Blue? Sky? Sun?

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Barack Obama, Bush, creationism, economy, fundamentalism, Iowa, Iraq, John McCain, Media, Palestine, Rape

The Storm-Apache by  Edward Sheriff Curtis, done in 1906.

At last we seem to have gained the upper hand on the rain. But the ground here must have at last reached its super saturation point, because the river is still running from down the hill and around the side of the house on its trek to the creek. The garden, is wetter today than it was two days ago, but hopefully it’s still hanging on.

We lost a bin at the top of the hill, which the Contrarian just discovered today when he drove up to Troy. We had used it as storage, but truth be told it had turned into a junk keeper. I was awakened a few nights ago by a straight-line wind, and I suspect it was that sound that I heard of the grain bin going.

Troy did not flood this year. At the Troy Store, the Contrarian learned that waters seemed a good four feet lower than the flood of 1999. So we are quite pleased and the Contrarian is going out later today and heading over to see if Steve avoided the flood further down stream toward Coggan. (Update: he got a little water in one room and that was all) We are most hopeful now. We will probably do some shopping later in the week, traveling to Independence which is about equal distance for us, and suffered comparatively little damage. I hope I can find a full service Walmart. Though I hate the company for its policies, my principles fall to the financial realities of simply lower prices.

Let’s move on to the news of the day.

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As usual, we learn that Bush and his band of dastardly demons had plans for Iraq that they did not share either with us, or of course the Iraqis. The bottom line? Iraq was never scheduled in Bush’s peabrain to be a sovereign state.When you look at the proposal they submitted it is utterly disgusting, with 58 permanent bases, total immunity for American contractors, total control of Iraq airspace and more. Read the full report by Patrick Cockburn.

Rolling Stone, reprinted by Alternet, weighs in on what makes the Macster tick. Read their assessment of the New McCain, and the infamous green-screen speech. The interviews with McCainite supporters is priceless for their duh ness.

If you would like a look around Linn County and Cedar Rapids specifically, visit Essential Estrogenand go through a long list of photos she’s accumulated to show you the sad devastation suffered there. On one bright note, I saw yesterday that Mercy Hospital was able to keep most of the water outside the hospital, and water only reached ankle deep inside the first floor. A lot of clean up no doubt, but not a massive tragedy either. Let’s hope the same is said for other major buildings in the area. I am still anxious to hear about St. Patricks.

In the desire to show the buildings under water over so much of Iowa, very little attention has been paid to Iowa farmers. The results of the constant rains and flooding have been horrible for some and seriously debilitating for many others. Ironically, just when area farmers were poised to reap some real benefits from higher prices, nature has dealt  them a terrible blow. Iowa Independent has the story.

Word has it that CBS was poised to electKeith Obermann as anchor  before settling on Katie Couric. I dunno if they have a death wish or what. Obermann has of late seemed determined to outdo the maniac fringe at FoxyNewless. And Couric? Well I would have fired her outright for her “Yech” remark in regards to a Clinton VEEP in her question to Obama. It hardly could get less professional that what she exhibited. Read more at MyDD with the appropriate links to the stories in greater detail.

Barack Obama gave a pretty darn good speech on Fatherhood on Father’s Day. If you’d like to read the entire thing, then MyDD has that for you. You can watch it or read it, as you wish.

As Master of the Universe, Georgie W wanders around Europe in his last grand march, and continues, according toMaureen Dowd, the same tired old refrain that has caused all of Europe to hate his Texan guts. Hey, I even saw Laura claiming that far far down the road, historians would applaud the bold and principled stance of the doltish dumbo and hail him as the modern savior of all humanity. (Well she didn’t spread it on quite that thick. I embellish slightly.) Still, the post is worth your time, so drop on over.

It is a dirty little secret in many places around the globe– Rape, and enforced slavery of young girls. Rape has long been a part of war, though little reported on. It’s effective in its terrorist implications and often hidden since it doesn’t leave a trail of bodies. The UN, one hopes, begins a serious effort to address the problem. No where is it worse than in Africa where in some areas fully 75% of women have been so victimized. Isn’t it about time that this heinous crime mattered?

Most of the stuff I find about Gaza is depressing, to say the least. Palestinian Pundit strains to maintain a relationship with the world as her immediate surroundings deteriorate. I find these posts so sad and so very fragile. I reach out to people in these far away places and try to establish some solidarity with their plight and their lives. I am convinced we are all basically the same. Sigh.

Oh boy, there is talk that Lieberman might be McCain’s choice for VEEP. Now I suspect this is all so much hoopla about nothing, but truly this would be fun wouldn’t it? Can you spell mother of mother of all FLIP FLOPS? I can’t think of anything more hysterical to contemplate, and that right off tells you that this has not a chance to occur. But of course, if it does, I retain the right to say, YOU heard it here first! LOL. Thanks to the Politico for the story.

Oh it seems that the GOP is going to play up the fear mongering this year to the hilt. Newt the toot, is on the bandwagon with Scalia, touting the latest Supreme Court decision that says you plainly can’t just lock people up forever, as a decision that will “cost us a city.” Such vile rhetoric is simply unacceptable. Let the wingnuts of the GOP continue in this vein. Obama will sound mighty good in comparison. Read all about it as Sean Hannity commits a personal sex act in ecstasy as Newt foams at the mouth. I think Newt has lost his marble and needs a nice padded room. He seems fixated on losing American cities, and the cause? heck he can think of just tons of reasons.Glenn Greenwald always does his homework.

Meanwhile, Greed continues to be the motivating factor in corporate America.But alas, it is no longer the greed to reward faithful shareholders with nice profits. It’s the greed of the bigwigs at the tippy top, that seems to know no human bounds any more. It’s greed that is so obscene that if God indeed has a  hell, these folks are all charter members with their tickets punched. And where is our favorite Mav in all this? Why, he’s saying one thing and doing the other, faithful as always to whatever corporate leaders wish. Read this as you ponder paying $5 bucks for gas and $10 bucks for milk. Is it time to call a stop to this insanity?

Course, the other little name being bandied around GOP circles for VEEP these days is little Jindal, the kid with little history, and a big whopping amount of religious fervor. He’s a creationist, and those wingnuts are always fun. Think Progresshas a wonderful story about the kid. Again, this would be a fun one. Jindal of course tries to avoid the subject of creationism because, well, it’s actually indefensible but you can see that he has learned all the code words for sneaking it in without appearing to do so. You can see how he does that at Talk To Action where they have transcripts of his explanation of his stance.

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“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.” Ronald Reagan

“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.” Aldous Huxley

“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.” Lawrence J. Peter

“Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t.” Mark Twain

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” Samuel Johnson

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Film reviews in 4 words:

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) — I bet Kramer wins.
Superman (1978) — The Great S Cape.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) — Tense. Intense. In tents.
Best in Show (2000) — This Is Spaniel Tap.
Amadeus (1984) — Salieri has pianist envy.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) — Finding Nimoy.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) — Fin.
The Passion of the Christ (2004) — Gory, gory, hallelujah.
The Exorcist (1973) — Room With a Spew.
Basic Instinct (1992) — Crossed, un-crossed, HELLO, crossed.
Animal House (1978) – From beer to fraternity.
Tootsie (1982) — Hoff-man, hoff-woman.
Titanic (1997) — Everything including kitchen sinks.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) — Stake and French fries.
Dead Poets Society (1989) – Fate: verse, then death.
Robocop (1987) — Copper is metal.
Jaws (1975) — Eat ship and die.
The Bodyguard (1992) — Houston has a problem.
The Exorcist (1973) — The Blair Witch Projectile.
Braveheart (1995) — Resistance is feudal.
John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut (1994) — John Wayne re-membered.
Pretty Woman (1990) — Shags to riches.
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) — Tent ‘n quarantino.
Forrest Gump (1994) — Run and Stumpy.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) — Luke back in anger.
Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) — Green legs and hams.
Pinocchio (1940) — Knotty boy.
Soul Man (1986) — I’ll be black.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) — Slaved by the bell.
Taxi Driver (1976) — A fare to remember.
Troy (2004) — To Helen back.
Signs (2002) — A piece of crop.
The Green Mile (1999) — Fry day, sadder day.
The Maltese Falcon (1941) — Black Hawk Found.
Spider-Man (2002) — Teenager emits sticky substance.
Waterworld (1995) — Fishtar.
The Hindenburg (1975) — Ded Zeppelin.
Pretty in Pink (1986) — Damsel in dissed dress.
Psycho (1960) — Unfortunate Leigh.
Chicken Run (2000) — Movie with many layers.
Steel Magnolias (1989) — Perms of Endearment.
The Wedding Singer (1998) — Groom With a Drew.
The School of Rock (2003) — To Sir, Riff Love.
Shallow Hal (2001) — Tubby or not tubby.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – Big bridge goes P.O.W.