This Week In The News

Not much in the news worth passing on this week.

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From Time magazine, October 6, 2008 issue:

What you could do with $700,000,000,000

• Give every person in the U.S. $2,300 or give every househould $6,200

• Pay the income taxes of every American who makes $500,000 or less a year

• Fully fund the Defense, Treasury, Education, State, Veterans Affairs and Interior departments next year, as well as NASA

• Buy gasoline for every car in the U.S. for 16 months

• Buy every NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball team and build each one a new stadium — and pay your players $191 million apiece for a year

• Create the 17th largest economy in the world — roughly equal to that of the Netherlands

Or you could pay off just 7% of the $9.8 trillion national debt.

The bailout package is a whole lotta clams!

California Dreaming

From Admire (NSFW):


One of the tens of thousands of hot men at Folsom Street Fair (NSFW) in San Francisco that would never have sex with me. I find gay pride festivals very depressing.

Diet Update: Sugar-Free Apple Pie

There wasn't any news to report last week. I was up a bit to 170 lbs. and the same this week. Disappointing that I'm not any closer to 165, but I'm happy that I'm not creeping back up to 184 where I started.

Now that it's autumn, it is time for all things apple here in the great northeast.

In the spirit of dieting, here's my simple recipe for sugar-free apple pie.

I use Pillsbury Ready Pie Crusts. (The store brand doesn't seem as good.) My grandmother, who was an expert pie maker and made one about every day of her life, switched to these saying she couldn't make a crust from scratch any better. Who's to argue with an expert?

Place the first crust in a 10" pie dish. I have a glass one made of Pyrex. No need to grease or butter the plate first.

Use 6-8 Empire apples. These seem to have the best taste and hold up well when baked.

Wash, peel, cut in half, core, and slice. Place into dish trying to arrange them tightly against each other and eliminate air space.

After putting half the apples in the bottom crust, preheat the oven to 350˚.

Sprinkle liberally with Allspice and a single packet of Splenda. If you're not sure about Splenda and don't want to spend the money, pick up two complimentary packets the next time you're out at a place that serves coffee.

Cut and place the remaining apples into the dish.

When the apples are mounded in the dish, about 1-2" above the top of the pie plate, sprinkle another packet of Splenda on the top and a liberal amount of Cinnamon.

Place four dabs of butter (about a 1/2 pat each) around on the top of the apples. Don't use margarine.

Unroll the other crust across the top. Use a wide-tined fork to go around the edge and crimp the top and bottom crusts together. Trim off the extra crust with a knife.

Vent the pie by cutting into the top crust. A couple of well placed X cuts will do the trick.

Place in the oven and bake until golden brown. In my oven, with a glass plate, it takes about 55 minutes.

That's it. If you'll be sharing, I'd suggest leaving out the part about being sugar free. That seems to effect people's opinion before they even taste it. Use some lo-cal Reddi Whip or Cool Whip to jazz it up.

The Beaverhausen Chronicles: Foreign Policy

I just spotted this reader comment over on Rosie O'Donnell's site:

"If I can see the moon from my backyard, does that make me an astronaut?"

A great retort to the whole "I can see Russia from my house so I've got more international experience than Obama" argument.

The Beaverhausen Chronicles: Scary Russians

[Image via Boing Boing via Andrew Sullivan via Joe.My.God.]

Fun Yet Serious Explanation Of The Subprime Loan Mess

I found this great explanation of the subprime loan mess over at The Inside Dope.

It takes a really complicated subject and explains it in an excellent and understandable way. The stick figures and use of expletives help, too!

This is a Powerpoint presentation. If you don't have the program, you can download the viewer here.

Duran Duran: New Moon On Monday

Tina Fey Back On SNL

"Katie, I'd like to use one of my life lines."

Hostapalooza

The Beaverhausen Chronicles: Resumes

I found this over at roblog (I modified it a bit):

We have two leadership teams to choose from, which would you hire?

FORMAL EDUCATION [1]

Barack Obama
• Occidental College, 2 years
• Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations
• Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joe Biden
• University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science
• Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Muttley John McCain
• United States Naval Academy

Anastasia Beaverhausen Sarah Palin
• Hawaii Pacific University, 1 semester
• North Idaho College, 1 year
• University of Idaho, 1 year
• Matanuska-Susitna College, 1 semester
• University of Idaho, 1.5 years - B.S. in Journalism

EXPERIENCE [2]

Barack Obama

Obama, 47, has been a U.S. Senator for Illinois for the past four years. Prior to that, he was a state senator for eight years, from 1996 to 2004. He also was a civil rights attorney for four years full time, and he practiced law part time during the eight years he was in the state legislature.

Obama also taught law school part-time and wrote a couple of best-selling books. Right after college, Obama spent three years working as a community organizer.

Community organizer: Three years.

Professional/legal experience: Four years full-time and eight years part-time.

Teaching experience: 11 years part-time.

State legislative experience: Eight years.

Federal legislative experience: Four years.

Joe Biden

Biden, 65, was elected to the U.S. Senate representing Delaware at the young age of 29. He was not old enough to hold the office on Election Day, but he turned 30 before it was time to take the oath of office. This means Biden has been a U.S. senator for close to 36 years.

Prior to his service in the Senate, Biden was a member of the New Castle County Council for two years, and he was an attorney in private practice for four years.

Professional/legal experience: Four years.

County government experience: Two years.

Federal legislative experience: 36 years.

Muttley John McCain

McCain, 72, has been a U.S. senator from Arizona since 1986, for a total of 22 years. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Congress for four years, from 1982 to 1986. He also served for 22 years in the U.S. Navy.

Federal legislative experience: 26 years.

Military experience: 22 years.

Anastasia Beaverhausen Sarah Palin

Palin, 44, was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and will have served two years by the end of 2008. Prior to that, Palin was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, for six years, from 1996 to 2002. She was on the city council for four years before that.

When she was in her 20s, Palin spent about two years as a TV sports reporter from 1987 to 1989. She has also been part-time small business owner with her husband while she held office in Wasilla. The Palins had a commercial fishing operation and a snow machine, watercraft, and all-terrain vehicle business.

Reporter: Two years.

Small business co-owner: Nine years, part-time.

Municipal legislative experience: Four years.

Municipal executive experience: Six years.

State executive experience: Two years.

CONCLUSION

In the business world, you would hire the more educated, knowledgeable and experienced of the two teams. But in the political world, being highly educated and knowledgeable results in right-wing ideologues branding you as an elitist.

[1] Wikipedia Obama, Wikipedia Biden, Wikipedia McCain, Wikipedia Palin

[2] Politifact.com Truth-o-Meter

Whenever I hear people say that Palin is more qualified than Obama to lead the country, I just want to scream.

I keep hearing women say that she's qualified because she's such a great mother. Being the parent of five children, while admirable and something I'm not sure I could do myself, does not qualify you to be the president of the U.S. It means you're fertile and don't use birth control. Ummm, like your daughter. (Meow!)

How many people in your life have a lot of children? Would you consider them presidency-ready because of it?

Saturday Sh!ts And Giggles Bonus: Randy From My Name Is Earl

I confess, I watched My Name Is Earl last week. Not that I'm ashamed of the show, rather that it is a source of cash for Cruisitology Scientology. Jason Lee, most guest stars, and who knows who else belong to the cult. So I have this thing about not watching because I don't want to support them even though I love the show. Not that they care. Or that anybody else cares, for that matter, but I do and I feel like I'm taking some kind of moral stand. I know, I need to get a life and get over it.

With that disclaimer, Ethan Suplee (Earl's dimwitted brother Randy) broke into an acting riff and I was really impressed. Randy was playing the president in a movie they were making within the episode and it turned out he was the only one that could act so he gave the rest of the cast some acting advice.

I'm so used to watching this guy play Randy that I really hadn't considered that he's probably a classically trained actor in the role of a dumbass. My favorite part is when he gets to Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. I jumped a foot!

Saturday Sh!ts And Giggles: Anastasia Beaverhausen Alice The Goon In Alaska

"Wont wont wont wont" = "I love Muttley"

Remembering Louis Rukeyser

After all of the financial turmoil this week, when the clock turned 8 tonight, I reminded myself that I had to make sure and turn on PBS to see Wall $treet Week with Louis Rukeyser. Odd how things like that pop into your head.

I always enjoyed watching him and listening to his sensible financial advice and tongue-in-cheek manner. If anyone could have made sense of the current crisis, it would have been Mr. Rukeyser. I miss him. He lives on in his fans.

Speaking of Enya

**SPOILER ALERT**

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that Enya was a bit of a one hit wonder with her song Orinoco Flow.

From today's Wall Street Journal crossword clues:

36 Down: "Shepherd Moons" singer

Maybe she wasn't a one hit wonder after all...or they chose a more obscure title to make the puzzle more difficult. That would be my guess since this crossword is always a bitch!

Douche Bags Of The Week: Greedy Chinese Milkmen

The official count is up to around 13,000 babies sickened by the melamine that some Chinese dairy producers added to watered down milk products in order to increase the perceived protein levels in testing.

[Sarcasm ahead.]

Less actual milk at the same price means more profit. Who cares if you have to poison the food supply to make some money? Now that the Chinese have been welcomed into the wonderful world of capitalism and greed, they need to learn a new phrase, "Let the buyer beware." I mean, these babies should have known better than to drink contaminated milk. They deserve to be sick with their reckless drinking and lack of informed research!

Sourced from an article in The New York Times:

China’s milk scandal worsened again as the government announced that the number of infants sickened by contaminated baby formula had risen to nearly 13,000, most 2 years old or younger, more than double the previous tally in the nationwide food safety crisis. At least three infants have died from kidney problems linked to the industrial additive melamine.

The Ministry of Health traced most cases to tainted formula produced by the Sanlu Group, the giant dairy producer whose formula has been recalled because of contamination.

Then officials announced that traces of melamine had also been discovered in some samples of liquid milk, including some produced by the country’s leading dairy producers. All tainted dairy products were then ordered off store shelves, and officials have announced many arrests.

Last year, thousands of pets in the U.S. were sickened from food made with Chinese feed laced with melamine. At the time, officials issued regulations banning the use of melamine in food products. Melamine, high in nitrogen, is used to make plastics and fertilizers, but it can be used illegally to artificially inflate protein levels in milk or other foods.

As I have discussed here on this blog, I've had some serious battles with kidney stones. I can say I've won them all, but when you are going through that level of pain, sometimes the outcome isn't so clear. I feel so sorry for these babies.

People who profit at the expense of others, particularly the health of babies, are this week's Douche Bags of the Week. [And who said government regulation is bad?]

Face Lift Friday: Farrah Fawcett (Age 61)

Today Is "One Hit Wonder" Day

There are many lists of one hit wonders. Just do a Google search if you don't believe me. Orinoco Flow by Enya doesn't seem to be on any of them. Perhaps because she had moderate success with other songs, or that she is more new age than pop.

Regardless, I love this song and I love the visuals in the video. I bought it on laserdisc way back in the 80's. For you young ones, laserdiscs preceded DVDs.



Do you have a favorite one hit wonder?

Yard Work

I did a next-to-last cleanup of the corner shade garden this past weekend.

Here's what it looked like at the beginning of summer.


Since that time, I painted the wagon and put on a coat of heavy polyurethane to protect it from the moisture. The Thompson's water seal I put on last year didn't work at all. I'm going to give the picket fence a coat of white and seal it in the same way before the winter arrives. The wagon goes in the shed but the fencing will stay put. It might deter the deer from munching on my shrubs this winter.

The impatiens grew in despite the best efforts of the bunnies although they've had a grand time devouring the hostas.

After my trip to NYC earlier this year, and with the help of my faithful readers in identifying a pic I took of a flower in Riverside Park, I bought a bag (15) of bluebell bulbs and planted them in this area. I have my fingers crossed that they will come up and thrive next year.

Here's how it looks today.


It won't be long before the winter and snow is upon us!

Letterman Trashes Muttley

I found this clip over at Joe.My.God.

John McCain Muttley canceled his appearance on Letterman, personally phoning Dave to say he was rushing to the airport in order to get down to Warshington and solve the financial crisis.

Half way through the clip, Letterman busts Muttley sitting down to do an impromptu interview with Katie Couric.



Letterman disses Sarah Palin Anastasia Beaverhausen, too, implying she isn't capable of stepping up and filling in for Muttley on the campaign trail.

There's something fishy going on.

Combined Hunk-A-Lot Hump Day & Wiggy Wednesday: Jeremy Piven

Hunk-A-Lot Hump Day: Special Emmy Edition

Saw these guys on the Emmy broadcast and was reminded of their sexiness. Jeff and Jon H. are repeat Hunk-A-Lots while this is the debut for Tom, John S., and Jon S.

The Beaverhausen Chronicles: Alaskanomics

Anastasia is at it again. Whitewashing her fiscal conservative record. As I've said before, is the Muttley/Beaverhausen so out of touch with technology that they think we can't look this stuff up immediately? That there's a record of almost everything they've ever said and done?

Michael Kinsley over at Time magazine wrote an interesting article on Alaska economics. Here are a few excerpts:

As if it couldn't support itself, Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.

—SNIP—

Although Palin's words side with McCain in this dispute, her actions side with Obama. Her major legislative accomplishment has been to revamp Alaska's windfall-profits tax in order to increase the state's take. Alaska calls it a "clear and equitable share" tax. The state assumes that extracting oil from the tundra costs about $25 per bbl. and takes as much as 75% of the difference between that and the sale price.

Why is a windfall-profits tax good for Alaska but not for the U.S.? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? People in Alaska are better than people in the rest of the U.S. They're more American. Although there are small towns and farms and high school hockey teams in the lower 48, there are fewer down here, per capita, than in Alaska. And there are many more journalists and pollsters and city dwellers and other undesirables who might benefit if every American had the same right to leech off the government as do the good citizens of Sarah Palin's Alaska.

Read the full Alaskanomics article at Time.com.

Equality For All Debuts First 'No On Prop 8' Ad

Donate to Equality California to keep it running.

From The "No Shit Sherlock" And 'I'm Scared" Files

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, says Iran may be hiding secret nuclear activities.

Ya think?

Compounding the scariness is a military parade that Iran held over the weekend featuring trucks with large banners on the side that read, "Israel must be eliminated from the universe" and "Down with the USA" in English and Farsi.

Can you say "World War Three"?

The Emmys

Did anyone watch the broadcast last night? Congrats to all the winners!

The reason for this post, however, is not a recap...just a question to my readers:

What was up with Alan Seuss in the Laugh-In reunion skit? Drunk? Stoned? Dementia?

I hate to pick on family but he was really effed up.

Reading Roundup

I've been cutting back on the amount of political news I'm ingesting. Frankly, I've already made up my mind, and there really isn't anything that Muttley/Beaverhausen can say to sway my vote away from Obama/Biden.

However, despite my serious efforts, I can't get away from the news completely because I'm a current affairs junkie. I always tear out the pages of periodicals or print out web pages and then circle the critical points to emphasize their importance. The clippings then sit on my desk and I end up trashing them as the news cycle moves on to the next topics.

I'm clearing off my desk, and here's what I've found that's still worth mentioning.

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From Newsweek magazine's Letters column, September 22, 2008 issue:

"I couldn't believe that Anastasia Beaverhausen Sara Palin ridiculed Barack Obama's years of work as community organizer during her convention speech. The suffragists who earned Palin the right to vote were community organizers. So were the feminists who agitated to improve job opportunities for women and made it possible for Beaverhausen Palin to play high-school basketball. Abolitionists who fought against slavery, workers on the underground railroad guiding slaves to freedom and civil-right workers were community organizers. So are union organizers who help improve the lives of workers. Finally, we owe the very existence of our country to a dedicated group of community organizers, more commonly know as our Founding Fathers.

— Jane Cameron, Piscataway, NJ

Eight years ago the GOP noimated a short-term governor of a large, oil-rich state to be president. They described him as a regular guy and said his lack of international experience wouldn't be a problem Now it has nominated a short-term governor of a large, oil-rich state to be vice president and see no problem with her inexperience. For me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

— Hilton Weiss, Rhinebeck, NY

You can always count on interesting perspectives and getting a feel for where the country is at by reading the letters to the editor.

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From Newsweek magazine's Perspectives column, September 22, 2008 issue:

"Until...the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference...it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment."

— McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, on why vice presidential candidate Anastasia Beaverhausen Sara Palin is giving so few interviews to the press

She's going to be one heart beat away from being president. Gee, if she can't handle the U.S. press corps, how is she going to handle our relationships with Putin, Ahmadinejad, and Chavez. They aren't going to show up to the White House bearing candy, roses, and a Miss Universe sash.

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From Time magazine's Verbatim column, September 29, 2008 issue:

"Maybe he thought he was going to have a more folksy ride."

— Barbara Walters, cohost of The View, after Cindy McCain accused the show of attacking her husband during an appearance.

See my comments on the Beaverhausen clip above Ditto here.

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Now my desktop is ready for next week!

Just When You Thought You Were Free Of 'Nucular'

Honestly, I'm a pretty easy going guy. But when I hear President Bush say "nucular," it's like fingernails on a chalkboard, and I want to go all nuclear on his ass. What makes it even worse is that he knows it's wrong and says it anyway. Then again, that's completely in character for him, isn't it?

About a week ago, Mike reported that Anastasia Beaverhausen says nucular, too.

As if that isn't bad enough, Muttley keeps saying "Warshington." If I have to listen to Warshington and nucular for eight years, I'm going to go all apeshit on the "English is the official language of the United States" crowd.

Programming Note

Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to be on The View Monday morning and View cohost Joy Behar will be on with Larry King Live Monday evening. An LKL teaser says Behar will be dishing on the Muttley interview 10 days ago.

'Road To Nowhere' Leads To Non-existent 'Bridge To Nowhere'

Want to know why your taxes are so high?

Alaska now has a Road to Nowhere going to what would have been the Bridge to Nowhere.

Alaska Gov. Anastasia Beaverhausen's Sarah Palin's transportation department has completed a $25 million gravel road leading to the site of a bridge that Palin, as John McCain's vice presidential candidate, now boasts that she stopped, so as to save taxpayers money. The road was built with federal tax dollars.

Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein said the 3.2-mile road will be useful for road races, hunters and possibly future development. But with no bridge to serve it, that's probably about it.

"I think it will be good for recreational things like a 5K and a 10K," Weinstein said. "And instead of people walking through brush, it may be used for hunting in the area."

Great! A $25M hunting trail. Moose beware!

Yes, And Building Size Apes Exist, Too!

I haven't repurposed an entry from my Alzheimer's Moments blog in a while. I just love this one.

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There's been a television commercial on lately featuring Godzilla. Not a high-tech CGI monster, but a man in a suit stomping through a "city" built to size.

Mom: I wonder if things like that really exist?

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Welcome to my life!

Odds And Ends

I don't have a funny post for Saturday Sh!ts and Giggles today. Nothing came my way that struck me as particularly funny this week and I'm too lazy to go find something. I'm doing a lot of work in the gardens to prep for fall. Hedge trimming, relocating perennials, and doing a final weeding.

So, I'm going to do some blog housekeeping:

Chevy Volt
I updated the Chevy Volt post to include some photos of the design version. Now you can compare the promised vs production.

Reality TV: Project Runway
• Heidi Klum's style is really bugging me this season. I don't know if it's the short hemline, the really high heels, or her legs, but she's irritating me from the waist down.
• I like designer Korto the best. She has great designs and doesn't seem to get caught up in all the catty bullshit.


• I found designer Joe to be the most attractive. Straight, though. But what was up with his smile? Very toothy, top and bottom, like he's showing off his years of orthodontia work. He got the boot last week.


Reality TV: Big Brother 10
• I liked Big Brother 10 winner Dan from the start. Handsome with a compelling quirky personality. Too bad he's a crazy Catholic with ideas like a woman can't be president. Oh, and he's quite the manipulative liar. He's very fuckable but not LTR material. If only he was about 20 years older, agnostic, gay, and trustworthy, he'd be perfect! I know, that's a big if only!


• Dirk should be happy that his favorite BB10 houseguest Keesha received $25K as favorite player/juror.

Portentilla
I updated the Little Yellow Flowers post with a correct title and updated labels. Why Oh Why? regular reader/commenter Alex correctly identified them as Potentilla.

That's it for today!

Muttley Throws Cox Under The Bus

Muttley's looking for a Wall Street scapegoat and he found one in my former Congressman from Irvine, CA.

John McCain, buffeted by criticism about his response to Wall Street's financial problems, said he would fire the SEC chairman and create a special trust to help strengthen weak institutions.

In all but calling for the firing of SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, McCain turned on a fellow Republican and former 17-year House member who served on committees overseeing investor protection and U.S. capital markets. President Bush appointed Cox in 2005.

My question is, "Why did it take a market crash and the road to an economic depression in order for Muttley to speak out?"

Face Lift Friday: Michael Douglas (Age 64)

My Identity Has Been Trashed

Remember a while back, in a post titled "I Blog, Therefore I Am?", I spoke of being cautious of revealing too much on the blog to thwart potential identity theft? How, years ago, I had my identity stolen and the character ran around "renting" cars as me but never returned them?

Well I've got one for ya. After I returned from my trip to Utah, things were going smoothly. I don't get out of the house much except for the mandatory trips to the local grocery and sometimes a trip to Wal*Mart, Lowe's, and/or Home Depot to get some plants to pass my time piddling around in the yard.

I don't have a wallet, per se, but a credit card holder where I keep credit cards, driver license, health insurance card, triple A card, etc. Just the basics. I was carrying even less after I had accidentally left my wallet at the grocery back in the springtime. I went through and took out everything I didn't use consistently. That meant getting down to two general purpose credit cards, no frequent flyer miles cards, etc. I still do all my banking (by mail) in California so I took out my ATM cards.

Now, you'd think I'd be more careful after that. I was lucky that it had been returned to the grocery courtesy desk. I figure I left it at the checkout since I always charge my groceries — double United frequent flyer miles! During the summer, I wear work-out type shorts that have no pockets and I stick the credit card holder under the elastic waistband and just leave my t-shirt untucked so it's covered up.

During the week I was back from Utah, I did a grocery and Wal*Mart run. I didn't notice the credit card holder was missing for about another week. I turned the house upside down and thought I'd check in with both places to see if I had inadvertently left it there.

The kind folks at Wal*Mart had, indeed, found the wallet. Hooray! Um, not so fast, trigger. See, it had been a week, and since I hadn't returned to claim it, they threw it in the trash. How fucked up is that? It's not like I didn't have my brand new NYS driver license in there. Or that I live about 2 minutes away from the store. Or that I live in a small town where, if you don't know everyone, you know someone who knows that person. My "life" was so important that they fucking threw it away.

Advice
• Only carry what you need. I was glad that I'd weeded things out a couple of months before.
• Keep a spreadsheet with a list of your credit cards, the account numbers, and customer service phone numbers. It made things so much easier when I had to call and cancel everything.
• Did you know you can request a duplicate driver license in NYS over the Internet? I paid $15, rather than going down to the hell that is DMV and paying for a new one.
• Don't write your PIN number on ATM or credit cards. If you can't remember it, it's too complicated, so change it to something you can remember.

The whole experience left me a bit empty. First that everything that was me essentially fits into a little wallet. Second, that my life is so worthless, that some douche bag at the local Wal*Mart could callously pitched it in the garbage.

GM Introduces Production Volt

General Motors unveiled the final production version of the Chevrolet Volt. Some enthusiasts are expressing disappointment that the production vehicle isn't as exciting looking as the angular design car used in ads and at auto shows. Engineers said design changes were needed to enhance aerodynamics and increase fuel efficiency.

An electric engine drives the car 100% of the time. When the batteries get low, an on-board E85-capable gasoline generator kicks in to re-charge the batteries. The end result is that the Chevy Volt will be able to travel 40 miles without a drop of gasoline. Unlike other electric vehicles, if you run out of charge, you aren't stuck. The gasoline generator can always fill up the batteries, and you can always fill up the gas tank. If you never plug it in, it is expected to get an impressive 50 mpg.

GM expects the Volt to be more expensive than the average American will want to pay at first. But hopefully mass manufacture of the lithium ion batteries will bring the price below $30,000 without too much trouble.

The Volt won't be available until late 2010 at the earliest, and speculations at GM indicate that it will cost more than $35,000. The price of gasoline will determine whether that is considered expensive or a bargain.

Update: Here are some pics of the show car.

Hunk-A-Lot Hump Day: Enrique Murciano

Euonymous

Is New York State In Play For November?

This gives me a stomach ache.

Seven weeks until Election Day, the race for President has tightened in New York, with Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain 46-41% among likely voters, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll.

Obama’s five point lead is down from eight points in August, 13 points in July and 18 points in June, when he led 51-33%.

On a series of six questions concerning current issues in the campaign — economy, Iraq, terrorism, health care, America’s position in the world, and education — likely voters believe Obama will do a better job on four. Conversely, out of six attributes voters often look at in choosing a candidate – compassion, patriotism, experience, integrity, intelligence, and leadership – NY’s electorate gives the edge to McCain on four.

See the full Siena poll here. There are a lot of questions about Governor Paterson, too.

The Beaverhausen Chronicles: Earmarks

More lies from the Muttley/Beaverhausen/Shrub campaign. As reported in today's Wall Street Journal:

What Muttley/Beaverhausen Say
• Sen. John McCain said his running mate hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. McCain said Gov. Palin shared his views and hasn't sought congressional earmarks. "Not as governor she hasn't," he said.
• The McCain campaign said that Palin's overall record is one of fiscal discipline. "Her record is cutting the number of earmark requests from the previous administration sizably," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds, and she has vetoed wasteful state spending.
• Gov. Palin herself suggested she no longer seeks earmarks for her state. "The abuse of earmarks, it's un-American, it's undemocratic, and it's not going to be accepted in a McCain-Palin administration. Earmark abuse will stop."
• The McCain campaign has also come under fire for saying on the stump and in TV ads that Gov. Palin killed the controversial "Bridge to Nowhere," a $223 million earmark linking the mainland to a sparsely populated island.

The Facts
• State records show Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years. These projects include more than $130M in federal funds that would benefit Alaska's fishing industry, $9M to help Alaska oil companies, and $4.5M to upgrade an airport on a Bering Sea island that has a year-round population of less than 100.
• In the current fiscal year, she is seeking $197 million for 31 projects. In the prior year, she sought $256 million for dozens more projects ranging from research on rockfish and harbor-seal genetics to rural sanitation and obesity prevention.
• By comparison, her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski, sought more than $350 million in his last year in office.
• Alaska's state government is among the wealthiest in the U.S. Flush with oil and gas royalties, it doesn't impose income or sales taxes. In fact, money flows the other way: Every man, woman and child this year got a check for $3,200.
• She supported the Bridge To Nowhere project initially and killed it after it was widely criticized and Congress allowed the state to use the funds for other projects.

So What About Senator Obama?
• Sen. Barack Obama requested a total of $860 million in earmarks in his Senate years. That doesn't include $78M for projects that were national in scope and had been requested by many lawmakers.
• Sen. Obama halted all earmark requests in fiscal 2009.

Using the same calculation that the McCain campaign uses, the total amount of earmarked dollars divided by the number of working days while each held office, Gov. Palin sought $980,000 per workday, compared with roughly $893,000 for Sen. Obama.

I guess this is where McCain's lack of computer knowledge comes into play. Everything, I mean everything, is available on the Internet. Plausible deniability is no longer a campaign strategy.

Read the complete article here.

Diet Update: Oreos Are Evil = -1

Week #12 and I'm down 1 lb to 169. I was going to end the diet posts today since it has been 12 weeks and it is turning into a tedious, up and down "lifestyle" rather than a diet. But, since I lost a pound, I figure I'll keep going at least for another week. Perhaps this self-threat will get me back on track.

Last Friday, on a quick trip through the grocery store, the cookie aisle was calling. Mind you, one of the ways I keep to my diet is to keep crap out of the house. If I wander down by the cookies, strolling slowly and whistling like I'm walking past a graveyard at night, I buy the Murray sugar free cookies if I succumb to temptation. They're really good, actually, and I'd eat them even if I wasn't on a diet.

However, this day, it was the reverse Oreos that were calling to me. Those with vanilla cookie with chocolate creme centers. I bought a package. Now, to make matters worse, they have a new way to reseal them so they don't go stale. That was one of my built-in safeguards. I could always count on eating half a bag since the rest would eventually be soggy.

I've found that I have to grab three cookies when I raid the pantry. Not one. Not two. Not four or five. Exactly three. And despite this, I've kept in check and managed to lose a pound this week. It could have been two if it hadn't been for those meddling Oreos.

Oil Prices Plummet

Oil plunged $5 as investors fled to safer havens due to turmoil in the U.S. financial system and on early signs Hurricane Ike had spared key U.S. energy infrastructure. London Brent crude fell $5.26 to $92.32 a barrel.

High fuel prices and wider economic problems have dragged down oil demand in the U.S. and other large consumer nations, sending crude prices from a record high over $147 a barrel in July.

Some thoughts:

• Fuck you Chavez, Ahmadinejad, and Putin (less leverage for the hostage takers)
• Fuck you Muttley/Beaverhausen...drilling is not the key to price drops (ummm, it's about our exploding debt and the weak dollar but don't let the facts get in your way)
• Fuck you to the speculators...I hope you go bankrupt (without a taxpayer bailout)
• This is good news for the poor people that need to heat their homes this winter
• This is bad news because it shows the extreme fucked-up-ness of our economy

Other than the effects on the economy and country in a macro sense, the price of oil effects me not. I won't benefit from this as I didn't feel the pinch when prices skyrocketed.

How To Point Your Domain Name To A Blog

This post has been updated and is current as of 9/14/08. It receives a steady stream of search engine hits so I must be helping someone somewhere! I have left the comments in place, but this post may have taken care of some of the issues raised.

After locating The Real Blogger Status blog through Blogger help, I finally got this to work. No thanks to the half dozen techs at Network Solutions who came up with nothing better than an additional cost "address forwarding" upgrade to my account to lazily accomplish what I did for free (although at my going rate of $75/hr, it wasn't really "free" free.) I'm going to email them the instructions and suggest they send me a check for $500 for all the research I did because their techs in India, while polite, provide sub par support.

Here's a "How To" that should save folks a lot of time and aggravation.

I created a new blog, ECCO, and used a standard blogger address of "http://eccopac.blogspot.com". The "pac" stands for Political Action Committee.

The ultimate goal was to ditch my old ISP and FTP site and convert the whole thing over to the simple format of the blog. Much easier to update and it's a good way to stretch a small budget. The yearly cost of ~$200 for hosting charges will be eliminated and we always used a free Yahoo email address so email accounts weren't an issue.

I want users who type in the original "www.eccopac.org" address to go directly to the new blog site rather than the old FTP site. Sounds easy, you say? I thought I'd just need to switch around some pointers and be done with it. Don't point there anymore, point here instead. Uh, not so much. Google servers, where Blogger's free blogs reside, are load balanced to accomodate their huge traffic volume and IP addresses are dynamically assigned. In other words, your blog doesn't have a set IP address so you can't just input a xx.xxx.xxx.xx number for the pointer as you normally would.

The Blogger help instructions kept talking about creating a "CNAME" but didn't really elaborate. It defined what a CNAME was but not how to create one. The help page linked to many company that sell names, but not Network Solutions, which is where my domain name was purchased many years ago. I think they are still one of the most popular. But based on my experience with their support department, not for long.

The following is what I did. I think my 2.5 years of work experience answering phones in the hell known as Tech Support has helped me explain things concisely and methodically. After you talk to thousands of people, you learn the fastest way to get them to do what you need them to do so they get their ass off your phone!

I recommend that if you aren't sure about your particular circumstances after reading these instructions, that you contact the appropriate Tech Support department. Also, as I did, print out the pages as you go so you have a record of your original settings in case you need to put things back as they were!

THIS IS FOR MY SPECIFIC CASE. I already owned the domain name through Network Solutions and my blog is through Blogger. If you don't own a domain name, you'll have to get one, and you can choose any number of providers for that. However, the instructions I list below won't work exactly but may give you some guidance.

First, you need to tell your domain name where to find your new blog:

Network Solutions Portion
• Go to www.networksolutions.com and log in.
• Go to Manage Account | "Account Manager Home".
• Go to Domains | "Manage Domain Names".
• Click on the domain name you want to redirect.
• Click on the "Designated DNS" button.
• Click on "Apply Changes".
• Click on "Manage Advanced DNS Records".
• Click on "Add/Edit" under "IP Address (A Records)"
• Delete the entry under "Numeric IP" on the line starting with "www".
• Leave other entries as they are.
• Click on "Continue".
• Click "Add/Edit" under "Host Aliases (CNAME Records)".
• On the first line, enter "www" under "Alias"
• Leave "Select" as is in the pull down menu under the "Refers to Host Name".
• Click the button to the left of the first box under "Other Host" and type "ghs.google.com" in the box.
• Click "Continue" at the bottom of the screen.
• The next screen should show you that a CNAME alias "www.yourdomainname.yourextension" has been created.
• Click "Save Changes" and you're back to the "Domains" screen.
• Log out.

You'll have to wait a couple of hours for the process to propagate throughout the Internet. This process is where Internet servers tell each other there's been a change so they all know where to route future requests for your domain name.

Next, you have to tell Blogger that you're using a custom address rather than the standard Blogger address:

Blogger Portion
• Log in to your Blogger account.
• Go to your Dashboard.
• Click on "Settings" for the blog you want to set up the redirection.
• Click on the "Publishing" tab.
• Click on "Custom Domain".
• In the first open box, next to "Domain Name", enter your desired address...for example, "www.xyz.com". In some cases, I was prompted with the ability to purchase a domain name here. If you already have your name, click "Switch To Advanced Settings."
• Type in the domain name that will point to the blog in the "Your Domain" box.
• Click on "Save Settings".

You're done!

This took me several hours over many days of looking through help files, online Q & As, and calling customer service. I'm not quite sure why such an easy process was made so difficult. I'm essentially a techie and knew what I had to do. Pretty easy when you see it mapped out in logical steps.
*

Tina Fey Returns To SNL

In case you missed it...

"I can see Russia from my house!"

and

"Ask this one about dinosaurs!"

Fey has Beaverhausen down pat. Love it!

Saturday Sh!ts And Giggles: Alex Reiger In A Gay Bar

It's My Second Blogiversary

Today marks two years since I started this blog.

As I look back at the body of posts I've accumulated here, I think the blog really captures who I am. Yet, I don't really use the blog as a journal where I write my innermost thoughts and feelings. I split my life into three and write about it on corresponding blogs. My "gay" life (only political at this point) is on the ECCO site, and my home life on the Alzheimer's Moments site.

Sometimes I think I spend too much time thinking about the blog. Where ever I go, what ever I do, I think about the potential of turning it into a post. Do I have my camera? What do I have to see to make sure I can tell an interesting story?

Most recently, I made some modifications to the blog format. I have to say I'm loving it and wish I had figured out how to make photos and YouTube videos larger from the beginning. This look allows me to quickly change the background image and accompanying favicon, too. I love taking photos so maybe I can do something new every season. The current flower was a pic I took on my hike out in Utah.

A year ago I made it a goal to show and tell more about the Capital District here in NY. I have to say I have fallen short. Being housebound taking care of my mom puts a big crimp in my ability to come and go.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to sharing ideas and stories going forward!

25¢ Mum

I love to check out the sale racks for deals or to save a neglected plant that needs a good home. I found this 25¢ mum at Lowe's!

I have retouched the photo a bit. The yellows were so bright that they appeared to be a huge yellow blob so I had to desaturate them in Photoshop. So imagine this plant, only with brighter yellow flowers!

Face Lift Friday: Donatella Versace (Age 53)

Olberman On Muttley

At the risk of being political today, I spotted this over at This Boy Elroy. I wasn't sure what to post...I've been mostly in a funk and decided not to even mention 9/11.

Then I saw this and Adam asked that it be posted far and wide. Here it is, and it makes me feel angry, frustrated, and helpless.

Potentilla

These blossoms grow on a perennial shrub that is about 3' x 3' in size. I have two of them in the garden and they are covered with flowers throughout the summer. They are good filler plants and I have them at the back of the garden for height and color.

I can't remember what they're called. I found them in a nursery and checked the tag. Without a piece of paper, I promised myself I would remember because they had an unusual name. By the time I drove out of the parking lot I'd already forgotten!

Readers?

Conservative Media Bias

When it was wall-to-wall Obama during his trip oversees, there was a clamor of mainstream media bias. Where are those people now?

Wiggy Wednesday: Charlie Gibson

Hunk-A-Lot Hump Day: Roger Federer

Gavin Newsom Confirms Attendance As Keynote Speaker

In my post about having stress belly, I mentioned that a big name guest could potentially agree to be the Keynote Speaker at the ECCO 25th Anniversary Awards Gala on 10/4. (I'm on the Board of Directors of this Orange County, CA Political Action Committee.)

So what does that mean for yours truly? Well, first of all I'm very excited because this is a huge "get" and will mean a big boost for attendance. And any boost in attendance means more money can be donated to the No On Prop 8 campaign to defeat the anti-marriage equality constitutional amendment before California voters this November. It is a fight we must win!

This also means a bit more stress belly since I have had to quickly do layout changes on the invitations, update the web site, send out announcement emails, etc. All at the last minute.

I guess I picked the wrong career if I wanted a lot of planning!

Diet Update: Right Direction, Bad Reason = -3

Week #11 and I'm down 3 lbs to 170.

After eating just about anything I wanted during a couple trips to the county fair, it was time to get serious again. Last week, I stated that I was going to buckle down and that my immediate goal was to get under 170. I didn't quite get there, but 3 lbs in a week is a lot.

Most of the weight loss came from a lack of eating. (Although I pigged out on an ice cream sandwich and two chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bars in the middle of the night on Saturday.)

As I wrote in yesterday's post, when I have anxiety, I get a knot in my stomach. This goes way back with me...I remember being in the hospital in sixth grade so they could figure out why I had such terrible stomach aches. The answer was anxiety, except they really didn't have anything to treat it then and I'm not one to take medication unless it is absolute necessary. It wasn't until many, many years later that I eventually agreed to taking Paxil. The stomach aches went away, but so did my boners. :( Now I just take the Paxil in particularly stressful times. The fact that I don't date or have a bf solves the other problem. I know, TMI.

The upshot is that I hope my stress belly goes away because I can't stand it and the sleepless nights that go along with it. On the other hand, if I can drop a few more pounds, it might be worth it!

Sedum

From earlier in the spring...


About 2' tall in mid summer.


Now, about 3' tall and in bloom with pink coloring. The bees absolutely love these, and the flowers love to be in direct sun.

I've Got Stress Belly

This week has been a work nightmare, albeit a profitable one.

First were several jobs for Client #1. I had to design and coordinate the production of one direct mail piece, and a six-piece event invitation. All last minute. The invites still require one piece to be designed and produced as the client is waiting for confirmation of the Keynote Speaker. For an event on 10/4. Huge name, and definitely worth the wait. (I'll let you know if he does confirm.) If he shows up, attendance should be through the roof and that means big $$$ donated to the California "No on Prop 8" campaign.

Client #1 also has another direct mail piece and two ads that will need to be designed and produced in the next couple of weeks. They require a lot of attention to detail.

Next up was Client #2. They need to have a brochure in production by tomorrow to take to a trade show on Friday. I received the final input on Wednesday so I had to turn that puppy around quick. It has turned out quite nicely and the client is very happy.

Client #3, a new one, had bought space on a billboard but didn't have any creative. When was the billboard supposed to go up? Monday, 9/1, and run for the month of September. When did I hear about the project? Thursday, 8/28. Yikes. But I'm really good at coming up with decent design at the last minute. I presented ideas on Friday but they didn't like the direction I was going and we had a better input session. Sometimes it's easier for clients to tell you what they don't want rather than what they do want. I worked the Labor Day weekend and presented 5 more unique ideas on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I came up with two more ideas after Tuesday's ideas were "getting close."

We finalized the idea on Thursday so it was time for me to buy the photography and prepare the final file for the billboard company and printer. Oh, the size of the billboard, you ask? 14'H x 48'W. HUGE. And the file at 300dpi hi-res? ENORMOUS. At 1/4 size (3.5' x 12') the Photoshop file was at 1GB. It was taking 10 minutes to save the damn thing. I was only increasing the size in increments of 4 feet so I could manage the time and keep saving the file so I didn't lose it.

Okay, so the billboard company agrees to have me send the file at 1/4 size and they'll increase it on their end. They give me the printer's FTP site for upload and it estimates it will take 9 HOURS to complete. I started the upload on Thursday evening at 8 p.m. and kept checking every hour to make sure things were progressing. Unfortunately, their FTP site disconnected in the middle of the night with only half of the file uploaded. I changed strategy and uploaded the file to the billboard company's site which only took two hours. But wait! The billboard company says the headlines need to be larger! So I updated the file and uploaded again! Egad.

This coming week, I have another large project for new Client #3 that is going to require a lot of ingenuity and patience.

Is it any wonder I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a week and have stress belly? Even the Paxil hasn't tamed my anxiety.

The good part is that all the clients were pleasant to deal with and very pleased with the work. The pressure came from the insane deadlines. The billboard company was so impressed with what I pulled off in such a short time that they may refer future work to me if they have clients that need a designer.

Saturday Sh!ts And Giggles: Whoopsie Daisy

Hanna Storm

Hurricane Hanna is headed our way and the rain portion is expected today. It has been very tropical...hot, humid, and sultry breezes. If you are watching U.S. Open tennis, that's about what the weather has been like here. (NYC is 2.75 hrs south by car or train.)

After about 4 weeks of rain nearly every day, we've had a dry spell for the last several weeks.

Maybe McCain Is One Of Triplets

Muttley Is McCain's Long Lost Twin

As you've read, I have decided to refer to vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as Anastasia Beaverhausen...acknowledging her resemblance to Karen's alter-ego on Will & Grace.

My brother has taken to referencing John McCain as the cartoon dog Muttley. I think it's McCain's laugh and shrugged shoulders. (Yes, I know they are shrugged because the Vietnamese kept dislocating them.) Still, I've decided that, from now on, Muttley will be my new nickname for him.

Face Lift Friday: Al Pacino (Age 68)

Schaghticoke Fair 2008

My friend/next-door neighbor and I made our annual visit to the Rensselaer County fair, more commonly called The Schaghticoke Fair (pronounced Ska-ti-coke) because of the town where it's located. I wrote about our trip to the fair last year. There was more story telling and less photos in that post.

Just like last year, the weather couldn't have been better. Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends are the best times of year in these parts.


The map is about where I start to "do" the fair. Directly to the right is the fundraising food booth of a local volunteer fire department. I get the same thing every year...hot sausage with peppers and onions, fries, and a soda...sometimes I get another order of the same thing before I leave (but this year I was good).

Exhibits
This is still a country fair and Rensselaer county is quite rural. Folks enter their arts-n-crafts, vegetables, and just about everything under the sun to get a ribbon. In all my years, I never understand why some get the blue ribbon while my choices receive nothing. Hmph.

In the building with a blacksmith pounding away at a metal rod with a hammer and anvil, there was this horse drawn Freihofer's bread cart. The Freihofer Baking Company is the area's largest bread maker and have been around for ages. I'm not sure how far they ever expanded. They were bought by Entenmann's many years ago.


Animals
The first pic is a foal nursing, and the second is a type of goat with no external ears. Did you know that goats, sheep, and octopi are the only animals with horizontal-shaped pupils. (Small cats and foxes have vertical-shaped pupils, while lions and wolves have round pupils even though they are in the same respective families.)


Midway
Pretty standard stuff that you'd find at a county fair. Impossible-to-win games that promise enormous stuffed animals as the prize. There were lots of food booths selling everything imaginable and tons of sweets. Another local volunteer fire department has a fundraising food booth that specializes in fried dough. It is so large it is served covering two paper plates and goes for $3.25. I can only eat about half. Nothing else unique. I didn't see anything being sold on a stick!

The rides were also standard...I'm not a fan of rickety, weekly-assembled rides designed to make you sick so I just watch and stand clear of the hurl. I can do most of the rides at Disney parks, though.

I love me some Schaghticoke Fair!