left behind graffiti symbols used by environmental terrorist groups, and the FBI is urging landfill workers to be cautious of any suspicious activity.

In response to the incident, a private security company has been hired by Sargent & Sargent, a contracting company that is doing work at the site for landfill operator Casella Waste Systems Inc. Most of the vandalism was to heavy equipment belonging to the contractor.

This comes on the stunning success in 1999 of the corn destruction at a university research farm.

Where will these dastardly villians strike next? We can only wait...

Posted by slublog at 09:29 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Watching the Hearings

Watching the confirmation hearings for John Roberts yesterday, I couldn't help but note the almost complete lack of energy shown by anyone involved, but especially the Democrats. I agree with Hugh Hewitt - they just don't seem to be fighting all that hard. Sure, Biden made some fireworks, and Feinstein tried as hard as she could to get Roberts to admit that what he really wanted to do was overturn Roe v. Wade, but overall the hearings were really boring.

The one moment of levity was when Senator Feinstein showed just how humor impaired she is. It seems Roberts made a bad joke about the social good of lawyers back when he was in the Reagan White House and Feinstein took it as a sign that Roberts may be a misogynist.

Roberts seemed confident enough to make a few jokes during the questioning, despite the fact that he had to deal with some of the biggest egos in Washington playing to the cameras. The near-congeniality of this hearing makes me think the next one is going to be total war.

Still, though, the constant grandstanding gets old fast. It's already bleedin' obvious that not one of the Democratic senators on the committee is going to vote to confirm Roberts. In fact, I'd be surprised if any of them even vote to allow his nomination out of committee.

UPDATE - Heh. (Content warning)

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Exactly How I Feel

So next Thursday we close on the house. My friend Dan has written a great column on home ownership.

About five years ago, while we were contentedly living in a one-bedroom apartment, my wife explained that it was time to buy a house. She was not terribly concerned that we had no money and knew nothing about home ownership.

We went searching the Midcoast for a suitable house and found this pointy white Victorian on a patch of lawn (a double lot!) with an old red garage next to it.

As we walked through this home, we were not overly concerned about the hideous gray wall-paper in the living room (Insane Asylum it's called at the home improvement store) or the bold statement made by the Dutch blue American Eagle-patterned wall-paper that climbed all the way up the stairs and all the way down the upstairs hall. The knob and tube wiring that Thomas Edison and Ben Franklin had installed themselves was quaint. Heck, we could rewire this house. No problem.

At the time, I remember us saying, "We don't want a new house. We want an older house with character." Oh, to be that young again.

Read the whole thing.

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Politicians are Spoiled and Corrupt?

What would give you that idea?

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 13, 2005

Oops

You know, when I have a bad day at work, it usually doesn't end with a major U.S. metropolitian area without power.

Posted by slublog at 12:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Barone on Blame

The political guru makes some good points.

A team of Indiana firefighters, volunteering to help rescue victims of Katrina, went to Atlanta, where Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers told them that their job was to hand out fliers and that their first task was to attend a multi-hour course on sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity.

This is, astonishingly, standard operating procedure at FEMA. And in other parts of the federal government: Former CIA agent Robert Baer writes in his recent book how in Central Asia he asked headquarters to send someone who spoke Afghan languages, and Langley offered to send a four-member sexual harassment team, instead. These are perhaps things to keep in mind when it comes time to assess the response to Katrina. Government is a clumsy instrument.

A sexual harassment video? Criminy. Infuriating, but not particularly surprising.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by slublog at 12:01 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Surviving New Orleans

Matt Labash is a fantastic journalist, and this is a great story.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 12, 2005

Who's Going to Pay to Clean It Up?

So what caused all the damage in the Gulf States: Katrina, or the flooding? The answer is not academic: many people carry storm insurance, but not flood insurance. The question will likely to lead to the Supreme Court and thereafter to the financial ruin of whoever loses, either homeowners or insurance companies. There's nothing like lawyers to compound human suffering, is there?

Posted by at 02:28 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Good Question

Riding Sun:

Four years later, terrorism remains a problem around the world, as we have seen in Bali, in Madrid, in Israel, in London, and, of course, in Iraq. Yet, it would seem, not in America. While America remains alert and, some would say, hypersensitive to the risk of another attack, none has come. Our buildings, our buses, our airplanes all are surely tempting targets to the likes of Al Qaeda and its sympathizers. Yet, four years later, they have not struck. In the tense days after 9-11, such a stretch of safety would have seemed like wishful thinking. And yet, that's what happened.

Why?

Read the whole thing.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Journalism?

Jeff Goldstein righteously fisks a story from Newsweek.

And newsweeklies wonder why their circulation is falling? Hint: it's not just the fault of the internet.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 11, 2005

The Flight That Fought Back

Just finished watching the Discovery Channel documentary "The Flight that Fought Back."

Outstanding. Moving. Respectful. If you can catch it on a repeat viewing, or purchase the DVD, do so.

One of the most moving moments is when the son of one of the passengers, dressed in a military academy uniform, says he joined the service to honor his father and "finish what he started."

Posted by slublog at 10:45 PM | TrackBack

September 11

Freedom from Fear is a basic human right. We need to reassert our right to live free from fear with greater confidence and determination than ever before…here in New York City…across America…and around the World. With one clear voice, unanimously, we need to say that we will not give in to terrorism.

Surrounded by our friends of every faith, we know that this is not a clash of civilizations; it is a conflict between murderers and humanity.

This is not a question of retaliation or revenge. It is a matter of justice leading to peace. The only acceptable result is the complete and total eradication of terrorism.

New Yorkers are strong and resilient. We are unified. And we will not yield to terror. We do not let fear make our decisions for us.

We choose to live in freedom.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | TrackBack

September 10, 2005

New Orleans Relief

Saw some of the relief telethon this evening. Well done, with the exception of Rod Stewart and Garth Brooks. Man, what on earth has happened to Garth's voice? It sounded like someone was stepping on a cat.

Anyway, the telethon made me realize I haven't put these links up in a few days:

American Red Cross World Vision Samaritan's Purse

If you haven't yet given to the relief efforts, please do so if you can.

Posted by slublog at 11:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Closure

Couple Plead Guilty in Wendy's Finger Case

A Nevada couple pleaded guilty Friday to all charges related to planting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili in a scheme to extort money from the fast food restaurant chain.

Anna Ayala, 39, and Jaime Placencia, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to file a false claim and attempted grand theft in a scheme that the Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's International Inc. claimed cost it $2.5 million in lost sales because of bad publicity.

Now the big questions - will Wendy's sue, and will the lawyer that filed the case against the restaurant on behalf of Alaya suffer any consequence for his false claim?

Posted by slublog at 12:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 09, 2005

Time for Michael Heath to Resign

Michael Heath's complete inability to control his mouth has gotten the Christian Civic League of Maine in trouble before. In the past, he's threatened to out homosexual legislators and suggested the governor had a 'gay gene.' After making some remarks on Hurricane Katrina and God's wrath, Heath once again finds himself in the very familiar position of having to perform damage control.

So what did he say? Here we go:

By an odd coincidence - and it was perhaps no more than a coincidence - an enormous gay rights celebration was scheduled for New Orleans just as the worst natural disaster ever to strike our nation was venting its full fury on that helpless city. Over 150,000 homosexuals were expected to attend the event this year, and as in past years, the French Quarter was to be filled with party-goers, many of them roaming the streets at night and committing lewd acts in public. Last year, a video tape of the drunken revelers committing sex acts in public was sent to Mayor Nagin and the City Council, but the city fathers of New Orleans, in their concern for the economic future of New Orleans and the tourist dollars that the event would bring in, once again issued official proclamations welcoming the organization. The event was scheduled for Wednesday August 31st, when the destructive force of the natural disaster was at its peak. The organization is called, appropriately enough, Southern Decadence.

Here's what Heath has said about his remarks:

"The view that such events are caused by God is a matter of opinion - faith if you will - and are not capable of proof," Michael Heath, the executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, wrote in Wednesday's edition of the group's online newsletter. "Every man must decide for himself whether or not Hurricane Katrina brought the wrath of God down on New Orleans.

"So we are not blaming the homosexuals for the disaster," continued Heath, whose group is spearheading the "people's veto" campaign aimed at repealing Maine's new gay rights law at the Nov. 8 referendum.

That has got to be the weakest attempt at an apology I've seen since, well, the last time Heath got himself into this type of mess.

Heath is trying to step back from his remarks, but it's clear what he was trying to communicate - that the horrible storm that hit New Orleans was no coincidence, because it foiled the plans of the gays and lesbians that Heath has made it his personal mission to oppose.

Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster. I don't know why God allowed it to happen, but I certainly don't think God wanted to punish the city of New Orleans. If He did, why take out so many other towns and cities in the Gulf Coast?

What Heath doesn't seem to understand is that all of us, not just homosexuals, deserve God's wrath. That's not just my opinion, by the way. I just thank God for His grace, and wish that Christian leaders like Heath were better communicators of that grace.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Michael Heath is a terrible spokesman for Christians. He doesn't speak for me, or many of the Christians I know. Christian civic action should never put obstacles in the way of the gospel. With his repeated verbal flubs, my fear is that Heath is guilty of doing just that.

Jesus did not come to earth to stop the 'homosexual agenda.' He didn't die and rise again so that we could 'preserve marriage' or defeat liberals. He had a specific purpose. If the League is serious about refocusing on that purpose, it needs to ask for Heath's resignation. Christian civic organizations serve an important purpose, but politics should always take second place to communicating the truth of the gospel - a truth that is too often obscured by the extreme political views and personal prejudices of those who presume to speak for Jesus.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Helping the Prisoners

Hal over at Halbert's Cubicle reminds us that even though prisoners are in jail for a reason, that does not make them less deserving of relief. Kudos to Prison Fellowship for remembering, and putting into practice, these words.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 08, 2005

Showing the Dead

Andrew Sullivan, as usual, is in full hysterical screed mode in this post:

FEMA is trying to censor the reality in New Orleans, under the guise of "respect" for the dead...The press should ignore those requests, get boats themselves and show the world what has actually happened. (Hey, much of the media was ahead of FEMA during the worst of it. Why not again now?) That goes for any intrepid bloggers with camera-phones or anyone else who can slip through the censorship net. If necessary, faces can be blurred to protect the dignity of the dead. But it matters that we see the full consequences of government delinquency. That's what the press is for. Ignore FEMA. Photobloggers, here's an opportunity for important and necessary work.

"Important and necessary work?"

Sullivan is a ghoul, and a disgustingly shameless and overwrought one. If you want to see pictures of dead bodies, just visit Google and type in the right words. There's plenty of places on the web that specialize in such grisly entertainment. I think, though, that those killed by Hurricane Katrina deserve a better fate than to become props in the brewing political battle over the government response.

I was all set to write more on this topic, but The Anchoress put it better than I could.

Sometimes a thing is right or wrong simply because it is right or wrong, and other considerations be damned. The press might bristle at feeling like it’s being controlled by the WH…and they might want to get spiteful, stick out the jaw and say, “oh yeah? Who died and made you king?” And then they might go out of their way to show the pictures, just to prove that they are in charge, and not the Bushies, that they won’t take orders from the WH, etc, etc.

But…no matter how much they might WANT to do that…they really simply shouldn’t. It would be wrong. It just would. Think if the person you loved more than anyone in the world was in that water, would you want his or her picture all over the place?

Read the whole thing.

It's unfortunate that the left's, and Sullivan's, disdain for the Bush administration has led them to such lows. I hope photobloggers in the area have more respect for their fellow man than Sullivan does, and ignore his repulsive advice. For once, please let simple humanity win out over partisan fervor.

UPDATE - This is what righteous indignation looks like.

Posted by slublog at 12:10 AM | Comments (32) | TrackBack

Find a Human

My wife and I just bought a house, and close later this month. There are a lot of steps to take before the closing, and a lot of phone calls to make. In making those calls, I've developed a whole new level of hatred for voicemail menus. I just want to talk to a human being.

Finally, a site to help me find one. (h/t: Evangelical Outpost)

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Katrina Victims Coming North?

According to the Bangor Daily News, the former Loring Air Force base may be opened to house evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. I think it would be great for Maine to help out, but...

The coldest it gets in New Orleans, according to this site, is 51 degrees in January. The average temperature in Limestone the same time of year?

11 degrees.

The average high temperature is 20 degrees, the average low is 3.

Before I moved to Maine, I had no idea cold could hurt. Seriously, though, I think it's great Maine is opening its arms to those affected by this storm. I hope some take us up on the offer.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Gov. Baldacci - Profits Are Bad

Maine Governor John Baldacci is asking the federal government to protect consumers from price gouging at the pump.

In his letter dated Tuesday, Baldacci said oil companies' profits have been "astronomical" over the past year.

From April through June, Exxon Mobil's net income rose 32 percent to $7.64 billion, he wrote. During the same period, Royal Dutch Shell announced a 34 percent increase in profits and the smaller Marathon Oil Corp. reported 91 percent earnings growth.

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe has said his office will increase monitoring of wholesale and retail prices to spot antitrust violations and will aggressively prosecute violations. At least one other state — Georgia — has sent notices to gas stations believed to be violating rules against price gouging.

Now, I'll admit. I think there's some gouging going on at the pumps. However, I think the government is just as guilty of gouging as the oil companies.

In Maine, state and federal taxes add $.44 cents to every gallon of gasoline. If Governor Baldacci wants to lower the cost of gasoline in the state, he should encourage the legislature to think about a gas tax holiday. After all, if oil companies shouldn't "profiteer" from high gas prices, neither should the state.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hey, John Edwards

Just. Go. Away.

Please.

No one to sue here.

Plus, the story may not be as black and white as "It's all Bush's fault."

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Lessons From Katrina

This guy doesn't really need the traffic, but this is a great post.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 07, 2005

Filing for Aid? Better Run Windows

Gary Krakow on filing for aid now that you have survived a hurricane, have electricity and a computer. Better be Windows though:

Yes, it turns out that to make a claim with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Individual Assistance Center, your Web browser must be Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 or higher and you must have JavaScript enabled. It even says so right on the page itself. One problem: IE6 isn't available for Macintosh or Linux computers.

Mac user Gary Mullins wrote Monday on the MacInTouch Web site:

"My 90-year old mother sat out Katrina in her brother’s home next door in Diamondhead, MS, about eight miles from the Mississippi coast where the hurricane’s eye hit. They survived without injury but with massive destruction to their homes, and my mother has lost most of her possessions. I brought her to my home in California yesterday and this morning went to the FEMA website to register to start the assistance process.

To my dismay, our Federal emergency agency requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, and only IE 6, to use the website for disaster assistance. I don’t want to be political about this, but this smacks of a serious leadership failure that the use of the Internet is reserved for only the Windows community.”

When reached Tuesday afternoon, a FEMA spokeswoman said they were aware of the problem and had passed it along to their tech guys to try to resolve the issue. The spokeswoman I spoke with declined to venture a guess on when the problem might be solved, however.

Oops. I'm sure they are going to fix that real soon.

Posted by at 05:04 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

First Janet and Justin, Now This?

I actually missed the Superbowl halftime show that featured Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction.' I read about it the next day, and wondered whatever possessed the NFL to think its fans wanted to see two pop stars perform at the biggest game of the year. It didn't seem like a good example of matching audience with performer.

Looks like the NFL didn't really learn its lesson that well. With the exception of the Rolling Stones, all of these performers seem chosen simply for their ability to pull in all-important ratings, not because football fans might enjoy their performance.

What are the chances, though, that one of these guys will make a political comment? I'm betting it's pretty good, which is why a lot of people inclined to like football won't watch this opening extravaganza. I think these guys have a right to their political opinions, but I have the right not to listen to them.

The entertainment world's belief that it can use any platform it wishes to express political opinions is the main reason I don't watch the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, American Music Awards, Tonys, and all the other self-congratulatory ceremonies entertainers love to hold for themselves.

The other reason is that such programs are usually boring.

UPDATE - I hope this guy is right. But who am I kidding? I don't plan to watch the concert anyway. It's all about the football.

Even if I am a (constantly heartbroken) Cowboys fan.

Posted by slublog at 01:04 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Mocking the Media

I meant to link this yesterday, but forgot. John from WuzzaDem has a great satire of the Hurricane Katrina media coverage. A mild content warning is attached, but if you've seen any cable news coverage of this disaster, this parody will ring true.

What bothers me most about the coverage of the storm's aftermath is how opposite it is to the media's mood before the storm. In the days before Katrina made landfall, the media seemed almost bouyant at the chance to cover a huge natural disaster. It's almost as though their reaction to the suffering is due to the guilt they feel over the so close to joy coverage they gave the storm before it caused massive destruction.

But it's late, and I'm probably just reading too much into it. Television is, after all, the eye without a brain.

UPDATE - Part Two.

Posted by slublog at 12:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hewitt: Is Collins Up to the Task?

In a word, no.

Hugh Hewitt wonders whether Senator Susan Collins, who I'm afraid is my senator, can keep a hearing on the federal response to Hurricane Katrina from turning into a partisan witch hunt.

The Republicans on this Committee: Senator Collins, Ted Stevens, John Warner, Pete Domenici, Robert Bennett, Lincoln Chafee, George Voiovich, Norm Coleman and Tom Coburn. Not exactly the nine GOP senators I'd send out for in this situation, but it will Collins' job to make sure these nine don't get rolled by the Dems. Norm Coleman has been a star on the UN investigations front. I hope he gets a lot of assistance from his colleagues in this effort.

The President is going to get flayed by the Democrats in this bunch, with only Stevens, Bennett, Coleman and Coburn as reliable and tough investigators cartain to stand up to MSM slings and arrows. It is Collins' job to make sure that the hearings focus the country's attention on chain-of-command and the mayor's and the governor's roles before they began accusing the feds of being the cause of all their problems.

Collins has already shown she is capable of being rolled by the Democrats, and she's a big-government Republican. Forgive me if I don't have much confidence in her ability to keep other senators from grandstanding and blame-casting.

UPDATE - Captain Ed says the bloviating may turn out to be a good thing.

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September 06, 2005

Steyn on New Orleans

Mark Steyn has a very good column in the Telegraph on Hurricane Katrina, the response and New Orleans.

On 9/11, the federal government failed the people; last week, local and state government failed the people. On 9/11, they stuck to the 30-year-old plan; last week, they didn't bother implementing the state-of-the-art 21st-century plan. Why argue about which level of bureaucracy you prefer to be let down by?

My mistake was to think that the citizenry of the Big Easy would rise to the great rallying cry of Todd Beamer: "Are you ready, guys? Let's roll!" Instead, the spirit of the week was summed up by a gentleman called Mike Franklin, taking time out of his hectic schedule of looting to speak to the Associated Press: "People who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society."

Unlike 9/11, when the cult of victimhood was temporarily suspended in honour of the many real, actual victims under the rubble, in New Orleans everyone claimed the mantle of victim, from the incompetent mayor to the "oppressed" guys wading through the water with new DVD players under each arm.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by slublog at 05:58 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Answering Anne Rice

A few days ago, Anne Rice wrote an overwrought essay about the situation in New Orleans and blamed us for ignoring the city.

The American Digest answers her today.

UPDATE - So does Jim Geraghty.

Posted by slublog at 05:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sloppy Reporting

In "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore took a Bush quote spoken at the Al Smith dinner (where presidential candidates tell joke-filled speeches) and misrepresented it in the movie. He said the quote was made seriously to a group of GOP donors.

One expects behavior like this from Moore. But not from CNN.

Posted by slublog at 01:42 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Maine Host Families

The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina has left thousands of families without a home. State Representative Barbara Merrill has lauched a website called Maine Host Families, which will connect those who need housing with those who can provide it.

If you have a home which you are willing to share for with one or more hurricane victims please open the form and provide the necessary information. On the form you will be able to indicate how many people you would be able to accommodate in your home. The information provided here will be supplied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and reputable relief agencies such as the Red Cross.

Thanks to Tor for the link.

Posted by slublog at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cool

Starship size comparison chart.

Let's just say our space shuttle wouldn't have a chance against, well, anything. (h/t: Ace)

UPDATE - Norden at Deep Space Bombardment has updated the chart.

Posted by slublog at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Penn's Attempt Sinks

Memo to Sean Penn: It was good of you to visit the storm damaged areas in an attempt to rescue survivors. You deserve credit for actually doing something, not just talking about it.

However, next time you may want to leave the entourage at home. A personal photographer? Shouldn't doing good be its own reward?

Kind of tacky.

UPDATE - Tips for giving from a very old source.

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing...

A publicist and a personal photographer are the modern-day equivalent of trumpets. I would be more inclined to believe Penn was doing this for others if he hadn't shown such a willingness to praise himself.

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Question One, Again...

I'm really beginning to dread the next couple of months. I'll just have to avoid local television and the inevitable political ads.

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September 05, 2005

MSM: It's Not Working

The federal government didn't cover itself in glory in their reponse to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, but the mainstream media's coverage of the disaster and its aftermath has been terrible. Excuse me. I should be more specific - the television media has been terrible. For the most part, the print publications have been actual journalism, instead of the hysterical nonsense one sees on Fox, MSNBC and CNN.

One of the major themes in the coverage has been the attempt to blame only the president for the slow response. I believe the media (and those in the opposition party) should wait a little longer to start the blame game, but simple decency has never been a mark of modern politics.

Those who want to see Bush take a political hit from this will be disappointed by this poll. A majority of people aren't blaming the president for this one. I think those looking for political gain in this tragedy need to take a deep breath and a step back. As I've said for a few days, let's take care of those affected before the political posturing.

American Red Cross World Vision Samaritan's Purse

UPDATE - Steve Graham and Ben Stein point out some facts the media and the opposition seem all-too-willing to ignore in their attempts to shift blame.

Oh, and this is just such a bad idea at a bad time on so many levels.

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Labor Day Blogging

Probably won't be much blogging today. Like a lot of the country, I have the day off from work, and plan to spend a good portion of it with friends. Beautiful weather is expected, so there may be paintball in my future.

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September 03, 2005

Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at 80

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Rehnquist, has died.

UPDATE - Susan Estrich is on Fox News right now, saying Hurricane Katrina has harmed Bush's ability to choose a conservative replacement. She's alluding that Bush is a racist and a sexist, because he may now have to pick a minority or a woman, "something he probably wasn't inclined to do before." Classy.

UPDATE II - Chris Matthews on MSNBC says the president will likely resubmit John Roberts for Chief Justice.

UPDATE III - DUers can't seem to decide whether to be worried or angry. Most of them choose angry. Let the conspiracy theories begin! (h/t: Digitalbrownshirt):

How soon do we get the autopsy results to check for "carcinogens"... Makes one wonder it his death was "hastened"... Hope they do a full checkup in detail on this and that Fitzgerald gets to see the results!

He won't get the chance; Must be impeached now. Contact your lawmakers and demand his immediate impeachment (and Cheney's, too) Nobody's going to trust a single thing these people say or do anymore. I've heard right-wingers saying things I've never heard right-wingers say about Bush. It's all over for him.

Bet he died days ago and they are just announcing it now to try and take the heat off bush. One man has died, well guess what, thousands have died and more are still dying.

THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION SHORT OF CIVIL WAR.
Retake Congress in 2006, impeach Bush and Cheney and use a resignation and appointment strategy to get either Gore or Kerry to be Speaker of the House. One of them can then appoint the other as Vice-President. Then pack the court like Roosevelt tried to. Otherwise, it's fascism or civil war or fascism and civil war.

Such class.

UPDATE IV - Brendan Loy has a nice tribute to Rehnquist, from one of the chief justice's former law clerks, on his website.

UPDATE V - Hm. I wonder what David Souter really thought of the Chief Justice? (h/t: digitalbrownshirt)

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An Open Letter to Susan Collins

Senator Collins,

Recent news reports indicate you and Senator Joe Lieberman want to hold hearings on what went wrong with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Given the extent of the disaster and the crisis it caused, and the lack of communication between the federal government and the state governments, such hearings seem in order.

What bothers me about the news of your plans, however, is that you wish to start those hearings next week. As your press release indicates:

The Senators have scheduled an initial briefing by DHS officials for Committee Members and Senators from affected states on Wednesday, September 7th. The briefing will be closed to the media, but the Senators will schedule a press availability after the briefing.

With all due respect, I think you and Senator Lieberman should wait a bit longer. The situation in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is now beginning to stablize. Pulling the decision makers out of that region now indicates that you are more concerned with the past than with the immediate need to provide assistance to those affected by this storm.

There will be plenty of time for hearings later. For now, you and the rest of the Congress should sit back and let the government work. Those who made the initial decisions that caused your concern will still be there when the crisis is over.

Regards,
A Constituent

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September 02, 2005

Kanye - It's All About Me

Kanye West made some inappropriately political comments during tonight's fundraiser, forcing both NBC and the Red Cross to issue statements.

Nice job, buddy. Maybe next time, when you're doing something meant to help other people, you might want to consider not making it about you. If you're invited to do this again, that is. Between this outburst and his temper tantrum at the American Music Awards, West has not exactly impressed America with his discretion.

By the way, I do believe West is entitled to his opinion. But I believe he picked the wrong forum to express his views. If he'd made these comments in an interview or at one of his concerts, fine. But he disrespected the Red Cross by using their event to air his opinions. I hope he at least had the courtesy to make a donation.

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Cry Out To Jesus

In response to the disaster that has struck the Gulf States, Third Day has released the song "Cry Out To Jesus" earlier than anticipated in an attempt to give people stength and hope during this time of suffering. The song is available to download free from the group's website. Very timely and appropriate.

The lyrics:

Cry Out To Jesus

Words by Mac Powell / Music by Third Day

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering

When your lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus

To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

(c) 2005 Consuming Fire Music / ASCAP. All rights administered by EMI
CMG Publishing. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Third Day also links to World Vision, a Christian organization collecting donations to aid the residents of Hurricane Katrina.

You can donate to the Red Cross here.

Posted by at 09:12 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Thank You President Clinton. Seriously.

Captain Ed points out a CNN interview with former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush in which Clinton takes issue with the blame game the media has played regarding the federal response.

CLINTON: Yes, I think that's important to point out. Because when you say that they should have done this, that or the other thing first, you can look at that problem in isolation, and you can say that.

But look at all the other things they had to deal with. I'm telling you, nobody thought this was going to happen like this. But what happened here is they escaped -- New Orleans escaped Katrina. But it brought all the water up the Mississippi River and all in the Pontchartrain, and then when it started running and that levee broke, they had problems they never could have foreseen.

And so I just think that we need to recognize right now there's a confident effort under way. People are doing the best they can. And I just don't think it's the time to worry about that. We need to keep people alive and get them back to life -- normal life.

I watched some CNN coverage today, and it was awful. I know things are bad in New Orleans, but Wolf Blitzer's reports focused relentlessly on the negative. He reported every rumor, every unsubstantiated story and harped on the lack of federal response thus far. The reporting all seemed to have one goal - lay this at the feet of President Bush.

President Clinton, in this interview, called the media on it and rightly so. For this, I thank him.

Now, I think Bush's speech yesterday was lackluster, and the federal response has been slower than perhaps it should have been, but I do realize that this is a disaster on a scale not ever seen before in the United States. And to be honest, I'm pretty disgusted with the reaction of the American left. They seem almost desperate to cast blame on Bush for this disaster - he should have known about the levees, he cut funding for this program or that.

Let's face the facts. Those levees are old. Really old. People have known for decades that they would fail if a Category 4 or 5 storm hit. Despite knowing this, New Orlean's city leaders did nothing to improve the levee system for decades. American liberals who are now screaming about this being Bush's fault didn't seem to care all that much about New Orleans or its levees before the issue became a convenient political club with which to beat the administration.

I find it sad that for many on the left, the first reaction was to pore over federal budgets and look for a way to pin this on the president. I may not be pleased with the federal reaction, but what I really don't like is the speed and the glee with which his political opponents are latching onto a national crisis to score political points.

If you don't believe me, take a look at Michael Moore's site. Yes, there's some links there to charities, but there's much more complaining and Bush-bashing. He's even complaining about the fact that yucky religious people are in there helping out.

PAT ROBERTSON: Bush uses the tragedy to push government partnerships with faith-based groups -- "Government agencies are working with faith-based and community groups to find shelters for thousands of displaced person."

And indeed, FEMA is directing people to donate to faith-based groups, and at the top of their list is Pat Robertson's "Operation Blessing."

Oh no! What if they get their religious right cooties on the food and water they hand out? What will we do then? I'm not a fan of Robertson at all, but come on...how badly do you have to hate a guy to resent the fact that an organization he started is going to help victims of a natural disaster?

I think there may be legitimate questions to ask about FEMA, about the levees, about the response of the federal government and the Bush administration. All I ask is that we do it later. Right now, let's worry about finding homes for the homeless, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and giving the thirsty a bottle of water.

Is that too much to ask?

For some, the answer is 'yes.'

I never thought I'd say this, but nice work, MoveOn.

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Why I Don't Live in Florida

Don't answer the door!

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Something Mindless

I have to admit. The news coming out of the Gulf Coast has been depressing and I just can't watch the news right now. I saw this meme on Bogus Gold and figured I'd give it a shot.

The idea is to get the list of top 100 songs from the year you graduated high school. Strike out the ones you hated, bold the ones you liked. The ones you don't know or were indifferent about, leave plain.

So, here goes. I graduated high school in 1990.

1. Hold On, Wilson Phillips - Boy, this is really kind of sad. I actually liked this song at one point. That depresses me.
2. It Must Have Been Love, Roxette
3. Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O'Connor - Hey, this was a great song. Still is. Sure, Sinead is nuts, but she can sing.
4. Poison, Bell Biv Devoe
5. Vogue, Madonna - Hated the video even more than the song.
6. Vision Of Love, Mariah Carey - Sorry...but this was recorded before she decided singing = showing off your vocal range.
7. Another Day In Paradise, Phil Collins - Sure it's political. But what a great song.
8. Hold On, En Vogue
9. Cradle Of Love, Billy Idol
10. Blaze Of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi - Glad to see he's cut his hair. Too bad his voice still grates.
11. Do Me!, Bell Biv Devoe
12. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Michael Bolton - Criminy, Mike. Butch up, man. Have some dignity.
13. Pump Up The Jam, Technotronic
14. Opposites Attract, Paula Abdul - Two words: cartoon cat.
15. Escapade, Janet Jackson
16. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Heart
17. Close To You, Maxi Priest
18. Black Velvet, Alannah Myles
19. Release Me, Wilson Phillips
20. Don't Know Much, Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville - Vibrato is great, but too much makes you sound like you're singing while operating a jackhammer.
21. All Around The World, Lisa Stansfield
22. l Wanna Be Rich, Calloway
23. I Remember You, Skid Row - Heck, I have this one on my iPod right now.
24. Rub You The Right Way, Johnny Gill
25. She Ain't Worth It, Glenn Medeiros Featuring Bobby Brown
26. If Wishes Came True, Sweet Sensation
27. The Power, Snap - Annoying then, annoying now.
28. (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection, Nelson
29. Love Will Lead You Back, Taylor Dayne - Whoa. Oversing much?
30. Don't Wanna Fall In Love, Jane Child
31. Two To Make It Right, Seduction
32. Sending All My Love, Linear
33. Unskinny Bop, Poison - Huh? What does that even mean? Fat bop? What?
34. Step By Step, New Kids On The Block - If you haven't seen it, rent "Band of Brothers." Donnie Wahlberg's performance will make you forget he was ever part of this band.
35. Dangerous, Roxette
36. We Didn't Start The Fire, Billy Joel - Hey, it was a pretty good song. Really.
37. I Don't Have The Heart, James Ingram
38. Downtown Train, Rod Stewart - Just on general principles.
39. Rhythm Nation, Janet Jackson - Forget the Super Bowl breast-baring. This woman's entire career has been a publicity stunt.
40. I'll Be Your Everything, Tommy Page
41. Roam, B-52's - I don't know why. They've just always annoyed me.
42. Everything, Jody Watley
43. Back To Life, Soul II Soul
44. Here and Now, Luther Vandross - The guy could sing. Not much of a song, though.
45. Alright, Janet Jackson
46. Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice - Heh. Heh. Heh. One trick pony. Plus, he ruined a classic Queen song.
47. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli - Shut up.
48. Have You Seen Her, M.C. Hammer
49. With Every Beat Of My Heart, Taylor Dayne
50. Come Back To Me, Janet Jackson
51. No More Lies, Michel'le
52. Praying For Time, George Michael
53. How Can We Be Lovers, Michael Bolton - Seriously, dude. Your dignity is all you have. Preserve some of it, for heaven's sake.
54. Do You Remember, Phil Collins
55. Ready Or Not, After 7
56. U Can't Touch This, M.C. Hammer - Not the best song in the world, but one heck of a lot of fun. Makes me kind of depressed it's now being used to sell anti-bacterial wipes.
57. I Wish It Would Rain Down, Phil Collins
58. Just Between You and Me, Lou Gramm
59. Something Happened On The Way To Heaven, Phil Collins
60. Black Cat, Janet Jackson - The only JJ song I like.
61. Can't Stop, After 7
62. Janie's Got A Gun, Aerosmith
63. The Humpty Dance, Digital Underground
64. I'll Be Your Shelter, Taylor Dayne
65. Free Fallin', Tom Petty - I still love this song. It was used perfectly in Jerry Maguire
66. Giving You The Benefit, Pebbles
67. Enjoy The Silence, Depeche Mode
68. Love Song, Tesla - Sure, it had some great guitar work. But man, was it boring.
69. Price Of Love, Bad English
70. Girls Nite Out, Tyler Collins
71. King Of Wishful Thinking, Go West
72. What Kind Of Man Would I Be?, Chicago
73. Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over), Technotroic
74. Here We Are, Gloria Estefan
75. Epic, Faith No More
76. Love Takes Time, Mariah Carey
77. Just Like Jesse James, Cher
78. Love Shack, B-52's - Words are inadequate to express just how much I despise this song.
79. All Or Nothing, Milli Vanilli
80. Romeo, Dino
81. Everybody Everybody, Black Box
82. I Go To Extremes, Billy Joel
83. Whip Appeal, Babyface
84. Oh Girl, Paul Young
85. C'mon and Get My Love, D-Mob With Cathy Dennis
85. (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me, Paula Abdul - One step closer to dancing with a cartoon cat.
87. We Can't Go Wrong, Cover Girls
88. When I'm Back On My Feet Again, Michael Bolton - "Why should I change? He's the one who sucks."
89. Make You Sweat, Keith Sweat
90. This One's For The Children, New Kids On The Block
91. What It Takes, Aerosmith
92. Forever, Kiss
93. Jerk Out, Time
94. Just A Friend, Biz Markie
95. Whole Wide World, A'me Lorain
96. Without You, Motley Crue
97. Swing The Mood, Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers
98. Thieves In The Temple, Prince
99. Mentirosa, Mellow Man Ace
100. Tic-Tac-Toe, Kyper

Not the best year for music, was it? Still, this was fun to do and kept my mind of the more depressing news for a few minutes.

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September 01, 2005

Blogs for Hurricane Relief

Hurricane Katrina may very well turn out to be the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. Countless homes have been destroyed, a major American city is under an evacuation order and hundreds of people are dead or missing.

Relief agencies have a lot of work ahead of them, and they're going to need your help. N.Z. Bear, Instapundit and Hugh Hewitt have organized this effort to provide that help. Bloggers around the country are posting links to relief organizations that are working to assist those whose lives have been affected by this storm.

Each blogger is choosing a charity of his or her choice. The charity I'm recommending is World Vision. This is an organization my wife and I have supported for years. It has assisted in numerous disaster situations, and is a good steward of the funds it receives.

Please give what you can to this worthy cause, or to any of the charities listed on Instapundit's list.

Note: This post is future-dated and will stay at the top of the page. Newer posts are below.

Posted by slublog at 11:00 PM | TrackBack

Unbelievable

I'm still getting traffic from people looking for the lyrics of "Sweet Neo Con" by the Rolling Stones. For some reason, yahoo seems to have decided this site has those lyrics.

Nothing profound, but it's pretty darn funny to me.

Oh, and I don't have the lyrics. Pity. Imagine the hits I could get if I had the full song posted.

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My Dear Wormwood,

In your last letter, you inquired as to the nature of our political strength on earth. As you know, it has been the policy of Our Father Below to keep the specifics of such arrangements a secret, so as not to sound the Enemy's alarms. Suffice it to say these relationships do exist, and they have been extremely effective in bringing people into our Father's house.

During one of the conflicts between nations (which they foolishly called a 'world' war), the humans of one particular country installed a leader who looked to Our Father Below for guidance. His incantations and dabbles into the dark arts, not to mention the suffering he caused, made for some truly pleasant times for tempters stationed on earth - oh, the celebrations that were held in the midst of that war. Ultimately, though, that leader's plans did not come to fruition, and he is now residing safely in our Father's house. The wine that resulted from his fermentation is now enjoyed on only the most important of occasions.

The only danger in maintaining connections with human leaders is that, from time to time, our presence will be detected and pointed out by those with motives that do not coincide with our plans. Sometimes, protests are raised by agents of the Enemy and the full power of the Church is marshalled against our forces. At these times, we must simply try to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass.

The other type of exposure is less serious. There are those who, through a peculiar blend of quasi-religious hysteria and political intensity, try to point out the similarities between a particular human leader and Our Father Below. Although most of these humans can be easily dismissed, from time to time, they stumble onto the truth. The human invention called 'the internet' has led to a proliferation of such pronouncements, which are not at all helpful to the plans developed down here.

Fortunately, though, we will always have unwitting allies who are willing to mock the efforts of those who might figure out which world leaders we're pursuing and those we can already count on for support.

If possible, keep your patient ignorant of the truth to be found on the 'internet.' Your best weapons are mockery and sarcasm, so use them as often as possible. The longer you keep your patient in the dark, the greater chance you will have of making our domain his eventual home.

As always, I remain.

Your Affectionate Uncle,
Screwtape

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The Bush Speech

The gang at NRO's "Corner" are griping about the president's speech earlier today. Normally, I'd be suspicious of any reaction out of the National Review crowd, as they are more often than not, the most dour bunch of conservatives one could hope to find. Anyone who remembers the pathetic whining from that blog on election day 2004 will agree - this is not the place to go for instant reactions to breaking news, unless you're looking for the most negative take.

None of them liked the president's speech. For once, I agree with them. President Bush has been off his game lately, and it's time for him to re-engage. The speech he gave this afternoon was terrible. He mispronounced more words than usual and seemed unsure of himself and generally out of it.

It's become a talking point on liberal websites to call President Bush a 'lame duck' executive. While much of this characterization is simply the stuff of liberal dreams, Bush seems determined to prove them right. First he takes a overly-long vacation at a very bad time. While on 'vacation,' he makes some blah speeches, then responds to a huge natural disaster with a laundry list of bureaucratic plans.

I'm a supporter of the president, but he's got to do better than this. His agenda depends on his ability to maintain political capital, and his political capital depends largely on how the public perceives him. Right now, I'm afraid that perception is probably not that good.

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The Paying Gig

My latest Republican Journal column is available online. Regular readers of the blog will recognize it as an expanded blog post.

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