Calblog

Try this

I never learned to type. When I was in high school, a progressive school for girls who were, um, "gifted", there was a philosophy that women who typed, regardless of education or position, were used as the office secretary. When I was in college and worked in the office of the President of the University, a woman who was a VP, told stories of just that happening to her. (before I malign my alma mater, let me note that I think the stories happened earlier in her career before she got to that office).

At the time, we didn't foresee the personal computer, much less the internet, and had no idea that, in the future, we'd all need to type. So, like many of you, I have learned to type without much formal guidance. Yes, my fingers start at the right keys and I generally use the right fingers on the right buttons. I look at the keys though and my technique is far from perfect.

Ever wonder how fast you type in that selfevolved manner? Try this online typing test. I scored 40 wpm though my mistakes took it to 34 wpm. That's about the same speed as the last time I tested in the early 80s.

2003

I am not reviewing 2003. It was a tough year, with the exception of the blog. So if you want to think about the year in review, check out a compilation of Best and Worst lists at Blogcritics.

Secret Santa in Blogland

OK now you're all just messing with me. Two people have gotten TWO Secret Santa presents each. Which is fine unless 1. someone has gotten none OR 2. one of the presents is a crazed stalker posing as a Secret Santa. Noncrazed stalkers are allowed and maybe even welcomed.

If you have sent extra presents or have any reason to believe that you have caused one or more of these situations, please check in.

How can 11 people cause this much confusion?

Dream House

MSN has a list of dream houses. Here's mine:

8. The Gates House, Medina, Wash. The house that Microsoft founder Bill Gates built for himself and his family is a case study in technology as ornament, not to mention every geek's idea of a dream come true. Meant to sit lightly on the land — Gates hired Seattle James Cutler, an architect known for eco-friendly approach, to design it — the house's exterior is less imposing than you might expect. But the interiors are by designer Thierry Despont, the king of opulence. And the ways in which the house incorporates technology are legend: Regular visitors are given electronic lapel pins, for example, that let the house's entertainment and climate-control systems know where they are at all times, so that music, temperature, and other features can be tailored to their preset preferences. One question: Does Gates have a master remote?

I can see it now: "Computer, locate Calblog husband."

Dead Pool 2004

If you have ever considered entering a dead pool, do it. The pool at Amish Tech Support closes in 2 days. Never mind the cool prizes (and there are a lot of them) or camaraderie with your fellow bloggers (there are a lot of those too). If you don't enter, at some point in 2004, someone famous will die, like this, and you will say to yourself "I would have picked them." Mark my words.

False Alarm

Yesterday morning, they said a huge storm was moving in on So Cal. It was worse than the Christmas Day storm, which caused the fatal mudslides. By early evening, they said most of it would be offshore and we'd get as much as Christmas Day but not the predicted deluge. The storm has now passed and we got very little. Not what I would call a storm.

I don't understand how weather predeiction can be that unreliable. I understand that it's harder to predict CA weather than the East Coast weather. Weather moves west to east and there arre few weather observation stations on the Pacific Ocean. Once the storm has hit SF and is only a few hours away, you'd think by now, we'd have the ability to predict.

Secret Santa in Blogland

I've enjoyed Secret Santa, although it wasn't as big a hit as I thought. I'll put it together next year. There's some dispute or confusion about how or when or if the Secret Santa should be revealed. So I won't reveal anyone until they out themselves. I do know who got a present for Xrlq and I love the present. He has acknowledged receipt but we're not sure he loved it. Perhaps a little too teasing.

Amanda received her present today. I don't know if she likes it yet but I love it. Her Secret Santa, without any direction, got her all my favorite books when I was her age. A Wrinkle in Time and the Narnia Chronicles. Can you believe they have the Narnia Chronicles in a single book now?

I haven't gotten mine yet (my Santa warned me it was delayed) and Madeleine's is wrapped until I bring it home to her.

I hope everyone else who participated enjoyed it.

Airline food

Here's a link worthy of Lileks. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that he's linked to it long ago. Pictures of airline meals all the way back to the 50's.

Dems on Dean

I don't really have the patience to analyze the attacks on Dean by his fellow Democrats. It doesn't matter to me which Dem gets nominated and, I agree with Calpundit that the infighting happens all the time and rarely hurts the party as predicted. If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, Hugh Hewitt does an excellent job of walking you through it.

Enquiring Minds want to Know

Here's an LA Times story missing some information.

A woman unhappy with a Christmas present from her former stepmother was arrested Sunday along with her boyfriend on suspicion of arson for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into the ex-stepmother's Hermosa Beach home, causing $200,000 in damage, police said. . . . Wolcott said Nason was upset because she thought her former stepmother's Christmas present was inadequate.

Don't you want to know what the present was?

Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile is a gorgeous movie. Julia Roberts is a gorgeous first-year Art History professor in the gorgeous surroundings of Wellesley college in the 1950's (the 1953-54 academic year tobe exact). This being the 1950s, the girls who make up the all-girl student body are all well made-up at all times, even when hanging out in the dormitory with their hair in curlers.

In the post-war 1950s, America apparently encouraged women to leve the jobs they took during the war to return home so the men could take the jobs. I've always wondered whether that encouragement was as pervasive or as successful as we've been led to believe. That question must wait for another time because there's no question about it in this movie. Society has demanded it and each and every Wellesley woman has accepted it and so the school's entire mission is to turn out women who are well-educated charming supporters of their husbands.

Roberts' character arrives completely unaware of Wellesley's mission and unwilling to bend or conform. All of it is well-done. We feel Roberts' shock as the school nurse is in trouble for handing out birth control. The fact that birth control was illegal then is given mere passing mention. No one talks about liability. Instead, it is a battle between "progressive" and "oppressive". We feel her pain through difficult relationships and her frustration when the students' fail to recognize or take her lifeline.

In the end, though, nothing changes. The students who change do so because their efforts to conform failed. Roberts' character learns that she doesn't fit in but doesn't learn how to meet her needs and do what she loves. It's presented as a success but to me, it felt hollow.

Arnold's New Year

It's been nice these last 6 weeks. The recall ended sucessfully and Davis bowed out gracefully. Then Arnold arrived. Despite the predictions of doom and gloom (remember the day Arnold pronounced that things were worse than he thought and the left leaped with joy>), the first six weeks have gone well. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it a honeymoon.

In just six weeks in office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made bold, politically popular moves that have drawn cheers at public appearances and well-choreographed press conferences. The new governor delighted voters by cutting the hated car tax, appeased panicked mayors and sheriffs by doling out state money to local governments, and forged relationships with lawmakers by handing out cigars.

It has been good. With little to complain about, this blog has slipped into lethargy. Lethargy punctuated by chickens.

Of course, the Chronicle informs me, it is all about to end:

But the adulation and good will may disappear next month, when difficult, unpopular choices are due. Schwarzenegger faces a budget deficit, estimated to hit $14 billion, which is larger than the hole that Gov. Gray Davis left when he signed his last budget deal this summer.

Don't you believe it. I don't know what he's going to do but I expect it will not decrease the adulation. I think the populace likes strong leadership and will follow wherever he tells them they have to go.

This will get Bush . . . Really

We got Saddam. We got through Christmas without a terror attack (possibly averting one by focussing on those Air France flights). The economy is doing well. So what will derail Bush? Ater all, somrthing has got to derail him right? The Washington Post has it. Mad Cow Disease. That'll do it.

The discovery of mad cow disease in the United States could shift the political landscape at the start of President Bush's reelection year by injecting uncertainty into a fragile economy and drawing scrutiny to his handling of an industry that was a financial and political ally in the last election, analysts in both parties said yesterday.

Blogging the Future

Daily Pundit takes blogging and interactivity to the next level.

Once the kinks are worked out, I will make it possible for those of you who have photo-phones or similar thingamabobs to post your pictures and commentary instantly to Daily Pundit. In fact, if any of you are interested and have the ability to send email images in that way, get in touch with me. I'd like to work out a trial run or two and see how the posting script handles different info appliances.

It's clearly time to get rid of dialup at home (which requires admitting that retaining dialup has not reduced my internet time). It may also be time for a picture phone. I've never been one for pictures and haven't owned a camera since I was about 10. Yet I've been borrowing the girls' digital to post chicken pictures. I can see the advantages now to a picture phone and if I can upload to Bill's site before upgrading my own . . .

Terror Watch

It seems to me that we ought to make news of the terrorists' failure. So far, we have more of the "usual" -- a bombing on an Israeli bus, explosions in Baghdad, and an assassination attempt on Musharraf.

Frankly, I think the attack on Musharraf is the most important. I have an theory (concocted in my head and only there) that it means we are getting close to Osama in that no man's land between Pakistan and Afghanistan and his supporters are trying to create chaos in Pakistan to make it harder for us.

France has grounded 6 flights and maybe that prevented something and maybe it was just an overreaction by the French.

Still, we continue to travel and shop and go to services.

The Target Exception

I've started using my passport as id. Never mind what I've said before. The real reason is that it's easier to locate my passport in my far too roomy purse.

Christmas shopping at Target, I presented my passport. The clerk informed me that Target doesn't accept passports. She needed to see my driver's license.

Troubling News #2

From Wired via Hobbs Online:

If I give a speech and the blog people don't like it, next time I change the speech."

... Naturally, bloggers everywhere are thrilled. Even those who hate the candidate love the way the campaign is being managed.

Troubling News #1

From The Sun via Chronwatch:

Barmy BBC bosses have banned reporters from calling tyrant Saddam Hussein a former dictator.

Instead, staff must refer to the barbaric mass murderer as ''the deposed former President.''

What If . . .

there is another terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11? Now I know we're "free people" and I'm supposed to go about my life as normal. Usually, I'm willing to listen to Rumsfeld. I can't help but wonder.

How will the political landscape change? Will the country still support Bush if the activities of the past two years haven't prevented another attack? Would they really switch to a Democrat who is not promising any more security?

How will security measures increases? How much more inconvenience? How much more curtailment of liberty?

What I think about most though is whether my personal feeling of safety will change. After 9/11, as horrified and depressed as I was, I was able to remind myself that the odds of being attacked were slim. Even flying continued to be safer than driving. Will I be so rational after a second attack? Will you?

New Bear Flag Member

Put your hands together and give a big Christmas Eve welcome to The Lopsided Poopdeck.

Recommended Reading

Boi From Troy is putting up good stuff. A sampling:

A roundup of earthquake coverage. In my Pasadena office, it felt like the 89 SF earthquake -- strong and far away.

A Bear Flag Roundup. A new member will be announced today. Who will it be? Why doesn't this rival pre-Oscar excitement?

Finally, a shocking survey that a plurality of respondents think consenting homosexual sex should be illegal, including a huge percentge of Democrats.

Now?

Gary Condit has sued the tabloids for defamation for suggesting he had something to do with Levy's death. Usually these cases end up settled but I'd like to see this one tried.

What I don't understand is why now? I thought defamation was a one year statute of limitations.

How to screw up a lunch

1. pick a place you're really familiar with so you end up being a creature of habit

2. Don't hand out your cel phone number

Having recently enjoyed meeting Bearflaggers Ith and Xrlq, I decided to meet someone with a normal name like Patrick. Patrick's latest travails through the neighborhood stores made me realize that he lives very close to my office. So we arranged to meet for lunch at PF Chang's.

Instead of things like cel phone numbers, Patrick pointed me to his picture. Well, it's time I confessed, when it comes to pictures, I'm basically an aborigine. Pictures in 2D and people in 3D doesn't work. Every single white male that passed me, of varying heights weights and ages all looked like Patrick to me.

I had the good sense to attach the BFL Christmas ornament to my purse. Hint to other potential meeters: in a crowded restaurant in a mall, a BFL ornament is a minimal amount of good sense.

I love PF Chang's and head there at least once a week. I always bypass the outdoor hostess and head to the indoor hostess. The indoor hostess is less crowded and there's no smoking indoors. All very sensible. It never occurred to me that Patrick would wait outside. After all, a sensible person would present themselves to the first visible hostess.

So I stood inside for 20 minutes. It started to fill up because there were Christmas lunches. So I decided to grab a table. So I left the Bear Flag ornament at the hostess desk. Hint to other potential meeters: in a crowded restaurant in a mall, a BFL ornament is a minimal amount of good sense.

I never saw Patrick. He waited outside for 40 minutes. He did come in and use the restroom at some point. I still couldn't tel you which of the three people that came in were him. Yes, I was watching all of them. Yes, I had studied his picture. I'm hopeless.

So we never met. I ate lunch alone and Patrick got some So Cal sun.

Patrick, after the holidays, I'll make it up to you.

Blogging Down

Blogging will continue to be light. Perhaps my upcoming blogiversary will inspire me. Between chickens, a kitten, 2 girls home from school, and that little thing known as my law practice, I seem to be distracted these days.

Sunday Chicken Blogging

These chickens are growing like they are infected with radiation. The bantam breeds are starting to look like a fine idea. The chickens are only one month old but they were sick of the downstairs shower. They had also finished their bag of of starter food.

So this city girl broke down and assembled the coop. The chickens are very very happy -- as are the cats because the coop sits in front of the patio doors. No cat slept last night.

Before they got into their new coop, we let them explore the yard. Here they are. I think we have one rooster and two hens. I am hoping beyond reason that the rooster never learns to crow so we can keep them all.

Stranger than Fiction

The maker of the video game Grand Theft Auto is in trouble with the SEC.

Better Read than Dead

Check out the Bear Flag League prize for the Amish Tech Support Dead Pool.

Survivor All-Stars

My usual trustworthy source for Survivor gossip, Survivornews.net, is down and has been for at least the last couple of days. I'm hoping it comes back and the reason is benign. Fortunately, other sources have reported the original Survivornews list of All-stars:

Survivor – Richard Hatch, Susan Hawk, Rudy Boesch, Jenna Lewis

Survivor: The Australian Outback – Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey, Tina Wesson, Amber Brkich, Alicia Calaway

Survivor: Africa – Ethan Zohn, Tom Buchanan, Lex van den Berghe

Survivor: Marquesas – Rob Mariano, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien

Survivor: Thailand – Shii Ann Huang

Survivor: The Amazon – Jenna Morasca, Rob Cesternino

Survivor: Pearl Islands – Rupert Boneham

Guestblogging

Guestblogger Maddy a.k.a. "One of the Calblog Twins." Never heard of me? Click here. Anyway, today I am guestblogging on my blog. Yeah, anyway, hi. So here's the deal: Last Week my sister stayed home ALL week, and 2 days this week. She's not sick. Even my parents know. At 11:15 they're was a phone call, apparently the school consuler wanted to see Amanda, Mom, and Dad about Amanda. Mom and Dad filled me in: hears the 411 -> Amanda doesn't wanted go to school because of something, they of course, think its MY fault. My math teacher is real worried too, "I mean Amanda needs to come to school. If she wants too, she can always hang out in my room." Everyone's real worried about her. Ok, well, Maddy signing off~

Maddy :)

Home Again

Another trip done, this one highlighted by dinner with Ith and Nin. A late chicken blogging will be up later today, along with a list of rumored Survivor AllStar entrants.

Meanwhile, I'm off to explore the blogosphere in search of the first post announcing we got Saddam and the real fun: the last post declaring we'll never get him. Suggestions welcome.

Search Terms

Something's going on. When Gloria Allred filed suit against Arnold Schwarzenegger, blogs started getting a lot of traffic looking for Rhonda Miller. Today, I have a flood of hits looking for Tommy Chong in jail, even though I posted that over a week ago. I don't know what prompted the rush.

Flu

One of the children appears to have the flu. I say "appears to" because although the drs say she may well have it, she has not been tested for it. Keep that in mind when you read articles like this in the LA Times, suggesting there is no flu epidemic in this state.

Arnold's first big win

Cross-posted to Political State Report

The Legislature has passed and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill designed to get the budget back on track. First, there will be a $15 billion bond on the March ballot. The bond will be used to pay off the short term loans that the state took out to deal with the deficit this year.

The bond does not significantly increase the state's debt. It is akin to a home equity loan designed to consolidate your credit card debt. If you do not use the credit cards again, the better terms will indeed get the budget under control. In addition, the bond addresses the question of whether the borrowing was legal or not. A bond will have no such challenges. In addition, there will be another constitutional amendment on the ballot to limit spending, to keep those "credit cards" under control while we pay off the bond.

In getting the deal passed, Schwarzenegger appears to have gotten the bipartisan support he promised he could deliver:

He won praise from the Legislature's most powerful Democrat. The budget deal was "about as good a bipartisan effort as I've seen since I've been around here all these years," said Senate President Pro Tem John L. Burton (D-San Francisco).

The challenge still remains to implement a budget within those spending limits that are so necessary.

Friday Catblogging

You love Friday Catblogging on Calpundit. You wish you could have a cat. You're concerned that you would not get one of those cute adorable sweet ones. Well, your problem is solved.

Xrlq (pronounced Jeff) and his wife, Fwgbg (pronounced Heidi), rescue kittens too young to be adopted and hand raise them, feeding them with a bottle. Handraised kittens are the sweetest of things. Last week, they had two ready for adoption, siblings that looked exactly alike to everyone except my daughter Amanda. We adopted the one she deemed cuter. Here's pictures of him and you can adopt his twin. There are two more who are too young still and will be ready for homes after the new year.

There are two ways to adopt an animal. One is to decide you want a cat and go looking. The other way is to take advantage of the opportunity to adopt an adorable creature. We used to do the former. Now we do the latter. We have a few more animals than Calblog husband would like but they are all pretty wonderful.

Exodus Continues

Aaron's Rantblog has moved off blogspot.

Who's Playing

Here's who we have so far:

The co-sponsors, e-Claire, Irish Lass, and Ith.

Admiral Quixote

Julie Neidlinger

Confessions of a Political Junkie

Xrlq

and both of the Calblog Twins

As you can see, we're a nationwide group, not just BFL'ers, but we need more non-BFL'ers to reduce the incestuousness familiarity. Email me to sign up.

UPDATE: And Interocitor!!! I knew that. He was one of the first, maybe the first to sign up!

How much are we borrowing?

First, Davis put through a $10+ billion bond to "balance" the budget. There was some serious question, yet to be definitively resolved by the courts, whether it was legal. Then Arnold wanted to put a $20 billion bond before the people. If the people approve it, the legality question goes away. The size, however, prevented the support of the Legislature and then Arnold returned to the $10 billion questionable bond.

This morning, California Insider, who is patient enough to follow this story, says we can expect a $15 billion bond.

I know the bond causes screeching from all ends of the political spectrum, but as I have said before, it's the equivalent of taking a home equity loan to pay off your credit cards. You already have the debt. California already has the debt. You're making it easier to repay. It works IF you repay it and don't incur more credit card debt. I still think that Arnold is less likely to incur new debt than Davis. I'm not sure I'm comfortable saying he won't, now that he's backing off on other promises out of necessity, but I still think he's less likely.

California Insider also has the summary of Arnold's other problems.

UPDATE: Changed the millions to billions. I have trouble dealing with billiions before breakfast.

New Bearflagger

Yep. Another One Rides the Bus. Welcome to Below Street Level.

Secret Santa Comes to Blogland

We have 9 people already and I still have one more daughter to sign up. Yes, that's right -- both of the twins are participating. They are using their own money and shopping for their own giftee. We draw names on Monday so there's plenty of time. Yes, it's one more present to shop for but you may get a present from xrlq and then you get to share with the blogosphere his taste in shopping!

Email me to join.

BFL Roundup

I am way behind in my "compulsory" posting -- the links to stuff my readers are likely to read. So the BFL Rounduop has been up for days and I have already read it and used it to read the posts it links to. Did I bother to let anyone else know about the roundup? Noooooooooooooo. WHAT was I thinking?

Go visit Miller's Time and tell him I said hi.

Moving Time

Seems to be a lot of moving going on. Adjust your blogrolls for:

Patterico's Pontifications

and

Confessions of a Political Junkie

Carnival Time!

The Carnival of the Vanities is Up!

Maybe I'm naive

Ronald "two Chinas" Reagan would never have pulled this.

Sympathy Time

Xrlq's been injured, so much so he can't remember seeing me two days ago. I say it's all a ploy for votes in the Weblog awards -- after all, forgetting me? -- but just in case, it isn't, send him those sympathy votes anyway.

Coming of Age

Oh, look, my baby's in her first blogwar with someone who's had a blog for all of three days.

UPDATE: Apparently, my bright daughter has resolved her blogwar after one day by speaking nicely to the other girl offblog.

Secret Santa is Coming to Blogland

Yes, that's right. Buy a present for another blogger and a different blogger will buy a present for you. The only qualification for joining is that you have a blog and you will talk about the Secret Santa gift you get on your blog. Ebay is running the group machinations for us here. There is no requirement to buy a gift on ebay though. You can sign up by emailing me or one of my cohorts, Irish Lass, e-Claire and Ith. Include your blog address and a valid email so we can email you the "invitation" that lets you join the group. If you want to encourage others to join, add the graphic below to your site The more the merrier and we'll split participants into more than one group if we get too many.

Born with my father's name

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

Via Interocitor.

Another View of Islam

I'm proud to be linked on the Cultural Institute of the Italian Muslim Community. Any contribution I can make to interfaith communications and I'm all for it.

Campaign Announcement

Let's talk about the Large Mammal Weblog awards. I now have enough votes so I am not embarassed so I toss my suppory to damnum absque injuria. A massive campaign may create some movement and give Roger L. Simon something to think about!

The software now lets you vote every 12 hours and I ask that you do so!

Patterico and e-claire are in the next category, Marauding Marsupials. Either could win so vote your heart.

Another Blogspot Refugee

Priorities & Frivolities has moved off Blogspot and he is VERY happy. Adjust your links accordingly.

Make Your Own Snowflake

This program is a lot of fun without all those little papers to clean up. Hat tip: Ravenwood.

Welcome to St. Bloggersburg

I've arrived. I am the Justeniya Hotel.

Dead Pool

I've joined the Amish Tech Support Dead Pool. It's my first dead pool Calblog Husband was immediately intrigued. Daughter Amanda did not approve. She explained very patiently that I did not allow she and her sister to swear because it was a bad influence on them the dead pool was a bad influence on me. She's probably right but I'm taking the chance. Feel free to join in by clicking the grim reaper below. I'll announce my picks once the year starts.

Sunday Chicken Blogging

They are growing. I don't know if these pictures do them justice. The first gives you an idea of their feathering. The second shows you the beginning of a comb (I hope it's not a rooster comb.) The last picture gives you an idea of the face I love.

The cats, all 4 of them, now know something is going on in there. They sit and watch the shower door if we let them into the bathroom. They occasionally sniff at the edges but there's been no effort to get the chickens. We take the chickens out for cuddling and the cats take off. One might say the cats are chicken but one won't.

A new kitten arrives today, courtesy of xrlq, and I am certain that will distract cats from those bird noises.

2003 Weblog awards

I've been nominated in the Weblogger Awards. I have no need to win but I'd really like more than one vote, so if you're one of my hundreds of readers a day, maybe you could take pity and throw me a vote.

That Budget

There's an early morning soccer game, plus it's St Nicholas Day, so our stockings were full this morning and tomorrow is full start to finish. So this may be a do-it-yourself analysis weekend for my readers.

Start with the SF Chronicle article that's getting highlighted on Drudge. Arnold not only lost the spending cap and bond issue, but he didn't get enough votes to go straight to the people with them.

Then head over to California Insider, and the Bee story he cites, which says that there's still time to get it on the March ballot. I hope so. I don't think we can wait to November to see what the voters think.

Arnold gave up the governor's salary and is working for free. It must sting now.

UPDATE: The soccer team, after an 0 and 12 season (including the preseason), won the first playoff game. That means we get to play again in 2 hours. Fortunately other people have time for analysis. Check out Calpundit and California Insider.

Why I lose at poker

Calblog Husband loved to gamble and when we started dating, he taught me to play blackjack. Over the years, we've both learned to play well enough that we get close to true odds, which translates into losing a little over the longhaul and occasionally getting a big winning streak during a short vacation.

A long time ago, I started advocating that he take up poker. It's the only casino game that one can conceivably get good enough to make money and it's legal in CA, offering him the chance to head to a casino whenever he's in the mood.

About a year ago, he took my advice encouragement and started. He plays 7-card stud and is improving enough. Last I checked, he was even over the long run. That means he wants to move up a level.

I have the same issue (although I play hold and mostly tournament, not live game). Every time I start to play well enough that I'm not just tossing money onto the table, I move up a level. And start tossing money onto the table for a while. When I drop back down, I can tell my game has improved but I am just not content to stay with the level that I can manage.

Everyone's got a pipe dream and our pipe dream is to be able to play poker at some professional level when we retire. (Actually, I think CBH should play while I lounge away but don't tell him that.) Retirement is 15-20 years away (10 according to CBH, 25 if you ask me) so there's time to perfect our game but that requires a lot of losing between then and now as we continue to play just slightly over our heads.

Call to Arms

Wizbang lost his job. Unfortunately, it was a surprise to him, which I always think is harder. Stop by, give him your support and drop something in the tipjar. I don't pretend that the Blogosphere can make up the slack in income but I predict that all the support will counteract the sting.

Tommy Chong in Jail

LA Weekly has the story on how Chong got there. I'm disturbed by the whole thing. I can see forfeiture of the profits but jail time?

I wish the LA Weekly could talk about selective prosecution without turning into awide brush against the right. I think Ashcroft went too far but it has nothing to do with Limbaugh and O'Reilly.

State Sommelier

Prestopundit reports on Hugh Hewitt being named sommelier of the state. I am waiting, just waiting for the sommeliers' union or its equivalent to protest this appointment.

One Assembly Race

The primary to pick the Republican candidate to run against incumbant Carol Liu in the 44th Assembly District looks like it will be an ugly one. I've floated around the edges of the local Republican party long enough to have run into the various players.

Both David Wilcox, the conservative Republican, and Carol Liu, the Democratic incumbant, hail from my town, La Canada, suggesting access to money. Carol Liu is married to a wealthy businessman and apparently has had no problem raising whatever money she needs in past elections. She used to be on the La Canada City Council.

Wilcox is not rumored to have as much access to personal money. He is more deeply connected with the people that control the party, who still lean more conservatively, despite the fact that Arnold has shown that conservative is not necessary to get elected and over the years, the conservative pronciples have not won a lot of elections.

The article I link to above says that Gabriel has money, although you wouldn't know it from the fundraising letter I got from her. She has to raise $100,000 by December 31st in order to get assistance from the State party.

Tha's the biggest problem for a Republican candidate here: money from the state party and other types of support. This seat is considered one that is harder to take back from the Democrats and the state leadership prefers to focus on what they consider winnable seats. What grates on me is the impression that Liu is considered hard to beat because she is an Asian woman with money and not because of anything substantive.

On Language

During the recent mystery trip, we listened to an unabridged version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Although set in Brooklyn in the early 1900's, there was a lot that was similar to growing up in Manhattan in the mid-to-late 1960's.

In New York City, the front steps leading up to the apartments were called a stoop. Everyone in our neighborhood called it a stoop and many people spent a lot of time sitting ot standing on the stoop. In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, everyone calls their steps a stoop. Everyone in that neighborhood was also poor.

When I was growing up, I noticed that people with money lived in apartment buildings without a stoop and often with a doorman. After a while, I also noticed that they said steps not stoop. I rarely heard the word stoop in th media. I stopped using the word stoop and I haven't used it in so long that I was jarred whenever I heard it in this book

I don't recall feeling poor growing up or having aspirations of moving up in class. I don't recall feeling ashamed of our social status. In fact, I recall generally getting what I wanted, although we had to wait until Christmas or our birthdays. We vacationed every summer.

Even though I lack negative memories, I must have felt very strongly to have wiped a remarkably neutral word from my vocabulary for fear it would identify me as "lower class."

New BFL member

Welcome to Little Miss Attila! e-Claire gets the announcement.

FL and the right-to-die

Cut and pasted from the Terri Schiavo mailing list:

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGAN946WQND.html

From the Article: Senate Bill 692, introduced by Republican state Sen. Stephen Wise of Jacksonville, would prohibit courts from ordering feeding tubes removed from any mentally incompetent patient in Florida who doesn't have a living will or other advance directive stating otherwise. Experts predict fewer than 12 percent of American adults have living wills.

Not so fast, King said. When asked Tuesday whether Wise's bill would get a hearing in the coming session, he abruptly answered, ``No.''

In the 1980s, King was the architect of Florida's right-to- die law, considered a national death-with-dignity model and touted by the Senate leader as one of his key accomplishments.

``I don't want anything on the floor in that Senate that is going to give platforms to people who want to roll back the hands of time for whatever reason,'' King said. ``As soon as you put something on the floor, as well-intended as it may be, anybody can amend it. Then all of a sudden I'm sitting there facing a bill or bills that can dismantle what I consider to be my legacy.''

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Comment: Political posturing and personal "legacies" should not be what keeps vulnerable citizens from retaining the protection and rights they deserve as fellow human beings. In a situation where no advanced directive is present and no death is imminent, lawmakers have a