We should find out all those Libbylious acts that's been happening. I doubt it stopped at Plume.

Thank heavens, a new kit!

Yeah, Libby was the fall guy...for a bunch of incompetent nincompoops who had no idea what they were doing when they launched a war.

I don't think the leak shows incompetence so much as malevolence.

Joel, I think its patently unfair that you are picking on New Jersey.

Drat. Now I feel sorry for the guy. I'm just glad I don't have cable TV in my household, so I don't have to listen to the insufferable rationalizations (Plame wasn't covert!) and recriminations (They're All Traitors! All of Them!).

I was so busy typing that I missed the transition over here, and you may have missed my diatribe, so I repost.

TBG- I am not arguing that some homework assignments are not chores. They are. And some of them are downright silly, like coloring in math class. I will also never say that I am perfect (except in jest), and I admit to some underhandedness in my own academics. A made-up project fabricated with two other people and presented as reality in a college course springs to mind. What I lament is the teaching of these habits to our young. I don't care if you don't wear a seatbelt, but my blood boils when I see an unbuckled kid. Same thing. You can cheat in your daily life if you want, but please don't urge the younguns to follow suit.

Later, you wrote, "The teacher says writing the synopsis is part of the Standards of Learning writing requirement. Wouldn't it be better to have them write a short story each week? Keep a journal? Write an article for a class newspaper?"

If the SoL (if that's not an apt abbreviation, I don't know what is) requires the student to write a synopsis, then a reading log as you have described is far better than the alternatives you list. A short story would be good for plot, or story elements, but not synopsis. A journal would help the student remember salient points to include in a synopsis, but would not replace the skill of writing one. An article would help with descriptive writing, but again, not much help on a summary.

Personally, I am with you, the skills learned from all the things you listed are needed by readers and writers alike. A standardized test will never be as good as a body of work in judging how well as student has met academic standards. But there is the ideal world, and there is the one we exist in, the one where electing an ignoramus to the White House is followed by the country following him down his road to gud edumacation by way of tests, tests, and yes, more tests.

When it says Libby, Libby, Libby on the label, label, label,

Plame gets to sue for later, later, later,
for libel, libel, libel.

Hey, at least he gets to catch up with his good buddies Abramoff and Ney.

Didn't Mr Nixon go first to California? If so, that would make SoCal a sort of antechamber to William Safire's Purgatory.

I remember, as a college student in North Carolina, heading out to catch the Post when it arrived about 10 am, perhaps bearing the latest installment from Woodward and Bernstein.

The Vice President just had a problem with blood clots. Doesn't look like a reason to resign, at least not yet.

Libby heading for the Big House is a damning development for BushCo, but likely the show will go on without him, and Cheney will still be lobbying to continue the war, and...and and and.

The Iraq war was about oil, it's still about oil, and it'll continue to be about oil for as long as it goes on. Oh, and there's oil in africa, too. Libby/wilson/plame is also about oil, and frankly we need the oil companies to stop trying to run our country anymore. Asking Bush and Cheney to resign would be a great first step, there.

I still don't understand why the lying to the grand jury and the obstruction of justice are bigger crimes than the actual leaking of the name itself. Why are we not seeing the leakers (of whom Libby is only one of many) on trial? Am I backwards, or is this situation? Somebody shake me.

There's no law against having a big mouth, but apparently perjury is still illegal.

It's sorta like how Al Capone was busted for income tax fraud-- it was the one crime they could prove in court, not the only crime he did.

Hell, I'm still trying to decypher Gomer's 3:56 about flowers and sagebrush and pillows and wine corks. For a while there I thought it might be about sex, but then thought, "Naw, get yer mind out of the gutter, Mudge."

Gomer, it's not that the perjury is a bigger crime than the leaking. It's that leaking a covert agent's name requires proving that the leaker knew the agent is covert and wanted specifically to harm the agent or the nation by leaking the information. Right there, Libby has wiggle room -- he wanted to harm Joe Wilson, not Valerie Plame or the U.S. in general, and he could still argue that he misunderstood the situation and didn't realize that Plame was covert. The perjury conviction required only proof that he did what he did; it does not require proof for an argument of why he did it.

Fall guy, indeed.

All this puts me in mind of Libby as "Johnny" to Cheney's Señor Wences. Only this one has a combover wig and a suit.

"Scooter, you are 80% guilty! Is that OK?"

"s'allright."

"You're lying."

"No, it's OK."

"It's OK? You might have to go to prison."

"s'allright."

I just made a Scooter hand puppet at my desk, couple of eyes on the knuckle and started amusing myself here.

bc

I'm steeling myself for all the spin that this verdict is a culmination of the criminalization of politics, blah, blah, blah. Perhaps it's because the husband is a prosecutor, but I can't help feeling that when the FBI and the US Atty's office come calling you should just tell the truth. I'm pretty sure I felt that way before we tied the knot. I was against impeachment in Clinton's case, but I think he should have resigned.

And don't even get me started on Sen. Domenici...

Here is the Cheney hunting game link again,perhaps they should replace the secret service guy with Libby.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/cheneyshooting/v/cheneyhunting.htm

Thanks for whoever posted this originally,ions ago.It still cracks me up bad......Love the music too

bc, be careful with amusing yourself with your hand puppet, there. I was once told it makes hair grow on your palms.

And then you'd need a Brazilian.

For a second there, Mudge, I thought your post was about sex, but then I thought, naw, Brazilians are people, nothing sexy about them.

Except their women...

Their celebrations...

Their butt-floss...

Their wax-jobs... oh yeah!

Butt floss? That must be a guy thing. It sounds really painful.

Thanks, Tim, that actually makes sense to me. Basically, it's a lot harder to bu11$h1t your way out of perjury than the umpteen reasons one might have (accidentally of course) leaked the name of a covert operative.

Mudge, ya made me snort.

bc

Says the juror:

'What are we doing with this guy here? Where's Rove, where's -- you know, where are these other guys?'

Watch for our special report on the growing menace of roving gangs of jurors.

Butt floss... use your imagination... some guys wear it (not many heteros), but it's much more common (and appealing) on women...

Flowers, sage, brazilians, butt floss, and yellojkt is NOT part of the conversation. Is the world spinning the other way?

Brazilian nuts are delicious. Mmmmm. Nobody better take that the wrong way. Especially you, mudge. Speaking of Brazilians and nuts, this article delves into some of the problems that go with the territory:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=720

Anybody seen (or heard) Yves Rossy's video where he tries to be like superman with two short red wings and jetpack instead of a cape? I couldn't resist looking at all the things that could have gone wrong with that flight.

wilbrodthegnome.blogspot.com

LiT,

I'm glad you missed me, but I'm concerned about the reputation I am garnering. As if my last post will do anything to help my case.

Kim, I think Gomer is referring to thong bottoms with the term "butt floss".

Mudge, you're the expert on thongs, can you help us out here?

Plus, you're the one who played "6 Degrees of Scooter Libby" and ended up in Brazil.
With the other Boys, I suppose.
Too bad Gregory Peck and Lawrence Oliver won't be in this movie...

Wow, I even disoriented myself with that last tangent.

bc

No...No... I think I'll save my imaginings for world peace, Eric Bana, summering in the Outer Banks, Daniel Day Lewis, perhaps some Key Lime pie...butt floss just doesn't do it for me.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Made me laugh, BC.

Paraguay, not Brazil, is where the Bushes are retiring to avoid getting brought up on war crimes charges, bc. Keep up on your internet conspiracy theories.

No word on whether Scooter will get brought along as a cabana boy.

We say the news about Libby during lunch. Although everyone was far too inhibited to comment, there were a few smug smiles.

So how long have I been taking this COTR class anyway? Three or four weeks now?

SCC: We saw.

I am way too tired to be typing.

I knew he meant a thong, but the term just brought me up short. Maybe I was, you know, getting off topic and reliving my last painful trip to the periodontist or something.

Gomer, I'm not arguing that homework shouldn't be a chore. If there's a lesson in homework at all, it's that some things are chores--gotta do them whether you want to or not.

I just don't like the fact that the reading logs are turning READING into a chore. Reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life--most definitely not a chore.

BTW... the writing requirement isn't necessarily a requirement for writing a synopsis--but even if it is, shouldn't she be grading it for content?

I'm glad you read fun stuff to your middle schoolers (my daughter's age). They are still just kids and really need stuff like that. Is that "Hair in My Dirt" book written by THE Gary Larsen from The Far Side? Cool. I bet the kids LOVED it.

I bet you're a good teacher.

Plame was working on trying to keep suitcase nukes out of the hands of terrorists and nut-case foreign governments, wasn't she? That was her job, right?

If you don't talk too much about butt floss, that is.

I thought a "fall guy" was the person chosen to take the fall, the designated goat, but Wiki suggests it might derive from a real person:

"The term is allegedly named for Albert B. Fall, a U.S. Senator from New Mexico who served as Secretary of the Interior during Harding's years in office and became notorious for his involvement in the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal."

I get lost in all this, so someone remind me. I HOPE that it is crime to out a secret agent.

I suspect that like Martha Stewart, Lewis Libby is in trouble for lying to the feds.

Tell me, though, that we will make outing a secret agent a crime, if this is not already a crime.

I'm still curious about how the fact that Martha Stewart was on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange at the time of charges against her, was quietly removed from the subsequent coverage of her.

In fact, I'm stil curious about how the USA Patriot Act seemed to have been pre-written in advance.

Regarding whether Plame was under cover and whether the OVPOTUS' outing of her was a crime, there are a couple of questions that are related but which often get confused:

1. Was she under cover; i.e., was her employment at the CIA a classified fact? The answer is almost certainly yes, because a) She was a case officer in the Directorate of Operations, and most such employees are under cover, and b) Mr. Fitzgerald said in his 28 October 2005 press conference, "Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer. In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community."

Conceivably, disclosure of her CIA employment might have been prosecuted under 18 USC 793, which applies generally to disclosure of classified information, but there is no hint Mr. Fitzgerald ever considered this.

2. Did she fall under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, 50 USC 421-426? For the IIPA to apply, Ms. Plame would have had to be under cover, but several other much more restrictive criteria would also have had to be satisfied. Clearly the CIA's General Counsel thought they did apply to the extent Ms. Plame's status was concerned, because that is reported to have been the basis for the initial referral to the Department of Justice.

But, beyond that, some of the IIPA criteria involve the state of knowledge and belief of the accused as well as the status of the intelligence officer. FWIW, having worked in the national security vinyards for a fair number of years, I can readily believe that the OVPOTUS had no indication that she was under cover or fell under the IIPA.

Apparently Mr. Fitzgerald concluded that the facts he discovered could not have been used to prove an IIPA violation beyond a reasonable doubt.

So, yes she was under cover, yes her CIA employment status probably met the IIPA criteria and no, the complete set of IIPA criteria could not be demonstrated to apply to the leak of her CIA employment.

yellojkt, Brazil nuts are also an excellent source of radium!

The joke is, I'm not kidding this time, kids...

:-)

Thanks, FMcLean. To out an agent (officer) is a crime. Good.

Does anyone recall that Tim Russert was on crutches during his testimony?

I rather think of the dueling of testimony, by two men, who both wore crutches during the trial. Funny picture.

Fall guy, schmall guy. Libby lied, whether or not he did it under the direction of the VP or on his own. Libby is a grown man who knows right from wrong. If he didn't want to spread lies about a political opponent he should have resigned. It wasn't like he would have been panhandling the next day if he did.
Everyone wants to make him a simpathetic figure now that he's facing 25 years. I hope he and anyone involved get everyday of that sentence. Poor people get sentences like that everyday while well off people look down on them with distain and indifference.
He lied to federal prosecutors and hence he lied to the American people. When he took the job he had to know it illegal to do so. For god sake he's a lawyer!!!
I'd rather waste my tax money on convicting a government official of lying to the American public than waste it on country of people who don't want our help (Iraq) or worse yet won't help themselves.

The defense attorney held back. He had arrows in his quiver he did not use. Follow his opening statement. For this I condemn him. Joe

I heard the news on the radio in my car today about Libby. The broadcaster was having trouble with things, she called him Looter Scibby, she then corrected herself and said Scibby Looter. You could just hear her teeth knashing as she spoke. And then she said Valeri PlaNe.

Its a red letter day here in the office of the R's. We are under construction. I am getting a wall. I might even get a door. Les Nesmond eat your heart out.

I love the juror's assessment. I still believe in the jury system, and this only confirms it.

As a former defense attorney, let me assure Joe that opening statements are a description of the evidence that an attorney hopes will be introduced, or hopes to introduce. It doesn't always work out that way, sometimes for very good reason. Doesn't mean the attorney was holding back. Believe me, if it is possible to introduce evidence you mention in an opening statement, you will, because jurors notice when it is missing. To your detriment.

RD, in rabbit years I think you've been in COTR class long enough to retire. At the higher pay grade.

Are we on the front page?

Ixnay on the uttflossbay. Tidy up your desks, dust your keyboards.

That was an interesting link about Oprah and "The Secret" in the previous 'boodle. Wow, the person who wrote that Salon piece sounded *furious.*

I say, don't knock it 'til you've tried it, experimented with it -- or at least until you've read the book. I haven't actually read the book yet, but I'm familiar with the Law of Attraction. It's not a new idea -- it's been written about in books such as "The Power of Intention," by Wayne Dyer, and "Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting," by Lynn Grabhorn.

Most people laugh at the idea, or get angry, so they most definitely will *not* try it, and will not try to understand it. That's probably why The Secret has remained a secret for so long, and will continue to remain so. But what if there's something to it?

It's not about blaming people for bad things that happen to them (AIDS, the Holocaust, etc.) -- although of course that's what critics tend to latch on to. It's about encouraging people to explore their potential to create something *better* -- to feel and act more positively. In other words, a mindset that is the complete opposite of the one that is evident in that Salon article. [Oops! There I go being negative . . . back to Square One for me.]

I'm encouraged to see Oprah promoting these ideas. Of course, most people won't listen, or they'll mock, or get angry. But good for Oprah, opening herself up to the inevitable ridicule, for something she obviously believes in. Even if "The Secret" doesn't work, or if you don't believe it will work, there's something to be said about getting people to think more positively instead of focusing on everything that's wrong with their lives. (Try this exercise: Next time you're in a coffee shop or restaurant, listen briefly to the conversations of the people around you. It won't take long before you start hearing tales of woe and/or umbrage.) Sometimes it seems that people are in the habit of being negative. Imagine if they could get into the habit of being more positive? Who knows what sort of changes that could yield on a global scale?

******

"Those who love wisdom must investigate many things."

-- Heraclitus

I agree, dr. In the spirit of incompetence I was going to indulge in a brief rant about (yes, again) our IT guy, who has (a) disabled our distant access for both email and the office connection and (b) opened our internal confidential files so anyone in the office can pull up anything written by someone else (a definite no-no). But I'll refrain.

I definitely prefer uttflossbay. Much prettier term to use when discussing Brazilian babes.

No hurricane of criticism and torrents of hate mails will stop BUSH to PARDON Scott Libby.

Dick Cheney will cajole him into doing that. He holds so much power/threat over BUSH!

Priscilla V. Dizon, your comment is a classic. The juxtaposition of upper and lower case, the one exclamation point at the end like a cherry on top. The poetry of using both "hurricane" and "torrents."

It's perfect.

I fear I am too tired to think of anything to say about the Libby case that hasn't been said about a billion times before. I think the reason I am finding this COTR class so draining is because it is all about process. I don't do process. I don't like being taught to follow a set of predigested steps clearly designed by a committee as a foolproof substitute for thought. I resist these attempts to transform me into a mindless bureaucrat.

I really wish they would stick to teaching me the goals, responsibilities, and legal constraints of the job, and let me figure out my own way to do it. I think I'm up to the challenge.

Plus, there has *still* been no mention of rabbits.

My son just showed this to me. I am lead to believe it is all the rage among the cool kids. I take a strange comfort in that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4

RD, woolgather through the Powerpoint process peregrinations. They'll never know. After all, this is exactly the kind of thing you have to look up anyway.

Just keep this poem with you, loosely channeling Alexander Woolcott:

I'm jus' a itto wabbit in the sunshine,
I'm jus' a itto bunny in the rain.

Imagine yourself dancing.

The Brazilian Portuguese term for a minimal thong monokini is actually __fio dental__ -- dental floss -- and not __butt floss_ .

Thank you Ivansmom. I'll just go to my happy place with dancing rabbits.

Happy. Dancing. Rabbits.

I'll call it the HDR process for universal joy.

Noooo! Not Candy Mountain! The Boy LOVES that thing -- as does his father. "C'mon, Charlie. . . " Okay, it is funny in a twisted way. But the Boy is ten! I've tried to convince him that it just isn't age-appropriate to recount to his friends when their smaller siblings are present. I'm so old-fashioned.

Perhaps the Kit's misapprehension is the assumption that Scooter is part of a big administration scandal. We all know that he is just a lone lower-level bad actor, besmirching an otherwise upstanding cabal. Too bad they have so many of those.

RD, in a similar vein, my 8th grader is being forced to learn about 10 different fool-proof ways to factor polynomials. The logical semi- trial and error method (which she's good at) is being discouraged. Instead she's forced to memorize many complicated systems of little boxes and matrices and such which she'll never remember past next week anyway.

And all because the teacher is sure that logic and trial and error are too hard for the kids.

Ivansmom - yeah, 10 is probably a bit young. But it did take the edge off the day for me.

"The HDR process for universal joy" -- very nice. You can do process. Just don't explain it.

I agree, "Candy Mountain" does tend to take the edge off when first viewed. Or even more than once.

RDP and Ivansmom, in case you missed the bunicula discussion on the last boodle, you may like to have these books in the house.

Be warned, however, middle daughter was very upset about the notion of vampire bunnies. She was very concerned that our piebald bunny (Pi, RIP circa 1994) would become a bunicula.

---
Does the word Jackalope do anything for you?

Why should we feel sorry for Libby? He willingly participated in this crime and then lied about it. He had a choice. No one forced him to do the things he did.

Too bad there was no way to go after Cheney and Rove also. NO one is above the law.

RD, You can't be 18 on Candy Mountain . . .

Ernest Gallo dies at age 97.

Well I guess that is another bonus for drinking wine,long life.I think I remember reading about somewhere in Italy where a good bit of the population was over 100 and they explained it as having a glass of red wine everyday.Now that would take the edge off.

I wish I could have a glass or two before work.

I will just settle for tea

I know Indiana is usually the last state to adopt anything new (surprisingly, not always a curse). Are the other educator/boodlers familiar with this new "virtual" school concept? I find the nurturing of the "home-school" tribe a bit bizarre.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/LOCAL/70306039

Yes, College Parkian, we're fond of Bunnicula here. Vampire bunnies, yum.

I don't feel sorry for Scooter because he's smart enough that he knew what he was doing and why. The fact that he chose to sign on with people who'd throw him to the wolves is his misfortune, and possibly shame, but not pitiable.

Bedtime for the Boy. Vaya con queso.

{Boy} Strange it is so that my mother calls me to my room so early in the night, how I wonder why she forces me to go to sleep thus so early. The dogs are going crazy because of some siren that passes along in the night, so I ask HOW will I be able to sleep tonight? (this is not intended to be a poem)

Off the topic, but whenever I hear about all the boodle-spawn, I'm reminded how different all kids are.

The Boy doing Shakespearean bloodbaths, a little girl worried her rabbit will become a vampire and suck vegetables... and humans, the math prodigies, etc.

Ivansmom, does The Boy get to play that kid in MacBeth? That death scene was so annoying "I'm dying! I'm dying! Help Mom, I'm DYING" --that everytime I read it, I was glad it wasn't a live play because I'd have cheerfully rushed on the stage and help stab the boy.

Which is why I don't have kids. But never mind that.

billeverything-the daughter is graduating from high school via virtual school next month. Because of the husband's military moves, and shifting school attendance boundaries, she had attended 8 schools by 10th grade. Facing two more moves before graduation we finally gave up on new schools and enrolled her in a distance learning program. Best decision we ever made.

Wilbrod, the company is doing the Scottish play this season. We're not encouraging the Boy to audition for the dying child because it will really interfere with our summer schedule, but we shall see.

frostbitten: thanks for the info. Makes sense to me. I have a knee-jerk reaction that every social policy initiative here is to prove the world began in approx. 4000 BC.

Scooter the monkey is going to prison, but Cheney the organ grinder is getting off scot free. What a system!

Ha, ha, that Charlie just didn't have the right attitude, did he?

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Ivansmom, read the insomnia article to the Boy. I should get myself some WC Fields movies - used to laugh myself silly at them.

Geez, that I can't remember it was 20, not 18, in Neil's song bums me out. Thanks Mostly.

Hey, I can do most of this and more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz_zdxVlBbA

Exceptions: rollover, play dead, and help with pulling tasks (Wilbrod doesn't trust me with fridge access. Hmph.)

Nice!

This log is much funnier and more diversely focused than the post-Libby-conviction debate going on at the Chicago Tribune's "Swamp" political site. Most of the threaders there are on message about the Libby conviction - right, left, whatever. Me, too. Very linear.

Is Cheney losing Libby like Charlie the Unicorn losing his kidney?

I think Cheney is the one who removed Libby's kidney, Alan.

Remember why they decided not to question Chayne (?)on the stands?

Beacue they know better. They decided to allow Libby to take the rap for everyone and then to let him off the hock by giving him a presidential pardon !! What a mess this country is in!
So please stop blaming other countries beacuse they are not as "civilized" as USA ! What a shame.......this administration by itself has managed to force poor kids in school to read additional 9 history chapters and cursing out this admin for giving them extra homework!!

RD, my kids showed me that Candy Mountain video a couple of weeks ago. It was amusing the first time, anyway.

Alan, I think Cheney losing Libby is more like Cheney losing his appendix at this point. When Scooter was indicted, that was pretty much the end of his usefulness to Casa Blanco del Arbusto.

bc

Hebrew Hamlet? My first thought was Hamlet would be funnier in Yiddish, or Yinglish.

"Oy vey or not, what to do?"

I read Hamlet in Spanish long before seeing it performed in English. As a high school student, I found Hamlet in modern Spanish to be easier than Macbeth in the original English. By freshman year in college, I'd picked up enough Elizabethan to navigate the required play or two without getting wrapped around any rocks (canoes were aluminum in those days. They crumpled rather easily).

// When Scooter was indicted, that was pretty much the end of [Cheney's]usefulness to Casa Blanco del Arbusto. //

That might be true if Shrub were any other President.

That said, let's be on the look-out for signs The Decider has lost his rudder, or that there is no change. Somehow I don't think losing Cheney would reduce GWB's ability to make decisions based on ignorance (some of which may turn out well).

That said, there are some signs of a more conciliatory approach to Middle Eastern issues recently. I wonder where that comes from -- is that the real Shrub, without Cheney?

Oy vey, I didn't think I could laugh about this mess, but this bunch is right on target and wildly funny. My sides are splitting! Many, many thanks all around. Insights served up with salsa sauce garnished with a sprinkling of Brazil nuts. Now, can we all just hold the Bushies feet to the fire so that they hasten off to establish Casa Blanco de Arbusto muy muy pronto and I can trundle off to bed dreaming of HDR
Happy. Dancing. Rabbits.
Appendix carcases strewn across the llanura.
Scooter turned down as cabana boy.
Oh, true HDR process for universal joy, frabjous day, cooloo, callay, me stumbling across achenblog and this band of merry blogmen. Thans again, one and all.

Oy Vey,that is great.It would a different shakespeare experience thats for sure.

Up late at work again,while most of the boodlers sleep.

But not all of us, greenwithenvy...

:-)

*wondering if I should bring up Terry Gilliam's approach to HDR*

Nah.

It seems Google Ads gets insomnia too... *L*

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Good morning,friends. Here kids keep a reading log also. They're told to read thirty minutes each night, and the parent or person listening has to sign the log, proof that the kid read. It makes reading a chore, and chores aren't received well, but I'm thinking if they didn't have this, would they read at all? When I read to the kids sometimes they are so excited, and get under me so close as if not to miss a word. That allows me to see that reading is something they want to do, and that they enjoy it. Oh, I just believe that if the kids just knew the enjoyment of reading, taking a book, paper, whatever, and going where the author takes you, they would always read. I call it, making it personal.

I'm just wondering how in the world "Scooter", with a name like that is going to fare in prison? I mean even if this guy goes to one of those soft prison, a name like "Scooter" is going to make it kinda rough wherever he is. And what does it say about our leadership if the jurors were wondering where the rest of the snakes are? I'll bet Libby thought someone was going to step forward and save him. What a rude awakening yesterday and this morning.

Dreamer, Oprah is taking a chance by promoting that line of thinking. She may feel that she is helping by changing the mindset. Oprah is a powerful person, and I'll bet there are lots of people wanting to bring her down and eat her up. Of course, you know my thinking, God through Christ. Even more powerful.

Have a good day, folks. It was slightly chilly here yesterday, but the sun is so bright and the day so beautiful, one hardly notices the chill. I drove to the lake yesterday, still haven't got back into my walking regularly, just every now and then. And did the worse thing while there, ate lunch. I should have been walking around the lake so many times instead of sitting there feeding my face.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Are you up all night SN,or just getting up early for the morning?

Should I ask about HDR?

Morning Cassandra!! *waving*

Getting up early, greenwithenvy.

Let's just say Mr. Gilliam introduced a hippo into the HDR scenario.

:-)

Good morning, all!

Cassandra, concerning your question the other day, did you see Samuelson's column this morning? He always makes finance intelligible for me:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030601599.html

so Clinton lied to a GJ, but that was OK because it was just a little thing and he was POTUS. So if lying before the GJ for the POTUS is a pass; then why not for Libby. I mean, weve already established that lying to a GJ is no big thing.

Cassandra, you asked about economics and the stock market the other day. In college I took five courses in economics. I took Economics 101 three times, until I passed it. Then I took Economics 102 twice, until I passed that. And my wife won't let me carry a credit card, and I'm only allowed to carry one blank check in my wallet, for emergencies. So I'm not exactly the guy to answer your question. I suspect the answer is something along the lines of "the little guy is gonna get screwed, as usual, and poor people even more so, as usual." But I don't have any empirical data to back that up.

But perhaps this excerpt from Harold Meyerson's column (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030601600.html this morning might help:

"American conservatism is a house divided against itself. It applauds the radicalism of the economic changes of the past four decades -- the dismantling, say, of the American steel industry (and the job and income security that it once provided) in the cause of greater efficiency. It decries the decline of social and familial stability over that time -- the traditional, married working-class families, say, that once filled all those churches in the hills and hollows in what is now the smaller, post-working-class Pittsburgh."

"Problem is, disperse a vibrant working-class community in America and you disperse the vibrant working-class family."

"Which is how American conservatism became the primary author of the very social disorder that it routinely rails against, and that Republicans have the gall to run against."

"The party of family values? Please. If that's the banner that Republicans continue to wave, then they should certainly make Rudy Giuliani, who couldn't bestir himself to attend his son's high school graduation or his daughter's high school plays, their presidential nominee. No candidate could better personify the sham that is Republicans' and conservatives' concern for the American family."

Otherwise, good morning. It started snowing here a little while ago, but I came into work early to avoid the inevitable gridlock which will seize our city momentarily.

*opening the morning line on early dismissal for Beltway agencies @ 3-1*

:-)

We had a slight dusting of snow about a half hour ago and then nothing more.

I just hope it doesn't keep Charlie from getting to Candy Mountain.

Scotty, what's the over/under?

And...uh...am I the only one who thought that Candy Mountain thing was dumb?

Mudge... it certainly helped to have a delightful 13 yr old girl sitting next to me and giggling helplessly while watching. Very contagious.

This is an article I'm certainly going to make my kids read. I've been warning them (my son especially) about their online presence. My niece, who is in charge of hiring at her company, has accounts with myspace and facebook and others just for the purpose of checking out prospective employees.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030602705.html

Good morning, all.

In regards to the title of this Kit, I am disappointed in myself that I didn't bring up Lee Majors earlier. Or Markie Post. Or Heather Thomas, for that matter.

You know the Fall Guy story, about a lawyer that moonlights as a White House bureaucrat when his law business is slow, and sometimes gets assigned the items no one else is willing to do...

Mudge, the Candy Mountain thing *is* dumb, but at least is has a gag at the end. Not an original gag, but a gag nonetheless.

Have about 1/4" of snow up in my neck of the woods, but the main roads were clear into the city, no problem. Dozens of plow trucks idling at the overpasses, everybody seems ready for this one.

On another note, I actually do believe in positive thiinking, that it is possible to put yourself into a productive state of mind. Being productive can make you more willing to take risks, work harder, and be successful. This changes others' perceptions of you (making waves in the Higgs Ocean, right Dreamer?), and those noticing you may offer you rewards and opportunities that you may not have had otherwise. As more people notice you, they become more sympathetic to you, talk about you and recognize you (aka popularity), more people will be thinking about you, and offer you opportunities.

Sort of a different way of describing personal marketing. You know, mebbe I should write a book: "Personal Marketing for the 21st Century: Leveraging the Internet to Be Everything You Want to Be, and More."

bc

'Mudge:

Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

:-)

TBG, you beat me to posting that link.

I'm going to make sure my kids read that, too.

Mudge, over/under is 2 PM, I think.

bc

I can't get the theme song to "The Fall Guy" out of my head...I might jump an open drawbridge, or Tarzan from a vine. 'Cause I'm the unknown stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine!

Mudge... I love that Meyerson column you pointed to. I just hope that whoever the Democratic candidate is in '08, he or she has the nerve to repeat Meyerson's final paragraph over and over:

"The party of family values? Please. If that's the banner that Republicans continue to wave, then they should certainly make Rudy Giuliani, who couldn't bestir himself to attend his son's high school graduation or his daughter's high school plays, their presidential nominee. No candidate could better personify the sham that is Republicans' and conservatives' concern for the American family."

TBG, when we're hiring a new tech admin, it's SOP for one of us to search their *e-mail address*, via Google or on the various IT boards. If they've posted articles or solutions, it gives us a better picture of the way they problem-solve (and, as we found once, if they're just a jerk).

Speaking of the Higgs Ocean, I see Lynne McTaggart -- author of "The Field" -- has a new book out:

http://www.amazon.com/Intention-Experiment-Using-Thoughts-Change/dp/0743276957/ref=pd_nr_b_56/105-0900408-8231611?ie=UTF8&s=books

I look forward to reading it more than I do "The Secret." (I imagine it'll be more substantial -- pointy, almost.)

Hey, this stuff might really catch on one day.

Candy Mountain is more than dumb; I was sort of glad that my two girls are a little beyond that stage, but I can see the attraction for the younger set.

What is interesting about it is that with the new web tools like blogs and other user-generated content-provider sites (I'm sure I don't have the correct technical terms), for the first time ever (I believe) a whole population of very creative people who would never get a big-media deal to produce original animation/writing/art have a way of reaching a particular potential audience and can keep doing what they do best without giving up artistic control.

I'm thinking about animations like Homestar Runner or Weebl & Bob, or writers like Dooce and Finslippy (and Joel Achenbach and Wilbrod and kbertocci and bc and many other friends), and filmmakers (too numerous to mention). Of course there is a disproportionate amount of dross, but there is a lot of fantastic stuff too.

To come back on topic, I do feel a bit for Scooter. He was the equivalent of Darth Cheney's Principal Private Secretary, and took the Secretary part seriously. He knew the deal going in, I'm sure; protect the administration at all costs even to falling on the sword. I just don't think he could have imagined, when he took the job and the GOP was riding high, how high the cost would be.

OMG, That AutoAdmit (really xoxohth under a classy name) is totally lame. It's just a bunch of turbos from HLS and YLS hatin' on each other. You cna't even link to your favorite bands or anything. Everybody knows Facebook or BeBo is where the kewl kidz hang out.

From The Sandbox, this morning's poetic musing:

WEATHER AND WAR
Name: CAPT Lee Kelley
Posting date: 3/5/07
Returned from: Iraq
Milblog url: wordsmithatwar.blog-city.com
Email: wordsmith16@excite.com

The weather's been moody out here in this vast desert. This morning began with a family of thunderclouds, distant cousins to the serrated zeppelins that have obscured the sun for days now. Between 0900 and 1600, it rained maybe three times. Each shower turned the world into mud, and each stretch of dry instant heat absorbed large amounts of it. I am still amazed at how quickly a little rain turns this place so sloppy, and followed by a little sun how rapidly it dries. The weather feels phony, like a poorly arranged set on a stage, and I am dumbfounded by this strange anomaly called the passage of time. The sun is like a bright metronome, slowly marking the days with vivid regularity.

These are exciting times. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: we are not finished, and there is still a lot of work to be done, and 10,000 miles to travel; but we are getting closer. As with any experience that challenges us and teaches us, when the end is near you begin to scour the moments for meaning, scanning sandpaper days like a hunter, divining truth. I want to leave this place better than I found it. And I want to be a better person when I return than I was when I left.

Iraq has become my home and this room has become my comfort zone, the quiet place where I hunch over my computer and write, the end point of my walk from the office after a long day, the concrete clipboard of all my pictures tacked to the walls, and the starting point of the incredible journey home. This FOB looks like a bad dream that I know will fade with time. Right now I want it to. I look around and I find it difficult to believe I've been here for almost a year.

Of course I want to know what it feels like to stay on my side of the Atlantic. I want to wake up and feel strange as my dog licks my face and my children ask me for cereal and milk. I want to work through the uncomfortable transitions from combat to freedom, from chow hall to food court, from M-16 to car seat, from structure to spontaneity, from constant vigilance to pure relaxation, from HMMV to Volkswagen, from stoic to silly, from sandbag to sidewalk, from this to that, from here to there, from now to then, and come around full circle to continue my most important job -- as a Dad.

But one day I know I'll also cherish these Middle Eastern moments as bold marks of punctuation on the score card of my life, as flashbacks to a kind of work ethic that makes other adversities pale in comparison, as a folder of digital photos that trigger nostalgia, and as times when fellow soldiers were the only comfort I had close at hand. We have been through a lot together, and these bonds will not easily be broken.

Right now this little circle of wire feels like a home, but I still feel like a stranger here. Now I'll be living out of a duffel bag, changing homes again like a gypsy. Since I've been in Iraq, a lot has changed in my life. Not only have I changed as a result of this adventure, but my family has been altered as well. The most striking example is the loss of my wonderful mother to breast cancer. Such a small thing as the ability to call my mom on the phone has altered my world forever. And so this desert has become my confession booth, my psychiatrist's dusty couch, my bended knee, the sponge for the quiet tears of self-pity.

At night, when there's a light breeze, nothing is exploding, and the few trees that encircle my living area sway and make sounds like giant wind chimes, I can find some solace. I can look back at the days, and the weeks, and try to capture them in my journal, lest I forget. Carpe Diem. I try to seize the days, even the bad ones, knowing that I have a lot to be thankful for.

I sit on my plastic chair outside of my room and I send my thoughts arching over the country of Iraq, past this life-sized mirage, into the vast canopy of distinct stars, and they look like a horoscope. There's the Archer, sketching my future with the tip of his diamond arrow. There's the Big Dipper, reminding me of lying in the grass as a child in New Orleans. There's the North Star, lending guidance like a compass. I know that when I look up at the night sky here, the sun hovers above my children, but still I imagine them looking at the same stars. It shortens the miles. I've worked through an Iraqi summer, I've been through an Iraqi winter, and now I am coming full circle to my one year boots on the ground. This weather, this war, they have taught me, and they have frightened me.

I want to remember this. And I want to forget.

"Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever." -- Horace Mann

Just saw this on the CBC site, it is a glimsp at the photography of an Iranian immigrants work in Canada. A large percentage are taken in Toronto, but not all the unique perspectives are quite interesting. If anyone likes photography you may enjoy this,

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/slideshows/daily_dose_soundslide/index.html

Also I will say that those internet searches by prospective employers is a little too close to big brother for me to be comfortable.

//I just don't think he could have imagined, when he took the job and the GOP was riding high, how high the cost would be.//

I think that's the problem with the entire administration.

But when you do something illegal, it often catches up with you--even if you have a rich, powerful daddy who can bail you out. Eventually you're own your own.

Slyness, thank you for that. Cpt. Kelley reminds me a whole lot of myself about 16 years ago.

"The Unknown Former Hill Staffer"
(apologies to Glen A Larson, Gail Jensen, and David Sommerville)

Well, I'm not the kind to kiss and tell,
But I've been seen with Judith.
I'm never mentioned by name in the New York Times, so fine.

I've been of the record with Tim Russert,
Gone on background with a guy named Matt,
But somehow this mess went from Cheney's lap into mine.

It's a death defyin' life I lead,
I take my chances.
I lie for a livin' in the papers and TV.
But the hardest thing I ever do
Is watch my superiors
Walk scott-free while I'm off to jail for one to three.

I might tip off a CIA agent,
I might give ya the inside story.
'Cause I'm the unknown former hill staffer that made Cheney such a star.

I never spend much time on record
But I talked to Miller plenty.
It's true I used her column to have my say, Hey Hey.

I've gotten burned over by Fitzgerald,
Blown up for my bosses tricks.
But when I end up in jail I'll get a stay, Hey Hey.

Yeah, you may call me Scooter,
Or I. Lewis Libby, if you please.
But I'm the unknown former hill staffer that tried to keep the Wilsons in line.

*I take no responsibility for in accuracies, forced rhymes, or other crimes against nation contained herein*

Wow, dmd, amazing photos! That kid is beyond talented.

Scotty, glad you liked the piece from The Sandbox. It really touched me.

Er, that would be crimes against *nature*

Thanks slyness, I am just reviewing his blog/website now absolutely incredible (more than just Toronto pictures). I don't feel right commenting on the Libby situation so I am posting pretty pictures :-).

Here's his blog if you are interested.

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/06/11/30/

Can only drop in for a quick hit at the moment.

Slyness, thanks for that.

jw, I was thinking of Glen Larson when you mentioned the Fall Guy theme song. Thanks for that parody, that was funny.

At the mention of Glen A Larson, I predict an appearance by yellojkt for today's Battlestar Galactica Moment.

bc

Slyness-

Thanks for that post from Capt. Kelly. He sounds so hopeful. I hope he makes it home.

Am I the only boodler to notice the naked girl streakin' across the boodle last night?

The Glen Larson call-out passed me by. Revoke my geek credentials. I never watched BSG:TOS. Season 3 of the current show has been uncharacteristically slow.

I went to watch last Sunday's new BSG episode and the cable had gone out halfway through the show. I had to go and bittorrent it so that I can watch the whole episode before I listen to Ronald Moore's podcast commentary. Maybe I need that geek badge back.

Never cared much for The Fall Guy either. Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman were appointment TV in my childhood. After school we used to all jump off fences in slow-motion going "Da-da-da-da-da".

I'm with Mudge again. I just didn't get the Candy Mountain thing. I also have serious teeth grinding issues when I hear the family values rhetoric being heated up by the right wing. Too often, that has meant -If you don't believe as I do, then I'm being discriminated against and/or you want the terrorists to win.

TBG-exactly, eventually we can only hope the chickens come home to roost. I just wish the nation didn't have to pay the price for the astonishing arrogance of this administration. But I'm not in the "sorry for Scooter" camp. He thought he could get away with lying under oath, pure and simple.

Slyness, thanks for putting that in the boodle. Very touching.

Some good news for DC: this guy is one of the best fire chiefs in North America. I hope he can made a real difference for DC firefighters.

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=46&id=53717

yelljkt, I think Larson has some sort of producer credit in the new BG as well.

Off to a meeting.

omni, I can't believe I missed that. My mind was obviously somewhere else.

bc

Scott Feschuk in MacLean's:

"...no matter what one thinks of the verdict in the trial of Lewis Libby... it has got to be unnerving for a grown man to be facing the likelihood of prison time with the nickname "Scooter.""

http://forums.macleans.ca/advansis/?mod=for&act=dip&pid=36398&tid=36398&eid=13&so=1&ps=0&sb=1

Feschuk writes: "Frankly, it's hard to see how a thing like that is going to work to his advantage."

I've been wondering if we have encountered all the nicknames not because the pres likes to make them up on the spot (Brownie) but because it was a well laid out plan to infantilize middle aged, and beyond, men and women who would therefore evoke sympathy in the public at large and ultimately juries. Conspiracy? No, I'm just sayin'....

Obviously insomnia does me no good in the creative thinking arena.

According to IMDB, Larson's credit on the new BSG is as "consulting producer", obviously to pay him off while Ronald Moore remakes "Norma Rae" in space. Larson is listed as Executive Producer for next year's "Knight Rider" remake. Larson also has "Magnum PI", "BJ And The Bear", "Buck Rogers", and "Manimal" on his resume. Cheese-tastic television never dies.

mostlylurking,

Thanks for the Neil Young song. Did you see that he has another of his archive releases coming out next week? It's from Massey Hall in Toronto from 1971.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MTPANQ/ref=br_nf_0_1/102-8177156-9022541

jw,

Good to see you back here. Nice takeoff on the "Fall Guy" theme! I remember that show, but the reference went right by me. Makes me feel kinda stoopid.

New kit pulling into the station momentarily...

jw, Freudian slip? something you want to get off your chest?

yellojkt, I have to disagree. The sound effect for any bionic action is clearly "na na na na na"

Yellojkt-

"Manimal". I hadn't thought about that one for years! Didn't even know it was a Larson project. Remember that show "Automan"? Don't know who produced it, probably not Larson, but a cheesetastic show if i ever saw one.

Is it dead, Jim?

Larson did do "Automan" as well, but that show is too obscure for even me to have heard of. According to Wikipedia, there were 13 episodes filmed, but only 12 saw the light of day. For cheesy TV, I am much more a Stephen J. Cannell fan.

New kit

*rounding up the stragglers*

Not a word in that National Review editorial about the unanimous view of the jurors that Libby committed crimes. Typical rightwing lack of respect for anything but their own views.

I think you should apologize to New Jersey for your comments in this postings. Not like the people of New Jersey are like the Dixie Chicks however we don't want him either.

My thinking tells me that the Libby verdict was rational and fair. However, my feelings tell me that Libby was not so guilty as many others in this whole debacle. I hope in time people will find out who the really guilty ones are.
Ruth Beazer

With Libby over the gov. can now target leaks of secrets that have the enemy. NYT and WP are you ready?

JOEL, HAVE YOU DONE OR CONSIDERED INVESTIGATING THE CLAIMS MADE BY THOSE WHO LINK QUANTUM THEORY WITH CONSCIOUSNESS?