NYTimes Endorses Lamont!

Woohoo! The New York Times has endorsed Ned Lamont in the CT primary, and for all the right reasons. It is not hidden behind that NYT's stupid firewall either. A tease from the editorial:

If Mr. Lieberman had once stood up and taken the lead in saying that there were some places a president had no right to take his country even during a time of war, neither he nor this page would be where we are today. But by suggesting that there is no principled space for that kind of opposition, he has forfeited his role as a conscience of his party, and has forfeited our support.

Mr. Lamont, a wealthy businessman from Greenwich, seems smart and moderate, and he showed spine in challenging the senator while other Democrats groused privately. He does not have his opponent'’s grasp of policy yet. But this primary is not about Mr. Lieberman'’s legislative record. Instead it has become a referendum on his warped version of bipartisanship, in which the never-ending war on terror becomes an excuse for silence and inaction. We endorse Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary for Senate in Connecticut.

The only thing they got wrong in the editorial was where they talked about how Lieberman stood up for women's reproductive rights. I guess they forgot why he is called Rape Gurney Joe by those of us who actually DO support women's reproductive rights. Other than than that, dayam spot on editorial about WHY Lieberman is wrong for CT, and in my opinion, wrong for America. Read it and you will know why this Californian (and might I add life-long Republican) is so interested in the CT primary and why I support Ned Lamont.

(photo courtesy of Ned Lamont for Senate)

Officer Down, San Francisco PD

San Francisco Police Department lost another officer Wednesday. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

The driver of the fleeing van that killed a San Francisco police officer was on probation in two counties, was out on bail on felony child sex and burglary charges and had led police on three high-speed chases in the city last year, court records show.(emphasis mine)


Please take a few moments to honor those who make the ultimate sacrifice. Officer Nick-Tomasito Birco,39, had been on the force five years.

Why Republicans WILL Vote Democrat This Year

From the Huffington Post, a must read. It explains a lot of the reasons that I, a lifelong Republican, am so involved in politics for the first time really since Viet Nam. The author, Pete McCloskey is well known for his many years of service, including a presidential run.

Really, go read the whole thing but here is the beginning of McCloskey's letter:

THE NEED FOR A DEMOCRAT MAJORITY IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN 2007

I have found it difficult in the past several weeks to reach a conclusion as to what a citizen should do with respect to this fall's forthcoming congressional elections.

I am a Republican, intend to remain a Republican, and am descended from three generations of California Republicans, active in Merced and San Bernardino Counties as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have just engaged in an unsuccessful effort to defeat the Republican Chairman of the House Resources Committee, Richard Pombo, in the 11th Congressional District Republican primary, obtaining just over 32% of the Republican vote against Pombo's 62%.

The observation of Mr. Pombo's political consultant, Wayne Johnson, that I have been mired in the obsolete values of the 1970s, honesty, good ethics and balanced budgets, all rejected by today's modern Republicans, is only too accurate.

It has been difficult, nevertheless, to conclude as I have, that the Republican House leadership has been so unalterably corrupted by power and money that reasonable Republicans should support Democrats against DeLay-type Republican incumbents in 2006. Let me try to explain why.

(snip)

Here is the link to the Revolt Of The Elders referred to in the full letter. It has the "Open Letter To The House Leadership" letter that McCloskey refers.

Go read. Go on. It is that important that I'm telling you to leave now and head over to the HuffPo and read McCloskey's letter. Just don't forget to come back :)

Return Of The Fog, Part II

Slept like a baby for 14 hours last night. Low temp was 54 degrees, perfect sleeping weather. Just enough for a light blanket with the windows open.

Won't say that I woke up this morning feeling fine - like that is ever gonna happen. Nothing is fine until I get my morning cup of coffee, thank you very much. But today was a good day. Just took fillo blueberry turnovers out of the oven. Am turning into quite a baker, if I do say so myself. Plump organic blueberries from the local market, where I also picked up the fillo. Thickened up a homemade blackberry-blueberry sauce I made Tue night and then placed a finger-scoop of blueberries on top.

I had picked the blackberries off the bush between my cabin and The Pink House (yes, that is its name for obvious reasons). B-man was kind enough Monday to head down to the creek and river banks and pick a bunch more until the tuppaware container was full. Between the deer and the little girls in the area, you have to get up early to get the fat juicy blackberries.

The Fog Returns - Thanks Skippy

Picked up my lovely Skippy t-shirt and the fog returned! Down to 88 degrees today.

Dayam, if I wudda known that Skippy t-shirts had such good weather karma, I wudda ordered one much earlier in the month. Perhaps I could have avoided 12 straight days of over 100 degree temps.

Not only do the Skippy t-shirts have good weather karma, it was ON SALE, two of my favorite words. My other favorite word is FREE.

Hustle on over to Skippy's and you too can have a good weather karma t-shirt available at the special anniversary sales price only through the end of July.

Thanks, Skippy!

UPDATE: Skippy is one speedy roo. Less than two hours after I posted this and I not only have a comment from Skippy (!) but a link too!! Double wow thanks.

This Is Cooling?

106 today instead of yesterdays 107. The weather dude insists we are cooling but I really don't count ONE FRIGGIN DEGREE much of a change. Miserable is miserable.

Tomorrow, I'm heading up to Placerville for my youngest daughter's graduation from her program. Outdoors but under a gazebo and oaks. It is expected to be between 106 and 111 during the drive up there tomorrow. Placerville is halfway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe and sits at 2500 feet elevation. I'm going to spending a good chunk of my time driving up the Central Valley. Yuck.

But, the good news is baby girl is graduating and taking the next step in her life's journey. I'll miss her (she's headed to school in Utah where her dad is) but we will be in constant e-communication. Once I get this place sold and head up to Oregon and get settled there, I'll either head down her way for a visit or arrange airfare for her to come up to my new place.

The Danger Zone

107 today. Beyond hot and into the danger zone. If it wasn't so hot, I would have Morrison Hotel by the Doors blaring (a warning signal my girls recognize to keep low and to stay out of my line of fire).

These are just some of the items that pissed me off today:

Courtesy of Americablog, I found this link to the loss of yet another government computer with social security numbers : "ALBANY, N.Y. - The names, addresses and Social Security numbers of as many as 540,000 injured workers have been lost, and the state and a contracted company are trying to protect the workers from identity theft. In New York, company and state officials said Monday that the data was on computer hardware that is missing from a secured facility of the company, Chicago-based CS Stars, an independent insurance brokerage."

Also pissing me off is Senator Barbara Boxer, who represents me in the Senate. She has some 'splaining to do about this LIE she used to try to defend her support of Joe Lieberman in the CT Democratic Primary. Jane has video on her post "The Boxer Meltdown" and Digby has the transcript and a great piece up detailing how Boxer got Federal monies to pay for abortions of rape victims. Now she is in CT supporting Rape Gurney Joe.

Here are the money quotes:

Rape Gurney Joe: "Lieberman said he believes hospitals that refuse to give contraceptives to rape victims for "principled reasons" shouldn't be forced to do so. "In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital," he said." (from the New Haven Register)

Boxer (from Digby): It is indisputable that Lieberman said "In Connecticut, it shouldn'’t take more than a short ride to get to another hospital." When asked about this today, Boxer testily replied, "no that's not what he said ... let me finish, because I read about it... what he said is he believes that the hospital has an obligation to take care of the patient and let's say there's a hospital next door ... walk ... get the patient help, that's what he meant."

How Hot Was It?

105.8 in the shade! I think today was the hottest it has been in the almost 3 years I've been up here. No A/C in the little cabin by the creek in the redwoods either. When it gets as hot as it did today, that creek doesn't mitigate the heat at all. I feel like the WWOTW lamenting "I'm melting, melting".

When the day was at its hottest, Token and Goldie were tossed into the bathtub with about 6" of cool water in it. They perked right up after their bath, chasing each other around the house and even venturing outside into the side yard. Naturally, they were kicking up dirt and dust outside, in a valiant effort to get rid of that "just washed" smell.

Bailey is hiding somewhere, hopefully cool. Last night, she showed up around sunset and I expect her to do the same tonight.

Been too hot to sleep. Energy sapped by the heat and the weather dude said it really won't cool down until (sigh) next weekend. People usually come up here to beat the heat but we have been hotter than San Jose for the past 2 days (and nights). Damn. My fake knee is swollen. As the orthopedist said, just the knee joint was replaced and all the original soft tissue damage remained. Double damn it all to hell, I want fog. I want my afternoon breeze back. I want it back into the 50's at night so I can sleep. I want to not feel cranky all the time from feeling sticky all the time.

Trying To Beat The Heat

This is Bailey, sprawled on the back of my sofa tonight. Notice the look on her face and her front claws?

She is hogging the downdraft from the ceiling fan, glaring at anyone who walks by. I'm sure that "skeooowch" she snarls means "I'm wearing a freaking fur coat in a sauna" in cat.

Been right miserable up here in the cabin by the creek. No A/C, just one ceiling fan in the living room and one small swivel fan that travels from room to room. The afternoon sun hits the creek side of my house, so I end up spending the day with the plantation shutters closed up tighter than a drum, trying to keep the heat out. Very limited insulation here due to the vaulted wood beam ceiling. Usually not a problem, except on those days (usually rare up here) where it gets above 90. The natural air conditioner, our normal afternoon breeze, seems to have disappeared and we have been baking for the past week or so.

To top off our hot day today, we now have a humid, sticky hot night. The weather dude said this weather pattern will continue, with even hotter to come this weekend, before we have a chance of cooling off next week. At 627 feet above sea level, I'm above the little amount of coastal fog there is.

Token and Goldie spend the hottest part of the day sleeping on the coolest spot they find on the living room floor. They have yet to discover the coolest room is the bathroom.

Sleeping in the bathtub is starting to sound better and better to this woman "of a certain age" who carries her own personal summer around with her.

Bush's Sexual Harassment

Want to know why German Chancellor Merkel's fists are clenched and Bush is hoping his feet won't fail him now?

Head over to Taylor Marsh's place. She has posted the photos immediately proceeding this one and also provides a link to the video (which proves these were not touched-up or photoshopped).

Merkel looks pissed to me and Bush's blank look tells me he does not understand what all the fuss is about?

Bush is a disgrace. Worst. President. Ever.

Happy Blogiversary To Skippy

Today is the 4 year blogiversary for Skippy and his crew.

The picture is Skippy's logo. He has t-shirts with his logo and infamous *ywctp on sale (his cost!) in honor of it being his blogiversary and all.

Skippy has been a friend to this lowly blog so stop by his place and wish him well. I wonder if he will have cake and ice cream? Hmm, ice cream would be good. 95 in the shade today.

Happy Happy Joy Joy, Skippy, and many more.

*ywctp Skippy coined the phrase blogtopia
**TalkLeft coined the phrase blogiversary

On The Home Front

This is my house as seen from the wooden bridge. You can see the bridge railing in the foreground. My house is the grey one seen through the trees in the background on the left. You can see my kitchen window and the deck is beyond the tree to the right of the kitchen. You can barely see my deck.

This is looking downstream from the bridge. The large tree on the left is the tree seen to the right of my kitchen window above. The water level is down to inches now, where it will stay until the fall rains.

I have been busy surfing the web, looking for info about Oregon. I revisited findyourspot.com and took their quiz again. The cities in Oregon they recommended were Astoria, Lincoln City, Newport, and St. Helens. The first three are along the coast and the fourth is east of Astoria, along the Columbia River about halfway to Portland. These areas are where I have been pretty much concentrating the info gathering.

If any of the 3 or so people that read my little spot in blogtopia* know anything about these areas in Oregon, please leave me a comment with the info. I'm trying to stay within a "reasonable" distance from Portland and/or Salem for medical plan coverage. I've decided that I will rent for a year or so, learning exactly what areas appeal to me and what ones don't.

I'll know the right place when I find it - just as I knew this little cabin on the creek was right. My time here is limited, and I'm enjoying each day but I'm ready to move on and find another place that is right. I have no regrets (other than the getting screwed by both my LTD insurance and Ah-nold's re-do of worker's comp) about living here. Life is about moving on, not stagnating.

*Yes, Skippy coined this phrase.

Plame Update

Well, well, well. Murray Waas has a new article up at the National Journal and it is a doozy. Murray is the only reporter covering the intentional disclosure of an undercover CIA agent, Valorie Plame, by the Bush administration for political reasons. He probably knows only a wee bit less than the prosecuting attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, about the details, and that is only because Fitzgerald's office has a strict "no comment" policy.

Irving "Scooter" Libby has been indicted and it looks like his perjury charges were a result of his trying to keep Cheney's name out of the investigation.

Murray has learned that Bush told prosecutors he directed Cheney to disclose classified information that would not only defend his administration but also discredit Wilson.

Here's a another little tease from the article.

"Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic

By Murray Waas, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Monday, July 3, 2006

President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to people familiar with the president's statement.

Bush also told federal prosecutors during his June 24, 2004, interview in the Oval Office that he had directed Cheney, as part of that broader effort, to disclose highly classified intelligence information that would not only defend his administration but also discredit Wilson, the sources said."

Go read the rest.

UPDATE: Emptywheel at The Next Hurrah has posted her take on Waas' column. She is a Plame expert and was on the Plame Panel at YKOS (with Murray Waas, Jane Hamsher and Christie Harden Smith from FDL, Larry Johnson from No Quarter (former CIA) and "Mr Valorie Plame" (as Ambassador Joe Wilson described himself at the panel).

Emptywheel's reading is "that Dick Cheney ordered Libby to leak Plame's identity. And Bush apparently dissociated himself from that leaking."

Was NSA Spying on American Before 9/11

From Bloomberg:

"Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court.

The allegation is part of a court filing adding AT&T, the nation's largest telephone company, as a defendant in a breach of privacy case filed earlier this month on behalf of Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. customers. The suit alleges that the three carriers, the NSA and President George W. Bush violated the Telecommunications Act of 1934 and the U.S. Constitution, and seeks money damages."