if it ain't the rain, it's the lack of children

It rained upwards of four inches here yesterday, so my evening meeting was canceled mostly due to concerns that others wouldn't be able to attend. Now, tomorrow night's meeting is also in jeopardy but for another reason: it's Spring Break Week and many people are out of town. Guess it's time for me to gather all my tax stuff and schlep it to my CPA.

Ever notice how many illiterate people work at airports? During the television coverage of DFW's shutdown (they effectively canceled their entire schedule and decided to Mulligan today), the TV monitors showed row-after-row where the flight was "CANCELLED" (there's no such word in the USA, but okay in Britain where they still spell [color] with a U, among other peculiarities).

Huzzah spot of the day (kudos, 23/6): When Fox "News" sees a black man, they cross the street and file a report on gang violence

Return of the Bull Moose Party

Spotted: Bullying more damaging than sexual harassment

I'm unsure why this is different from the political world, when the Conservative Republic American Party has been bullying us around for the past 7 years (not to mention those awful years when Ronald Reagan was their annointed deity).

so many choices ...

I was looking up a local store and it asked for my city. I filled in [Dallas] but left the state blank. It then asked me to be more specific, offering the list below. Hmmm.

I decided to amuse myself and sort these Dallases by population (2000 Census):

Dallas, Texas (1,188,580)
Dallas, Oregon (12,459)
Dallas, Georgia (5,056)
Dallas, North Carolina (3,402)
Dallas, Pennsylvania (2,557)
Dallas, Iowa (1,298)
Dallas, West Virginia (464)
Dallas, Wisconsin (356)
Dallas, South Dakota (144)

waiting for April

I wonder if there are as many racists in Pennsylvania as there are in neighboring Ohio; I guess we'll know on April 22nd.

Separately, the US military death toll may hit 4,000 before then .. we're at 3,984 now, best I can tell.

Does Hillary want a race war in August?

I'm increasingly concerned by the Rovian* tactics used by The Clinton Family as they try to find any way to steal the Democratic nomination from Barack Obama.

* Karl Christian Rove

Now that it's been publicly revealed what a Monster she is (depending on which psycho personality she brings to any given event), I suppose Hillary should prepare us for a period of civil unrest, culminating in the deaths of hundreds this August when her supporters find some way to secure her nomination. Her husband ("the first black president") will undoubtedly be very, very proud.

"President McCain" .. it just rolls off the tongue, don't you think?

Maybe when he reinstitutes The Draft, Jenna and NotJenna will be at the head of the line. I, for one, can't wait for them to be waterboarded. Pass the popcorn, please?

Texas Two-Step : a review

Before experiencing the Texas caucus in person (last night), I wasn't so sure about the so-called Texas Two-Step .. where voters gather soon after the polls close and hold a party caucus to allocate 1/3 of the state's delegates.

After last night, I've come to appreciate The Process, and give it a Thumbs Up.

Yes, it was mildly chaotic in my precinct (repeated in thousands of precincts across Texas, so I hear). But, it's The Most Involved I've seen the Democratic party since I moved here in 1993. Long-time poll workers told me it's the most activity they've seen in thirty (30) years of primaries. Yes, it's mostly due to the continued campaigns of Obama-Clinton this late in the race ("only 8 months until the general election!") but it's remarkable to see so many young voters really involved.

Maybe they're finally wising up to the fact that McCain plans to draft them (that means "involuntary" to you newcomers) into his Hundred Year War in Iraq (plus The Iran Expansion) just as soon as he takes office - gotta fulfill that Biblical Prophecy of Armageddon, ya know. Get ready for a steady dose of fear-Fear-FEAR as we approach 4 November 2008.

At any rate .. the caucus proceeded deliberately in my precinct: 123 people packed half of a school cafeteria (the other half occupied by another precinct caucus of similar size) and carefully completed The Caucus Form where we filled out our names and candidate choice. In my precinct, Obama beat Clinton 71-52 and got 9 delegates to her 6. Those delegates will proceed to a County Convention (apparently) on March 29th - a Saturday.

The caucus accomplished several things:

1. it brought everything out into the open - no secret ballot in this step. No hiding under a white sheet.
2. it forced people to get involved in the party process. Many of us would otherwise never see this "level of detail" or even meet our "closet Democrat neighbors" (in a red state like Texas where the GOP has bullied the minorities for years, this is HUGE).
3. it mitigated the nonsense caused by the Texas GOP in the primary (see my blog post of 4 March to understand how the GOP tried to Screw The Democratic Primary). In my precinct, only two (2) Republicans showed up for the Democratic caucus, and they only stayed long enough to sign their names and leave.

After all was said and done, Clinton won the Texas primary (as I predicted on February 9th*) but lost the delegate count. For what I observed, this was both fair and appropriate. Although the Texas Two Step sounded bizarre at first, I'm now a big believer in The Process.

* and YES, I acknowledge that I completely blew the prediction about Huckabee. Even the mouth-foaming Ron Paul supporters (with their Big Signs) didn't have any perceptible impact.

McCain : a real keeper!

H/T to Geoff for spotting this gem, being covered up (as are most all Indian affairs in Arizona) by the McCain staffers: McCain's Personal Genocide?.

It's long been one of my Life Theories that you can tell a lot about a person's character - or lack thereof - by watching how they interact with minorities (however defined). McCain's treatment of the Navajo is really deplorable. I guess he's more interested in chasing skirt, heavy drinking, studying to retain his rank in the bottom 1% of the class - all attributes of his mentor, George W. Bush. Yeah, he's a real keeper.