Another Thing to Think About...

We're coming into the final stretch in the campaigning now, and more and more of the polls are tipping Obama's way. Given the Rethuglican proclivity for stealing elections, it will be interesting to see what happens if the vote gets to the point where the R's can't finagle a victory for themselves.

But even if McSame and the MILF manage to pull off some typically sleazy theft, who's to say gee-dumbya and unca Dick are going to go quietly into oblivion? I wouldn't put it past Cheney (since bush is a useless appendage on Biggus Dickus) to greet us the day after Election Day with some sort of terrist attack (or threat, or "gut feeling" or something) that "requires" them to stay in power indefinitely, to deal with "those godless moozlums."

And if it gets to the point where Obama has obviously won, I'd say some sort of desperate, last-minute power-grab is almost a certainty.

Another One for the Blogroll

My Two Cents. Worth the read. Found it via BlondeSense.

'Nother Quickie...

Two more for the blogroll....

Via Firestarter5, The Great Endarkenment.

And, via The Great Endarkenment, Politits.

Quickie Post

One of Watertiger's regular commenters at Dependable Renegade (Ifthethunderdontgetya) referred to Palin as "Bible Spice."

I spit coffee all over the place.

The commenter says he swiped it from Wonkette. No matter who coined it, it's perfect.

A Chilling Thought

Okay, I'll admit right up front that this could be something out of The Twilight Zone, but I think it's worth at least a little consideration.

george w. bush and his evangelical cronies would love to see one of their own take over the White House. That's okay, every politician wants to be followed by another of his or her stripe. The problem is that so many of bush's cohorts are Dominionists, advocating a theocratic government for the U.S. (Kos diarist Dogemperor has many, many postings on Dominionism)*. Among the Dominionists with ties to the current administration are John Ashcroft, Dominos Pizza founder Tom Monaghan (he's also establishing a fundamentalist "Christian" community around his openly-Dominionist Ave Maria "Law School"), former Michigan gubernatorial candidate and Amway heir Richard DeVos, Truett Cathy (head of the Chik-Fil-A restaurant chain) and the Paxton family (of Pax TV).

Dominionists also have ties to other fringe groups: Christian Identity, the Militia movement, Sovereign Citizens (the "Republic of Texas" crowd), even the Klan and skinhead groups. The only thing these groups have in common is a pathological hatred for what this country represented before bush stole the presidency (twice).

The Dominionists are smart enough to realize that, thus far, they do not have a snowflake's chance in hell of getting one of their Talibangelicals elected to the highest office in the land.

So what do they do?

"Submitted for your consideration," as Rod Serling used to say:

Have the GOP nominate for President a man in his 70s, with a history of cancer... a cancer that is quite often fatal. Even without the cancer, McSame would be the oldest incoming President in history. How could they make this happen? Easy. Promise the GOP the fundamentalist/evangelical vote, and threaten to withhold it --or even worse, nominate their own candidate. The GOP is so used to knuckling under to the mouth-breathin', Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup crowd that they'd do it without a second thought.

They get one of their own -- Sarah Palin -- nominated as VP for John McSame. Palin has well-known ties to the Dominionist movement, and has even told interviewers she believes Christ will return to Earth during her lifetime. The right-wing loonie fringe could also point out that a certain (I hope small) number of hard-core feminists would vote Rethuglican to "punish" the Democrats for not nominating Hillary Clinton.

McSame cashes out, either through cancer or just plain old age. And if it looks like he might survive either the full term or -- God help us -- two terms (how's that for a terrifying thought?), I wouldn't put it past them to whack him... with "plausible deniability", of course.

Voila... Palin the Dominionist is President.

Far-fetched? Sure. But so is a lot of the rest of the things that have happened the past eight years.

* If the link doesn't work, go to Daily Kos and search authors for "Dogemperor".

Gotta Love Brooks

I have to admit, David Brooks' column yesterday floored me. Discussing the bailout plan for the financial industry, he says:

It does not rely on any system of checks and balances, but on the wisdom and public spiritedness of those in charge [Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke]. It offers succor to the investment banks that contributed to this mess and will burn through large piles of public money. But in exchange, it promises to restore confidence. [...] The country ... will turn to the safe heads of the investment banks. [...] Government activism will provide support to corporations, banks and business and will be used to shore up the stable conditions they need to thrive. [...] We're entering an era of the educated establishment, in which government acts to create a stable -- and often oligarchic-- framework for capitalist endeavor.

The "wisdom and public spiritedness of those in charge"?!? "Succor to the investment banks that contributed to this mess"?!?

Where's the relief for the thousands of Americans who are in danger of losing their homes? Sure, a lot of them were suckered in by immoral, lying bastards from companies like Countrywide, and conned into taking out mortgages they couldn't possibly afford, but what about the little guy?

Oh, wait... under the current administration -- and most likely under the potential administration of McSame and the MILF -- the little guy doesn't count. Only the rich and powerful count and are worthy of salvation.

Amazing how activist governments are a Bad Thing... until you need one to bail out your richie-rich friends.

Badtux, by the way, has a very good explanation of the technical points of the bailout plan; unlike those promulgated by the economists (on either side), his is easy to understand.

On a semi-related matter, today's Portland Press Herald has an editorial saying it's time for the undecided voters to wake up and start thinking about who will be the next President. It seems to me that Brooks' column should show the little guy where his vote should go.

What Are The Chances?

I was perusing the Detroit News this evening, catching up on the antics of my favorite disgraced ex-mayor and soon-to-be jailbird, Kwame Kilpatrick, when a story from Michigan State University caught my eye. It seems that Mike Robell – purely by chance – was assigned the same dorm room his father had lived in thirty years earlier. Mike’s father Rich Robell suspected it was the same room, and, according to the paper, “the same broken window latch offered some evidence.”

Yes, one could ask what the chances were that father and son would get the same dorm room by chance. But my question is a little more basic:

THIRTY YEARS and you still haven’t fixed the broken window latch?!?

Kwame OUT

Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts and will resign from office effective in two weeks. The plea stems from the "text-message" scandal, in which it became obvious that Kilpatrick and his then chief-of-staff Christine Beatty lied under oath about their sexual affair and the effect the affair had on Kilpatrick's firing of several police officers. The firings led to a (roughly) $9 million settlement by the city of Dteroit. The scandal has since expanded, and included recent revelations that Federal agencies tapping the phones of Kilpatrick's parents overheard arrangements of pay-offs for city contracts. Kilpatrick's mother is US Rep Cheeks-Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick and Beatty were indicted in April on a total of twelve felony counts for perjury and obstruction of justice.

It was also announced that police chief Ella Bully-Cummings is resigning effective immediately, and Kilpatrick's counsel Sharon McPhail will be resigning soon.

Kilpatrick still has to deal with two additional felony counts involving his alleged assault on two poice officers attempting to serve a subpoena on one of his friends.

Okay, Maybe I Fibbed

Having just said I was going to avoid political blogging, I feel it is only fair to mention that McCain's running mate (and, for all we know, future bedmate), Governor Palin, is already facing allegations of corruption. Turns out some of her administration members have been pressuring the Alaska State Troopers to dump a cop who apparently pissed off the Palin clique.

Gotta LOVE them lawnorder, dignituded rethuglicans.

Oh, and in an effort to energize the Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup neocon wingnut idjits, she has a dead bear and a dead crab in her living room, she's a creationist, and she's anti-choice. What's not to love?

Unashamedly, Unabashedly Disgusted

This may be a shameful thing for me to say, but I am completely burnt out about politics. Yes, I know we have an historic election coming up: either we'll have an African-American President, or we'll have a Female-American Vice-President.

I know Hillary is pissed about not being Obama's running mate, but jeez, Hillary, after the way you sniped at him throughout, who could blame him for picking someone else? I know McCain has everybody stumped as to why he picked Palin, but BadTux and Mustang Bobby have that pretty much covered. Obama, in choosing Biden (D-MBNA, as the Kossacks say), seems to have gone for business as usual. And also in the business as usual category, Nader is once again running, and once again, making a Rethuglican victory possible by drawing off votes that probably would otherwise go to Obama (Ralph, baby, please face it: you shot your wad forty years ago; it's time to retire gracefully. You will never be President, and all you will accomplish is the perpetuation of republican-American tyranny).

I just plain do not care anymore.

I'm so sick and tired of hysterical emails from Move On that I hit the unsubscribe button on the last one.

I have no political bumper stickers on my vehicle this year. I have no campaign buttons or anything else.

I'm sick and tired of knee-jerk Rethuglican screaming about Clinton, Hillary, and all the rest of their crap. I'm sick and tired of Democrats bleating about change and not really meaning it.

The only political news that I've been following is the ever-growing number of felony indictments being accumulated by Detroit Mayor Kwame "Thug" Kilpatrick. He's bad enough to make Jersey politicians, Marion Barry and even Spiro Agnew seem good by comparison.

I don't know for sure, of course. Something may energize me to start blogging about poitics again, but I kinda doubt it.

Boston Dog Walks

Since today is petblogging and I haven't written in a dogs age, I thought I would share with you my experiences of the past week. My friend Nina owns a pet walking service down in Boston and was sideswiped by a lab 8 days ago, she sent out the S.O.S and I went down to help. (Please forgive the date stamp on the camera, it was having a brain fart.)

I had a great time, not only with her dog Tucker who is a wise old man.
We would go for evening walks and he would bounce through the fields chasing rocks. By the end of the day he would fall asleep reading the paper.

Then we have the gang that we walked, some a couple of times a week, some a couple of times a day, they are all very sweet and each has their own unique personality.

This is Benny, he likes to troll the water saving any and all drown tennis balls. He keeps the perimeter save for all who enter.

Here below we have Napoleon, name says it all, little guy BIG personality, he always makes me laugh as he keeps up with the big dogs and can run circles around them if he isn't busy flirting with the nearest pretty human he can find. He is a lover not a fighter.

Here are the Motley mutts, Baxter, Rip and Boo. Always on the move, but will sit still for chicken.

I also met a number of other dogs, all are awesome Perdita, Elliot, Fiona, Lucky, Fenway,

Cooper, Kristy, Lilly, Sade, Noel, Twist, and the Cocoa's they all were so much fun.

If any of you that read this live in the Boston area, take you pets to CatRock for a walk they will love it. Just keep your eyes out for glass shards as some anti -dog asshole keeps going through leaving tons of glass shards on the paths, but not to worry the walkers take their poop bags and pick up all that they can find. Just wish the cops would do a sting and bust this person. I'll leave you with a few more pictures... and grab a couple of tennis balls or a frisbee and get out and take your dog for a walk someplace fun this weekend, you both deserve it!

I could not end this with out mentioning Joey, He likes living the life of a country gentleman, evenings are spent doing the lawn ballet with the various bugs. This was his editorial after reading the about my time spent with the pooches.

Trying to Catch Up

First off, let me apologize for the lack of posting the last couple of months. The lovely yet talented Mrs 618 and I packed up all our belongings and left the state of Michigan -- with its varied and unfortunate assortment of lay-offs, corrupt politicians, etc -- and moved halfway across the country, to Maine.

Since then, I have been busy as heck finding a job, buying a car (well, truck, in this case), trying to get a training business up and running, and joining the local volunteer fire department.

It's been a busy couple of months, and not just in the personal life.

Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (who, along with his former chief of staff/lover, are facing twelve felony counts) is still fighting for his political life.

We have lost both George Carlin and Larry Harmon (the most famous Bozo the Clown).

Jurassic Pork seems to have hung up his spurs (again), since "Welcome to Pottersville" no longer exists on Blogger. The folks at Daily Kos are even more into their "we love us, we're the greatest, and the rest of you suck" lifestyle.

On the political front in Maine, Democratic Congressman Tom Allen handily won the Democratic primary for the upcoming Senate election, where he will be facing off against long-time incumbent Susan Collins (who, like John McCain, is considered by a "maverick", but always reliably votes the Bushevik line). s I recall, Allen got more votes than his five competitors combined. Additionally, some recent polls are showing Collins at less than 50% approval, for the first time. I hope to be able to do more writing about the contest over the next couple of weeks.

Emily (our Lab) and Joey (the cat) have settled in quite well. Two people and a Labrador do not fit easily into a double bed. This I have learned the hard way: Emily has kicked my ass onto the more on more than one occasion.

Discovered yesterday that the new Jeep Liberty -- which isn't all that big -- has a 6-cylinder engine and gets 15 mpg. The '99 Chevy Tahoe I bought has an 8-cylinder engine and gets 18-20 mpg. Of course, at $4.25/gallon, it isn't much of a difference.

Well, since it is now ten minutes before 11:00 PM (that's 10:50 PM Celsius), I am going to bed.

The Red Cross needs help

The lovely yet talented Mrs 618 pointed out a story about the Red Cross and their response to the current flooding in the mid West. The article says the organization's Disaster Relief Fund is depleted, and the Red Cross is having to borrow money to continue their relief efforts.

I know some of my readers have had their differences with the American Red Cross over the years, especially after Katrina, but if you should happen to have a few extra bucks -- even five dollars would help -- that you could donate, I would greatly appreciate it. Of course, those affected by the flooding would appreciate it even more.

You can donate here. The Disaster Relief Fund is the first button, but there are other options too.

Please, if you can spare a couple of bucks, they really, really need the help.

Skateboard Ban Contemplated

Today's Portland (ME) Press-Herald carries a front-page story about skateboarders on city streets. Some residents feel the skateboards are a traffic menace, others feel they are a "legitimate, pollution-free form of transportation."

Portland police have started ticketing skateboarders who violate traffic laws in the Old Port and Arts District after business owners complained that a recent ordinance change turned the downtown area into a dangerous playground. [...] The council acted to clarify a newer ordinance that says skateboarders, like bicyclists, can ride on city streets as long as they follow traffic laws.

This is fine and dandy, as long as they follow traffic laws.

Notice how these guys are crouched over. If you were driving a car down a busy city street, would you be able to see them before you struck them? Also, notice the complete lack of common-sense safety equipment, like helmets and elbow and knee pads.

I wouldn't consider that technique to be safe, never mind lawful.

Skateboarders say they have as much right to ride the streets of Maine's largest city as any car, motorcycle or bicycle.

Of course, we all know bicyclists are always 100% law-abiding, right? No one has ever seen a bicyclist zip from the right shoulder to a left-turn lane without looking, right? Bicyclists scare the heck out of me when I see them on public roads, because you never know what they're going to do.

The center of the conflict is a short, steep stretch of Exchange Street, between Middle and Fore streets, that's lined with trendy shops and restaurants. It's in the heart of the Old Port, near Post Office and Tommy's parks, where teenagers and twentysomethings come to hang out and ride.

"Exchange Street is a stage for them," Verner said. "Some of them are incredibly talented athletes."

Most use wider, longer skateboards known as longboards, which are designed for racing and transportation. Shortboards are more commonly used in skate parks. The riders start at the top of the hill, at Exchange and Middle streets, and streak down the single-lane, one-way street, sometimes dodging vehicles and pedestrians along the way.

This guy is just looking to get squished. There's no way the driver of the UPS truck could see him in time, especially if the boarder is dodging vehicles. If he wipes out, he's dead.

Some even blow by the stop sign at Fore Street.

Some skateboarders engage in "sliding." They crouch down and press gloved hands on the pavement to control their movements. The fingertips and palms of the gloves are padded with disks they cut from plastic cutting boards.

Great. Crazy skateboarders, ducking below any possible line of sight, screaming down a steep hill on a city street, then blowing the stop sign at a major intersection.

These are the same "athletes" who ride the handrails at office buildings, jump the stairs at shopping malls, and create pure hell for business owners with "attractive" properties.

And when these idiots get hurt. what do they do?

They sue the property owners for not protecting the boarders from their own stupidity.

If I were on the Portland city council, I would enact an ordinance along the lines of "if you want to use a skateboard for transportation, fine. You must stand upright while doing so. You must also wear protective equipment, including a helmet and elbow and knee pads, since we don't want to get stuck with your hospital bills when you wipe out. If you are "sliding" or otherwise crouched down, you get a hefty fine. You also forfeit your right to sue if you are injured while violating this ordinance."

Equal rights require equal responsibility. If you want to claim the right to use a city street for transportation, go ahead. But a city street isn't a playground, not even for 20-somethings (like the bozos pictured above). You want to show off your skills, go to the playground, and leave the roads and streets for those who take their responsibilities seriously.

Quote of the Day

"Never doubt the courage of the French, they are the ones who discovered snails are edible."

-- Doug Larson, Charlotte (NC) Observer

That is assuming, of course, that snails are, in fact, edible.

"Family-Values" Republican Busted - Part 56,840

Vito Fossella is the Republican Congressman from New York City's Staten Island. As is the case with most "family values" Republicans, Fossella supported the Marriage Protection Amendment (which allows discrimination against gays; personally, I go along with Lenny Briscoe: "Of course gays should marry, why shouldn't they be miserable like the rest of us?"). He also supports posting the Ten Commandments (including the one that condemns adultery).

And like so many other "family values" Republicans, Fossella got busted. In Don Vito's case, he got bagged for drunk driving down in Virginia. He blew twice the legal limit. He told cops he was going to visit his daughter.

One small problem:

The daughter wasn't one of the three kids he had with his wife. This daughter was by his mistress. Oh, and he lied to his wife about his mistress.

Gotta LOVE them "family values" Republicans!

Much-Belated Update

First and foremost, the lovely yet talented Judy Hoffman* has a revised edition of her book Keeping Cool In The Hot Seat. If you ever have to deal with crisis communications -- even if you merely piss off your wife -- you need this book. It shows you how to get your message across without shooting yourself (or your organization) in the foot. Hint: "no comment" doesn't cut it.

Next, the lovely yet talented Mrs 618 and I are getting settled in up here in Northern New England. The missus claimed this was even more like "cow country" than where we were before. True, there are fewer people, but here we can get DSL. I asked about DSL out in Michigan, and the phone company laughed.

Our Lab, Emily, and one cat, Joey, made the trip successfully. Bailey, the "feral" cat who adopted us, apparently understood what a 26-foot UHaul means. He took off two days before we left, and didn't re-appear until the day after we arrived here. Our former neighbors spotted him in their barn, where he has apparently established a residence in the hayloft. They're feeding him, and -- if we go out to visit Mom-in-law -- we may try to grab him then. he does like the lady of the house more than he likes me, so it might work. At least he's okay.

Look for pix of our new world headquarters, coming soon over most of this same blog.

Political commentary, This Date in Fire History, and other popular features will also be returning soon.

*UPDATE (to the update): BadTux pointed out that the link wasn't working. It should be now. Of course, if Blogger still doesn't like me, it's www.JudyHoffman.com.

Getting Settled In... Sorta Kinda

Well, we made it halfway across the country. The lovely yet talented Mrs 618 flew to Boston to visit a friend while mybrother and I completed the packing and loaded the truck, then drove to northern New England.

(Note to self: never, ever, ever decide to drive a 26-foot U-Haul towing a Honda Civic halfway across the country. Especially if the trip includes New York State.)

Noble brother decided it was more important for him toreturn to work than to help me unload the truck. So I did it. All by myself. Bad knees, bad hip, and all.

I thought I was gonna die.

On the other hand, up here in the boonies of northern New England, I can finally get DSL again. No nore dial-up, thank God.

More in a day or so, including pictures of the lovely yet spacious 618Rants World Headquarters.

BTW, a belated Happy Birfday to the lovely yet talented Mr Conservatard! He's now legal in all 50 states.

Quickie Update on Kwame Kilpatrick

Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy announced today that her office had filed a 12- count criminal information (similar to an indictment) charging Mayor Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beattie, with perjury, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and misconduct in office. These are all felonies, with maximum sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years each. Several counts are against both, plus there were counts that applied only to one or the other.

The Detroit City Charter requires the mayor to resign if convicted of a felony.

They turned themselves in at the Sheriff's office this evening. Gawd, I wish Kwame had tried to skip town. I would have loved seeing him do the perp walk coming off a plane or something.

I must now return to panic-pack mode.

Little or No Posting Thru April 15

There will be little or no activity here at 618 Rants through April 15. The missus and I have both been sick as dogs (bronchitis really sucks), plus we are packing for a move halfway across the country.

In the interim, please visit some of the wonderful offerings in Ye Olde Blogrolle.