"Wild thing, you make my heart sing..."

From Crooks and Liars via Video cafe.



Heh. Ol' Hot Tub Tommy's liable ta find 'The Hammer' up a place he's never seen.

Of crackpots, rightists, and wingers: The "conservative" GOP?

P.M. Carpenter with a good read:

I suppose it's only through force of habit that we still use the phrase, "right-wing Republicans," which, like "unsolved mystery" or "free gift," is a tautological offense against our mother tongue -- a distinctive distinction without a different difference. I mean, when was the last time you heard someone refer to a "left-wing socialist"?

The right, the wingers, have come to define Republicanism, and have done such violence to conservatism's authentic meaning as to detach, one would think, true conservatives from their still-principal base of operations: the Republican Party. There is, of course, always a lag in such transformations; it does take time for many to wake up -- Hello? Calling Olympia Snowe & Constituents -- and realize there is no longer any traditional ideological earth beneath them, that they have been floating along on ethereal clouds of fundamental deception, degradation, and devolution.

They are marooned amidst the likes of the lunatic Joe Wilson, whose supreme lunacy has now earned him the select right to sign fundraising letters for the National Republican Congressional Committee; they are stuck with the likes of Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin, who yesterday scribbled that President Obama's educational policy is but "Rappin’, revolution & radicalism"; they are burdened by the likes of Birthers, Swastika-Scrawlers, and Death-Panelers.

To the extent that the Republican Party has -- because of its own intellectually arrested and emotionally unstable reasons -- failed to renounce the above groupings, those groupings have become not merely the face of the party, but its heart. Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, one of the surviving lucid ones, observed the other day that "Right now the Democrats generally get defined by President Obama, and Republicans, who have no clear leadership, get defined by crackpots -- and then they begin to define the Republican Party in the mind of the general public."

Begin? I think we've surpassed that. We're in at least the middle game. Because other words for "crackpot" are rightist and winger -- the inhuman essence, that is, of modern Republicanism.

I generally use more colorful and descriptive terms than 'rightist' and 'winger', but Carpenter is trying to be a gentleman and I'm not.

From the first 'comment' to the piece:

So we're stuck with them. In fact, nutjob media outlets are not likely to be reduced anytime soon, but instead, increase. So the insanity will increase. We have not reached the tipping point. I predict that one year into Obama's 2nd term we may see something that will make us hope we have seen the worst.

These people aren't going anywhere. Their numbers are increasing. And they're getting crazier.

The 'tipping point' may come on the heels of something awful. I hope not.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

country gold 3 ,1991

Country Gold： International country music festval in kumamoto.　japan

Emmylou Harris ~ Born To Run

Thanks to htcountry, Japan.

Why The Regressive Right Desperately Wants To Erase The Bush Presidency

Today's second 'must read', at The Regressive Antidote:

Hey, wasn’t that George W. Bush presidency really fantastic?

You do still remember it, don’t you?

Wasn’t it great? Don’t you have lots of warm and fuzzy memories of it? Isn’t it a shame that he couldn’t have a third term?

Pardon the delay here. The vomit got all down in the keys and stuck everything together...

Which makes it all the more puzzling that the troglodytes of the right seem to have disappeared their former grand hero almost completely these days. Isn’t that odd? They never talk about him anymore, as if he had never even existed. They seem quite desperately to want to vanish him entirely, like the body of some beaten-to-death prisoner at Abu Ghraib.

Hmmm. Wonder why? Wonder what gives?

I’ll go out on a limb here and speculate that it might have something to do with the fact that the Bush presidency was a spectacular failure. You know, a total train wreck. A complete cock-up. A gigantic exercise in FUBAR so bad that nobody wants to be associated with it, anymore than with syphilis or projectile vomit.

But that’s kinda weird given the former adoration directed toward the Caligula Kid. Isn’t that kind of intellectually dishonest? Can it be that the right in America is actually disingenuous? I mean, everyone knows they are destructive, selfish, hypocritical, racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, imperialistic, nasty, brutish and short. But who would have thought they were dishonest too? This is almost more than I can bear!

If you pin a regressive to the wall and torture them (a practice which I recommend as often beneficial for both parties involved), they will do two things to try to stop you from beating them up about Lil’ Bush.

Then you should apologize to the wall.

So playing the Reagan card is the first game used to avoid the horrid little reality of Bushism. But if that particular line of diversionary legerdemain fails miserably, the next thing you’re likely to hear is that conservatives have abandoned George W. Bush because he wasn’t really a conservative.

This is my favorite. Oh yes, indeed.

Long list of his non-conservativity follows.

I know how shocking it can be that regressives are hypocritical or deceitful. Go figure, eh? But, truthfully, this is the biggest whopper of them all. The King Kahuna. The Mother of all Deceits. So big, in fact, that I’m pretty sure that they even lie to themselves about it at the same time they’re lying to us.

Because if they didn’t, here’s what they’d have to admit: We tried their ideology. Big-time. And it totally sucked.

Unless, of course, you happen to like war, recession, environmental destruction, constitution shredding, prejudice, hatred, greed, deceit and failure. Those things enjoyed rather remarkable success, actually.

If only there were national figures within the supposed opposition (that means you, Mr. Happy Face, in the White House) who were willing to label this disaster for what it was, perhaps we might have stamped out the scourge of regressivism for a generation or six by now. But, alas, that would require a modicum of political courage.

Unfortunately, that’s just about the only thing regressives have.

Even more unfortunately, it is often enough to carry the day, even when your ideas are so unequivocally destructive.

Please read the rest.

How to talk to complete idiots

Mark Morford with today's 'must read':

There are three basic ways to talk to complete idiots.

The first is to assail them with facts, truths, scientific data, the commonsensical obviousness of it all. You do this in the very reasonable expectation that it will nudge them away from the ledge of their more ridiculous and paranoid misconceptions because, well, they're facts, after all, and who can dispute those?

Why, idiots can, that's who. It is exactly this sort of logical, levelheaded appeal to reason and mental acuity that's doomed to fail, simply because in the idiotosphere, facts are lies and truth is always dubious, whereas hysteria and alarmism resulting in mysterious undercarriage rashes are the only things to be relied upon.

And now we come to option three, easily the finest and most successful approach of all. Alas, it also remains the most difficult to pull off. No one is exactly sure why.

The absolute best way to speak to complete idiots is, of course, not to speak to them at all.

That is, you work around them, ignore them completely, disregard the rants and the spittle and the misspelled protest signs and the fervent prayers for apocalypse on Fox News. Complete refusal to take the fringe nutballs even the slightest bit seriously is the only way to make true progress.

This also happens to be the invaluable advice of one Frank Schaeffer, noted author and a former fundamentalist nutball himself, who made a simply superb appearance on Rachel Maddow's show recently, wherein he offered up one of the most articulate, fantastic takedowns of the fundamentalist idiot's mindset in recent history. It's a must-watch. Do it. Do it now.

Do it. Do it now.

Thanks to ObamaTheBlackFDR. Worth going to see.

You are not kowtowing to the least educated of your voting bloc, like the GOP is so desperately fond of doing. You are not trying to give the idiotosphere equal weight in the discussion. As Schaeffer says, "You cannot reorganize village life to suit the village idiot." (my em) By employing option three, you are doing the only humane thing left to do: you are letting the idiotosphere eat itself alive.

I wish Morford had written this last week before I yanked Mrs. G's niece's chain by commenting on her 'Palin 2012' bumper sticker. I told her Palin'd better get a running mate because when she quits the Presidency halfway through, Nancy Pelosi would be the next in line. Boy, did that start something!

Trying to talk sense to these yingyangs is like hitting a cripple who can't feel it. It's really easy but it doesn't do a damn bit of good so why bother?

Shake that 'Wild Thang', Tommy!

I don't care what you think of MoDo - sometimes her snark is all that will do!

Tom DeLay was icing his foot and resting his booty.

Even after the somewhat comical visual of what it would look like if he got that backwards, I read on:

It might be a sign of the apocalypse — a frilly Tom DeLay shimmying away from an indictment and onto “Dancing.” It’s certainly a blazing reminder that in our lowbrow-loving, no-attention-span culture, most any scoundrel can do the redemption tango simply by being a good sport.

Redemption, shit. According to Penn Jillette on Countdown, the 'Dancing' gig pays a coupla hunnert thousand bucks!

So DeLay, 62, cutting loose in his orthopedic shoes with the cha-cha and his Texas mugshot grin, was the Lipitor version of the finale of “Footloose.” [...]

“You’re crazier than Sarah Palin!” Bruno shouted when a winded DeLay was done swiveling in a leopard-skin-sequin-trimmed brown get-up.

Sillier, maybe, but no effin' way crazier.

Once the Hammer tried to outfox Democrats. Now he’s trying to outfox-trot Donny Osmond. Once he whipped Republicans relentlessly to keep their votes in line. Now he says he and his daughter have “a strategy to whip the vote” on “Dancing.”

Maybe Hot Tub Tom has a future on TV. I'd like to see him on "Survivor: South Central". Heh.

Better that than politics.

Death In Kentucky

Attytood

I debated whether to link to this story -- it's based on very preliminary information, the kind of information that can often be later found incomplete or flat-out wrong. That said, the details are potentially so alarming that it bears close watching for now:

The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a US census worker near a Kentucky cemetery, and a law enforcement official said the word "fed" was scrawled on the dead man's chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time census field worker and occasional teacher, was found on 12 September in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural south-east Kentucky. The census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay county, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

I worked for the Census in 2000. My job was to verify addresses prior to the actual enumeration. It was a fun job, paid well, and took me into some very remote, as in not easily accessible, parts of my local area of the Sierra Nevada. There were times when four-wheel-drive low range wasn't enough and I had to get out and walk.

Like anywhere, most of the folks I met were very nice and wanted to co-operate. One community was really glad to see me because they wanted their roads paved so they wouldn't have to snowmobile their kids three miles to the schoolbus stop every day.

I met my share of backwoods crazies too. Most of 'em just wanted to be left alone and I can dig that. That's why they lived out there in the first place. One guy, whose neighbors actually warned me about, a prominent cattle rancher who was a leading citizen in a town so small that both city limits signs might as well have been on the same post, thought I, as a federal agent, was setting him up for a visit from a black helicopter! Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little...

That said, I never, ever, felt myself to be in any kind of danger whatsoever. It remains to be seen what effect this incident in Kentucky will have on the hiring of tens of thousands of people for the 2010 Census, and I hope it gets resolved quickly. The Census is very important and is good for us all.

And then there's plain old batcrap crazy:

Even if Sparkman's death proves to be not related to his federal work or even a bizarrely staged suicide, the fact that the FBI was called into the case should be a reminder to any politician whose inflammatory talk even poses the risk of inciting anger and violence against federal workers. This investigation certainly calls to mind outspoken (and often unhinged) Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who was even criticized by fellow Republicans when she said she wouldn't fill out her 2010 Census form because the Constitution doesn't require such information and she voiced fears about a possible tie between the Census Bureau and the anti-poverty group ACORN.

To be followed closely...

My condolences to Mr. Sparkman's family over their tragic loss, but I'm hoping that the answer lies in plain old criminality rather than some right-wing gasbag-inspired teabagger/hater shit:

UPDATE: As promised, more info. The Huffington Post compiles more information on the tragic loss of Sparkman, a popular substitute teacher. As for Clay County, Whet Moser of the Chicago Reader points out that it may be a dangerous place for federal workers not so much because of politics but because of an alarming level of illegal drug activity.

From the link:

"I’d be wary before jumping to conclusions on this: the Daniel Boone National Forest is a hotbed for pot growers and meth labs and archaeological looters (Harper’s—subscribers only, alas) and there’s a distrust of anyone considered connected to the federal government, including Forest Rangers and local cops."

Our Forest Rangers around here are now law-enforcement trained and have gone around armed for the last few years where they never did before for much the same reasons.

Update:

Retired trooper warned census worker to 'be careful'

Cantor's Health Care Plan: Become Poor And Beg

Brent Budowsky

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) wins the award for why Republican favorable numbers on healthcare are barely above 20 percent. Mr. Cantor was recently asked what a woman with stomach cancer should do if she did not have the insurance to pay huge medical costs.

Here is the Cantor plan for middle-income Americans who may have lost their health insurance after being laid off by a company whose CEO might be making a million dollars a year. First, she should sell all of her lifetime possessions to desperately pay humongous medical costs, with the side benefit that this would make her poor, and therefore qualify for health programs for the poor that many Republicans don’t support. If this fails, Mr. Cantor advises the woman to do this: beg.

The Cantor Plan envisions a middle-class woman made poor by layoffs, cancer and skyrocketing healthcare costs begging for charity as a last resort.

The Cantor Plan is a spin-off of the biblical injunction to sell your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. In the Cantor plan, you sell your possessions to become poor, while the wealth is kept by those who profit handsomely from the healthcare system.

Note to my Hebrew brethren: This guy is the dumbest Jew on the planet. He's singlehandedly making you look bad. You should sneak into his crib in the middle of the night and sew his foreskin back on so folks'll think he's just another dumbass wingtard christian fundie. You could sew it around his head.

Historical Inaccuracy By Someone Who Ought To Know Better

This sentence is from an article in Newsweek by Fareed Zakaria, whose opinion I generally value, on Obama's decision to quit rattling Bush's limp little dick sword at Russia by dropping plans to install non-existent weapons on their doorstep:

The timing of the announcement, on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, symbolized the botched diplomacy. [...]

Does anybody but me see the glaring error in that sentence? It's quite obvious to me, but I want to be absolutely sure before I tell Mr. Zakaria (and his editors) that they stepped on their weenies. I'll bet they get thousands of responses.

Update:

I was in error and stand corrected. Thank you, er, Comrade...

Glenn Beck and left-right confusion

A coupla paragraphs from Glenn Greenwald, who knows his shit:

Far more interesting than Beck himself is the increasingly futile effort to classify the protest movement to which he has connected himself. Here, too, confusion reigns. In part, this is due to the fact that these "tea party" and "9/12" protests are composed of factions with wildly divergent views about most everything. From paleoconservatives to Ron-Paul-libertarians to LaRouchians to Confederacy-loving, race-driven Southerners to Christianist social conservatives to single-issue fanatics (abortion, guns, gays) to standard Limbaugh-following, Bush-loving Republicans, these protests are an incoherent mishmash without any cohesive view other than: "Barack Obama is bad." There are unquestionably some highly noxious elements in these groups, but they are far from homogeneous. Many of these people despised the Bush-led GOP and many of them loved it.

Add to all of that the fact that this anti-Obama sentiment is being exploited by run-of-the-mill GOP operatives who have no objective other than to undermine Democrats and return the Republicans to power -- manifestly not the goal of many of the protesters -- and it's impossible to define what this movement is or what is driving it. In many ways, its leadership (both organizationally and in the media) is fundamentally at odds with the participants. How can people who cheered on the Bush/Cheney administration and who want to re-install GOP leaders in power (i.e., Fox News, Limbaugh, the right-wing blogosphere, GOP House members) possibly make common cause in any coherent way with those who are in favor of limited federal government power, reduced debt, privacy, and Constitutional protections -- all the things on which the GOP relentlessly waged war for years? In one important sense, the "tea party" movement is similar to the Obama campaign for "change": it stays sufficiently vague and unspecific to enable everyone to read into what they want, so that people with fundamentally irreconcilable views believe they're part of the same movement.

Shorter: All of 'em are being used by the GOP, who are experts at it, just like they've always been, only more intense. The Repug insiders have only one ideology - to get back in power, and they don't much care how they do it.

There's no confusion on that point at all.

Sorry ...

For my lack of posting the last couple days but we've been having too much fun.

We're on the last leg of the Med cruise, heading for Southampton.

I have a post up from Provence and Barcelona and I'll do a few from the ship in the next couple days.

"...created by Murdoch to conquer death..."

El Rude-o on Crazy Becky and his Beckerheads:

[...] Yes, Beck is tapping into some sweeping discontent in this country, what the Rude Pundit has previously described as pent-up, misdirected rage at the Bush administration, and what he's harnessed and ridden like Slim Pickens on the bomb is the energy that comes with anger. And the fact that Democrats have ceded this fury, often expressed by the least articulate and stupidest among the mob, has led us to where we are with health care and taxation and myriad other issues.

But they have nowhere to go. The problem with the Beck followers is that all Beck offers them is some weirdo ideas about returning to some sort of state of nature, except with Jesus hanging out there, like Utah, one supposes. What they should be directed to do, like the poor back in the 1930s, is to demand more from their government, to demand a truly progressive tax system, to demand safety nets that function, to demand trust-busting and corporate oversight, to demand strong unions and programs that strengthen communities. If this was a century ago, the tea party protesters would be marching to let Andrew Carnegie treat his employees as he saw fit and to give more money to Rockefeller and Vanderbilt (my em).

And the Rude Pundit wants to see Beck fall, hard, back to alcohol, coke. Found with a pile of kiddie porn while fucking a stump whore. Whatever. Cruel? Sure, but these are vicious times. In fact, for real fun, the Rude Pundit asked the Facebook rude friends for their ideas of how Beck will implode and collapse into himself, creating a black hole in Nutzoidland. Here's some of their responses:
-Sheep
-A web clip of him rehearsing his "crying" that ends with him saying "that oughta impress those white trash bastards"
-Video of him snorting amphetamine off of Pat Robertson’s genitals.
-Maybe O'Reilly will falafel him to death for not giving him the common courtesy of a reach-around
-Booze and a freakin' ripped hot dude that's hung like a donkey... just for the added irony
-Hemorrhoid rage
-His other wives come out of the dungeon, more pale and in need of more magic underwear
-Booze and Gannon
-Being discovered masturbating to a copy of Hellcats of the Navy while dressed in full nurse drag
-My guess is that he's a poorly, or untreated, bipolar. His undoing will be something like another suicide attempt or a naked climb up the side of a building.
-Glenn Beck is black?
-Obviously he kills himself and the right blame it on the left hate-machine
-My guess is a combination of gorilla tranquilizers, Japanese manga porn, necrophilia and beastiality
-oh, and possibly cannibalism

It doesn't do to piss the Rude Pundit off. Heh.

Update:

I am now friends with The Rude Pundit on Facebook. This oughta be good. Heh.

Kennedy's Replacement Chosen

FYI, from The Daily Beast

Sorry, Michael Dukakis: Fox News’ Major Garrett is reporting that Paul Kirk has been chosen as the placeholder for the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. Kirk chaired the Democratic National Committee from 1985 to 1989 and was a longtime aide to Kennedy. He is currently the chairman of the board of directors for the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Kennedy’s son, Teddy Jr. and Patrick, are said to have endorsed Smith. An official announcement could come Wednesday afternoon.

OK, I won't ask...and I'll never tell!

Let me just be clear - these are soldiers, not Marines...

Thanks to nateg72480.

West Coast Cruise News

EssEffChron

Mexico to lose most of its 'Love Boats'

As if pockets of trigger- and machete-happy drug gangs and infamy as the cradle of swine flu weren't enough, Mexico is now losing half of its "Love Boat" cruises.

What, no more pockets of trigger- and machete-happy drug gangs and infamy as the cradle of swine flu? Gee, there went my idea of a dream Mexican vacation cruise!

Princess Cruises practically invented the Mexican Riviera — and is credited with jump-starting the modern cruise industry — by starring in the hugely popular TV series. But in the 2010-2011 winter cruise season, Princess will pull out 15 of its 32 cruises in order to beef up Hawaii cruise offerings and add two Pacific crossings between California and Sydney. Though Pacific Mexico will remain a part of Princess' mix, a spokeswoman said passengers were asking for longer, destination-focused Pacific itineraries.

Choosing a cruise, frankly, depends more on the kind of shipboard experience you're looking for than what you want to see of Mexico. Each line has its own personality, ranging from party boats that would put a frat house to shame to high-minded cruises that are the waterborne equivalent of a Starwood hotel. Here's what's available now through May 2010. Prices are for the lowest-grade cabin as of this week and can change in the blink of an eye. Except for noted limited departures, itineraries are available throughout the season.

List follows, with links. Sail away, ladies, sail away.

Quote of the Day

From the tune "Daddy Played The Banjo" sung by Tim O'Brien on Steve Martin's The Crow: New Songs For The 5-String Banjo album, I think this line explains a lot about the less-than-reality based yingyangs we so strongly disagree with:

"...memories of what never was become the good old days."

It's kinda like my memories of my motorcycle racing career - the older I get, the faster I was...

CA OKs petition drive for pot legalization

EssEffChron

Two prominent East Bay marijuana advocates got clearance from the state today to try to put a pot-legalization initiative on the November 2010 California ballot.

Richard Lee, executive director of the medical marijuana dispensary known as Oaksterdam, and Jeff Jones, former director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, are the sponsors of a measure that would allow anyone over 21 to possess or grow marijuana for personal use. It would allow each local government to decide whether to tax and regulate marijuana sales.

The secretary of state's office approved the initiative for circulation along with a similar measure sponsored by John Donohue of Long Beach. Each needs at least 433,971 signatures of registered voters by Feb. 18 to qualify for the November ballot.

The Lee-Jones initiative would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Lee says it would generate billions of dollars in tax revenue.

Good. Where do I sign?

Prescient Reagan Solves America's Financial Woes!

America's Finest News Source

WASHINGTON—In what government officials are calling a stirring testament to the leadership and foresight of late U.S. president Ronald Reagan, nearly $20 trillion in low denomination bills were discovered this week buried in the White House Rose Garden.

Sealed in hundreds of old mason jars, crumpled shoe boxes, socks, metal tins, and oven mitts, the financial windfall is believed to have been stashed away by Regan, then 76, during his second term.

"Everything is here," added Obama, standing among the towering stacks of money, as well as several other items that were uncovered, including three dozen toothbrushes, multiple tire hubcaps, two teddy bears, and a broken desk lamp. "This truly is a tribute to Mr. Reagan's incredible presence of mind."

While the White House has indicated that it has the right to spend the recovered money and instantly bring the country out of its prolonged recession, others believe that such an act would defy Reagan's wishes.

"If President Reagan hid the money there, it was for a good reason," Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said. "Perhaps he was creating an anticommunist slush fund. Or perhaps, as one of his notebooks stated, he was hiding it from invisble pirates. Either way, we must not taint this great man's legacy by spending these precious funds on trifling social programs. If anything, we need to preserve Reagan's memory by sinking the entire payload into an unviable space-based antimissile system."

Regardless of the final allocation of the uncovered trillions, most Americans are simply marveling at the late president's astounding feat.

"When he said he wanted to put money back into America, I didn't think he meant it literally," Maine resident Michael Stargeon said. "I guess the poor man wasn't as crazy as everyone thought. Turns out he was a complete fucking lunatic."

There is nothing I could possibly add. Heh.

What's The New "K Street"?

HuffPo

On Monday, LobbyBlog asked readers to submit new nicknames for the lobbying industry after the Washington Post declared that "K Street" is "soooo Clinton-era." Readers obliged with over 100 suggestions (and counting) in the comments section.

So, thanks for Bribery Boulevard, Crooks Corner, Greed Gulch, Huckster Highway, Lobby Lane, Pickur Pocket Place, and Pork Parkway, but let's not declare a winner just yet. (Also thanks for Fleece Street, Palm Crossing, and Hector Sector, and for the strange "Public Buggering Street" and "NEVER FORGET Avenue.")

Keep the suggestions coming.

Of those quoted, I like 'Pork Parkway' and 'Palm Crossing', but there are many, many more at the 'comments' link.

Personally, I would like to see K St. referred to as a 'Fire Mission' or 'Air Strike', but that's just me.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Experts: Health Care Bill Too Long
Unless whittled down to 140 characters nobody will read it.

Archeologists Find Sharpened Knives Dating Back 164,000 Years
About same time monogamy was starting to catch on.

Also about the time some husbands began sleeping with one eye open...

Many Don't Want Health Insurance
If forced to get it, they'll move to Canada.

Study: Teen Birth Rates Highest in Most Religious States
Conclusion: Saying “Please, God, don't let me be pregnant” doesn't work.

Florentine Pogen* ...

My post from Florence is up at Worlds.

Off to drinks and dinner. We spent today in Provence and I'll have that up after Barcelona tomorrow. Later ...

*Apologies to Frank Zappa.

Roma ...

Sorry for the delay (we've been running like idiots) but I finally got my post from Rome up.

Also, a few observations on cruising.

We've been on a whirlwind for the last couple days, the Mrs. is already asleep and I'm gonna join her real soon. Monaco tomorrow and I hope I'll get some stuff up from our trip to Florence today then.

Later.

Headline of the Day

Obama to Redeploy Missile Defense Along the Mason-Dixon Line

I feel better now...