Irony

The Clinton campaign is accusing the Obama campaign of attempting to game the system. The charge is that Obama chose to pull out of Michigan's vote as a campaign strategy to curry votes in Iowa. The funny thing here is that it was Clinton supporters in Michigan who gamed the system by pushing Michigan to move up it's primary in the first place in order to make Michigan more relevant and to provide a big win for the Clinton surge for the nomination (perhaps the Michigan delegates saw what was happening in Iowa and decided that they were reading the political tea leaves better than her campaign advisors?). The irony is that by boosting Michigan forward, the state's politicians made Michigan less relevant to the Democratic primary/caucus season even though they voted for Clinton. Had they remained where they were and provided Clinton with the 10 to 15 point lead she was likely to get, they could have aided her argument of winning in blue collar states with lots of delegates better than they are today. Instead, they are supporting a candidate who has brought much to the debate and the campaign, but who is going to lose the race.

It's galling to hear the Clinton campaign suggest that the Obama campaign is gaming the system when that's exactly what Clinton's supporters did in the first place. Oh, and Jim Blanchard? You were a good governor, a decent ambassador, but truly, your arguments are somewhat ridiculous - just like your last run for office.

Utah Phillips

Utah Phillips has left the building at the age of 73. If you never had the chance to see and/or hear the man tell stories, sing, and perform, then you missed something very special. Luckily, the man left a body of work behind him that is preserved on CD. He's also on video. I recall that one show in Seattle was taped and shown on public access cable television a number of times.

Here's a quote for you:

Mark Twain said, Those of you who are inclined to worry have the widest selection in history. Why complain? Try to do something about it…. You know, it’s going on nine months now since I decided that I was going to declare that I am a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Oh yes: I’m going to run. … So I created my own party. It’s called the Sloth and Indolence Party, and I am running as an anarchist candidate, in the best sense of that word. I have studied the presidency carefully; I have seen that our best presidents were the do-nothing presidents: Millard Fillmore, Warren G. Harding…. When you have a president who does things, we are all in serious trouble. If he does anything at all—if he gets up at night to go to the bathroom—somehow, mystically, trouble will ensue. I guarantee that if I am elected, I will take over the White House, hang out, shoot pool, scratch my ass, and not do a damn thing. Which is to say, if you want something done, don’t come to do it for you; you’ve got to get together and figure out how to do it yourselves. Is that a deal?

McCan't

As in "He (Mc)can't even sell tickets to a fundraiser in his own back yard". Not even with his fuck buddy as the guest of (dis)honor. Here's the link, text below (emphasis my own):

A Tuesday fundraiser headlined by President Bush for U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is being moved out of the Phoenix Convention Center.

Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside.

Another source said there were concerns about the media covering the event.

Bush's Arizona fundraising effort for McCain is being moved to private residences in the Phoenix area.

fig tree

fig tree
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

My "fig twig", as Shawn calls it. This tree has actually grown quite a bit since we put it in the ground. In 2 - 3 years I should be getting some fruit.

revamped bed with tomatoes

revamped bed with tomatoes
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

When we got home, it was time to check out the garden and put a little work into it.

Scenic View text

Scenic View text
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

The rest of the sign text.

Scenic View sign

Scenic View sign
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

We came across this interpretive sign during our drive.

Ross Lake

Ross Lake
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

Ross Lake on the Cascade Loop Highway.

Richard on Cascade Loop

Richard on Cascade Loop
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

The caption says it all.

Cascade Loop view

Cascade Loop view
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

We ended up going through the Methau Valley on our trip. We went through Twisp (where we want to return and spend some time one day) and Winthrop and then connected back on Highway 20 through the Cascade Loop. This was a random mountain peak we saw on the way back home. The whole trip took us 11 hours.

Balsamroot Winery

Balsamroot Winery
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

The Balsamroot Winery's tasting room in Manson, WA.

Balsamroot Logo

Balsamroot Logo
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

After Vin du Lac, we went up the road to Balsamroot Winery. Their wines were also pretty good. I picked up a bottle of their Cabernet Franc which goes really well with pesto.

Vin du Lac Orchard and Vineyard

Vin du Lac Orchard and Vineyard
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

The view of Vin du Lac's orchard and vineyard.

Vin du Lac Cafe

Vin du Lac Cafe
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

Here's the "cafe" area of the Vin du Lac winery. They offer a very nice, small menu. In the distance is Lake Chelan.

Vin Du Lac Tasting Room

Vin Du Lac Tasting Room
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

We went on a road trip yesterday. Outside of Chelan we visited Vin du Lac Winery and Cafe. There, we tasted some pretty good wines. I came home with their off dry Riesling which has a touch of Gewurtztraminer and Orange Muscat in it.

Tasers control epilepsy

This story is amazing:

No lawsuit has been filed yet. Deana Dwyer sought the advice of Denton lawyer Rocky Haire, who said he has been trying to work with Corinth police for an out-of-court resolution with no luck so far.

“Deana just wants them to acknowledge they did it wrong,” Haire said. “She tried to tell them their officers needed some training on what to do with epileptic seizures and postictal psychosis, but they just blew her off.”

Haire contacted an investigator with the Texas Municipal Intergovernmental Risk Pool, which insures city governments against lawsuits. Haire said the investigator told him that a check of the Taser shows it was fired 15 times within five or six minutes that day.

Mike Rains, a representative of the TMI Risk Pool, said there is an ongoing investigation into the incident, and talks have been initiated with Haire. He would not confirm the extent of the Taser use.

“I believe it was a number of times,” Rains said.

His crime? The 17 year old athlete was tased at least 12 times for struggling and hitting emergency personnel while having an epileptic seizure. When is this madness going to end? Officers apparently need better training and/or these things need to be removed from their use.

Watch Out

For The Female Bunch (great clip):

Interesting report

From the Jerusalem Post:

Army Radio had quoted a top official in Jerusalem claiming that a senior member in the entourage of President Bush, who concluded a trip to Israel last week, had said in a closed meeting here that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action against Iran was called for.

The official reportedly went on to say that "the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic for the time being.

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Now playing on VLC: The Herbaliser - Just Won't Stop
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing on VLC: The Herbaliser - Just Won't Stop
via FoxyTunes

Nortec two

They now have a music video for their first single. Enjoy!

Nortec Collective

For those of you that are interested, the new Nortec Collective album, Bostich and Fussible Present the Tijuana Sound Machine, is available at Amazon for a mere $3.99. That is all.

Olbermann makes 2 points

Classic. It's amazing Keith's head didn't explode.

AlmostNoKneadBread

AlmostNoKneadBread
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

It's been a while since I tried the NY Times recipe for no knead bread. The recipe for this loaf actually came from Cook's Illustrated via Seattle Times columnist Nancy Leeson. She reminded me of the recipe and I decided to follow her lead on making it.

I mixed the dough together on Sunday afternoon. During the night, I put it in the garage to slow the rise. On Monday morning, I pulled it back into the house and let it continue until I got home to deal with it Monday night.

May08Tulips

May08Tulips
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

A picture of the tulips that Scott gave Shawn for her birthday this year. The red ones got caught in the snow and their petals got a little frost bit. The shape of the white ones was a complete surprise.

May08Bkyrd

May08Bkyrd
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world

The back yard garden beds are ready. Some planting has begun. In the foreground right you can see the tulips that Scott gave Shawn for her birthday. In the foreground left is the fig tree I planted this year.

Nina Simone

Live, in Harlem, circa 1969. Another example of YouTube's fabulousness.

Election

A couple of friends of mine and I were discussing the Democrat's issues with Michigan during the primary voting season. Michigan disobeyed the party's rules in an attempt to make the state more relevant to the primary season. As a result, the party has fired back and Michigan's leaders, who sold voters on this tactic, may have made the state more irrelevant during this historic primary. Michigan's party leaders are now attempting to place blame at the feet of the National Party and one of my friends buys into that position. FWIW, I disagree with his position entirely, but he brought up a point about how Obama's supporters were encouraging people to vote "uncommitted" in the Michigan primary and how in the Detroit metro area, "uncommitted" was understood to mean a vote for Obama amongst many voters (no word on what it meant outstate).

In reply to his comments, I turned the conversation a bit towards other topics that have been on my mind recently. I've been meaning to blog them here, but haven't due to busy times at work. So, since I shared them in email, I'll be lazy and copy and paste them here:

Taking a cue from your comments about Detroit votes, I'll ask the question that is the elephant in the room for Democrats during this election season: what happens if Clinton wins the nomination to the vast voting block of black people who are currently supporting Obama in the 92% range? If Democrats disenfranchise black voters today by nominating Clinton when Obama has a clear front runner status, will they lose millions of votes during the election from the black population? Will those voters stay home and if so, how will it effect states with large black voting population?

Thus far, I've seen and heard a lot of discussion about how young people might be disenfranchised if Obama doesn't get the nomination. Frankly, I shrug my shoulders at such thoughts because young people by and large don't vote in great numbers in the general election anyhow. Clinton's team makes the argument that she pulls in voters who can be counted on and that view has some historical validity. But, what happens if the black population decides that it no longer wants to be a doormat of the Democratic party (a constituency that is counted on the vote Democrat regardless much like social conservatives are to Republicans)? I've heard little discussion on that topic.

Last night on the way home from work I listened to Obama's speech in North Carolina where he overwhelmingly won the nomination thanks, in part, to the large black population of the state. His speech was inspiring and it reminded me of his earlier stump speeches (FWIW, Karl Rove's recent comments about Obama's speeches getting away from inspiration and getting mired down in policy positions as "hurting" his campaign was spot on, despite the fact that I loathe Rove). The speech was clearly aimed at pulling the party together no matter who gets the nomination. I didn't get to hear Clinton's speech from Indiana, but she would do well by the party to show some class and offer similar sentiments at this time.

A rant about Clinton's latest moves: Her gas tax pandering is really beyond the pall. With her joining McCan't on that issue and with him taking stabs at Obama and ignoring her candidacy (she is clearly a friend and colleague of his as well as the person that he'd rather face in the election), Clinton is playing up to one of the biggest criticisms that I've heard of her and her husband from the progressive wing of liberal voters: that she is "Republican Lite". I've spoken to several people that say if she gets the nomination they'll have to look elsewhere to place their votes because voting for Clinton is voting for a "Lite" version of Republican policies. I only slightly disagree with that position and think it's important enough this cycle to vote for the Democrat regardless of the nominee.

Fatherland Security

Normally, I let the news items pass through here via the Google Newsfeed Reader at the right side of this blog. I used to post links to a bunch of them, but this Google widget allows me to do that without typing a word. This story, however, is too rich to pass up. It had me chuckling:

False identifications based on a terrorist no-fly list have for years prevented some federal air marshals from boarding flights they are assigned to protect, according to officials with the agency, which is finally taking steps to address the problem.

Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) familiar with the situation say the mix-ups, in which marshals are mistaken for terrorism suspects who share the same names, have gone on for years — just as they have for thousands of members of the traveling public.

One air marshal said it has been "a major problem, where guys are denied boarding by the airline."

"In some cases, planes have departed without any coverage because the airline employees were adamant they would not fly," said the air marshal, who asked not to be named because the job requires anonymity. "I've seen guys actually being denied boarding."

A second air marshal said one agent "has been getting harassed for six years because his exact name is on the no-fly list."