Farewell, #31

It is with some sadness that the Thinker waves goodbye to the best pitcher I've ever seen, twice-former Cub Greg Maddux, who is announcing his retirement after 21 years in major league baseball. There are two of us on this blog who, when chatting sports, use "Maddux" as part of our moniker, and I know I'm not the only one here who will miss watching him pitch. Even during his exile in Atlanta (okay, he piled up some rather extraordinary numbers in exile), my dad and I used to sit down and watch him every fifth day, because his outings were unlike any others. When he was at his best, hitters just were overmatched, not by staggering physical talent, but because he was so good at so many things that his arsenal of pitches just went beyond anything they could cope with.

Five years from now, his name will come up for a vote for the MLB Hall of Fame. He'll get in, on the first ballot, and by a large margin. Of course, he won't be unanimous, because no one ever is. The BBWAA is comprised, sadly, of too many morons of the sort who cannot abide greatness and must always find fault. They can go screw themselves.

Someday, if the Cubs are smart, they'll bring Maddux and Fergie Jenkins back and finally retire #31. Maddux won't seek the spotlight, but it is his.

Bush 2.0

So our most grotesquely failed president has decided to re-invent himself. In an interview with Charlie Gibson, and in a self-serving blatherfest with his sister, he gave us these gems:

"I think I was unprepared for war..."

Really? That's surprising, given that you talked about invading Iraq as GOVERNOR OF TEXAS in 1999? Given that the cronies that made up this war out of whole cloth published their stupidity in 1998 ? (see the Project for the New American Century)

"The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq...a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence."

Hmm, you mean the "intelligence" that your administration manufactured and misrepresented? That several countries told you was bullshit? You mean that "intelligence?"

"You know, I'm the president during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in president"

You know, the Clinton years, our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity...The buck stops over there somewhere.

"And when people review the history of this administration, people will say that this administration tried hard to get a regulator."

WHAT??? YOU, wanted regulation? And now I suppose the pope now officiates at gay abortionist weddings????

"I'd like to be a president [known] as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace"--

You "liberated" people into death and chaos, and brought about a hellish cataclysm. And peace? We'll be waiting on that one for a while.

The grand question is...

Is this man the boy in the bubble? Does he really BELIEVE any of this nonsense?

Back in 1998, when the neocon cabal recruited him, he was "tutored" in foreign policy by the PNAC crowd, they considered him to be a blank slate. Bob Woodward paints him as a simple man, a Chance the Gardener character, who sees his little ugly war as the story of how many of "them" we killed.

Venal or clueless? Both, probably. The act may have worked in Austin but it will be remembered as one of our greatest national tragedies.

Followup

It's a week later, and we're still embroiled in the saga of plumbing, although progress has indeed been made. The pipe hasn't leaked since the plumbers put the clamp on it, but they'll be coming back tomorrow to replace a sizable portion of the plumbing in our house with stuff that's not 74 year old galvanized steel. To make it easier for them (and so that we didn't have to pay two plumbers to do the work), I spent yesterday at home tearing out a 9' x 8' chunk (both drywall and plaster) of our living room ceiling. Of course, what made it a challenge was that we have checked and confirmed that, yes, some of the older paint in the house is lead-based, so we had to take a lot of precautions to try to prevent the spread of dust. It's quite bad for babymagoo, and since he's still partially on breast milk, that means mrsdrmagoo can't be involved in any of the work, either. So I put up a bunch of plastic around the area, wore masks (I couldn't find the right kind of mask, so hopefully two of almost the right kind of mask will be good enough), and then washed the whole area down with Trisodium Phosphate, which is what we were told to use to clean up the dust. That...was fun.

As a side note, has anyone else ever noticed the slots in old medicine cabinets for used razor blades? The blades go somewhere, of course, which is into the walls of the house. Until renovation is started, in which case they fall on your head.

Tomorrow, the plumbers will be back, and when I get home from work at 6:30 or so, I'll clean up any mess they make (in case they need to make access holes to the downstairs bath) and then let Beth know it's safe to bring the boy back home. Then, we will try to find a drywall contractor to come in and replace the drywall and make the seams as clean as possible. Whee!

On the plus side, the trip out to WV went well. My family is doing pretty well (actually, the economy hasn't hurt us that much....yet), and everyone loves spending time with babymagoo. On the way back, we stopped for a tour of the Woodford Reserve distillery. That was pretty cool, and it's in a gorgeous part of Kentucky, right outside of Lexington (the whole area just screams Kentucky, with rolling hills and horse farms). The beverage they produce is pretty dang good, too.

This weekend, we'll be up in the city for our annual pilgrimage to the Christkindlmarkt for German food and freezing.

I find this guy humorous....

China Buys Naming Rights to U.S.
Nation to be renamed 'Panda Garden'
by Andy Borowitz

In a landmark deal that could provide much-needed cash to America's anemic economy, China agreed today to acquire the naming rights to the U.S. for a reported $1.4 trillion.

The deal, which is expected to be signed by President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao sometime before Inauguration Day on January 20, was hailed today by Mr. Bush as a "win-win" for both countries.

"We get 1.4 trillion dollars, and all we have to do is change our name to ‘Panda Garden,'" Mr. Bush told reporters at the White House.

The president said he decided to make the extraordinary deal after being shocked to learn that the U.S. was in a recession, when it was reported yesterday in Duh magazine.

According to President Hu, the Chinese had originally inquired about purchasing the rights to two American sports facilities named after troubled companies, Ford Field in Detroit and Citi Field in New York, but then decided it might be more cost-efficient to buy the rights "to the whole shebang."

In addition to the $1.4 trillion, the Chinese government said that it would provide $10 million to commission a new national anthem that would somehow incorporate the words "Panda Garden" in the lyrics, and to redesign the nation's flag, which will henceforth be known as "the stars, stripes, and adorable bear."


Has China effectively become our banker?

Singh'in the the Rain

Be thankful that there is not (yet) a "Singh Doctrine," with the Indian prime minister claiming the right of preemptive war against any enemy, no matter how hypothetical. India and Pakistan came close to nuclear blows earlier this decade. Let us hope cooler heads prevail.

Reality, what a concept!

The president-elect becomes more impressive every day.

He rolled out a heavyweight national security team, largely centrist in nature, and mentioned two concepts in dealing with international security that had been confined to the dustbin of the Bush disaster--DIPLOMACY and LAW ENFORCEMENT.

So far, so good, Mr. Obama.

Don't know much about history

Read 'em and weep. These Illinois historic sites are now closed because of our state government's ineptness. In addition, many other state sites have seen reductions in staff and opening days/hours. A short-sighted waste of our cultural heritage.

Dana-Thomas House, Springfield (Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece pictured below)

Lincoln log cabin
Fort de Chartres
Vandalia statehouse
State center at Bishop Hill
Carl Sandburg birthplace
Cahokia courthouse
Hauberg Indian Museum
Jubilee College
Apple River Fort
Fort Kaskaskia
Pierre Menard home

Gone. Lost. Wasted.

My World and Welcome to It

Ah, holidays with family...

Three days with my mother-in-law who

1) was ASHAMED that Indiana went for Obama;

2) LOVES Wal-Mart and

3) won't watch ABC news any more because Charlie Gibson was mean to Caribou Barbie!

And then there's my side, but we'll just say that we put the fun in dysfunctional!

The turkey was great, and the secret word is...BRINING!

Thankgiving plumbing repair...

So last night we had gotten ourselves all packed to head out to my sister's house in West Virginia for Thanksgiving. We also do Christmas with my family this week, so there's a lot to get done. This morning, mrsdrmagoo was going to head out to the gym for a little while, and I was going to load the car, and then the three of us were going to be on our way...

Of course not.

When I got downstairs this morning, mrsdrmagoo asked me to look at the ceiling. Which was wet. And then dripping. All over the place.

Now, normally we handle household repairs (even relatively major ones) ourselves, but this is not normally.

The first few calls to plumbers revealed that many of them were busy today. Finally, one called back...

And now the living room ceiling's being torn apart. And of course the leak is in a very difficult to access spot (although now he's found the leak, which is a good start).

The little guy's off at day care, since being around the plaster dust isn't good for him.

Whee!

Update: Well, it looks like they'll have to put a clamp on it for today, but that's not code, so they'll have to come back next week and pull out the old pipes and put in new ones. And then we can rebuild the living room ceiling...

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Well, I'm off to Paris Fort Wayne and then a few days of skiing in St. Moritz Springfield for the big weekend.

Just a couple of quick thoughts from the morning paper.

One of my least favorite right wing airheads, Chatty Kathy Parker, wrote a decent but painfully obvious column about how we are a really dumb country. She finishes, though, with this little zinger

Who will govern a free nation if no one understands the mechanics and instruments of that freedom? Maybe one day, a demagogue.

Hmm, Chatty, just idly speculating about the future? I think not. Unfortunately, her demagogue reference is to our articulate, inspiring and intelligent future president.

Kathy, if you REALLY want to know what happens in that situation, look behind you. Look at the last eight years, of incompetence, imperial aggression, corruption and a betrayal of all that should be American. THAT is what you get.

And Lula, this is an Illinois-centric question,but an issue here involves our imprisoned ex-governor (we have a long history of felon governors here, and the current occupant may soon join that list). He was the epitome of the two-bit crook, but the tragedy is that he was doing his two-bit crookery as Secretary of State, giving away drivers' licenses for bribes to unqualifieds and ineligibles. Now he is old and infirm and the question of commutation comes up. I'm somewhat torn. He is a miserable old bastard, yet what is the public good of continued imprisonment?

Thoughts?

Sarah Palin pardons turkey, sort of.....

This happened last week in Wasilla. There really is something wrong with this woman.

>

Is she really that dense? Or is it just an act?

War is hell

The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal even back in the Dow Jones days was "The Shady Acres Rest Home for Whackjob Conservatives" (insert "Paul Gigot" here), but no one took them seriously. You bought the paper for the business news, as the "Chinese Wall" between editorial and news made the real wall in China look miniscule by comparison. Now that it's been Fox-ified, you don't even want the Journal for business coverage, and editorial has gone so far out that they make Gigot, etc. look measured and thoughtful. Case in point? What is the cause of our economic crisis? Speculation, de-regulation, deficit spending, etc. No. Ladies and gentlemen, we suffer today because our nation is at war on three fronts, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and against...Christmas.

Notwithstanding the cardboard Santas who seem to have arrived in stores this year near Halloween, the holiday season starts in seven days with Thanksgiving. And so it will come to pass once again that many people will spend four weeks biting on tongues lest they say "Merry Christmas" and perchance, give offense. Christmas, the holiday that dare not speak its name. This year we celebrate the desacralized "holidays" amid what is for many unprecedented economic ruin--fortunes halved, jobs lost, homes foreclosed. People wonder, What happened? One man's theory: A nation whose people can't say "Merry Christmas" is a nation capable of ruining its own economy.

Yes, boys and girls, we are in this mess because we have not decked the halls nor heard angels on high. No fa la la la la, no Fannie Mae. Because we didn't see mommy kissing Santa Claus, Lehman Brothers collapsed, and we can no longer join in any reindeer games or in the international credit markets. Amazing. (link)

What the Citigroup bailout is paying for

So, we're giving Citigroup $20 billion with the promise of more behind it. Citigroup has also made a recent $400 million investment in...the naming rights for the new Mets stadium. So now I'm giving the Mets money.

Excuse me while I throw up.

h/t Daily Kos

Effigy Makers Seek Federal Bailout

First it was the banks, then the auto industry, and now effigy makers are lining up for federal aid.



Like other industries seeking help, the effigy makers have been criticized for poor planning, as the "Bush bubble" in the industry was due to end next January. One industry spokesman, speaking anonymously, thought the Republicans could steal one more election and the industry would be "burning" brightly into the next decade at least with McCain and Palin images.

Congress appeared skeptical, and pressed industry representatives for a business plan. "Well, we do have this giant inflammable Cubs logo for sale to White Sox fans, and a giant flaming Ryan Seacrest, but hell, everyone sees a giant flaming Ryan Seacrest every week on TV. Beyond that, we've got nothing."

Alan Colmes to Depart Show with Hannity

Alan Colmes is reportedly set to leave the Fox News freakshow known as "Hannity & Colmes." We'll miss Alan, pictured below:

Don't read this if you just ate

The musical stylings of Jeffrey Scott Shapiro in the paper formerly known as the Wall Street Journal:

Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support
of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after
George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless
disrespect many Americans have shown the president...

This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats
and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to
voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to
speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger
and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do
all I can do to deserve your trust...."

Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both
political parties.

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less
than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and
slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have.
The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in
America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our
nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not
gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can
be when our president needed loyalty--a shameful display of arrogance and
weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White
House.

I think that one stands on its own. There really is no need for me to point out the painfully obvious.

No insurance? That's a Killer

In the October issue of Archives of Surgery, a study done by a John Hopkins trauma surgeon found that overall, uninsured patients were 50% more likely to die from their injuries than insured patients.

I find that to be an alarming statistic. So, now if you don't have insurance you #1) have to pay more if you go to the ER (because you don't get the I HAVE INSURANCE DISCOUNT) and #2) if you're a minority or don't have insurance at all, you possibly were pushed to the back of the emergency treatment line, or worse you received biased treatment that affected your overall health. So now you're not only dead, you have a hefty bill too.

I thought emergency care was the great equalizer in our health care system. According to this study, apparently not.

We need health care reform, and soon. I hope having Senator Tom Daschle as our new Secretary of Health and Human Services (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) is a step in the right direction towards health care accessibility for all in the coming years.

Three in a row?

The only incoming presidents to ever have to lead a nation in such peril were Lincoln and FDR. Luckily those were our two greatest occupants of the White House. We can only hope that history goes three for three this time.

A little noted anniversary

We used to hear about it every year, and then on the "special" anniversaries, but today has passed with little mention.

One of my first memories, though, is when our principal came into my first grade classroom and told us that President Kennedy had been killed.

John, we hardly knew ye.

Can we kiss the wild places of America goodbye?

First the BLM opened up land to the highest bidder for natural gas drilling that is within site of Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.

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Next it was the ultra-dirty and water-hog oil shale drilling leases being considered for sale in the arid states of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

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Now Secretary of Interior Kempthorne is proposing opening up land that borders Yellowstone National Park for geothermal energy exploration.
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Does the Bush Administration hold nothing sacred? Why is the West always the poster child for life-altering, term-ending legislation for outgoing president's that obviously don't give a damn?

Before you know it, my favorite camping spots are going to be turned into parking lots.

When will this ever end?

The end of January can not come fast enough.